Storied Charlotte

Of Rocks and Rifles and the Geology of War

March 14, 2022 by Mark West

When Scott Hippensteel agreed to give a presentation on his book Rocks and Rifles: The Influence of Geology on Combat and Tactics during the American Civil War as part of UNC Charlotte’s Personally Speaking Series, he had no idea that the war in Ukraine would coincide with his talk. Scott’s presentation will focus on the role that geology played during the Civil War, but the current situation in Ukraine adds another dimension to his presentation. After all, with Russian tanks sinking in mud, it is clear that geology is also playing a role in the war in Ukraine.

Scott’s presentation will take place on Tuesday, March 29 at 7 p.m. at The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City. The event is open to the public at no charge, but attendees are asked to register to attend the event. For more information about Scott’s presentation, please click on the following link: https://clas.charlotte.edu/rocks-and-rifles-influence-geology-combat-and-tactics-during-american-civil-war

Rocks and Rifles is about the Civil War, but Scott is not a history professor. He is an associate professor in UNC Charlotte’s Department of Geography and Earth Sciences. He earned his PhD in geology from the University of Delaware. I wondered how a geologist took such an interest in the Civil War, so I contacted him and asked him how he came to write Rocks and Rifles. Here is what he sent to me:

I grew up in central Pennsylvania, not too far from the most famous battleground from the Civil War, Gettysburg. As a younger man, I spent countless hours walking the boulder-strewn battlefield, studying the tactics and strategies used by the soldiers and considering how the huge rocks influenced the fighting. These experiences fostered a love of history—both American and natural—and eventually, after taking as many undergraduate classes in history and science as I could, I decided to pursue graduate degrees in geology.

When I joined UNC Charlotte in 2000, I was fortunate enough to join a research project that has been ongoing for the last twenty years and remains the most fascinating investigation I’ve ever been a (small) part of: the geoarchaeology of the Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley. On this project, I used my training as a sedimentologist and micropaleontologist to help determine how the submarine filled with clay and sand and why the bodies of the crew were so incredibly well preserved. I had found a direct link between geology and Civil War history.

Jump ahead to 2017 when I compelled my poor wife and daughter to visit yet another Civil War battlefield while on a “family” vacation. This time we ended up at Stones River, where the rock outcrops formed natural trenches that proved so ideal a defensive position for federal soldiers during the fierce fighting in the winter of 1862. These outcrops were dubbed the “slaughter pen” by the soldiers because of the results of the intense and sustained fight, and they reminded me of another “slaughter pen”, located between Little Round Top and Devil’s Den at Gettysburg. Here, as well, the geology had a great impact on the combat. I soon discovered many other ways that rocks influenced the fighting: soldiers piled cobbles and boulders for cover, soldiers threw rocks when ammunition ran low, soldiers even used rocks to explode the percussion caps on their otherwise defective and useless rifles. It occurred to me that even though there were dozens of books on the terrain (and geology) of the Gettysburg battlefield and hundreds on the actual battle, there were no books relating the two subjects; I decided to write one.

Rocks and Rifles: The Influence of Geology on Combat and Tactics during the American Civil War was the result. Each chapter of the book starts with a discussion of the strategic situation prior to a particular campaign and then explores the geology of the battleground, followed by the history of the battle. The final portion of each chapter is the most important—an analysis of how the rocks influenced the strategy, tactics, and combat. I targeted the book for people with an interest in geology or history or both. I had so much fun creating this book that I decided to write two more. The second of these will be published by the University of Georgia Press next year: Sand, Science, and the Civil War: Sedimentary Geology and Combat. This book concentrates on the fighting along the shorelines and Mississippi River.

During my Personally Speaking presentation, I plan on discussing my most recently published (and fun!) book: Myths of the Civil War: The Fact, Fiction, and Science behind the Civil War’s Most-Told Stories. Each chapter of this book tackles one “myth” or trope from the Civil War that has been repeated over and over in our history books. One chapter is called “The Myth of the Civil War Sniper,” in which I use physics to demonstrate that the history books are wrong – sharpshooters simply never killed individually selected officers from more than a half-mile away. There were no fields during the Civil War where, after the fighting ceased, “bodies covered the ground so densely that a person could walk from one side of the field to the other without ever touching the ground.” It never happened. Bullets never fell with the intensity of hail. Rifle muskets did not “revolutionize” the way battles were fought. And so on. This book has been met with outstanding reviews, especially from Civil War historians, so it delights me, as a natural scientist, to have contributed to a field outside my own.

