JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The site is updated daily with information about every book, author, illustrator, and publisher in the children's / young adult book industry. Members include published authors and illustrators, librarians, agents, editors, publicists, booksellers, publishers and fans. Join now (it's free).
Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.
Blog Posts by Tag
In the past 7 days
Blog Posts by Date
Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Asheville, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 12 of 12
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: Asheville in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
I could not believe that it is July already, the year has practically disappeared-well, not really-but certainly half of it went within a blink of an eye. They say that time flies as you become older, I always used to chuckle when I heard that well worn phrase, I no longer laugh, for it is true.
May and June was spent with family and friends. A trip to Asheville, NC, and then Hilton Head in SC, the visit with friends provided a much appreciated release from daily routines.
Asheville provided the Biltmore Estate, the largest, and most magnificent private house in the country, still managed by the Vanderbilt descendents, all 255 rooms. The Biltmore Inn, a hotel on the estate provides an early morning coffee service in the lobby, and Cedric's Tavern, also on the estate, has an excellent Shepherd's Pie. The property maintains many gardens, a conservatory, where occasionally you may hear a concert, and they are well known for their wines-it is simply an amazing place to visit any time of the year.
The center of Asheville is filled with artists, galleries, street musicians, many restaurants, and a long forgotten bohemian lifestyle-that is alive and flourishing in Asheville.
Hilton Head Island is nestled among trees, it is lush, quiet and reserved, with golf opportunities it seemed on every corner, and only a 45 minute drive to Savannah, GA-the city teeming with history, grand squares, and verve. The day I was there was hot and humid, but the riverfront was filled with laughter, and good humor. Southern charm at its most effective.
After Hilton Head, and many walks along the shore, I went to Myrtle Beach, for more sand and ocean, but the primary reason was to see my grandson play baseball-he’s on a travelling team, and is quite the little slugger.
All the places beckon back, for the sheer escape from reality. It is almost like writing, you become caught up in the setting. There is nothing quite like a walk along the shore as the sun rises, or sets. All the cares seems to be swept away with the rushing tide.
Once week in June was spent in Charlotte, to watch my granddaughter graduate from junior high school, and my grandson from grade school, many celebrations that included a boat ride on Lake Norman.
Now we’re into July, and in just three months Rome, and the cruises await. I still need to book a few excursions, chief among them a trip to Masada and the Dead Sea.
In the meantime I need to finish the novella-this one seems to be a never ending process. I have been asked to do a sequel to Blood Art, but not the characters I already started to work with, and that means another project has been added, but first there must by an end to the novella.
Hope you have a safe and wonderful summer.
Cheers,
MargotJustes
Blood Art
A Hotel in Paris
A Hotel in Bath
A Hotel in Venice
A Fire Within
www.mjustes.com
0 Comments on Summer by Margot Justes as of 7/8/2016 8:51:00 AM
I thought I'd share a few pictures from the Biltmore Estate. I'm heading back Monday, on my way to Charlotte to check out the Christmas decorations. I've read they're wonderful, and I'll post pictures.
The ham sandwich, the best I've had in many, many years was from Cedric's Tavern on the estate. The excellent coffee, and freshly squeezed orange juice came with breakfast.
Have a happy and thankful Thanksgiving.
Traditions evolve and change, that is life. I didn’t grow up with any, but I made sure a few were created when my daughters were born. Something as simple as going apple picking every fall-that tradition continued with my grand-kiddies until my older daughter moved out of state.
Then there was the annual pizza party at Halloween until we moved-now I see pictures of the kiddies dressed in costumes. I still hand out candy, but no longer decorate, except for a few treasured pieces I kept, all the other stuff was given away prior to my move.Do I miss it? Yes, but I understand that things change.
Thanksgiving was always at the house, and both daughters always made it home for the holiday, until my older daughter married, and then the tradition moved to her house, and continues to this day. It is such a beautiful, poignant, and quiet holiday-one of my favorites.
Adapting to new situations as life progresses, and making them work is essential, otherwise we lose track of what is important.
I hope to establish a new tradition with my daughters, hopefully next year we’ll all be able to spend a couple of days in Asheville, and then head to Charlotte to celebrate Thanksgiving. That may not be possible because the young kiddies are in school. It will be a work in progress, but even one night would be a delight.
