A Gathering of Authors

by Paula Gail Benson

When a book fair in Aiken, South Carolina, had to be rescheduled, I spoke with three of the participants and asked if they would be willing to come to Columbia for a similar event. They agreed. Consequently, the Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime will be hosting a multi-genre, mini-book festival on Saturday, October 21, from 1:30 until 4:00 pm at All Good Books. We are fortunate to have this very accommodating, relatively new, independent bookstore. All Good Books, which is providing space for our program and sales for our authors, is located at 734 Harden Street, Columbia, S.C. 29205.

The authors will be available for signings and appear in panels, moderated by Paula Gail Benson and Carla Damron. Here is the schedule:

1:30 - 1:35       Welcome

1:35 - 2:05       Romance fiction with Paula Gail Benson, Elaine Reed, and HM Thomas

2:10 - 2:40       Mystery fiction with Paula Gail Benson, Candace Carter, and Carla Damon

2:45 - 3:15       Historical and Speculative fiction with Mary Beth Gibson and Steve Gordy

3:20 - 3:50       Poetry with John Starino and Arthur Turfa

If you happen to be in Columbia on October 21, come join our gathering and meet our participating authors:

A legislative lawyer and former law librarian, Paula Gail Benson’s mystery and romance short stories have appeared online and in print anthologies. She is a proud member of the Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Lowcountry Romance Writers.

From growing up in a one-horse town (literally) to working for the National Park Service, Candace J. Carter has walked many paths in life. She's always shared a love of western movies with her father. Muddy Waters is her first traditional mystery, featuring former range detective Henry "Whispering" Smith. The novel received a Carrie McCray Memorial Literary Award and was a finalist for the 2020 Indies Today Awards. Candace is now retired, and reconnecting with her inner cowboy.

 

Carla Damron is a social worker, advocate, and author whose novel, The Stone Necklace (about grief and addiction) won the 2017 Women’s Fiction Writers Association Star Award for Best Novel and was selected as the One Community Read for Columbia SC. Damron is also the author of The Orchid Tattoo (which delves into the disturbing world of human trafficking), and the Caleb Knowles mystery novels (the latest is Justice Be Done), and has published numerous short stories, essays, and op-eds.

 

Mary Beth Gibson writes the award-winning DUNCULLEN SAGA that follows two Irish families through four generations of struggles. It is a haunting trilogy of love, murder, and betrayal. You’ll be swept up in this fast-paced saga based on actual events that rocked eighteenth-century Ireland followed by an emotionally powerful story of the Revolutionary War along the Savannah River’s frontier.

 

Steve Gordy is a retired educator and a long-time member of the South Carolina Writers Association. In addition to his writing, he is an active volunteer in several local and regional organizations and an aficionado of travel, particularly to foreign countries. His current works in progress are a dark novel about a small town under the control of corrupt big-shots (Town Behind a Veil) and a tribute volume to a championship athlete who died young after a valiant battle with cancer (Meredith's Song). He and his wife live in Aiken, SC.

Robert McCready has a MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University in Charlotte, N.C. He interviews authors in a podcast called Evening Magic.

Elaine Reed lives in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. When she isn’t writing contemporary romance, she can be found exploring Charleston, taking in live music and searching for shark teeth on the beach with her family.

John M. Starino is an award-winning published and performance poet. He has four books. They are Onion Season Pt. 1, Onion Season Pt. 2, They Are Only Spoons, and Full Circle. He can be heard during local and regional Open Mic programs, especially during the month of April, National Poetry Month. Like many of his Activist Friends who have won awards, he appreciates the recognition and there is so much work yet to be done.

 

HM Thomas grew up in a southern town creating worlds bigger and more dramatic than her own. She credits her dad’s nightly story times for her love of the written word and her mom’s devotion to Days of Our Lives for her love of dramatic fiction. After graduating from Clemson University, HM got her own Happily Ever After and decided to start writing them for her characters as well, focusing on romance, most often mixed with suspense. When not writing, HM enjoys traveling and hiking with her husband, three children and rescue dog.