Through his work as a scientist with an interest in military history, Scott adds to our understanding of how geology factors into the fighting of wars. He also shows that the much-ballyhooed division between the sciences and the humanities is counterproductive. There are lots of ways in which the science disciplines and the humanities speak to each other. The interdisciplinary nature of Rifles and Rocks is what makes the book so insightful. By writing books that combine science and history, Scott is making innovative and original contributions to Storied Charlotte’s library of scholarly works.

Tags: Civil War

Little Women through History

March 06, 2022 by Mark West

Little Women at 150, a new collection of scholarly essays about Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, has an official publication date of March 8, 2022. It is fitting that the University Press of Mississippi is releasing this collection during Women’s History Month, for Little Women has had a tremendous impact on the history of women ever since the first part of the novel came out in October 1868. For more information about Little Women at 150, please click on the following link: https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/L/Little-Women-at-150

Daniel Shealy, the editor of Little Women at 150, is my friend and long-time colleague in the English Department at UNC Charlotte. Over the years, he has edited numerous books related to Alcott, including The Selected Letters of Louisa May Alcott, The Journals of Louisa May Alcott, Alcott in Her Own Time, and Little Women: An Annotated Edition. During his long career, he has become well known among the other leading Alcott scholars. In editing Little Women at 150, he has drawn on his many connections in the field, and the result is a collection of eight original essays by top Alcott scholars. As the reviewer for Publishers Weekly states, “the contributors do a great job of considering the classic novel in original, surprising lights.”

The contributors to Little Women at 150 provide insights into why Little Women has had such a lasting impact on the history of American literature. These scholars look at Alcott’s novel from different perspectives, but they all discuss the relationship between Alcott’s novel and the larger world. A number of the contributors point out that Little Women reflects 19^th-century values and attitudes. However, as is discussed in several of the essays, Alcott’s novel also raises questions about societal values and attitudes, especially as they relate to gender roles. In the words of Roberta Seelinger Trites, one of the contributors to the collection, Alcott “creates a philosophical space in which her female characters can articulate ideas about language, nature, and self—and without fear of censure.”

In thinking about Little Women at 150 as it relates to Women’s History Month, I am in agreement with the contributors that Alcott’s Little Women should be viewed as one of the canonical texts in the history of American literature and that Alcott should be included among the pantheon of major American authors from the 19^th century. However, the impact of Little Women on women’s history is not limited to the 19^th century. I assigned Little Women as required reading in my graduate children’s literature seminar this semester, and it sparked a lively debate about the book’s portrayal of gender roles during our class discussion. It’s clear to me that Little Women still speaks to contemporary readers. In his introduction to Little Women at 150, Daniel writes that the collection “looks backward and forward in time, not only to the influence of the novel upon readers and writers but also to the future.”

I commend Daniel for editing this thoughtful collection of essays and for helping us better appreciate Alcott’s place in history. I am fortunate that one of the world’s leading Alcott scholars is just down the hall from my office, and Storied Charlotte is fortunate that Daniel has pursued his career as a scholar and teacher at UNC Charlotte.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s Community Read Program

March 01, 2022 by Mark West

In 2014, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community launched its first Community Read program. The original tagline for the program was “One Book, One Week, One Community.” The featured book that year was Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. During the span of a week, various people (including me) led discussions of the book at the different branches of the library. The Community Read program has evolved over the years. It is now a month-long program involving numerous community partners and featuring several books that all speak to a common theme. For this year, the theme is gentrification and its impact on established neighborhoods.

This year’s Community Read program kicks off on March 1, 2022. One of the people who is coordinating this program is Meryle Leonard, the Assistant Director of Outreach at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. I contacted Meryle and asked her for more information about this year’s Community Read program. Here is what she sent to me:

The Community Read program has been a part of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s programming footprint since 2014. I am excited, grateful, and humbled that I’ve had the opportunity to not only be a part of this program but manage and implement the program for many years. This is such a rewarding experience because it has allowed me to meet wonderful people and work with many community agencies and organizations, building long-term relationships and partnerships. This outcome didn’t happen by chance, it developed as the program evolved.

