Valerie Nieman

Selected Works

Latest

Upon the Corner of the Moon, which launched in March, now has a wonderful audiobook featuring two Scottish actors! This is the first of two books telling the story of the historical Macbeths. Deeply researched history in the mode of Hilary Mantel, it is as much about women's lives and competing spiritualities as it is about politics and war. It traces the childhoods and young adulthoods of Macbeth and Gruach and Duncan, setting out the generations-old conflicts that will lead to a succession drama and his rise to kingship of all Alba.

Novels

In the Lonely Backwater

All Maggie Warshauer wants is to leave behind her stifled life at a North Carolina backwater and escape to college. An outsider at school and uncertain of her own sexual identity, Maggie spends her days sailing, exploring, and categorizing life around her. But when her beautiful cousin Charisse disappears on prom night and is found dead at the marina where Maggie lives, her life begins to unravel. A mysterious stranger begins stalking her and a detective on the case has her struggling to hold on to her secrets—her father's alcoholism, her mother's abandonment, a boyfriend who may or may not exist, and her own actions. Maggie is forced to come to terms with the one person who might hold the answers—herself.

Dead Hand

Lourana and Darrick took down the dreaded coal barons in To the Bones, but it seems that Kavanaghs aren't done yet. The college-age son of Eamon Kavanagh has unexpectedly inherited not only the family's business empire but the family itself: generations of Kavanagh men whose spirits persist and who have now taken up residence in Rory's mind and body.
As Lourana and Darrick try to shape a life together, they are attacked by Eamon through Rory, and flee the life-sucking Kavanaghs across Appalachia and then, in desperation and hope, to Ireland.
The reluctant Rory is urged onward in the pursuit. He seeks the support of his late uncle Cormac in hopes of breaking free of this haunted legacy, even as he woos Lourana's daughter Dreama—who is Cormac's former girlfriend.
The Kavanagh family's long-standing belief that they are descended from the kings of Leinster is tested at a sacred site in Ireland, with the assistance of a modern-day druid whose nature-based powers may not be all that he claims. There are old gods at work, and even older gods—Darrick's psychic powers like the Kavanaghs' are rooted in ancient Ireland.
As Rory struggles against his brutal forebears, Darrick and Lourana find their love tested anew, until they are all brought together in a terrifying battle between the forces of light and dark, creation and destruction.

To the Bones

With elements of horror, Appalachian tall tale, and mystery, To the Bones sets four unlikely heroes against a family of predatory capitalists. "Evocative, intelligent prose conjures an anxious mood and strong sense of place while spotlighting the societal and environmental devastation wrought by the coal mining industry."

-- Kirkus Reviews

Neena Gathering

"This charming, unpretentious novel delves into a different form of the pastoral, modeling itself on Thoreauvian attention to a person's place and moral actions in the spheres of nature, society, intellect..."

–Publishers Weekly

Blood Clay

Blood Clay, set in rural North Carolina, traces the "tangled social lines of the new South, the struggle of newcomers to belong, and of natives to keep their balance in changing times."

–Gently Read Literature

Poetry Collection

Leopard Lady: A Life in Verse

Set in a mid-century carnival, this collection has a cover image painted by the author during studies at Coney Island Museum. The curator of that museum, Lisa Schaefer, said of the book, "Steeped in sideshow tradition, and addressing issues of race, gender, self-concept, and creative expression, your book is beautifully written."

Hotel Worthy

Poems of love, loss, and survival.
"Like a daring archeologist, the poems of Hotel Worthy dig [deeply] into the intimate layers of years, excavating the fossils of memory, love, loss, and family history. These poems compel us to have the courage to emerge from our past shipwrecks and embark anew. This collection is a roadmap for beginning again."

–Ansel Elkins, Yale Younger Poets Prize winner

Wake Wake Wake

Debut poetry collection featuring work from Appalachia and beyond.

Short fiction collection

Fidelities

These stories, set in the rural areas and mining towns of West Virginia, focus on the rough terrain of the human heart.

Quick Links

Upon the Corner of the Moon

Video trailer for my latest

Book trailer for To the Bones

A video sample of my Appalachian folk horror/ecojustice novel.

Book trailer for Leopard Lady: A Life in Verse

Instagram

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Facebook

Valerie Nieman's author page on Facebook

Twitter

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Authors Guild

Advocates for published authors since 1912

Authors Guild Directory

A compendium of member websites

In the Lonely Backwater has had a wonderful 2022, starting with a book launch at McIntyre's Fine Books in Pittsboro. Pete Mock is an expert on mystery and crime fiction, so it was a real delight to join him for this event.

Meeting reader April Asbury at MystiCon in Roanoke, VA.

https://charlottereaderspodcast.com/s5-03-valerie-nieman-to-the-bones-and-leopard-lady/

Recording for Charlotte Readers podcast.

"The State of Things"

An interview on the public radio show "The State of Things."

Interview with Kendall Reviews

I had this lengthy interview about my work with Kendall Reviews, a major horror and spec fiction site in the UK.

Reading at AWP in New York City

Click here for a reading of "Duration" from my first collection, "Wake Wake Wake."

Reading with Mark Smith-Soto and Sarah Lindsay.

Events

JULY 11-12 - Presenting at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, North Carolina

JULY 18-20 - NC Writers Conference

JULY 26 - Book Ferret in Winston-Salem with Nell Joslin

AUG. 1-2 - Lewisburg Literary Festival, Lewisburg, WV
AUG. 9 - McIntyre's Books with Dr. Chris Crosbie
AUG. 15 - Persnickety Books with Nell Joslin
SEPT. 17 - Highland Lit, Inverness
OCT. 13 - Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, USC-Beaufort.
OCT. 18 - FAB Festival, Reidsville, NC
OCT. 23 - Osher Lifelong Learning at University of Virginia
OCT. 27 - BestCellarBookBar in Clarence NY.
OCT. 28 - Jamestown Community College and U Pitt Bradford
OCT. 29 - Hallwalls in Buffalo
OCT. 30 - TBA
NOV. 7 - Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, UNC-Asheville
NOV. 14 - Wonderland Book Club at Quail Ridge Books

Celebrations!

Launch party for Upon the Corner of the Moon with Anne Robinson of Scottish Gourmet (left) and artist Lynn Paluga

Writing Workshops

A writing workshop.

Valerie Nieman conducts workshops in prose and poetry for adults and young adults.

Her fiction workshops at John C. Campbell Folk School, the North Carolina Writers Network, WriterHouse and other locations include "Who's Your Daddy: Character Building from the Cradle," "Under Pressure," and "The Role of Place."

Her workshops in poetry, include "Peeking Behind the Mask," a workshop on persona and secret identities, as well as sessions on narrative poetry and ekphrasis — writing in response to art. Her events have been described as "superlative," "delightful," "informative," and "rich."

A graduate of West Virginia University and Queens University of Charlotte who was a founding editor of two literary journals, Nieman teaches creative writing at NC A&T State University.

Readings with Q&A are 45–60 minutes in length. Lectures and workshops are available from one hour to all day. Fees: $200–$600, negotiable, travel expenses additional. Multiday residencies are also offered. Skype chats and in-person visits are gladly offered with high school and college classes and book clubs.

For more information or to book a date, please use the contact form on this website.