Joan Mendlicott & Nancy Dillingham
Reflections in a River
Author Joan Mendlicott, of Barnardsville, became enthralled one day by reflections she discovered in a river. So taken was she by this experience, that she kept returning to this spot and photographing the reflections that drew her to this river where she experienced profound peace. In Reflections in a River, Joan collaborates with her friend Nancy Dillingham who wrote the haiku that accompanies the photographs.
After her first encounter with the reflections in that river, Joan says, “I thought of the river, dreamed of it, was drawn to it again in again in all seasons of the year. It was many years before I actually found out the name of the river. It is a branch of the Toe River in Burnsville.”
Nancy’s short stories, poetry, and commentary have appeared in literary journals and newspapers, and she is the coeditor of three anthologies of works by women writers. She now lives in Asheville.
Joan moved here from Florida where her experiences working in a small senior center inspired her first book, Celibate Wives: Breaking the Silence.
“Winter, spring, summer, and fall for twelve years,” writes Nancy in the book’s first haiku, “I have walked the banks of this river, wrapped myself in its quiet place and photographed its ever-changing beauty.”
Reflections in a River, poetry and photography, softcover, $19.95, by Joan Mendlicott and Nancy Dillingham, October 2011, is published by Grateful Steps Publishing Co.
Lee Pantas
The Ultimate Guide to Asheville & the Western North Carolina Mountains
Author Lee Pantas has lived in the Asheville area since the late 1980s. He is well-known for his award-winning pen-and-ink drawings, more than a hundred of which appear in his book, The Ultimate Guide to Asheville & the Western North Carolina Mountains. This 508-page book contains the cities and towns in our area, 15 maps, an easy-to-use index, category listings, in-depth chapters, and links to helpful websites. “I have tried to include in this guidebook everything that would be of interest to visitors,” says Lee.
This comprehensive guide, recommended by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and mountain area Visitor Centers, includes tips on the best restaurants, things to do in the outdoors, museums and cultural centers, the many festivals in the region, plus real estate and relocation information in case the visit here has enticed another family to call this home.
The Ultimate Guide to Asheville & the Western North Carolina Mountains, nonfiction,100 pen-and-ink illustrations by the author, softcover, $18.95, by Lee Pantas, 4th Edition / October 2011, is published by R. Brent & Company. For more information, visit ashevilleguidebook.com.
Ashley Memory
Naked and Hungry
With a plot that could have been ripped from today’s headlines, Ashley Memory, of Pittsboro, has crafted a tale in her first novel, Naked and Hungry, that will take you on an amazing and thrilling ride.
Described by the publisher as “a dark environmental comedy,” the story begins when H.T. Mullen, a former loan officer, himself the victim of the mortgage crisis, chooses to move to a one-room cabin in the woods. There he notices something missing. “Where in the world had all the lightning bugs gone?” he asks himself. He soon discovers what he thought was the pristine wilderness to be poisoned by dangerous pollutants. Incensed, he begins complaining but his anger is soon countered in a deadly game of intimidation by those at fault.
Enter Jessica Beane, an attractive and sexy environmentalist who is there to investigate the source of the pollution. Their lives become romantically entwined when she reveals a secret that links them to the criminal world of hazardous waste trafficking. They end up in the custody of an ambitious FBI agent and together they conceive a plan fraught with risk in which they hope to capture the guilty parties and clear Mullen’s name.
Naked and Hungry, fiction, softcover, $15.95, by Ashley Memory, 2011, is published by Ingalls Publishing Group, Inc.
Clyde Edgerton
The Night Train
Dwayne Hallston was 17 years old in 1963 when he first heard, and saw, James Brown. He knew instantly he wanted to be able to sing and move on stage the way Brown did. Dwayne and his band, the Amazing Rumblers, hole up in the storage room of his father’s shop in a small town in North Carolina where they study and rehearse Brown’s live performance at the Apollo. And then there’s Dwayne’s forbidden black friend, an aspiring jazz musician who becomes an apprentice of the Bleeder.
The opening paragraph of any book is critical, and Durham author Clyde Edgerton, in his new book The Night Train, provides us with an excellent example: “The boy leaned in at the open front door of the bar. From inside, he looked like a dark stamp on the bright daylight behind him. A hemophiliac called the Bleeder sat in an armless chair on a small, low bandstand, an electric guitar strapped around his neck. He was alone and had been practicing his music. Come on in here, he said to the boy.”