The Community Read program has intentionally changed, grown, and evolved from a library-led program to a community-led program supported by library staff and resources. When the program began, the library selected and offered one book for the community to read and planned programs for one week to support the book. Now with over 30 partners, the program has books and events throughout the month of March, for all ages and reading levels. This year, our signature title is Tomorrow’s Bread by Anna Jean Mayhew. Our companion titles are children’s books Windows by Julia Denos and The Blue House by Phoebe Wahl. We have two middle-grade books, Take Back the Block by Chrystal D. Giles and The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya. For teens and those who enjoy the young adult genre, we included the book Pride by Ibi Aanu Zoboi. All the books have the common theme of gentrification and urban renewal. Readers, book clubs, and students can get together virtually or safely in person to discuss the additional themes found in all the books. Speaking of finding the books, most books are available for check out in several formats, but also available for free at all our locations, while supplies last. This is a far cry from our one book-one-week program.

The goal is to engage 10,000 people, 10% of our county in the program. With this ambitious goal, we have an interactive component, Beanstack Reading Challenge. Participants can log reading and activities. We invite everyone to register online for our virtual authors’ events featuring Anna Jean Mayhew, Chrystal D. Giles, and Ibi Zoboi.

Let’s get on the same page. Consider this an official invitation to join the March 2022 Community Read program. Information about the Community Read can be found on our website.

I have had the pleasure of reading Anna Jean Mayhew’s Tomorrow’s Bread, the signature title for this year’s Community Read program. Tomorrow’s Bread is a historical novel set in Charlotte in 1961. It shows how Charlotte’s urban renewal program affected the lives of the people whose homes and neighborhoods were destroyed to make room for new real estate projects. Published in 2019, this novel provides a vivid portrait of daily life in the African American neighborhood of Brooklyn just before it was bulldozed. In my opinion, Tomorrow’s Bread is a perfect choice for this year’s Community Read program, for its Charlotte setting resonates with Charlotte readers. The book’s historical insights provide today’s readers with a better understanding of how the gentrification process has shaped the history of our city and the development of our neighborhoods.

I urge everyone to participate in this year’s Community Read program. By reading books in common and discussing them together, we can make Storied Charlotte a true community.

Tags: reading challenge

Pamela Grundy’s Legacy: Three Centuries of Black History in Charlotte, North Carolina: How the Book Came to Be

February 21, 2022 by Mark West

Community historian Pamela Grundy’s latest book, Legacy: Three Centuries of Black History in Charlotte, North Carolina, has an official publication date of February 25, 2022. However, the book’s origin story goes back to 2017 when the University of North Carolina Press published her earlier book titled Color and Character: West Charlotte High and the American Struggle over Educational Equality. At the time, Ryan Pitkin wrote for Charlotte’s Creative Loafing, and he interviewed Pamela about Color and Character. Not long after he conducted this interview, Creative Loafing shut down, but Ryan and some of the other former staff members of Creative Loafing banded together and launched Queen City Nerve in 2019. In his role as Editor-in-Chief of Queen City Nerve, Ryan reconnected with Pamela, and she became one of Queen City Nerve’s contributors.

Pamela wrote a seven-part series for Queen City Nerve on the Black history of Charlotte. The first installment of this series appeared in Queen City Nerve on July 31, 2020, and the series concluded in 2021. With some editorial assistance from Ryan, Pamela expanded this series into a book, and the result is Legacy: Three Centuries of Black History in Charlotte, North Carolina, which Queen City Nerve is publishing as a paperback and as an e-book. For more information about this book, please click on the following link: https://qcnerve.com/legacy/

In her Author’s Note, Pamela writes, “I’ve drawn on sources that include census records, newspapers, family documents, photographs and oral history interviews to offer an overview of the lives, challenges, and accomplishments of the many generations of African Americans who have lived in the Charlotte area.” https://qcnerve.com/legacy-black-history-in-charlotte/ Ryan adds, “Pamela’s steadfast work has resulted in an engrossing, comprehensive look at Black History in Charlotte, and I have learned so much during this process that I can’t wait to share with our readers.” Since February is Black History Month, it is fitting that Legacy: Three Centuries of Black History in Charlotte, North Carolina will be officially published this month. This book provides readers with a concise overview of the history of Black culture in Charlotte. As Pamela documents in her book, African Americans have played important roles in the history of Storied Charlotte from the origins of the city to the present day.

