The Jury Is Out

A Few Words on the Fly

Dear readers,

I'm sitting in my county's courthouse, doing my civic duty. Or rather, waiting to do it. The first group of 40 potential jurors have been called into the courtroom for questioning by the prosecution and the defense. If that group doesn’t yield enough suitable jurors, the rest of us will go inside to be parsed out for the remaining spots. Given at least three hours waiting time, I figure this is a good chance to gather my thoughts and share a few bits of news. 

Most of us who live in the South will agree that the last few months have been hellacious. My family and friends in North Carolina were directly affected by Hurricane Helene and they’re still dealing with the aftermath. With the election and the perpetual cycle of news sucking up the world's attention, I fear that the people in Western NC who are still living in tents as temperatures drop, who have no potable water, and who have lost homes, businesses, jobs, pets, and family members, will be forgotten. Please remember them. If you have the ability to help, BeLoved Asheville and the Mountain Mule Packers are two organizations that are doing fabulous work. Some people wouldn’t be alive without those mules.

I'm grateful that, back in August, I followed the nudges from my intuition (for once) and canceled my fully booked Story Camp women's writing retreat, which would have happened at the end of October. The decision was one of the hardest I've ever made. Despite having, at the time, no logical reason for the cancellation, the women I had to call accepted the news with compassion and tenderness. Several hurricanes, illnesses, and other life events proved I made the right choice as all of us continue to wrestle with a variety of challenges. I'm waiting for the nudge to reschedule, date TBD, and the waiting list is now forming.

Writing Update

I've been writing long enough to know that in times of stress, I'm unable to immerse myself in longer works like my serialized novel, Dancing at The Orange Peel. There are gaps that need attention, which will require a broad assessment of the story that my brain just can't process right now. That won't delay my sharing the next episode here though, so watch for that in the next week or so.

What I am able to work on during stress-filled times are short stories. They offer a welcome distraction inside a small container that I can hold onto when longer or bigger writing projects seem overwhelming. I've been tossing around several premises and characters, with the setting being–of course–my fictional town of Kent Creek, NC. 

The 1955 launch of the tranquilizer known as Miltown (meprobamate) has really grabbed my attention as a driver for a new story. Among other uses, the drug was prescribed to pregnant women to alleviate anxiety! By the end of 1956, one in 20 Americans had used this drug, and by the end of 1957, it accounted for one-third of all prescriptions written in the US. Comedian Milton Berle promoted it frequently on his television show.

Another (connected) story will relate to President Kennedy’s Commission on the Status of Women, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt until she died in 1962. For another story: since 2019, after listening to a podcast on modern tourism, I've held on to the disturbing knowledge that in the 1960s, acid would be poured into some public pools to keep Black people out. So many ideas are stirring for additional installments of THE KENT CREEK CHRONICLES, and until I can resettle enough to focus on the novel, these stories will be my work.

What I'm Reading

• I love that Substack has become a place to find great fiction. One selection that grabbed me recently is The boutique store down the road, by

  Oleg
  , which was a guest post on
  Soaring Twenties
  . Now I want some of Dolores’s Turkish coffee.

• Other writers’ thoughts about writing the past fascinate me, and I particularly enjoyed the questions Amy Abbott poses in Studying the Past Is Fun. I wholeheartedly agree, by the way. 

• I just finished reading George Masa: A Life Reimagined, by Janet McCue and Paul Bonesteel, on my dad’s recommendation. Growing up in Asheville, North Carolina, I'd always heard stories about a Japanese photographer who lived there in the early 1900s. He was instrumental, along with Horace Kephart, in documenting and campaigning for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. But he was a private man and much of his backstory before arriving to work in Asheville, first at the Grove Park Inn, then later in his own studio, has been unknown. A few years ago, Bonesteel gathered enough of Masa's story to create a documentary and then he partnered with McCue to write what is one of the most captivating bios I've ever read. 

• The next book to graduate from the TBR pile to my hands is Cannibal Kiss, by Daniel Odier, an odd novel, translated from French, about a novelist who ends the last lines of his book, but the main character continues to exist. It's a short one, so the next ones I have lined up won't have long to wait.

• Christy, by Catherine Marshall has been added to my ever-growing TBR list. This book seems to have many elements of story that grip me: Appalachian setting, challenged but resilient female protagonist, a foundation in truth (it's based on Marshall's mother), and themes of faith, spirituality, and personal responsibility.

What I’m Talking About

My co-hosts on the Around the Writer’s Table podcast and I have put up some great episodes recently. I recently interviewed author Pat Spears about her newest novel Hotel Impala for episode 49. In episode 50, the three of us discuss writing with, around, and through trauma. In the next few days, a new episode will drop in which Melody interviews historical fiction author Trish MacEnulty. Today, I was scheduled to interview Jen Schomburg Kanke, author of the poetry collection The Swellest Wife Anyone Ever Had and host of the Meter and Mayhem podcast, for a future episode… but, well, jury duty. 

What I’m Listening To

Thanks to a local yoga instructor and multiple reminders from the Universe recently, I've been steered back to my love of music. With a dad who was a DJ for over 50 years, I grew up around music, so I don’t know how I let it drift out of my life sometimes. Stand Like An Oak has been a comforting reminder of my resilience. The lyrical voices of sisters Leah and Chloe of Rising Appalachia always soothe me. Take a listen and fold up your fears.

This newsletter has been an exercise in releasing perfectionism and learning to write on the fly. I'm “all thumbs” and clumsy at using Google docs and other apps on mobile, so please forgive any typos.

Ah! They’ve released us. Durn it. I didn’t even get to the questioning phase.

See you next time.

Your grateful scribe,

Gina

Thanks for reading! Please also check out my serialized novel Dancing at The Orange Peel, one story in an evolving collection of THE KENT CREEK CHRONICLES. Here’s the story Directory. Watch for new episodes monthly, as well as more items from THE MAILBAG, where you’ll get extra backstory, research tidbits, travel and writing updates. Don’t miss a thing by subscribing.