Did you know that Andrew Carnegie underwrote the construction of 2509 libraries? That in 2014, a library in San Antonio became the first library without newspapers, magazine, or books? Or that a library in Portugal supports a colony of bats to eat the moths and beetles that feed on the books? These questions, their answers, … Read more
What would you call several unicorns if you were so lucky to see them? What does “avantular” mean? And why will your children and grandchildren smile when you tell them what the potentater is? If you love word play, you’ll love the other 47 questions and answers that go with the above.
This audience-participation program works best with a group that enjoys language, as they will be intimately involved and asked to volunteer further contributions to the lecturer’s list of Southern dialect, contemporary slang, folk etymologies, Spoonerisms, and more.
Yes, this topic makes for an active open discussion, with more audience participation than most. Not only learn how authors utilize setting almost as character, but also learn from others what stories, especially SC stories, might be worth adding to your nightstand for future reading.
People love stories set in the South, and many adore the South Carolina setting. Pat Conroy, Dorothea Benton Frank, and Mary Alice Monroe have capitalized on our state in their fictional stories. What is it about South Carolina that makes for a good backdrop? What part of South Carolina isn’t clearly depicted, and what is … Read more
So many people want to write their life’s story. But where does one start, and how much is intriguing enough to engage readers? Learn how not to start when you were born, and how to identify the aspects of your history that merit the storytelling, and how to spin it like a novel and garner … Read more
Setting matters, and Hope Clark’s Edisto Mystery Series clears the shelves of the Edisto Bookstore as fast as they appear. There’s something about the jungle setting, about crossing the McKinley Washington Bridge to that island, that makes for an intriguing, suspenseful setting for mystery. Learn how choosing a strategic setting for stories can make as … Read more
How a bribe led to a book deal. Hope Clark always wrote but never thought that writing could be a career. But after being offered a bribe, and finding herself in the midst of a federal investigation, she quickly realized that life made for great fiction. In a journey of starts, stops, and ample rejection, … Read more
Most writers are introverts, meaning they not only find it difficult to take their ideas from thought to paper, but they fear submitting, publishing, and speaking. Using tricks and tools from her book The Shy Writer Reborn, C. Hope Clark walks potential writers through the landmines of writing and publishing so that their dreams of being … Read more
