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Rita Sims Quillen

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.ritasimsquillen.com

Twitter

hillbillypoet

Genre

Fiction, Poetry, Historical Fiction

Member Since

November 2013

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NEW IN 2019--- My new novel, WAYLAND, sequel to HIDING EZRA, published Sept. 16 by Iris Press. I AM THRILLED! AND I also have a new poetry collection called SOME NOTES YOU HOLD from Madville Press in Texas.

NEW IN 2017 -- The out-of-print scholarly study of Appalachian poetry, LOOKING FOR NATIVE GROUND, which was originally published in 1987, has just been re-issued by Appalachian State University in conjunction with the University of North Carolina. The book is once again available for student and teachers through Amazon!

NEW IN 2016- THE MAD FARMER'S WIFE-a new full-length poetry collection from Texas Review Press, which was recently selected as a finalist for the prestigious book competition, the Weatherford Award in Appalachian Literatur ...more

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Rita Sims Quillen’s books

Average rating: 4.52 · 151 ratings · 44 reviews · 12 distinct works

	Hiding Ezra 4.41 avg rating — 66 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wayland 4.71 avg rating — 24 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mad Farmer's Wife 4.53 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2016	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Some Notes You Hold 4.64 avg rating — 11 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Her Secret Dream 4.20 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2007 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Something Solid To Anchor To it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Looking for Native Ground 4.80 avg rating — 5 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Counting the Sums it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1995 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	October Dusk 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hiding Ezra Paperback – February 18, 2014 really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Rita Sims Quillen's Blog

INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEENS!

It's March 2022, so that means that my novel WAYLAND is one of the Bonus Picks for the International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Kings Book Club. I'm honored and excited!

If you are not already a member, you can join for free and belong to another fun community of readers. They do a monthly online magazine about all things bookish called READING NATION that you would enjoy.

To watch a wonderful book Read more of this blog post »

2 likes · Like • 2 comments • flag

Published on March 01, 2022 08:13 • Tags: book-clubs-suspense-appalachian

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Rita Quillen rated a book it was amazing The Intimacy of Spoons: Poems by Jim Minick (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
As a lover of birds and words and poetry, of the human voice, of deep woods and wonders, as a lover of love and family and home, the sacred magic of all that touches both soul and skin, I recommend this book.
Oct 27, 2024 12:20PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Intimacy of Spoons by Jim Minick. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Intimacy of Spoons by Jim Minick <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rita Quillen rated a book it was amazing Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks by Crystal Wilkinson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Loved this book. Crystal Wilkinson's book is, I hope, the start of a trend. I love the idea of memoir plus cookbook!. I'm looking forward to trying some of the recipes in this book and will think of her and her family as I make them ...more
Oct 27, 2024 12:17PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts by Crystal Wilkinson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rita Quillen rated a book it was amazing The Safety of Small Things: Poems by Jane Hicks	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A beautiful book-- poems as polished and perfect as a stone in a very swift mountain trout stream. Though the undercurrent of the book is a scary one- a fraught journey through a cancer diagnosis and treatment -- the reader is left comforted and hope ...more
Oct 27, 2024 12:12PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Safety of Small Things by Jane Hicks. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Safety of Small Things by Jane Hicks <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rita Quillen finished reading Splinter: poems by Susan O'Dell Underwood	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 11, 2024 04:57PM · like

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Rita’s Quotes

“One word frees us from all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”
― Sophocles,

tags: life, love

2 likes

“There is a sacredness in tears....They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love.”
― Washington Irving

3623 likes

“I know of a cure for everything: salt water...in one way or the other. Sweat, or tears, or the salt sea.”
― Karen Blixen

2731 likes

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”
― John Muir

tags: animals, caring, earth, forests, nature, plants, trees, wilderness

3652 likes

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
― Mark Twain

tags: arrogance, humor, ignorance

4218 likes

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READING NATION MAGAZINE — 85 members — last activity Oct 01, 2021 11:43PM
The Reading Nation Magazine was created to highlight The International Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guy Book Club Authors. It's for every book lover and ...more

¡ POETRY ! — 22418 members — last activity Sep 07, 2025 10:02PM
No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read it!) Goodreads honors wordsmiths: poets and poetry promoted and prompted here. ~~~ "Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits." -- Carl Sandburg “God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer.” —Anne Sexton On Clouds – “…what primitive tastes the ancients must have had if their poets were inspired by those absurd, untidy clumps of mist, idiotically jostling one another about…” —Yevgeny Zamyatin “If the poet wants to be a poet, the poet must force the poet to revise. If the poet doesn’t wish to revise, let the poet abandon poetry and take up stamp-collecting or real estate.” —Donald Hall “Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has run wild, Creation’s tears in shoulder blades.” —Boris Pasternak “Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.” —Charles Simic “Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.” —Gustave Flaubert “Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that’s what the poet does.” —Allen Ginsberg. ~~~~~ Amy King, Moderator Amy King is the recipient of the 2015 Winner of the WNBA Award (Women’s National Book Association). Her latest collection, The Missing Museum, is a winner of the 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize. She serves on the executive board of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and is co-editing with Heidi Lynn Staples the anthology, Big Energy Poets of the Anthropocene: When Ecopoets Think Climate Change. She is also co-editing the anthology, Bettering American Poetry 2015, and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at SUNY Nassau Community College. ...more

Women's Fiction authors — 806 members — last activity Aug 24, 2025 06:50AM
A group for authors of contemporary women's fiction only. (This isn't the place for sci-fi or fantasy.) Post a description of your book for readers to ...more

Promote Your Book — 56 members — last activity Jun 03, 2022 03:25PM
A group where self-published authors can promote their books.