A dancing chicken and a mutual passion for music help the two young men as they strive to reach their dreams.
author uses his deft sense of humor as he helps us recall our nation’s painful, divided history and the role music has played in uniting us.
The Night Train, fiction, hardcover, $23.99, by Clyde Edgerton, 2011, is published by Little, Brown and Company.
William Mangum
North Carolina Beautiful
Greensboro Artist William (Bill) Mangum is in love with North Carolina and has the gift of talent to interpret for us our state’s many scenic wonders, from the Outer Banks to the mountains. His new book, North Carolina Beautiful, being released this month, contains more than 140 of his paintings. With exception of six of the paintings, none has previously appeared in publication.
The book was born out of my love for the Old North State and its many picturesque landscapes,” says Bill. “As you flip through the pages, imagine yourself hiking the majestic North Carolina mountains, soaking up local culture near historical land- marks, or simply walking the shores of our pristine beaches.”
A dedicated environmentalist, the artist adds, “These beautiful settings remain a constant reminder of how important conservation and preservation are to ensuring future generations will enjoy the same natural treasures.”
Bill told The Laurel he’s had this book in the back of his mind for about three years. “It took about nine months to write it along with my editor Cindy Adams.” He continued, “I have had the privilege of literally traveling around the world creating more than three thousand paintings, yet North Carolina is a state that I never grow weary of capturing. Its mix of topography and variety of seasons is second to none! It is literally an artist’s paradise.
“I just became a grandfather for the second time last month and it reminds me of the blessings of that this state generously has given to me. Now it’s important to give back on another level and that’s why I’m so excited to partner with six conservation and preservation groups bringing awareness to them and raising some much need dollars for their outreach.”
A portion of all book sales and events will be donated to a select group of organizations, including the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. The artist will be doing an event at the Arboretum on Thursday, June 2. For details, visit ncarboretum.org or call them at 828.665.2492.
Other organizations the artist has designated are Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, NC Beautiful, North Carolina Coastal Federation, and Preservation North Carolina.
North Carolina Beautiful, hardcover, $65.00 (autographed), by William Mangum, is available through the artist’s website (williammangum.com) or by calling 336.379.9200.
Harold Sims
Kevin Tames the Bullies
Probably no one has done more for the homeless and otherwise wanted cats in our area than Harold Sims who rightfully goes by the nickname “Catman.” Over the years, he’s singlehandedly rescued and found homes for hundreds of cats, funding his small shelter by donations and by writing and selling books about cats.
His latest book—Kevin Tames the Bullies—was illustrated by Linda A. Richardson and is his second about a called named Kevin. Kevin, it seems, has a rather protuberant set of fangs that have others calling him the Vampire Cat. The name-calling has left Kevin feeling sad because, no matter how kind he is, the other cats keep teasing him. He doesn’t want to fight back (rightfully deciding that would make him a bully as well) and so he discovers a peaceful way to resolve the problem.
Harold dedicates the book to “the peacemakers of the world and to those who, like Kevin, bring about change in a nonviolent manner ...” The first book in the series was Kevin: The Helpful Vampire Cat, and Harold says a third book is in the works.
Kevin Tames the Bullies, fiction, softcover, $12.95, by Harold “Catman” Sims, is published by Catch the Spirit of Appalachia, Inc., and can be ordered by calling 828.293.0892 or by email to hsims@catman2.org.
Susie Greene
Pocket Guide to Riches
Susie Greene says that, for more than 20 years, she’s been on a spiritual journey that has included studying the laws of the universe in every way possible, including the law of attraction.
“I’ve done it all,” says Susie, an Asheville resident. “I’ve read books, chanted, changed my thinking—heck, even walked on fire.” Still, she says, something was missing. She couldn’t quite understand what everyone was talking about when they spoke of manifesting abundance. “Not along ago,” she says, “I had one of those a-ha moments that stops you in your tracks.” She knew she was discovering something important.
From her personal experience, she tells readers in a step-by-step fashion how to attract money on a consistent basis. Through a collection of honest and sometimes humorous stories, she reveals how to partner with the invisible creative force that works around and through us to bring us what we want and what we need—including money.
“... if you believe that your abundance comes only by way of work or action or struggle, then so be it,” she writes. “But you can just as easily create money by allowing it in.”
Pocket Guide to Riches is written in a straightforward, entertaining fashion. “Best of all, it works!” says John Randolph Price, author of The Abundance Book.
Pocket Guide to Riches: A Formula to Create Money on a Consistent Basis, nonfiction, softcover, $9.95, by Susie Greene, is published by Balboa Press.
