Smoky Mountain River Adventures: A Poetry and Prose Anthology

Status: Now available in Kindle Format $2.99

Old Mountain Press  has published a collection of poetry and short prose by a number of poets.  With the theme of oceans, lakes, rivers (water) or mountains and the people, places, activities and things that celebrate this beautiful part of our country OR summer time. 



 

About the Cover: The publisher of Old Mountain Press at the rear of the raft guiding his family down the Tuckaseigee River near Dillsboro, NC.

Upcoming Anthologies

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About the book  

Anything about oceans, lakes, rivers (water) OR the mountains and the people, places, activities and things that celebrate this beautiful part of our country OR summer time.

Sample of the work:

The Ocean and Me

     Tom Davis

 

I love the Ocean

 

the sound of waves

thrashing the shore

 

the crunch of wet sand

under bare feet

 

the smell of seaweed

and baked on suntan oil

 

the taste of salt water

up my nose

 

I also love the Smokies

 

but my heart belongs

to the sea

 


Tom Davis’ publishing credits include Poets Forum, The Carolina Runner, Triathlon Today, Georgia Athlete, The Fayetteville Observer’s Saturday Extra, A Loving Voice Vol. I and II, Special Warfare., and Winston-Salem Writers’ POETRY IN PLAIN SIGHT program for May 2013 (poetry month). He’s authored several books. Tom has recently completed his memoir, The Most Fun I ever Had With My Clothes On A March from Private to Colonel. He lives in Webster, NC.

 

A Blue Blueberry Summer

Celia Miles

 

AS A GAWKY brown-eyed, brown-haired fifteen-year old, I thought I looked normal. Until periodically, whether or not I’d eaten Almond Joys, Three Musketeers, Hershey kisses, Heath bars or homemade brownies, a pimple would appear, just below my lip on the left side of my jaw. No squishing, wishing, salving, scrubbing, crying or cleaning helped.

     Fearful, in my pimpled state, of meeting the new boy on the street, that summer I stayed home while my younger sisters trotted off to the Saturday matinee. No Tom Mix or Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers—no man ever for me, I thought.

     So I might as well eat. I finished off the cold macaroni with congealed cheese, a greasy drumstick, a cold biscuit, looked in the refrigerator. There sat a gallon of blueberries. I didn’t even like blueberries, but in my pimpled misery I dug in, spooning them heavily with sugar and cream. I ate nearly a quart between mourning the movies and checking my reddened splotch in the bathroom mirror. I kept eating. Splotch getting bigger. I ate some more.

     At the third mirror trip, I gasped at my blue lips, blue teeth, blue tongue. A knock at the door. My smooth-faced sisters were back early. When they didn’t come in I slung open the door, stretched my blue lips, and made a monster face—"Boo!"

     "Hi, I’m Dean." The boy stepped back, recoiled at the image before him. "Uh, we’ve moved here."

     I stuttered and stared. Just then my chattering sisters bounced up the steps; I fled to the kitchen. The next Saturday Dean took my thirteen-year old sister to the movies.

     Me, I still don’t like blueberries

 


Celia Miles is a retired English instructor, having taught at Brevard College and retired from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. A native of Jackson County, she lives and writes in Asheville. She has written novels, short stories, textbooks, a few poems and articles as well as co-editing four anthologies by WNC women writers. She is now working on a third "grist mill mystery."

website: www.celiamiles.com 

 


About the Authors 

A

JOANNA ARNOLD, an enthusiastic French and Spanish teacher, is a regular contributor to anthologies for Old Mountain Press. She earned a Master of French Studies from Auburn University and a Master of Education from UAB. She also holds certifications in Spanish, English, and ESOL. When not teaching, she prefers to nurture her insatiable love for travel throughout Europe and Latin America. Arnold lives in Americus, Georgia, with her husband Bob and their three children.

B

Joan Barasovska lives in Carrboro, NC. Joan is an academic therapist in private practice, working with children with learning disabilities and psychological challenges. She co-hosts a poetry series at Flyleaf Books and serves on the Board of the North Carolina Poetry Society. Joan has poems published or forthcoming in Kakalak, San Pedro River Review, Flying South, Red Fez,, and Main Street Rag. Birthing Age (Finishing Line Press, 2018) is her first book of poetry.