 

Arthur Turfa is a poet/writer living in Lexington, SC. His writings are inspired by his native Pennsylvania, places where he has lived and traveled, people he has met, and his careers. Arthur is an adviser to the Board of the South Carolina Writers Association. He has six books of poetry, one novel, and one short story in national and international print and on-line publications. 

Finding Inspiration in Disaster—A Tale of Two Scottish Poets by Molly MacRae

On January 25^th, people all around the world will celebrate Burns Night in honor of the birthday of Robert Burns (1759-1796). Burns, despite living only 37 years, is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland. If you have a chance to attend a Burns Night Supper, take it. The festivities start with the Selkirk Grace:

Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thanket.

Cullen skink follows the grace. Then comes the piping in of the haggis, a recitation of Burns’ “Address to a Haggis,” whisky, neeps and tatties, whisky, clootie dumpling or cranachan and, if you like, whisky. A Burns Supper is a splendid feast that shouldn’t be missed. (menu glossary below)

But have you heard of William Topaz McGonagall? McGonagall (1825-1902) was another Scottish poet, one “so giftedly bad,” according to Stephen Pile in The Book of Heroic Failures, “he backed unwittingly into genius.”

Plaque near McGonagall's burial site in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh, Scotland (photo by author)

McGonagall, born in Edinburgh, was the son of Irish handloom weavers. His parents moved to Dundee when he was three, and he lived most of his life there. He joined the family trade but was also an amateur Shakespearean actor. The story goes (there are a number of stories about McGonagall) that when he played the lead in Macbeth, he took umbrage at being upstaged by Macduff and refused to die at the end of the play.

At 52, he apparently had an epiphany and dedicated the rest of his life to writing poetry—poetry so bad he’s widely regarded as not just the worst-ever Scottish poet, but the worst-ever British poet. Some would go so far as to say he’s the worst poet in the English language. And yet, he delighted audiences with his recitations. True, some audience members pelted him with fruit and eggs, but that didn’t stop him. It also didn’t make him rich. He and his wife depended on the charity and kindness of friends.

The characters in my Highland Bookshop Mysteries of course love Robert Burns. But some of them are also besotted with McGonagall. Below is a passage from Argyles and Arsenic, coming out March 1^st. 

During his lifetime, nineteenth-century Scottish poet William Topaz McGonagall delighted and appalled audiences with his labored rhymes, awkward scansion, melodramatic subject matter, and general butchery of the art form. Christine adored him. Tallie found him fascinating in the way videos of avoidable disasters fascinated others.

Janet agreed with both of them. Shortly after she and Curtis the rat had bought the house in Inversgail, she’d embroidered the last two lines of McGonagall’s “The Tay Bridge Disaster” onto an antique linen tea towel. The words, “For the stronger we our houses do build; The less chance we have of being killed,” suited the sturdy, granite house, and she’d hung the framed needlework above their front door. She still loved the embroidery, but was sad her marriage hadn’t been stronger.

McGonagall found inspiration in disasters for many of his poems, “The Tay Bridge Disaster” being his most famous. Though ridiculed during his life and after, McGonagall would be delighted to know that collections of his poetry are still available today.

Crime writers take inspiration from disasters, too. Most often their inspiration comes from the disastrous choices people make. We do try, though, for a better reaction to our work than poor McGonagall received.

In the new year, may your writing go well. May your writing be notable and avoid the notoriety of William Topaz McGonagall.

Menu glossary:

• Cullen skink: thick soup made of smoked haddock, onions, and potatoes.
• Haggis: dish made from the minced heart, livers, and lungs of sheep, mixed with oatmeal, suet, seasonings, salt, and broth and boiled in a bag made from the sheep's stomach.
• Neeps and tatties: mashed turnips and mashed potatoes.
• Clootie dumpling: Scottish pudding, made with dried fruit, spices, oatmeal or breadcrumbs, flour, and beef suet, steamed in a cloot (a cloth), and served with a dram of whisky.
• Whisky: Uisge beatha in Scottish Gaelic, which translates as water of life.
• Cranachan: Scottish dessert made of whipped cream, raspberries, heather honey, whisky, and oatmeal.