I spent a couple of days in Asheville this October, and fell in love. It would be lovely to start the season and see the Biltmore Estate decorated for the holidays.
I had a Christmas tradition as well, the annual Ruth Page production of The Nutcracker in Chicago, that tradition continued until the production ceased to exist. Then we tried other productions, a play, high tea-anything that celebrated the spirit of the holiday. It continues even now, it’s been adapted, but it continues. Christmas is a jubilant, boisterous holiday filled with light and spirit. There are always many things to do during the season.
Our traditions have evolved to suit our needs because our lives have changed. This is the first time in many, many years, that I live close to my younger daughter, and I love it.
She was away at school for many years, and would always come home for the holidays, but grad school and post doc work put her in a college environment for a long time. For her this will be a first Christmas sinceshe started college that she doesn’t have to travel, because this year we’ll all be together in Alexandria.
Cheers,
MargotJustes
Blood Art
A Hotel in Paris
A Hotel in Bath
A Hotel in Venice
A Fire Within
www.mjustes.com
0 Comments on Changing Holiday traditions by Margot Justes as of 1/1/1900
During our second day in Asheville, hurrying by Blue Spiral 1, I saw work that I again could not live without. Was it living outside of corporate pressures that made me so open to art, so wanting? Was it just being happy, and a little carefree? Was it the half-dream I'd had of my mother as my husband drove the mountain hills, who seemed to be saying, Live now?
I don't know, but these wall sculptures by Vicki Grant, an architect-turned-artist, deeply appealed to me. They are clay based, with oil pigment sheens. They cradle fossils, shells, porcupine quills. They are perfectly square and impeccably unique, but together they tell stories. I bought four and will be hanging them today in our kitchen, just ahead of the rush of Christmas.
Two photos, then. One taken quickly in the gallery, and one snapped this morning with a macro lens.
To view the work well photographed, and to learn more of this artist's story, go here.
To get a glimpse of the other work I bought in Asheville (by Akira and Larry Blount), go here.
0 Comments on My second Asheville art purchase: wall sculptures by Vicki Grant as of 12/14/2012 11:00:00 AM
and had to bring one of these extraordinary mixed media sculptures home. Made of cloth, wood, metal, objects found and objects grown, these dolls (but they are so much more than dolls) spoke with fervent intensity to me. I am at work on a book whose main character is, in so many ways, this stunning creature above. I am, of course, obsessed with birds. I felt as if this artist had seen into my very soul and made generous room for my winged heart.
I saw the work in an Asheville art gallery (Ariel) in the afternoon. By some twist of fate I was able to meet Akira herself later that evening at a reception. I have since learned that she has been published more than 30 times in leading craft magazines, that she curated 500 Handmade Dolls: Modern Explorations of the Human Form (a book I now own), and that her work is on permanent display at the MUSEE des ARTS DECORATIF, Paris France, CLINTON LIBRARY, Little Rock, AR, SEKIGUCHI DOLL GARDEN, Izu, Shizuoka Japan, ROSALIE WHYEL MUSEUM, Bellevue, Washington, MUSEUM OF ARTS and SCIENCES, Macon, Georgia, and the TENNESSEE STATE MUSEUM, Nashville, Tennessee. In addition, her work has been exhibited all over the world, including the White House Collection of American Craft.
Her site, featuring far more of her work, is here.
I don't impulsively buy art; that isn't my nature. I didn't think twice about buying this. A Christmas present to myself, perhaps, for years and years to come.
2 Comments on In Asheville, I fell in love with the work of Akira and Larry Blount, last added: 12/13/2012
We spent last weekend in Asheville, NC. When we invited my son and his girlfriend to come along, Eric said he’d heard that Asheville was a hangout for hippies. I said, great, I still have a few tie-dyed and fringed items stashed away somewhere.
These days tie-dye is made in China and shipped around the world. Except, maybe in Asheville. Like Boulder, Colorado, Asheville is an anachronism, an eddy in time where children of the 60s and 70s might feel at home. Except they’d wonder about the cell phones. And the iPad we saw in a coffee shop.
Asheville has good intentions—there are green remodeling companies and a food co-op, dog-friendly stores and restaurants, and signs in all the store windows downtown—Thank you for buying local.