 

Sam Barbee’s poems have appeared Poetry South, The NC Literary Review, Crucible, Asheville Poetry Review, The Southern Poetry Anthology VII: North Carolina.  His second poetry collection, That Rain We Needed (2016, Press 53), was a nominee for the Roanoke-Chowan Award as one of North Carolina’s best poetry collections of 2016.

 

Marcia Hawley Barnes is a Georgia writer and poet.  Publishing credits include “Tightrope” in Stone, River, Sky: An Anthology of Georgia Poems, Negative Capability Press; and “White-out” in Tis the Season, Old Mountain Press.  Barnes has written three children's books, including Tobijah, an award-winning book.  The author is a free-lance writer for the Clay County Progress.  Barnes lives in Towns County, GA.

Frederick W. Bassett is a retired academic who turned to creative writing late in life. His poems have been widely published in journals and anthologies. He also has five books of poetry. His

revised and expanded edition of The Old Stoic Faces the Mirror: A Life in Poems was published in November, 2019. He has two published novels— South Wind Rising and Honey from a Lion—and is editing the third novel of this trilogy—The Winter is Past. Widowed, Bassett currently live in Greenwood, SC, near his son Jonathan and family.

C

Steve Cushman has published three novels.  His first full-length poetry collection, How Birds Fly, is the winner of the 2018 Lena Shull Book Award.

D

Tom Davis publishing credits include Poets Forum, The Carolina Runner, Triathlon Today, Georgia Athlete, The Fayetteville Observer’s Saturday Extra, A Loving Voice Vol. I and II, Special Warfare., and Winston-Salem Writers’ POETRY IN PLAIN SIGHT program for May 2013 (poetry month). He’s authored several books. Tom has recently completed his memoir, The Most Fun I ever Had With My Clothes On A March from Private to Colonel. He lives in Webster, NC.

Suzanne Delaney is a retired RN who has found her creative side in writing and Mixed Media Collage, Her work first appeared in A bridge to All Nations By Poetry for Thought, Hawaii. Recently published in O M P  Happy Holidays and Webster’s Reading Room Suzanne also has a joint Anthology, Poems of Nature, Enchantment and Mystery  with Carol Mays available on Amazon She resides in Asheville, NC.

Nancy Dillingham is a poetry editor for the on-line poetry journal Speckled Trout Review. She is currently featured “Artist of the Year” by Mountain Made in the Grove Arcade.  Each month, their

blog and shop will feature one of her books and one of her poems for their project THE YEAR 2020. Nancy’s latest works are Like Headlines: New and Selected Poems and her chapbook Revelation.  Nancy lives in Asheville, NC.

E

Claire Ellis lives in the desert in Southern California and just finished a little chapbook called stories in glass.

Terri Kirby Erickson is the author of six full-length collections of poetry, including A Sun Inside My Chest, forthcoming from Press 53. Her work has appeared in “American Life in Poetry,” Asheville Poetry Review, Atlanta Review, Poet’s Market, The Christian Century, The Sun, The Writer’s Almanac, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Verse Daily, and many others. Among her numerous awards are the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize and a Nautilus Silver Book Award. She lives in North Carolina.

F

Dena M. Ferrari is a regular contributor to OMP, Dena’s poetry are featured in Westchester Community College of NY Phoenix (1975), Writers Alliance Poets World-Wide  anthologies has many of her published works. Dena’s own books, Poems From the Hearth (2010) Come Closer My Dearies (2013), Charmed Times Three (2015), and her newest book Wyld Earth Magick (2018) shows diversified writing styles, leaving a Living Legacy for her grandchildren. She and her husband, Peter live in Vass, NC.