Take Back the Block: Chrystal D. Giles’s Middle-Grade Novel about the Making of a Young Activist

February 14, 2022 by Mark West

Chrystal D. Giles’s debut novel, Take Back the Block, takes on the timely issue of gentrification and its impact on Black neighborhoods. As Chrystal makes clear in her “Author’s Note” at the end of the novel, the “story is loosely based on my hometown of Charlotte. … Charlotte is experiencing an affordable-housing crisis brought on, in part, by gentrification.” Chrystal provides more information about her background and her Charlotte connections on her website: https://www.chrystaldgiles.com/

In her novel, a sixth-grade boy named Wes Henderson learns that his neighborhood of Kensington Oaks (which is based on several Black neighborhoods in Charlotte) is on the verge of being purchased by a real estate developer. If the deal goes through, Wes’s family and his neighborhood friends would all have to leave their homes. This news troubles Wes. “There is no way I could leave,” he says. “The Oaks is my home. I’ve done everything here—met my best friends, learned how to ride a bike, made my first three-pointer on the court at the park. … How could I leave all of that?” Although he would rather spend his time playing video games, Wes speaks up on behalf of his neighborhood. He gradually takes on the role of a community activist, and he succeeds in winning over others to his cause.

I recently contacted Chrystal and asked her how she came to write Take Back the Block. Here is her response:

I wouldn’t consider my path to publication a traditional one. In fact, I never even considered writing professionally as a path for myself until just several years ago. That said, I have always been a lover of books and the art of storytelling, so maybe my real journey starts with my childhood.

As a young child, I was happiest in a corner by myself reading. One of my favorite things was returning from the local public library with a stack of books; I’d spend hours sinking into a new world. Books were my first friends. That love of books did continue throughout my teenage years but I ultimately chose a career in accounting and finance and books took a backseat to my job, my family, and life in general.

That love of books did come rushing back when my husband and I started preparations for my son’s birth in 2015. We began collecting books for his library; we bought all the classics and some new stories. Then I started looking for very specific books—books that reflected my Black family—stories of us just living, learning, and being champions of our own worlds.

I was saddened that those books didn’t exist in the way I pictured them in my mind. After doing some research, I was even more saddened by the statistics on diversity in children’s literature and I set out on a path to write stories with Black children at the center.

After writing, editing, querying, and receiving rejections on several picture books, I decided to take a topic from a story I was working on and expand it into a middle-grade novel. That topic was gentrification and the displacement of people from marginalized communities. My hometown of Charlotte—like many other American cities—is experiencing rapid gentrification, and I wanted to provide an up-close view of a community fighting to remain whole. Take Back the Block was born.

It is incredibly hard to debut a novel during a pandemic but I am thrilled at all the recognition it has received. Perhaps, I am most proud it has been selected as a featured title for this year’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library’s Community Read program under the theme of urban renewal and gentrification. What a great way to get books directly into the hands of local readers and continue some needed conversations.

Be on the lookout for my next novel, it is set to publish in early 2023 from Random House Books for Young Readers.

In writing Take Back the Block, Chrystal shows how political activism often grows out of a simple decision to speak up. When Wes speaks up for his neighborhood, he begins forging a new identity as a community activist. As we celebrate Black History Month, it is important to remember that Charlotte’s most famous civil rights leaders all spoke up, called attention to injustice, and advocated for marginalized peoples. They made their voices heard, and in the process, they helped shape the history of Storied Charlotte.

Tags: gentrification novel

Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin: Charlotte’s Writing Duo

February 07, 2022 by Mark West

The art of writing fiction does not lend itself to collaboration. It is hard for two people to write in the same voice and share the same vision for the unfolding of a story. Every once in a long while, however, two fiction writers are so in synch with each other that they are able to create stories together. Such is the case with Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin. This married couple collaborates on every aspect of fiction writing, from constructing initial plotlines and envisioning central characters all the way down to revising individual sentences.

