Browse around the Cottage Craftsman, a gift shop in the center of Bryson City, and you'll see candle holders, wall hangings, baskets, pottery, jewelry, a small selection of wine. Paige L. Christie is too modest to point them out on her own--and they do look a bit out of place-- but if you ask her about the fantasy novels displayed on a small stand near the register, she's more than happy to tell you a little bit about the author. "I've been developing the world of my novels since I was about 14

Browse around the Cottage Craftsman, a gift shop in the center of Bryson City, and you'll see candle holders, wall hangings, baskets, pottery, jewelry, a small selection of wine. Paige L. Christie is too modest to point them out on her own--and they do look a bit out of place-- but if you ask her about the fantasy novels displayed on a small stand near the register, she's more than happy to tell you a little bit about the author. "I've been developing the world of my novels since I was about 14

Like many novelists, Jacqui Castle stumbled into fiction through a side door. She mixed a background in psychology, some surrounding social and political upheaval and a few encouraging friends to wind up with "The Seclusion," her debut novel . "For years, people have been telling me to try to write fiction, and I just kinda brushed it off," she said. "I hadn't really felt a drive to do that, but once I started, I haven't stopped."

Like many novelists, Jacqui Castle stumbled into fiction through a side door. She mixed a background in psychology, some surrounding social and political upheaval and a few encouraging friends to wind up with "The Seclusion," her debut novel . "For years, people have been telling me to try to write fiction, and I just kinda brushed it off," she said. "I hadn't really felt a drive to do that, but once I started, I haven't stopped."

Like many novelists, Jacqui Castle stumbled into fiction through a side door. She mixed a background in psychology, some surrounding social and political upheaval and a few encouraging friends to wind up with "The Seclusion," her debut novel . "For years, people have been telling me to try to write fiction, and I just kinda brushed it off," she said. "I hadn't really felt a drive to do that, but once I started, I haven't stopped."

Like many novelists, Jacqui Castle stumbled into fiction through a side door. She mixed a background in psychology, some surrounding social and political upheaval and a few encouraging friends to wind up with "The Seclusion," her debut novel . "For years, people have been telling me to try to write fiction, and I just kinda brushed it off," she said. "I hadn't really felt a drive to do that, but once I started, I haven't stopped."

Like many novelists, Jacqui Castle stumbled into fiction through a side door. She mixed a background in psychology, some surrounding social and political upheaval and a few encouraging friends to wind up with "The Seclusion," her debut novel . "For years, people have been telling me to try to write fiction, and I just kinda brushed it off," she said. "I hadn't really felt a drive to do that, but once I started, I haven't stopped."

Puppetry doesn't quite contain everything Lisa Sturz puts into her art. She builds elaborate sets, writes detailed narratives and, for the biography of her grandfather , she spent a year painting a 25-foot backdrop that unfolds from the scrolls of an oversized Hebrew Torah. "As a puppeteer, I could write the scripts, I could write the music, I could sing and build the costumes and characters and perform them," Sturz said. "It was a way of combining all those interests rather than choose between them."

Puppetry doesn't quite contain everything Lisa Sturz puts into her art. She builds elaborate sets, writes detailed narratives and, for the biography of her grandfather , she spent a year painting a 25-foot backdrop that unfolds from the scrolls of an oversized Hebrew Torah. "As a puppeteer, I could write the scripts, I could write the music, I could sing and build the costumes and characters and perform them," Sturz said. "It was a way of combining all those interests rather than choose between

Puppetry doesn't quite contain everything Lisa Sturz puts into her art. She builds elaborate sets, writes detailed narratives and, for the biography of her grandfather , she spent a year painting a 25-foot backdrop that unfolds from the scrolls of an oversized Hebrew Torah. "As a puppeteer, I could write the scripts, I could write the music, I could sing and build the costumes and characters and perform them," Sturz said. "It was a way of combining all those interests rather than choose between