Lynda Fredsell continues to enjoy writing for Old Mountain Press. She is a regular contributor to the OLLILife Newsletter at Furman University. When not stewing and fretting over her next essay, she’s volunteering in her church and community and taking yoga classes to keep her ole bod in shape. Lynda lives in Greenville, SC, with her wanna-be-hunter cat Sage and a host of birds and white squirrels that know Sage is bluffing.

Peggy Dugan French is a California girl with Minnesota roots. She has been the editor of the small print zine Shemom since 1997.  Her work has appeared in Lilliput, bear creek haiku, Shemom and Whispers.  She has worn many hats over the years, but raising her children has been one of her greatest pleasures. Peggy lives in Cardiff, CA, with her husband, cat and wild garden and blogs at www.peggyduganfrench.com

G

Michael Gaspeny’s third chapbook, The Tyranny of Questions, is available now from Unicorn Press. A novella in verse, it dramatizes a suburban mother’s fight to overcome her demons in the 1960s. Gaspeny’s previous chapbooks are Re-Write Men and Vocation. He has won the Randall Jarrell Poetry Competition and the O. Henry Festival Short Story Contest. Living in Greensboro, NC, he has received the Governor’s Award for Volunteer Excellence in recognition of his hospice service.

James Gibson, Northville, Michigan, featured Native American culture in the five novels in his “Anasazi Quest” series. His eighth novel, To Live or Die in Taiwan was published in 2018. He is presently working on a sequel, To Live or Die in Panama. Review all his books at www.PentacleSPresS.com . Anasazi Princess and Anasazi Journey are now available for your Kindle on Amazon.com.

Marian Gowan is author of Notes from the Trunk, published by Old Mountain Press. Her work has appeared in many Old Mountain Press anthologies and southern regional publications.   She retired to the NC mountains from western NY in 2001, but in 2017, returned to western NY to be near family.  (mariangowan1@bellsouth.net)

Grayson Jones lives in Young Harris, GA, and teaches biology at the college there in the north Georgia mountains. Her poems have appeared in Appalachian Heritage, Corn Creek Review, Poetry South, Slant and The Healing Muse and in an anthology by Old Mountain Press.

H

Kerri Mai Habben is a writer in Chapel Hill, NC. She is a graduate of Peace College and North Carolina State University. Her work has been included in the News and Observer and regularly appears in publications throughout the US and Canada. After allowing it to linger, she is returning to her manuscript of personal essays and poetry.

I

Toby Ives is a retired Food Bank executive who writes to find concise expressions to feelings and thoughts. He lives in Black Mountain, NC.

K

K. D. Kennedy, Jr. has published Eight Books (8) books of poetry, short stories, and essays: Our Place On Time, Waiting Out In The Yard, For Rhyme Or Reason, Progenitors: A Kennedy Genealogy, The Works Of K. D. Kennedy, Jr., Poems Worth Remembering, Family... Forever’s Lovesong, and Truth Instead. He has also published works in over forty anthologies and periodicals.

Jo Koster and her cat Max live in Rock Hill, SC, where they are currently sheltering in place and wondering why they’re not getting more done. She is a member of the Executive Board of the South Carolina Academy of Authors and teaches English at Winthrop University.

L

Patsy Kennedy Lain continues to reside in Hubert, North Carolina.  She writes and paints mostly inspired by her imagination, surroundings and life’s quirkiness.  Patsy’s works have appeared in local papers, several magazines and many anthologies.  She has won multiple awards and honors for her works through her local senior center.

Cindy Larson, a native of Fargo, North Dakota, lived with her husband, Jerry, in southeastern Connecticut for 33 years. They built their retirement home on Glassy Mountain, Landrum, South Carolina, and it was their favorite location for 17 years. Currently they are residents of The Woodlands, a senior living facility on the edge of beautiful Furman University, Greenville, SC.

Blanche L. Ledford resides and writes in Clay County, NC. Her work has appeared in many Old Mountain Press anthologies and other publications. Her book, Planting by the Signs, received the Paul Green Multimedia Award from NC Society of Historians.

