Festival in Cherokee
I’ll be going over to Cherokee, NC, this Saturday, August 29, to be on hand for the Saunook Village Festival. I will be hanging out in the Cherokee Heritage Museum …
Rupert Ross’s Returning to the Teachings
For some time my friend Tom Porter has urged me to read Rupert Ross’s, Returning to the Teachings: Exploring Aboriginal Justice (Penguin, 1996, 2006). I just finished it with the …
Bookmania in Waynesville
On August 1 I joined over 40 other authors at Waynesville’s “Bookmania” Fair, sponsored by Osondu’s Booksellers and held at the First Presbyterian Church. The sunny weather brought out over …
Bookmania in Waynesville
On August 1 I will join forty other regional authors for booksignings and presentations. Barbara Bates Smith and I will present dramatic readings from Red Clay, Blood River, with accompaniment. …
Guns, Germs, Steel, and God
PBS has recently aired a documentary on Jared Diamond’s book and thesis that “guns, germs, and steel” are the driving forces of history as we know it. In his episode …
East Asheville Performance
Barbara Bates Smith and I presented our dramatic readings from Red Clay, Blood River at the East Asheville Community Center on Sunday, May 17. We were joined by Geri Littlejohn, …
Trail of Tears: The PBS Documentary
I have found the first episodes of PBS’s series “We Shall Remain” on the American Experience to be visually as well as historically very well done. Their most recent airing, …
Upcoming Performances
I am pleased that Barbara Bates Smith and I have been invited to present our dramatic readings from Red Clay, Blood River at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC, on …
On War and the Soul
When I wrote up my reflections on military trauma after the JustPeace Conference, I had not yet read Edward Tick’s book, War and the Soul: Healing our Nation’s Veterans from …
Comments on Red Clay, Blood River
I have received extensive comments from Jane Young, a published author in North Carolina, about Red Clay, Blood River. I have excerpted her reflections here. Thanks so much for giving …
On Time, Memory, and Reconciliation
Several things have converged in the last few days to make me think about time, memory, and reconciliation. But it’s not an easy topic! St. Augustine had it right: “If …
Reconciliation with Earth: Some Questions and Probings
Red Clay, Blood River raises the question of what it means to find reconciliation with the Earth. Or is it “reconciliation with Earth”? Perhaps the latter, for we always want …
Review by Wisteria Leigh
The Historical Novels Review Online (a service of the Historical Novel Society) has just published a review by Wisteria Leigh. Here are a few excerpts from her review. “The theme …
Review by JC Walkup
In addition to her story about the novel, JC Walkup simultaneously wrote a review in The Guide, published by The Mountaineer (Waynesville, NC) on February 25, 2009, p. 5, printed …
Local Story on Red Clay, Blood River
JC Walkup, a writer and journalist in Haywood County, NC, has written a story about my novel in The Guide, published by The Mountaineer (Waynesville, NC) on February 25, 2009, …
Dramatic Readings with Barbara Bates Smith
Over the past few months I have been developing a performance of dramatic readings based on Red Clay, Blood River with a well-known regional actress, Barbara Bates Smith. Noted for …