Known for their fantasy adventures novels, Gail and Larry are among Charlotte’s most prolific writers. Together or separately, they have published in the neighborhood of fifty books. Both Gail and Larry have written successful novels on their own. Gail Martin’s first big success came in 2007 with the publication of the epic fantasy novel The Summoner, the first of the four novels in the Chronicles of the Necromancer series. She then went on to write many more fantasy novels, novellas, and short stories. Larry is the author of Salvage Rat, a science fiction novel published in 2018 as well as other works. Together, however, they have written dozens of fantasy books, including the recently released Wasteland Marshals: Volume One, a collection of four related novellas set in a post-apocalyptic world.

I recently contacted Gail and asked her for more information about her collaborative writing with Larry. Here is what she sent to me:

Larry N. Martin and I are a married writing team. I have been writing all my life and Larry has always been a very important behind-the-scenes part of the writing process since before my first book, The Summoner, was published in 2007. We’ve been “officially” co-authoring series since Iron & Blood in 2015. He took on a full-time role in 2011 when he left his corporate job, and since then writing and publishing is the Martin family business. We now have four series under the Gail Z. Martin/Larry N. Martin flag.

Regardless of the name on the cover, the process is the same for all the books. I usually do the first draft, and then send it to him for revisions, questions, ideas, and refinement. We trade the manuscript back and forth until it’s in the final format (which can be a dozen or more revisions) and then on our self-published books he handles the formatting while I contract the editing and cover art, and handle the marketing/advertising. Since we average publishing a book a month among the differing cover names (Gail Z. Martin/Morgan Brice/Gail Z. Martin & Larry N. Martin), that keeps us pretty busy! We have 12 active series that span epic and urban fantasy, steampunk, post-apocalyptic adventure, portal fantasy, space opera, and MM paranormal romance.

The Wasteland Marshals series is “Boondock Saints meets The Walking Dead” with a dash of Supernatural (only oddly enough, a bit more hopeful). It’s an action-packed near-future post-apocalyptic thriller full of grim ghosts, legendary creatures, shifters and elemental spirits, brave survivors, loyal friends, and found family.

Shane Collins and Lucas Maddox are the last two US Marshals after a global cataclysm that destroyed most of modern civilization. They’re still on the job, fighting the good fight, although they’re no longer fully human and maybe not entirely sane. Their territory is primarily Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. The books frequently happen in places where Larry and I grew up, so it’s fun to work in those familiar spots with a whole new twist.

Wasteland Marshals: Volume One came out on February 1 and includes the first four novellas: Wasteland Marshals, Witch of the Woods, Ghost of the Past, and Shutdown Crew. Each of those novellas was originally published individually in ebook and paperback. The omnibus is available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and–hopefully in the near future–audiobook, from Falstaff Books. We have a new contract with Falstaff for two longer books in the Wasteland Marshals series in 2022-2023.

For readers who want to know more about Gail and Larry and their various books, please click on the following link: https://ascendantkingdoms.com/ For a guided tour of the places used in the Wasteland Marshals series, please click on the following link: https://youtu.be/ni-4uvsOuIU Larry talked about the Wasteland Marshals series on a panel discussion as part of the ConTinual online convention. To hear his comments, click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/1340269512/videos/419561259954889/

The collaborative work of Gail and Larry Martin is one of the reasons why Storied Charlotte is known as a center for fantasy and science fiction writing.

Tags: fantasy adventure novels fiction writing

Kicking Off Black History Month with a Talk by Historian Dr. Erika Denise Edwards

January 31, 2022 by Mark West

February is Black History Month, so it is fitting that Dr. Erika Denise Edwards will be talking about her award-winning book titled Hiding in Plain Sight: Black Women, the Law, and the Making of a White Argentine Republic in February as part of UNC Charlotte’s Personally Speaking Series. Her virtual presentation/conversation will take place at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. This free virtual event is open to the public. Register to join the conversation.

