Author supports Chimney Rock NC restoration. All royalties from Stone by Stone will be donated to the town of Chimney Rock for restoration.
Stone by Stone was inspired by the author’s years living in Chimney Rock and Flat Rock just outside Hendersonville, NC. This story is a love letter to Western North Carolina. If you’ve never visited, settle in and let this story take you there. Then, once the devastation caused by Helene is repaired, visit the area. Walk the trails of Chimney Rock Park, seek out waterfalls around Brevard, discover Asheville, eat the best bar-b-que of your life in Saluda, swim in Lake Lure and stay awhile in Chimney Rock.
Stone by Stone is a character-driven narrative with a rich emotional core. A family saga of lost hope, duplicity and perseverance begins with a lie overheard in 1927 that reverberates for three generations, culminating in its revelation in 2000. At the heart of it rests Stoneygate Estate, several hundred acres of woods, and pasture.
Author Wendy S. Simons called Chimney Rock, North Carolina, home in the 1980s. After a fifteen-year absence, she returned in 2000 and renovated an old house on the river, planning to live out her life there. It’s where she began writing Stone by Stone. As often happens, life had other plans. She sold the house and moved back home to the shores of Lake Michigan for family reasons. All access to that house on the river was washed away by Hurricane Helene on September 28, 2024.
Simons found watching the devastation caused by Helene heartbreaking. Many anxious days were spent on the computer searching for any news of dear friends, wondering if they were safe, if they made it through. They’re safe and the work to clean up Chimney Rock and surrounding areas has begun. Reconstructing bridges, roads and infrastructure follows.
“A heart-wrenching novel. Stone By Stone is a riveting southern saga told as only one who is “washed in the blood” can tell it. Well-developed, colorful characters are introduced in a sense of urgency . . . A dusty set of old journals allows the reader to snoop into the secret lives of the Kenyon family. Simons’ smooth narrative is chock-full of fascinating place/period detail of North Carolina mountain life during the 20th century. If only for its art, architecture and beautiful scenery, this novel is a praiseworthy read.” Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2024 by Clare Adkin Jr. Author of Chance and Brother Benjamin: A History of The Israelite House of David
Stone by Stone by Wendy Simons is available to order in paperback from your local independent bookstore.
Available to order from BookShop.org and Amazon
Distributed by IngramSpark. ISBN: 979-8-9893594-4-8
Watch a replay of Wendy Simons and Clare Adkin in conversation at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Ashevile, NC.
The Writing Journey: Stone by Stone
I know there should be discipline to writing. Some writers need to set aside a specific time and duration for each day’s work. Some outline and write to it. Then there are people like me, who write when inspiration allows. If and when I try to force it, it fights back with misdirection until I’m tripping over words on a path to nowhere. Perhaps if I’d come to writing earlier in my life, as my grandmother suggested, instead of becoming a graphic designer and illustrator, I’d have the education and background that breeds discipline. While I can edit on a schedule, the actual creative process arrives when it arrives. And watch out if its timing is inconvenient.
Stone by Stone arrived at a time I was feeling quite lost. My life had taken painful turns. Stripping my life down to bare essentials, I found a tiny guest cottage on a large parcel of land in the Carolina foothills not far from where I used to live in another iteration of me. The property’s main house was vacant. I was alone. I took long walks. I pondered things lost and found in my life. In this self-imposed limbo a story found me. I began writing.
For me, writing has a way of letting pain find a path through all the defenses, as if fictional context gives emotion safe haven. Putting my characters through the ringer feels therapeutic. Their reward is an arc that leaves them all better off than when we met them. This book has been in the works for over twenty years. I’ve dreamed about it. I’ve revised it. I’ve spent weeks trying to wrap it up only to set it aside again and again. Then one day, it was finished. Just like that, the characters stopped speaking to me and I could stop.
Then, Hurricane Helene tore through Western North Carolina and the story found its purpose, as if it was waiting for this moment. It is my love letter to Chimney Rock, Asheville and Lake Lure. I send it into the world in hopes it finds an audience and that audience finds and falls in love with these most special of places in North Carolina.
Stone by Stone by W.S. Simons is available to order in paperback wherever books are sold.
Distributed by IngramSpark. ISBN: 979-8-9893594-4-8