Several years ago, I started learning pottery. I took my first class, which involved ust clay, a couple tools, and my hands. That was called “hand building” for obvious reasons! The next step in my learning was the pottery wheel. I assumed I’d catch on quickly because I’d done well at the first step.
Times were hard and about to get worse.
Between the years 2000 and 2010, the U. S. lost over 700,000 jobs in textile mills and apparel factories. Many of these were in North Carolina, where textile was once a major industry, more important than furniture or tobacco.
This is the setting of my most recent novel, Circle Back Around, which takes place
As I write this post I am in Raleigh awaiting the arrival of a “monstrous” hurricane. It’s a strange feeling knowing that, despite currently sunny skies, in two days it will come and there’s nothing we can do but prepare water and flashlights
There’s this awkward situation. You know the one I mean. We’ve all been there. You go to a restaurant or to a party. Almost everyone knows one another.
You’re the new kid. You introduce yourself and everyone does the same with a vague, generic smile. And that’s often as far as it goes. They then turn to the