Dr. Edwards is an Associate Professor in UNC Charlotte’s History Department, where she has been teaching since 2012. An expert on the history of the Black experience in Argentina, she draws on this expertise in Hiding in Plain Sight, which the University of Alabama Press published in 2020. In discussing her book on the Women’s History Network blog, Dr. Edwards wrote:

Set during the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, my book, Hiding in Plain Sight: Black Women, the Law and the Making of a White Argentine Republic, focuses on women … who took matters into their own hands and sought to better their lives and the lives of their children by escaping their blackness. By examining the household as the epicenter for this transformation my book intentionally makes black women, enslaved or free, the protagonists of the whitening. Moreover, the exploration of the household activities such as domestic chores, daily interactions, and raising children created various forms of intimacy and emotional attachments that created the spaces for African descended women to maneuver and transform into Spanish women in Argentina.

Known as a “white” country today, my book examines how African descended women contributed to the making of a white Argentina (1776-1840). It focuses on the city of Córdoba, in order to expand our understanding of race relations beyond Buenos Aires. A contrast in many ways to Buenos Aires, Córdoba served as a good case study because of its small size. I was able to cross-reference various sources which detailed the lives of various African- descended women. …

At its core, this book is about resistance. In general, rebellions and revolutions have encapsulated black resistance, but this book engages “everyday forms of resistance.” African descended women adapted to the choices they were given, signifying that they did not passively rely on others to secure their social advancement. Instead, while remaining hidden in plain sight, they adapted not only to the rules of the household but also forged their own experiences.

For readers who are interested in learning more about Hiding in Plain Sight, the publisher has additional information on its website: http://www.uapress.ua.edu/product/Hiding-in-Plain-Sight,7299.aspx For readers who want to know more about Dr. Edwards, please click on the following link: https://www.erika-denise-edwards.com/

Through her work as a historian who specializes in Afro-Latin America, Dr. Edwards helps us better understand that Black history extends well beyond the borders of the United States. Her Hiding in Plain Sight adds an international dimension to the ever-expanding library of books that make up Storied Charlotte.

Amber Smith’s Transformation from Art Curator to Author of Books for Young People

January 25, 2022 by Mark West

I met Amber Smith a few weeks ago at Park Road Books, where she was signing copies of her just-released, middle-grade novel titled Code Name: Serendipity. I bought a copy of her book and talked with her about her experiences as a Charlotte author while she was signing the book. She told me that she moved to Charlotte from Buffalo, New York, and that she launched her writing career after moving to Charlotte. I was going to ask her about her three young adult novels, but then some actual young adults (previously known as teenagers) showed up, so I said goodbye to Amber and headed home with my new book in hand.

Since meeting Amber, I have done a little research into her career, and I was surprised to learn that she worked as an art curator before becoming a full-time author. She published her debut young adult novel, The Way I Used to Be, in 2016, and the book went on to become a New York Times bestseller. She then wrote two more critically acclaimed YA novels: The Last to Let Go, which came out in 2018, and Something Like Gravity, which appeared in 2019. Her three YA novels deal with serious and sometimes troubling topics, such as gendered violence, but her new middle-grade novel is more upbeat in tone. For readers who want to know more about Amber and her books, please click on the following link: https://ambersmithauthor.com/

Code Name: Serendipity is about the special relationship between an eleven-year-old girl named Sadie and a stray dog named Dewey. The story is also about Sadie’s family, which includes her two moms, her older brother, and her grandfather. The plot, however, revolves around Sadie’s mission to rescue Dewey. In some ways, the book reminds me of Charlotte’s Web in which a girl named Fern sets out to rescue a pig named Wilbur. In both cases, there is a magical bond between the girls with the animals they set out to save.

Code Name: Serendipity is already receiving very positive reviews. For example, the reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote, “Smith creates three-dimensional characters and a warm family dynamic, sensitively portraying learning differences and a beloved grandparent with dementia, and exploring difficult feelings without offering easy answers. Sadie’s struggles with friendship and being taken seriously ring true, as do her sympathetic voice and heartfelt love of dogs.”

I contacted Amber and asked her for more information about her writing career and her latest book. Here is what she sent to me:

While I’ve always been involved with the arts and creative writing, it wasn’t until I moved to Charlotte nearly thirteen years ago that I began seriously writing fiction. I grew up in Buffalo, New York, and also went to college there (I have my BFA in Painting and my Master’s in Art History). I moved down to Charlotte after grad school in 2009 (joining the huge Western New York contingent that lives here) to work at The Mint Museum, where I spent six years in its modern and contemporary art department, honing my nonfiction writing skills.