Brenda Kay Ledford: photographer, author, poet and blogger, is an acclaimed and well-recognized literary contributor to Southern Appalachia and beyond. Ledford’s writing reads aloud like music. There is beat, changing rhythms, a pronounced call to the reader to come close and see Hyatt Mill Creek rushing to join other streams. Her publication credits and awards are numerous. Her writing is in all Old Mountain Press Anthology series. She lives in Hayesville, NC.

M

Preston Martin has published poems in New Ohio Review, Iodine, Tar River Poetry, Chaffin Journal, Kakalak, Appalachian Heritage, Snapdragon and other journals. He has poems in Every River on Earth: writings from Appalachian Ohio (Ohio University Press) and other anthologies. He writes and teaches in Chapel Hill and Durham, NC.

Celia Miles is a retired English instructor, having taught at Brevard College and retired from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. A native of Jackson County, she lives and writes in Asheville. She has written novels, short stories, textbooks, a few poems and articles as well as co-editing four anthologies by WNC women writers. She is now working on a third “grist mill mystery.” website: www.celiamiles.com

Mona Miracle showcases in poetry and novels her current home of Asheville, NC, and her birthplace of Pineville, KY, located beside the Cumberland River. In spring, Mona’s muse for the river anthology of Old Mountain Press materialized when television news showed modern tech floodgates closing at Pineville for the first time.  A retired  research librarian, Mona enjoys fact-diving as she once enjoyed Scuba diving. Amazon andwww.MonaRaeMiracle.com  display her works.

O

Bev Ohler has been involved in theater in one way or another most of her life; a good part of it in her tenure at Warren Wilson College. She is a teacher, artist/designer and writer, with five books to her credit in addition to many articles, magazines and anthologies including this one. She lives in Black Mountain.

Karen O’Leary is a writer and editor from West Fargo, ND. She has published poetry, short stories, and articles in a variety of venues including, Frogpond, Setu, A Hundred Gourds, bear creek haiku, Shemom, Creative Inspirations and NeverEnding Story. She edited an international online journal called Whispers http://whispersinthewind333.blogspot.com  for 5 ½ years. She enjoys sharing the gift of words.

Martha O’Quinn is a regular contributor to OMP anthologies.  Her poetry and creative non-fiction reflect her southern heritage.  She and her husband recently moved from the mountains of North Carolina to Loganville GA to be near their daughter. They are parents of two, grandparents of four and great-grandparents of five.

P

Nancy Posey, a Florence, AL, native, spent more than twenty years in Western North Carolina before moving midway to Brentwood, TN, to be near grandchildren. She is a teacher, writer, reader, and as of August 2020, a doctoral student at Lipscomb University. She feels most at home with a window view of mountains, rivers, or streams. She writes for Music City Music Magazine.

Michael Potts is the author of three novels, End of Summer, Unpardonable Sin, and Obedience, and two poetry anthologies, From Field to Thicket, and Hiding from the Reaper. He lives with his wife, Karen, and nine cats in Coats, North Carolina.

R

Mary Ricketson lives in the Appalachian Mountains and works as a mental health counselor.  Her poems often reflect the healing power of nature, with surrounding mountains as midwife for her words.  Her recent published collections are Hanging Dog Creek, Shade and Shelter, and Mississippi: The Story of Luke and Marian.

Dwight Roth is a retired elementary school teacher of 29 years, who grew up in the mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He enjoys writing poetry, painting, and music. He had his work in several OMP anthologies. He has self-published four memoirs and several books of poetry and three children’s books. He has nine books or booklets on Amazon Kindle. He and his wife Ruth live near Monroe, NC. He writes daily on his blog: https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com 

Maria Rouphail lives in Raleigh, NC.

S

Dr. Lynn Veach Sadler (Burlington, NC), a former college president, is a writer and an editor. She has published 5 books and 72 articles and has edited 23 books/proceedings and 3 national journals and published 3 newspaper columns. She has 11 poetry chapbooks and 5 full-length collections, 4 novels, a novella, 5 short story collections, 2 nonfiction collections, and 2 volumes of plays (1 commissioned for The First International Robert Frost Symposium), the next forthcoming.