 

Cranachan in author's kitchen (photo by author)

Molly MacRae writes the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Twelve Days Pre-Christmas by Nancy L. Eady

Thanksgiving is late this year. Most years, by now, we would have passed Thanksgiving, turned the corner on Black Friday and probably be celebrating what has come to be labeled Cyber Monday.  So, while I am normally opposed to most things Christmas until after Thanksgiving, I am dropping that opposition this year to share with you my version of The Twelve Days Pre-Christmas, to be read with the tune for the “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in mind.  And for those of you who know what an ear worm is, you’re welcome.  

THE TWELVE DAYS PRE-CHRISTMAS

On the first day pre-Christmas, my true love said to me, “We need to go shopping promptly.”

On the second day pre-Christmas, my true love said to me, 

"Need to put the tree up, and 

We need to go shopping promptly."

On the third day pre-Christmas, my true love said to me,

"Let’s have a party!

Need to get that tree up

And we need to go shopping promptly."

 On the fourth day pre-Christmas, my child said to me, 

“I need some presents! 

You’ll have a party.  

Why isn’t the tree up? and 

You need to go shopping promptly!”

On the fifth day pre-Christmas, my wondering eyes did see – A SALE AT MACY’S! 

My child still needs presents,

The party’s Friday,

The tree still is not up

And I need to go shopping promptly!

On the sixth day pre-Christmas, my bad self said to me, “Eat a chocolate Santa!”

There’s A SALE AT MACY’S!

My child still needs presents,

The party’s Friday,

The tree is still not up

And I need to go shopping promptly. 

On the seventh day pre-Christmas, my conscience said to me, “No more chocolate Santas!”

(I don’t care, I found one!) 

There’s a SALE AT MACY’S!

My child still needs presents,

The party’s Friday,

The tree is halfway up

And I need to go shopping promptly.

On the eighth day pre-Christmas, the school note said to me, “20 cupcakes in two days now!” 

No more chocolate Santas!

(How about a Reese’s?)

There’s a SALE AT MACY’S!

Child’s gifts now hidden

The party’s soon

The tree just got knocked down

And I need to go shopping promptly.

On the ninth day pre-Christmas my true love said to me, “Aren’t you a little stressed dear?”

20 cupcakes by tomorrow,

NO MORE CHOCOLATE SANTAS!

(I don’t care, I’ll have one,)

There’s a SALE AT MACY’S! 

Child’s not found her gifts,

Party’s almost here,

The tree is standing up

And I need to go shopping promptly. 

On the tenth day pre-Christmas, my oven said to me, “Why haven’t you bought the turkey?”

I’m a little stressed now,

20 cupcakes by this evening,

(Shut up about the Santas! - I’m going to have two more now.)

There’s a SALE AT MACY’S! 

Child’s gifts still in hiding,

The party’s now,

The tree is not yet lit

And I need to go shopping promptly. 

On the eleventh day pre-Christmas, my true love said to me, “What about the dressing?”

Where did I put the turkey? 

I’m getting truly stressed now,

20 cupcakes from the grocers,

NO MORE CHOCOLATE SANTAS!  

(I can’t hear you, Conscience.)

There’s a SALE AT MACY’s! 

Child’s gifts locked up tight,

The party’s done,

The tree just blew a fuse

And I need to go shopping promptly!

On the day that Christmas got here, I woke up and did see –

A banquet for my family,

Turkey and dressing,

Even giblet gravy,

Stress has gone away now,

Stockings filled with care

(But no chocolate Santas)

NO SALE AT MACY’S!

Child loves her gifts,

No more parties now,

Tree is A-OK,

And I’m going to nap until New Years!