There’s money in Asheville—the woman in the yarn store said people move there from San Francisco and New York City and build mansions and castles in the mountains. But it’s still laid back and frayed around the edges enough to suit me. Even if some of the fraying is factory-applied, like the jeans you buy already faded.
It is an odd mingling of commune and company town. When George Vanderbilt chose the area for his “country estate,” it was just a little crossroads. He put up the largest private home in America, then constructed Biltmore Village, with houses, a hotel, a church, and a hospital, so when his friends got off at the train station they wouldn’t be in the middle of nowhere. The Vanderbilt descendants still own the house and are the number two employers in the area. They are also major real estate developers. Everyone we talked to had only good things to say about the family.
We stayed in a condominium in the former hospital in Biltmore Village. With its rollerskate-worthy hallways and oversized public spaces, we felt like guests in somebody’s mansion.
While we were in Asheville, the town was abuzz because President Obama and his wife were visiting for the weekend and staying at the Grove Park Inn. Everywhere we went we heard reports of Obama sightings.
We walked into Malaprops Bookstore, and found a small shrine of Obama-related books near the front door. Likely, they’d heard about his visit to indie Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City, where he bought books for his daughters.
3 Comments on Back In the Hills, last added: 5/2/2010
That is so cool! Maybe the mountain and waterfall you visited can inspire something in your Seven Realms Trilogy! :D I can totally picture the scenery on Hanalea or something.
We drive through Asheville on our way to Kentucky every Christmas and Easter. My dad hates the highways in Asheville. Too confusing, he says.
I've been to Chimney Rock and have a postcard to prove it. It made me lightheaded looking down and everything was a speck. Made me feel like a giant, or God. XD
I prefer the nice trimmed edges of Charlotte, though. The city where history is smack-dab in your face and yet everyone remains oblivious. *sigh*
I have a relieved feeling knowing that it's not just a random abnormality of mine that the mountains inspire a story to be told. It happens to professional writers, too. :) Another worry washed away for me.
We left Raleigh via Asheville on our way to Nashville. A day of 'villes. We were about to start our musical portion of the road trip. Music is so important when we travel. Whether it's taking turns being DJ to keep the drive interesting, or actually touring the iconic places I'd only dreamed of, music was what it was all about for the next three or four destinations.
Beautiful wildflowers of North Carolina on our drive to Asheville.
Mx and I stopped at The Biltmore Estate. Wonderful. For me, the most amazing part of the estate was the library. Ooodles and ooodles of leather bound books and Napoleonic memorabilia, including a desk that was rumored to have been used to display Napoleon's cremation urn. There was a lovely chess set too, made with a red marble. George Vanderbilt was a bachelor when he built The Biltmore, a fact that blew me away. Most bachelors I know are stuck in what I call the brown phase, usually involving lots of brown plaid furniture with brown-on-brown accents. George dodged disaster in 1912, when he booked passage on the S.S. Titanic, then canceled at the last minute. Dude, George rocks! Mx and I shared a wonderful lunch and basked in the beautiful sunshine.
I love Asheville.
We headed to Nashville after stopping at the winery on the estate [most of the grapes are imported from California's Russian River Valley] and set our sights on Nashville.
We stayed at the Best Western and loved it. Took a walk to Robert's Western World and danced to Phil Hummer & The White Falcons. They were awesome. A young guy asked Mx and I to dance and we had a lot of fun trying to keep up with Jim, who happened to be a dance instructor. He made us look good...Jim learned how to dance from his grandfather. His grandfather said that it was the only way to keep women happy. The other tip Jim had for keeping the conversations lively was reading "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader." Learn something new everyday.
This weekend I’m taking myself to see Terpiscorps’ production of The Many Deaths of Edward Gorey. It’s an original ballet and it looks odd & wonderful with dancers playing various Gorey characters while the performer playing Gorey swirls around the stage in a long faux-fur coat. See Alli Marshall’s spotlight of the show for Xpress, and Paul Clark’s profile in The Citizen-Times (which includes the great factoid that Gorey was a Buffy fan).
0 Comments on Gorey in Asheville as of 1/1/1900
Maud Newton: Blog said, on 6/24/2007 10:28:00 AM
[…] A review of The Many Deaths of Edward Gorey, a ballet and “study in strangeness,” reveals that Gorey was a Buffy fan. (Via.) […]
The reading at Malaprop’s was great fun. My workshop is an excellent, funny group, and it was gratifying & meaningful to read with them. Age range in our group goes from low 20s to high 70s, and everyone’s working on a different form of long-term project, including essays, memoirs, short stories and novels, so lots of variation & voices.