Paul Sherman was born in Maine, raised in Idaho, finished school in Tennessee, stationed in Germany, washed dishes in Washington state before settling in the Black Mountains of North Carolina with his wife. He works at a retreat center close to the Blue Ridge Parkway where he meets many wonderful artists and writers. His poems have appeared recently in Webster’s Reading Room, an OMP Anthology,  and Silverblade.

Rishan Singh is poet based in South Africa.

Shelby Stephenson was poet laureate of North Carolina, 2015-2018.  His recent book of poems is Slavery and Freedom on Paul’s Hill, Press 53.  He lives where he was born, near Benson, NC.

Elaina Sarah Stone’s publishing history includes poetry in Shemom, The Jewish Press, and Mountain Places.  Her professional works, involving children with Autism and literacy needs have been published in Building Blocks magazine.  Ms. Stone just finished her first year teaching students with special needs in 5th and 6th grade. She lives in Pittsford, NY.

Lois Greene Stone, writer and poet, has been syndicated worldwide. Poetry and personal essays have been included in hard & softcover book anthologies. Collections of her personal items/ photos/ memorabilia are in major museums including twelve different divisions of The Smithsonian. The Smithsonian selected her photo to represent all teens from the 1940's-50's. She has been nominated for both a Pushcart Prize, and Best of the Net. She lives in Pittsford, NY.

T

Barbara Tate is an award winning artist and writer. Past President of the Tri-County Society of Fine Arts in Cuyahoga Falls, OH she is a member of the British Haiku Society, the Haiku Society of America and Haiku Canada. Her work has been published in Storyteller, Santa Fe Literary Review, Modern Haiku, Contemporary Haibun Online, Presence, Blithe Spirit, Akitsu Quarterly and Hedgerow, among others. Her work has also appeared in the last 11 anthologies at Old Mountain Press. She currently resides in Winchester, TN, and has a son Duane Booth and 3 grandchildren, Justin, Brandon & Kaitlin in Akron, OH. “Even at my age, I’m still a work in progress,” she says.

Rebekah Timms lives in Greenwood, SC with her cat. She has four sons, seven grandchildren and three great-granddaughters. She has published a memoir of her mother and a collection of poems. She is currently working on a collection of poems, prose and short stories. Rebekah enjoys writing and feels that her work is an expression of her gratitude and joy of life.

W

Patti M. Walsh, a seeker since her first runaway and a storyteller since her first fib, enjoys sharing adventures lived, laughter shared, and lessons learned. Having meditated in hushed ashrams, paddled steamy bayous, summited rocky crags, and trudged corporate canyons, her work has been published by Old Mountain Press, Success.com, and in various trade publications. Patti explores life in Southwest Florida with her husband and two cats and blogs at:  www.WhatTheCatsAreReading.com  .

Elizabeth B. Watson, inspired by the theme recommended by olde mountain man, Tom Davis, recalls her fun Nantahala River rafting adventure. She gives great credit to her husband, a good sport, who didn’t object to her mentioning his wet pants! Today the Watson’s reside in The Woodlands, a retirement community in SC Upstate. Her writing has been a constant and positive occupation throughout this unexpected, difficult pandemic lockdown. Betty takes the mask off when she writes!

Glenda S. Wilkins grew up on a North Carolina tobacco farm, and believed she’d never live beyond the county line. Decades later, she moved with her husband to Europe for a dozen years. Her poems have been published in Europe, Great Britain, & North America. Thus far, she appreciates several poetry awards. She lives on an air strip, Winterville, NC.

Barbara Ledford Wright’s inspiration to write stories about her ancestors comes through many hours of family history research. Her work has appeared in many online entries, journals and anthologies, and almost all of the Old Mountain Press Anthology series. Barbara, lives in Shelby, NC.

Y

C. Pleasants York’s novel Dream Within a Dream shows the doll mentioned in Frozen Charlotte of the Smokies on the front and back covers. The novel was published by Tom Davis of Old Mountain Press in 2011. The tale told by York of Sanford, NC, is popular in the mountains of North Carolina, and has been found in 30 of 50 states. The song Young Charlotte has over 200 versions.

 



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