Spending so much time with visual artists, writing about their lives and work, helping to tell their stories…I eventually felt inspired to start telling my own, which led me to begin writing what would become my debut young adult novel. After I sold that book, I made the difficult/scary/rewarding decision to leave the museum world to be a full-time writer. I think a huge part of that decision was knowing that there is such a strong literary community here in Charlotte, from its indie bookstores and libraries, and all the amazing writing groups, I have connected with so many fantastic writers who live here. Honestly, their counsel and friendship has been life-changing.

Code Name: Serendipity is my fourth novel, but it is my first for middle-grade readers (age 8-12). After writing three young adult novels that dealt with pretty serious, hard-hitting topics, I felt like I needed to give myself a bit of a break, and so this book is a departure into new territory for me. It’s about a lonely eleven-year-old girl who meets a stray dog and discovers they have a deep, magical connection. Like all of my books, this one stemmed out of something from my life. I started writing Code Name: Serendipity not long after I had to say goodbye to my sweet dog, Darwin. He was with me for twelve wonderful years, a constant source of love and companionship through all of life’s ups and downs.

Ever since I was a little kid, a huge part of my heart has been reserved for animals. I’m especially passionate about rescuing those misunderstood animals who either have behavioral or health issues that make second chances hard to come by (my wife and I currently have seven of these rescues—two dogs and five cats). This book was inspired by Darwin, and each of these beautiful misfit souls who just needed to be shown a little love and patience. I firmly believe that animals are here to show us humans how to be the best versions of ourselves – and that’s really the message at the heart of Code Name: Serendipity.

Amber is participating in a virtual event titled “Writing Younger Characters” with Paula Martinac. Hosted by Charlotte Readers Podcast, this event will take place on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, from 5:30 to 6:30. For more information about this event, please click on the following link: FACEBOOK LIVE with AMBER SMITH & PAULA MARTINAC

As a lover of words, I like Amber’s use of the word “serendipity” in the title of her book, for I think that “serendipity” is a cool word. My dictionary defines the word as “the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.” Serendipity is involved when Sadie finds Dewey in the woods near her home. I think that serendipity was also involved when Amber found her voice as a writer after making Storied Charlotte her home.

Tags: middle-grade novel

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s New Bookmobile

January 18, 2022 by Mark West

When I heard about Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s new bookmobile, I immediately flashed back to my first visit to a bookmobile. I grew up in the mountains of Colorado where the closest public library was many miles away from my home. However, every month the county sent a bookmobile to the Inter-Canyon Fire Department, where both of my parents served as volunteer firefighters. My mother would bring my brother, sister, and me to the bookmobile, and we each got to take home a book or two. The first book I checked out was Curious George. I was about six at the time, but I felt very grown-up when I checked out the book all by myself. Our bookmobile had once been a bus from the 1940s before being converted into a bookmobile, but we loved it despite its run-down appearance. We always looked forward to our bookmobile day.

Like the bookmobile from my childhood, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s new Mobile Library is intended to serve patrons who cannot easily visit one of the library’s branch locations. The new Mobile Library, however, is not a converted old bus. It is a state-of-the-art, 33-foot-long vehicle with its own generator and solar panels. It has an ADA-compatible wheelchair lift, a speaker system, free Wi-Fi, eight public-use Chromebooks, and sufficient shelf space for 2,400 books, audiobooks, magazines, CDs and DVDs. For more information about the Mobile Library, please click on the following link: https://www.cmlibrary.org/mobilelibrary

The Mobile Library will begin serving the community on January 18, 2022. Saul Hernandez, the Mobile Library Coordinator, is looking forward to the launching of this new outreach service. I contacted Saul and asked him for his thoughts on the Mobile Library and the role that it will play in the Charlotte community. Here is what he sent to me:

The Mobile Library—which we’ve nicknamed MoLi around here—offers the opportunity for people to embrace library services in their collective backyard, even those who might not enjoy convenient access to brick-and-mortar locations. As MoLi begins its first voyages into the community, we’re excited to connect to people who are already passionate about library services as well as those who might be unfamiliar with the amazing services that are available through the golden ticket that is a Charlotte Mecklenburg Library card.

