From drifting to anchoring: my post-Marine Corps journey with Carteret County's writing community

Carteret Community — 5 Min Read

From drifting to anchoring

My post-Marine Corps journey with Carteret County’s writing community

By Melissa Kelley

Carteret Community — 5 Min Read

From drifting to anchoring

My post-Marine Corps journey with Carteret County’s writing community

By Melissa Kelley

Retiring from the Marine Corps was like jumping into a turquoise pool on a hot and humid southern day. The cool water and the gentle buoyancy of soft waves banished worries that had been like an oppressive heat clinging to my soul throughout my career.

But as the days of retirement turned into years, life became progressively more unstructured, and though I loved swimming, I never felt like I was making any progress. I was adrift. I looked up and realized that it wasn’t a mere pool, but an ocean I’d plunged into. I saw far off islands in the distance, but how to figure out which one to swim toward?

As I floated on in this new, post-Marine Corps life, I started to see possible lifelines trailing by in the water. Some were slimy with other people’s expectations and slid through my grasp. But one clean, braided line came by that looked like it was placed there just for me.

That line was a creative writing class at Carteret Community College (CCC), taught by Tom Kies, author of the Edgar-nominated Geneva Chase mystery series and playwright of last fall’s Death of an Author presented by Carteret Community Theater at the Culinary School. Tom is the type of person who hails people to new shores and sows community wherever he finds himself. Thanks to Tom’s Creative Writing class, I found myself on an island populated with creative people and a wonderful community. It was the first group that felt as comfortable and intellectually challenging as the community I’d left behind when retiring from the Marines.

Retiring from the Marine Corps was like jumping into a turquoise pool on a hot and humid southern day. The cool water and the gentle buoyancy of soft waves banished worries that had been like an oppressive heat clinging to my soul throughout my career.

But as the days of retirement turned into years, life became progressively more unstructured, and though I loved swimming, I never felt like I was making any progress. I was adrift. I looked up and realized that it wasn’t a mere pool, but an ocean I’d plunged into. I saw far off islands in the distance, but how to figure out which one to swim toward?

As I floated on in this new, post-Marine Corps life, I started to see possible lifelines trailing by in the water. Some were slimy with other people’s expectations and slid through my grasp. But one clean, braided line came by that looked like it was placed there just for me.

That line was a creative writing class at Carteret Community College (CCC), taught by Tom Kies, author of the Edgar-nominated Geneva Chase mystery series and playwright of last fall’s Death of an Author presented by Carteret Community Theater at the Culinary School. Tom is the type of person who hails people to new shores and sows community wherever he finds himself. Thanks to Tom’s Creative Writing class, I found myself on an island populated with creative people and a wonderful community. It was the first group that felt as comfortable and intellectually challenging as the community I’d left behind when retiring from the Marines.

Carteret Writers President Melissa Kelley with Tom and Cindy Kies celebrating the organization's 40th anniversary at The Black Sheep in Beafort.

Encouraging writers isn’t the only way Tom builds community. As the President of the Chamber of Commerce, he brings local business leaders together in dynamic ways to grow leadership and entrepreneurial skills within the community. His work with the Chamber of Commerce aids Carteret County’s business community in building mutually beneficial connections.

Tom is one of the rare people who, upon experiencing success, continues to reach back to the people still swimming to lead them to new firm footing. After a successful career in journalism, leading the Chamber of Commerce, and publishing novels, he remains vested in other people’s successes. The lifelines Tom has woven around the business community through the Chamber of Commerce and through the writing community with his writing classes and work with Carteret Writers have created a net with which he helps lift others up.

The Board of Carteret Writers is largely composed of people who met in Tom’s Creative Writing class, and Tom was the master of ceremonies for Carteret Writer’s Quadrennial Conference in April this year. Autumn Ware was in Tom’s Creative Writing Class and has gone on to serve on the board of Carteret Writers, teach creative writing workshops at CCC, and create EPIC Carteret. Her next workshop at CCC, Fear Factor: Decoding the Psychology at Work in Horror Writing, will start on Monday, September 11th.

If you’ve ever wondered how a community gets to be an epic community like Carteret County, you only have to peek inside the organizations that bring people together. There you’ll find people like Tom, people who spend as much time throwing lines to others as they do reeling in catches of their own.

Encouraging writers isn’t the only way Tom builds community. As the President of the Chamber of Commerce, he brings local business leaders together in dynamic ways to grow leadership and entrepreneurial skills within the community. His work with the Chamber of Commerce aids Carteret County’s business community in building mutually beneficial connections.

Tom is one of the rare people who, upon experiencing success, continues to reach back to the people still swimming to lead them to new firm footing. After a successful career in journalism, leading the Chamber of Commerce, and publishing novels, he remains vested in other people’s successes. The lifelines Tom has woven around the business community through the Chamber of Commerce and through the writing community with his writing classes and work with Carteret Writers have created a net with which he helps lift others up.

The Board of Carteret Writers is largely composed of people met in Tom’s Creative Writing class, and Tom was the master of ceremonies for Carteret Writer’s Quadrennial Conference in April this year. Autumn Ware was in Tom’s Creative Writing Class and has gone on to serve on the board of Carteret Writers, teach creative writing workshops at CCC, and create EPIC Carteret. Her next workshop at CCC, Fear Factor: Decoding the Psychology at Work in Horror Writing, will start on Monday, September 11th.

If you’ve ever wondered how a community gets to be an epic community like Carteret County, you only have to peek inside the organizations that bring people together. There you’ll find people like Tom, people who spend as much time throwing lines to others as they do reeling in catches of their own.