In the past year, Carteret Writers has advanced our technology tools – created a new website, produced a weekly blog and built a forum to assist writers with their technology questions. All this is thanks to our unstoppable Secretary Autumn Ware (and husband Jack). I was privileged to spend the afternoon with Autumn for some great conversation, insight, and a fabulous signature drink.

Let start with a reader’s favorite, what was your favorite book as a child?

The Ghosts by Antonia Barber. I remember exactly where it was on the bookshelf in the library since I would check it out so frequently. It’s a ghost story, but there is this whole theory of time travel in it that I found really fascinating as a child.

Do you still have it?

I don’t because when we moved onto the boat, I gave a bunch of my favorite books to my favorite people. I gave that book to a former student of mine and very talented writer Holly Brantley, who is currently in NC State’s MFA Program.

What brought you to Carteret County?

When the pandemic hit in 2020, we were living on a boat in Mississippi. That was also the worst hurricane season since Katrina, and at the end of it, there were no marinas around us for 100 miles or so. There was nowhere to take the boat, which we’d been living and working on for five years, so we had to walk away. We found an older carpenter to take it, but we had no Plan B for us as a family. I got in touch with a childhood friend Vicky Mitchell (another NC writer who participated in our first Summer Doldrums Challenge and appears in our inaugural Golden Lines anthology). Her great-grandfather built a house out in Davis more than 100 years ago. I knew nobody was there during the winter, so I got in touch with her and asked if we could stay through the spring until we figured out what we were going to do. She happily said yes, and years later, here we still are in Carteret County.

When did you discover your love of writing?

Always.  My grandmother had me reading when I was little and memorizing poems. She had all these books, and I always loved to read. She encouraged me to write, and I enjoyed it, so it’s basically just always been a thing.

What is your favorite writing genre?

All of them. When I was a kid during the summer, I would write essays on animals using our encyclopedia collection. When I was a teenager, I did angsty teen poetry. I started writing novels in my thirties.

What is the best thing about writing?

I think it’s the most fundamental tool we have as humans for developing our thinking and ideas, for understanding our own emotions and other people’s emotions. It’s such a valuable tool that I can’t think of anything else that humans invented that really and truly just has had this millennia-long impact.

What is the best money you have spent as a writer?

Tom Kies’ creative writing class. It was very affordable, and otherwise, I would never have met you or Emily or Mel. We would not have become part of Carteret Writers nor have been on the Board. There has been so much that’s come from that class; it was life-changing for me. I really had gotten accustomed to thinking of myself in terms of copywriting, writing as business. So being around people where it’s about passion and creativity and community and self-expression, that’s been influential. It kickstarted my creative writing again, and I’m still working on a novel that I started in that class.

Can you tell us about the novel?

It is called Queen Hag, and it’s about a woman who doesn’t know anything about her family and is kind of a loner, and her life has been kind of falling apart until she discovers she has inherited an estate on an island off the coast of North Carolina from her great-aunt Hazel, whom she’s never met. But when she gets there, her aunt Hazel is not dead or, at least, does not appear to be dead. She is very much in the flesh. It’s about death and family and aging and the sacrifices that women make that do not have the outcomes that they hoped for. It’s a horror story about love, but my main goal is to ruin bluebirds for people.

What inspired you to volunteer for Carteret Writers?

Emily made me!

What have you learned since becoming involved with Carteret Writers?

I’ve learned that I’m not as introverted as I thought. I’ve learned how valuable it is to have a community of writers. I have found that I really enjoy talking with the writers in Carteret Writers, hearing what they’re concerned about, what they’re working on, what they enjoy and having exchanges of ideas. And so I think that’s the thing: it’s just recognizing the value of a community of writers because it can be a very solitary sport.

How has your writing improved since becoming involved with Carteret Writers?

Probably the biggest thing is starting to focus more on my own creative writing. I have a YA adventure series Perilous and Sparks that I started in 2018. Two of the books are out, and I have a third one in progess, but when I got here, I was two years into a writing funk. I did write for work, but for two years, I could not write creatively. Being around other writers working on poems and short stories and memoirs, reminded me that I want to do this, too.

What do you see for the future of Carteret Writers?

I think that’s going to depend on Carteret Writers members. To be a living, dynamic community, it’s important for diverse members to take on leadership roles. We (the current board) are near the end of our two-year term, and I hope that other writers will show they value the community by stepping up to become board members to take the group forward on the next leg of the journey, wherever that may be. I’m eager to offer my support to the next board leaders.

What’s in this drink?

Rambling Rose Cocktail Recipe

  • 1 part whiskey (Autumn prefers a local distillery like Bogue Sound, of course)
  • 1 part rose simple syrup
  • 1 part lemon juice
  • 1 part water

Shake or stir. Drink. Repeat.

Autumn can be found:

·       Board membering at secretary@carteretwriters.org.

·       Releasing her new podcast Epic Carteret on August 30th wherever you listen to podcasts.

·       Blogging about creative writing at autumnthewriter.com.

·       Doing business at awarecopywriting.com.