Novel writing – at least this novel writing – was hard. Very very hard.
Blog
A Field, A Quilt, A Novel
In his seminal novel Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe gave us an extraordinary place. In writing my new novel, INDIGO FIELD, I was inspired in part by Wolfe’s lush and vivid prose descriptions of extraordinary North Carolina places. To me, Indigo Field is a place so full of layers of history and mystery, plants and […]
Buxton Village Books
My friend Gee Gee Rossell at Buxton Village Books on Hatteras Island has been selling my books for years. The perfect store: small and rambling.
McIntyre’s Books
Everyone needs a “Home Bookstore” and McIntyre’s is mine!
They’ve launched all my books in “The Barn” and they’ll be launching Indigo Field on Saturday March 18, 2023, at 11 a.m., Fearrington Village. Pittsboro, NC. Be there!
Author Chat with Valerie Nieman
A sentence from the book: “Me, I’m a creature like a bear or raccoon, I can live lots of ways. Daughter of Andrew, cleaner of boats, sailor of Bellatrix that I built from a derelict, roamer of woods, scientist, stalker of plants and animals, teller of tales.”
Consider the Field
The hay field changes every week in the growing season, and in North Carolina the wild growing season starts in winter. By February, I’m seeing these tiny flowers everywhere in low grass, by the side of the road, in my ragged lawn, a promise of coming spring. Such a bright blue! Smaller than my smallest fingernail. Hopeful, upright, the color of the sky, they remind me that once I was a child, low to the ground myself, noticing everything.
The Dutch House
When I was young, my family lived with my grandmother for a time in Washington, D.C. , in one of the old neighborhoods with houses of colonial brick and Italianate stucco. Grandmother’s house was a colonial, with perfect symmetry: a window on each side of the front door, three windows across the top, and a little […]
Free Summer Writing Camp
I have been, like all of us, desperate to make a difference, escape isolation, connect during this time of coronavirus. I have observed during my spring classes on Zoom what a tremendous difference it makes for me and others to simply connect through writing–even on social media. I am not good at making masks. But […]
Summer Writers Plan
Dear Kitchen Table Writers, Below is a list of summer reading I plan to do — and I recommend for you. I’ve dipped into each of these and am eager to find a hammock somewhere and read for hours on end. Share your reading list in the comments! Summer Reading List Let Me Out Here, […]
