On the Same Plate

The culmination of Ashe County's Literary Festival is the On the same Plate luncheon.  Each guest was served a tasty lunch of quiche, salad, fruit and a wonderful piece of apple cake.  Four of the festival's authors, and one moderator, held a discussion regarding the role of family in their writing.

Georgann Eubanks spoke about the stories her 90 year old mother tells her.  Her recollection usually doesn't match with her mom's recollection of events, but that doesn't make the story any less true.

Wayne Caldwell wrote Cataloochee,  which takes place in the mountains of North Carolina following the Civil War.  It wasn't until he was older that he found out his roots were in Cataloochee .  He has gotten to know his ancestors through his research and fictional writings.


Darnell Arnoult grew up in a family of women, her grandmother, great-aunt, her mom and herself.  Her mom had some mental health issues that clouded her childhood.  Although she writes fiction, many of her stories deal with mental health problems and writing has helped her to understand and accept her mother's illness.


Mark DeCastrique is a mystery writer and he explained how important "voice" is to writing, especially mystery books.  Writing from the first person lets the reader learn clues and details along with the main character.  Third person writing is great for thrillers as the reader knows who the protagonist is, while the characters in the book do not.

Mark DeCastrique, Wayne Caldwell, Ken Burrows, Darnell Arnoult, Georgann Eubanks

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with these five wonderful authors.  They were insightful, witty and a lot of fun.  They talked about some personal issues using humor and candor.  I won a door prize of a yellow mum plant that is sitting proudly in my living room.  I can not wait for next year's On The Same Plate Luncheon.