We had a packed house — one of the benefits of having 10 readers, I guess. My mom was in the audience, which added a recital-like patina to the proceedings for me. I think it was the first time she’s seen me perform since 9th-grade band. Back then, I played bass clarinet and my solitary goal for the final concert was to get through “Stars and Stripes Forever” without my lips falling off. For this reading, my goals were 1. to not trip over my purse on the way to the podium, and 2. in the event that I did trip over my purse, to not use that as an excuse to bolt from the bookstore, forcing our writing program’s director Tommy Hays to announce over the microphone, “It looks like we have a runner, y’all.”
Neither of those things happened, so I say: success!
Alas, Lowell was unwilling to wear the gold-spangled blazer, black knee socks, sunglasses and accordion I had laid out for him on the bed, so I had to nix my own planned outfit (see top — even if you’ve already looked once, it’s a picture that rewards repeated viewing).
Related Link: As an end-of-semester present, our instructor, Elizabeth Lutyens, gave us copies of her favorite short story of the year, Ian McEwan’s “On Chesil Beach.”
0 Comments on Chatty reading recap as of 5/22/2007 9:31:00 AM
This Sunday, I’ll be reading with my writing-workshop classmates at Malaprop’s as part of the Writers at Home series. The reading starts at 3, and should last about an hour (additional details here). We’re reading firedrill style with everyone confined to 5 minutes or less, so there’ll be minimal deadly droning. It’s a great bunch of writers — and if you live in Asheville, I hope you’ll be able to join us.
I don’t know what I’m going to wear, although I’m leaning toward one of these outfits (especially the very, very top one).
1 Comments on Upcoming Malaprop’s Reading, last added: 5/21/2007
Short notice but Malaprop’s is hosting some great readings this week:
• Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, 7 p.m.: Matt Lee and Ted Lee are here for The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, which, despite some deep reservations re: chow-chow, was Tingle Alley’s favorite gift to give over the last holiday. (Ted was a friend in college; of course back then he went by “Lucky,” spoke with a thick Jersey accent, and frequently ducked class to go to the dog races. Good old Lucky Lee, it’s nice to see he’s made something of himself.) Event details.
• Friday, April 13, at 7 p.m.: Gary Shteyngart reads from Absurdistan. Gary Shteyngart! In Asheville! It seems so unlikely, like we should present him with a ceremonial jar of chow-chow or something. Event details.
• Saturday, April 14, at 7 p.m.: Ron Rash reads from his new collection, Chemistry and Other Stories. I’ve heard Rash read before and he’s an unusually good & thoughtful reader. Recommended. Event details.
0 Comments on Asheville readings: Lee Bros., Gary Shteyngart & Ron Rash as of 1/1/1970
One reason for my prolonged absence: The discovery that the Asheville-Buncombe library system now allows you to request books online. O brave new world! It used to take a form and fifty cents (the last request I remember filling out this way was for a book on chicken composting*; it was about ten years ago, I’m not sure what exactly I had in mind) — and you had to pick up your book downtown. Now, you can direct the books be delivered to your local branch, in my case, the sweet little East Asheville branch just around the corner.
One of my favorite correspondents, Erik (also known as e — coiner of Penvy), described the joys and challenges of this arrangement in an email:
The first time I used the Los Angeles Public Library’s totally awesome online request system I enthusiastically requested about two dozen books, assuming they would trickle in over the coming months.
Most came in about two days. When I came in I was forced to pretend that, of course, I intended to read all 47,000 pages in the next couple of weeks. Why, was that a problem?
The librarian who had lugged all the titles out of the back–things like “The Heaviest Book You Will Only Pretend to Read” and “Mo’ Pages, Mo’ Problems”–said to me, “We’re thinking of naming a shelf after you.”
* A quick Google of chicken composting turns up this. Can this be true? Why hasn’t the liberal media been onto this threat? The mind reels. And then goes ka-boom.
1 Comments on Books on demand, the dealer on speed dial., last added: 1/26/2007
This is so beautiful. I can see why you had to have it. I just went to her website and fell in love with every piece.
Amazing tale, Beth!!! My heart is soaring for you!!