Yonder 7/16 Reading Recap

It was great to read at Yonder again and meet some new writers/members of the literary community. Thanks Eryk and Lana for the invite. After a full day of Zoom meetings and e-mails, I printed out my excerpt, read it to myself and waved goodbye to Elisha as she went off to swim lessons, and then hopped in my Jetta headed toward Hillsborough. The first person I reconnected with at the reading was SA Cosby. He told me all about touring Europe and New Zealand and Australia. Goals! I also realized that Morgan Sullivan, who I've met and gotten to know at past Yonder readings, was a part of the bill this time around. So I was wrong in my last post. There were a couple of people I knew who were also reading at the event. All of the stories were captivating. Some particularly memorable things were Jen Conley's New Jersey accent, Eryk and Kate Sands' humor, Nathan and Russell's captivating storytelling, Morgan's off the wall premise, and SA's witticisms that were simultaneously incisive and familiar. SA has this way of using similes and metaphors that describe a certain thing in a way that tells you exactly what he's talking about but also gives a sense of local color. Anyway, I really enjoyed his excerpt and hope I can read whatever piece it's from soon. 

I read from the opening of RAPTURE READY and found that the audience was receptive. The audience seemed to be having a really great time with the premise at the beginning. Toward the end, when Amante, the protagonist makes his fatal decision that sends him on the journey he goes on throughout the book, they quieted down. But it seemed like they were listening and interested. After the reading a few people came up to me asking where they could buy the book. One was a teacher. Another mentioned that they'd gone back to their hotel and talked about the story with their spouse before deciding to return to the bar and ask where they could find out what happens to Amante. All I can say is I'm working on it. Truly. I hope you'll get to read the novel soon.

My parents came to the reading. So did John, a friend Elisha and I made at a bar on Franklin Street a little while ago. Bob Burtman, who I spoke with on WHUP, was there. Tracey Reynolds did a great job hosting. Elisha couldn't make it because of the swim lesson. She usually takes the pictures I post here so, I wondered if I would end up with an image to post alongside this recap. But after I'd finished reading and received some praise from writers and audience members as I left the stage, I checked my social media (I guess that makes me a real millennial) and noticed someone had sent me an image. I opened it and saw myself reading. Then I sent a "Thank You" message and learned that the person who'd sent the picture was in the back of the venue and had been to a reading of mine before. I encouraged him to say "hey" before the event was over. The room was full and I had a great spot near the front—otherwise I would have tried to find him and thank him in person. Anyway, after we took the group picture above and signed a poster, Sam, who'd sent the image, came up and introduced himself to me. He's deeply involved in fiction in North Carolina. I also learned that Nathan, who was a featured reader, had attended the NCSU MFA and graduated the year before I began to attend. We knew some of the same people. Small world!

I told the people I gave this site to that I'd have some updates concerning the status of RAPTURE READY and my other fiction soon. I'm still planning to. Keep checking back. Thanks for listening and caring!