I have occasion this morning, though, to share a couple of examples that writers . . . well, let’s just say a writer could do worse than to follow these two leads.

The first is a link making the Internet rounds this morning, quoting a letter from Flannery O’Connor in which she warns about the dangers of “too much interpretation.”  A writer should have plenty of aspirations and education, but it’s always possible to have too much of both.

The second is to note an appearance in the Triad next week by Pulitzer-winner David McCullough.  Some of you may have heard me tell this story before: when I was a young bookseller, a co-worker and I worked an off-site event featuring Mr. McCullough.  We were handling the book-sales table at the reception following his talk.  The crowd was well-heeled and high-powered, and we were beneath the notice and regard of all but a few.

Mr. McCullough walked in, flanked by big-wigs who were – and there’s really no other word for this – fete-ing him.  He was a big deal; they were big deals; they belonged in each other’s company.

But just a step or two into the room, he noticed our table over in the corner, said “Excuse me” to his companions, and walked straight to us.  He offered his hand and said, “Hello, I’m David McCullough.  Thank you so much for being here tonight.  I really appreciate it.”  He stayed and talked to us for a few minutes, until he had to get back to the bash being thrown in his honor.

I already admired his writing – still do – but from that moment on, I admired him so much more, and I’ve never forgotten his example.

“I love bookstores,” said Anne. “Always have, always will. There is nothing more exciting than wandering in, gazing at the colorful books arrayed in the front window and on the tables, looking at posters or photographs of my favorite writers adorning the walls. When my children were young, they became adept at luring me into a bookstore because they knew I could not refuse to buy them a book. Toys, I could turn down; candy, a definite NO. But a book–I’ve always been a sucker for a book.

“Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of visiting several bookstores across North Carolina. I love the different personalities I’ve discovered in each one–I even love the sameness of the big chains like Barnes & Nobles. But I confess, it is the indie bookstores that really captivate me.”

Read the full interview here.

Established in 1981, the Ragan Fine Arts Award honors the memory of Sam Ragan (1915-1996), a poet, longtime editor of the Raleigh News & Observer and the Southern Pines Pilot and North Carolina’s first secretary of cultural resources. (He also worked for the old Wilmington Morning Star and Sunday Star-News back in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Past recipients include Wilmington author Clyde Edgerton, the poet and novelist Fred Chappell, Tom Wicker, Jerry Bledsoe, the editor and literary historian Louis D. Rubin Jr., the poets Jaki Shelton Green, Lenard Moore, and Ruth Moose, jounalist Dannye Romine Powell, and newscaster and Wilmington native David Brinkley.

Gerard is the author of several novels and essay collections. His newest essay collection, The Patron Saint of Dreams, will be released in March, 2012 by Hub City Press. He has served on the Board of the North Carolina Writers’ Network and helps facilitate the annual Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition through the Department of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

It’s worth remembering that the booksellers are the ones who will hand-sell your book long after your event is over, so it literally pays to be kind.

Bottomline: don’t be a problem author. Instead, make a great (lasting) impression.

Dzanc co-founder Steven Gillis said, ““Why limit ourselves to just putting out a handful of print books each year? I wondered. So we had the idea—why not look into all the great works of literary fiction that were published before digital publishing existed and bring them back as e-books?”

To read the full article, click here.

“Rash’s Depression-era novel tells the story of a timber baron, George Pemberton, and his ruthless wife, Serena, who move to Western North Carolina to create a business empire. When Serena finds out she cannot bear children, her anger becomes directed toward her husband’s illegitimate son.”

The film will be shot in and around Asheville, which was recently the location for the upcoming book-turned-movie, The Hunger Games, also–coincidentally–starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Ron Rash is the winner of many awards, and the author of four prize-winning novels; four collections of poems; four collections of stories; and a children’s book. A recipient of the O. Henry Prize, he holds the John Parris Chair in Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University.

• What’s the Problem with Free? by Kristen Lamb
• Ebooks Encourage Authors To Stare At Their Shoes Instead Of Shoot For The Stars by Suw Charman-Anderson
• The Self-ePublishing Bubble by Ewan Morrison

“Flycatcher does not necessarily aim to be a regional publication, though we do think of the southeastern United States as our literary ground. All our editors are either from or live in metropolitan Atlanta, and if we are going to try and send out roots, this is where we must start.”

At the very least, Issue 1 features plenty of southerners, including a poem by NCWN faculty member Rosemary Royston titled, “Deciduous.”

Also from the website:

(Flycatcher is) interested in publishing most any genre or art form that imaginatively explores place and that establishes, invokes, grapples with, or reaches for a sense of belonging to place. While traditional genre boundaries are quite important to us, we are also interested in work that stretches, destabilizes, or blends such boundaries. (“Form follows function,” as Frank Lloyd Wright put it.) We are also interested in publishing self-contained excerpts from longer works, whether fiction or nonfiction. Please see our “Submission Guidelines” tab for more information.

Check out the inaugural issue here.

Here’s the full press release from UNC Press.

According to the Raleigh News & Observer, Ms. Torrey was the first female director of UNC Press. During her tenure, the institution won four Bancroft Prizes from the trustees of Columbia University for books about the history of the Americas. She also won two Francis Parkman Prizes (top book on American History), six Fredrick Jackson Turner Awards (a first scholarly book in American History), and three Fredrick Douglass Prizes (book on slavery).

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Torrey says she plans to “keep up with university press publishing by reading lots of really good university press books!” adding that she will start her retirement by “doing some more volunteer work, both in the non-profit sector and in the political arena this fall.”