In late 2012, my friend Charion Stacy Slocum –owner of Foxleaf Bookstore, in Cookeville, Tennessee –asked Vicki Cypcar and me to run a writer’s workshop at her business. The last time I taught a creative writing class, a decade ago, I geared it toward researching the markets and submitting a piece to a magazine. We are living in a new world now, though –so Vicki and I decided to focus instead on discussions about how to break into the new digital publishing frontier.
It has been a very productive six months. The core attendees at our sessions varied greatly in their writing and publishing experience; some had seen their works already released in print, some had already tested the e-book waters, some had hardly turned on a computer. We have all come a long way. In that time, I have met some great people –and some very talented ones, as well –and developed some valuable friendships. And I have learned a lot, both from articulating my own thoughts and experiences and from insights provided by those who were ostensibly my students.
In this volume you will find short works by several of those who participated in our Foxleaf experiment. Most of the pieces are fiction, but there are also nonfiction and poetry contributions. Some of our authors have books available online –you will find them listed at the end of the book –and the others will have books soon.
You’re bound to find something in here you like (probably several somethings)… and you may just find some authors who will become your favorites. Check it out!
In future blogs I will highlight the various authors and tell you a little about their story in the anthology and their other works. These are some talented people.
Sounds like a very productive writer's workshop.
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