Some Mecklenburg residents might experience limitations in connecting to these services. Some who might otherwise be a passionate library customer may find themselves experiencing barriers to our services, only needing an opportunity to avail themselves of these golden opportunities. That’s where MoLi shines; we aim to provide opportunities to connect to the library throughout Mecklenburg County, to act on the principle of equitable access to information, and to deepen our existing connection to the community through the opportunities that MoLi provides us.

As we begin using MoLi to serve our communities, we are looking for opportunities to collaborate with customers to learn how we can improve our library. I’m reminded of a young man I met recently who expressed interest in starting a small business and borrowed related reading material. The privilege of being allowed these little glimpses into people’s goals, into their lives, and to help connect them to the tools they need for self-actualization is the engine that drives MoLi. I hope to meet this young man again, to learn where his book has taken him, and to deepen the service MoLi provides by offering resources and workshops related to his goals. The Mobile Library is in its infancy, but like our entrepreneur friend, we have long-term goals and passion to make our home, Mecklenburg County, that much stronger.

When you see MoLi on the road, give us a wave! Come aboard and take advantage of the services and resources that the Mobile Library offers. Share a story about some of your personal goals; we may have just what you need to help you achieve your life goals. We are looking forward to growing alongside you!

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library will hold a special ribbon-cutting event to mark the arrival of MoLi. Billed as the Mobile Library Community Celebration, this event will take place on January 29, 2022, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Eastway Regional Recreation Center, 150 Eastway Park Drive. The arrival of MoLi is indeed a cause for celebration, for the new Mobile Library will undoubtedly enrich Storied Charlotte by bringing books to readers and by providing library services to residents who might not be able to visit one of the library’s branch locations.

Authors Assemble: Writing Organizations and Groups in Charlotte

January 10, 2022 by Mark West

One of my former students recently sent me an email about her resolution for the new year. “I have one big goal for 2022,” she wrote, “and that’s to finish the YA novel that I started while I was a graduate student at UNC Charlotte.” She asked me if I had any advice for her related to her goal. I gave her the same advice that I often give to Charlotte writers who are looking for help or support with their writing. I advised her to join one of Charlotte’s organizations for writers. Such organizations can provide writers with support, encouragement, and a needed break from the solitude of a study. Charlotte is home to several organizations and groups for writers, but for the purposes of this blog post, I will focus on three of them.

Charlotte Lit – The Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, more commonly known as Charlotte Lit, is a nonprofit arts center that holds more than 100 events annually. Founded in 2015 by Kathie Collins and Paul Reali, Charlotte Lit declares on its website that its mission “is to celebrate the literary arts by educating and engaging writers through classes, conversation, and community.” Charlotte Lit offers a wide variety of writing classes and workshops. For example, this month Kathie Collins and Larry Sorkin are co-teaching a course called “Mythology and Depth Psychology: A Crash Course for Writers.” Charlotte Lit also publishes a literary journal titled Litmosphere, sponsors or co-sponsors lectures and readings by writers, and holds writing contests. For more information about Charlotte Lit, please click on the following link: https://www.charlottelit.org/

Charlotte Writers Club – Founded in 1922, the Charlotte Writers Club (CWC) has a long history of supporting Charlotte-area writers by offering workshops, helping writers find critique groups, and sponsoring contests. The CWC meets monthly, and usually, a prominent writer gives a presentation at the meeting. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 18, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. At this meeting author, Megan Miranda will give a presentation titled “Finding the Right Way to Tell Your Story.” For more information about the Charlotte Writers Club, please click on the following link: https://charlottewritersclub.org/home

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s Writing Groups – The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library sponsors a variety of writing groups, all of which are currently meeting online. Some of these groups are intended for adults while others are for children or teenagers. For example, on Wednesday, January 19, the Independence Regional Branch is sponsoring its “Adult Poetry Club” from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Also on January 19, the ImaginOn Preteen Writing Group meets from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information about the public library’s writing groups, please click on the following link: https://cmlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/search/q=writing%20group

The ready availability of writing organizations and groups is one of the reasons why Charlotte is home to so many successful writers. Aspiring Charlotte writers, such as my former graduate student, can easily find the help and encouragement they need to achieve their writing goals and make their own contributions to Storied Charlotte’s ever-expanding library.

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