Well, it’s been a minute since my last post (3 months!). My neglect was largely due to a dusting of work that quickly grew into a blizzard, leaving me grasping at half-eaten weekends by the lake and a grand total of five swims (although one can at least be categorized as epic).

One of the most noteworthy blog events of the summer came from a reader. More than a reader, a genuine critical mind who not only took the time to read and review my book/thesis, but also dug up a prime example of my study for further review. This is noteworthy simply because, as a primarily commercial writer - a corporate ghostwriter if you will - 99% of my work is published anonymously, making reviews of any kind exceedingly rare.

His blogspot name is Gulahiyi and his spot is called “ruminations from the distant hills,” the peaks and valleys of which happen to share the Cullowhee, North Carolina zip code. His “great interest in the intersection of language and place” is what drew him into my study of the rhetoric of Intrawest resorts, yet it was the strategic storytelling done for a certain NC developer that lit a rhetorical fire under my critic and many of his fellow Cullowheeans.

The story of “River Rock” is one of an idyllic community composed of five parcels of pristine Appalachian land in the Highlands, whose self-proclaimed mission is to “raise Appalachia” by creating an exclusive luxury community and introducing high-end hospitality to the Highlands (along with a Phil Mickelson golf course).

Over a year’s worth of research, envisioning and storytelling went into the storyline, which was largely intended to reveal endearing sides of Appalachian culture to an audience whose only portrait of the area is likely to have been painted by films like Deliverance and Cold Mountain. Yet while the storyline sought to create a community founded on respect for the land and its people, it seems the project has come up short and left a sour taste in the mouths of locals. As a result, both myself and the developer (albeit to a far lesser degree, me) were the targets of scathing reviews of both the storyline and budding community, all of which can be read here.

My next post will be about a fantastic development I had the pleasure of working on this summer that seems to have learned from the mistakes of resorts past.