Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 50
G Finding Home, Finding Tradition
Jill Jones
guest
column
Jill Jones is the author of 11 novels of romance and suspense
and the winner of the “maggie award” from the georgia
romance writers association. she presently writes
marketing and communications materials for the Blue ridge
national heritage area.
The home of Jill Jones and husband Jerry overlooks the Asheville Reservoir and the Craggy Mountains.
I’ve always been a vagabond spirit.
Raised by a loving family with a dad
heading a geological oil exploration
crew, we roamed like gypsies
throughout Texas, Oklahoma and
Louisiana in search of cracks in the
earth’s surface that promised black
gold. That upbringing left my brother
wanting never to move again, and
me having a hard time standing still.
Until I landed in the Blue Ridge
mountains of North Carolina.
I came here, tired of flat, hot land
and in need of a spiritual lift. I found
just the ticket in a little town outside
Asheville, N.C., called Black
Mountain. Funny how a vagabond
spirit can find home in an instant
when the place is right. So we burrowed in and never looked back. (My
husband is a kindred spirit, so we
continue to travel, but we always love
50 | BlueRidgeCountry.com
coming back to the place we’ve called
home now for nearly 20 years.)
As an author I’ve used historical
fact as a springboard to fiction, but
today I find myself authoring work
that supports a newfound passion
discovered only after arriving in my
adopted hometown – the heritage of
the North Carolina mountains. For 10
years, I was the director of the
Swannanoa Valley Museum in Black
Mountain where I garnered insight
into the character and history of the
mountain people in this region.
Because of my vagabond roots, I
feel privileged that during my tenure
at the museum, I was informally
“adopted” by folks whose family has
been here for two centuries, giving
me a sense of belonging that I’ve
found nowhere else.
I loved my museum work, but
today I also love playing in a bigger
sandbox – at present, my writing
serves the people who live and work
in the Blue Ridge National Heritage
Area, the 25 westernmost counties in
North Carolina. In my position as
director of marketing and communications, I meet many mountain people, hear their stories, learn about the
music, crafts and other traditions that
make this region so special.
My career has been as vagabond
as my life, it seems. I have held many
jobs, started businesses, written 11
novels, raised a family – but today,
when I look from the deck of my
home across the Burnett Reservoir to
the peaks of the Craggies, I wonder
how I was so lucky to land in this
incredible place. A place rich in history, and oh-so-many stories. Hmmm.
Maybe there’s a book in that.
http://BlueRidgeCountry.com
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013
Cover
Table of Contents
Letters/Worth a Click
From the Editor
Digital Help Guide
From the Farm
The Hike
Mountain Report
Creature Feature
Festivals & Events
Explore West Virginia Covered Bridges
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE: Cave in to Adventure
Fall Travel to Restaurants, Diners and Dives
Photoessay: Late Fall Comes to the Mountains
What's New in these Hills?
Life and Death in Butterfield Branch
Mountain-Classic Recipes
Cabin in the Woods: A North Georgia Getaway
Mountain Garden
Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Cover
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Table of Contents
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Letters/Worth a Click
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - From the Editor
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Digital Help Guide
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - From the Farm
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 9
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - The Hike
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Mountain Report
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Creature Feature
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Festivals & Events
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 15
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Explore West Virginia Covered Bridges
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 17
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE: Cave in to Adventure
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DE2
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DE3
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DE4
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DE5
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - DE6
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Fall Travel to Restaurants, Diners and Dives
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 20
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 21
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 22
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 23
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 24
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 25
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Photoessay: Late Fall Comes to the Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - What's New in these Hills?
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 31
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 32
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 33
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 34
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Life and Death in Butterfield Branch
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 38
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Mountain-Classic Recipes
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 43
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Mountain Garden
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 45
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Cabin in the Woods: A North Georgia Getaway
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 47
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 48
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 49
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - Cover4
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