December 3rd, 2025

 

Another year is drawing to a close, and our next meeting will be the final gathering for 2025. Traditionally, we take up a collection and present it to the Nokomis Fire Department as a gesture of appreciation for allowing us to meet in their training room twice a month throughout the year. We also encourage members to bring a significant other or a guest to join us in a potluck goodies snackfest. All leftovers will be donated to the firehouse staff.

 

On December 17^th, we will enjoy an evening with conversation, stories, idea-sharing, and readings. If you have a favorite Holiday Story, share it with us as well. Oh, BTW, all calories are suspended for the evening.

 

Tonight’s meeting began with a roundtable on what’s happening in our writing lives. Dennis Cathcart mentioned keeping a timeline of events to keep his writing in perspective. A number of our writers do this, including yours truly. A timeline helps keep the action and events in a story flowing. Even a short time span can get complicated when a lot of action is happening, especially when numerous characters are involved. Take a look at the action in your household on a hectic day. Your spouse is in the kitchen preparing to cook something; you are in the bedroom, changing clothes; a child is on the patio watching a pet in the backyard; and a neighbor is mowing his lawn next door. What can happen?1.  

1.      Your foot gets caught in the shorts you are putting on, you lose your balance, and you stumble towards the nightstand bearing your spouse’s grandmother’s Tiffany Lamp, worth thousands of dollars. You yell; your spouse looks toward the bedroom door.

2.      Whoosh, flames leap from the frying pan of warming oil on the stove. Where is the fire extinguisher your spouse just had checked at the hardware store? Your spouse yells.

3.      The pet outside sees a squirrel and bursts into a sprint in pursuit. Both animals are on a collision course with your neighbor’s riding mower. The pet howls.

4.      Your child recognizes the potential danger that the pet could be hurt or killed by the mower and joins the pursuit. The child yells

5.      Your neighbor is yawning, with both eyes closed, when the two furry creatures and a child burst through the row of peonies you planted along the property line.

You have to solve all these issues. What happens next, in what order, can you keep it all straight in your head? Did you plan ahead? Are you 'pantsing' it, or do you have an outline or a timeline? What is the most important event? Is the situation tragic or comedic? Are you telling it in real-time, or is this a flashback? Would a timeline help? A timeline might help in any writing situation. Fiction, Memoir, Technical, Short Story or Novel. 

You don’t want to have a character listening to a radio broadcast in 1915 on a commercial broadcast station that weren't established until 1920. Could you hear a radio broadcast in 1899? Things move fast in history; do your research and build a timeline. Accuracy establishes your credibility.

 THINK ABOUT IT

Of the nine attending writers tonight, six wished to share some of their work with us. Scott Anderson is on a mission to write Haiku. He is not slogging along at an excruciating pace; instead, the muse has him fully enveloped, as he races toward an expanding goal at blazing speed. Tonight, he graced us with fifteen gems, including one accepted for publication. We wonder at how descriptive so few words can be.

 

Some years ago, Roberta Molaro set out to write a story with a working title of The Reluctant Heiress. Somehow, she got sidetracked. Now that she has become involved with our little group, she has resurrected the story and shares it with us. A young woman, now 21 years old, is confronted by her parents with the fact that she was adopted as an infant. Why did they wait so long to tell her? How did they tell her? Roberta is working to present her story in a unique way and receives a multitude of suggestions with each reading.

 

Gary Conkol shines as a technical writer, but he has ventured into fiction since joining us at the firehouse. Drawing on much of his knowledge from the tech world, he brings us a story about a group of techno experts calling themselves the Emerging New Age Technology Assisted Utopia, or “ENATAU”. The group has solved the problem of traveling at speeds slower than the speed of light. With that problem solved, they established a colony on Mars and plan to expand throughout the universe. Fun, ain’t it? – We look forward to more with each reading.

 

Those of you who follow the blog and/or attend our meetings know that Bruce Haedrich has a rich imagination, as shown in his latest endeavor, Nadia. Beginning her life as a humanoid robot, Nadia has evolved into a new lifeform known as a “Terestrial.” Nadia is learning the ways of the humans. The new lifeforms find themselves hunted by humanoid robots employed by governments to eliminate the terestrials. An underground movement has formed, mainly in rural areas worldwide, to protect the terrestrial population, which is growing exponentially. As in many Sci-Fi stories of the past, Bruce’s Nadia seems to reflect on current political movements in government today. Look for Bruce’s publications online and in print.

 

IT’S HERE – STRATEGIC DECEPTION, by Ursula Wong, has been launched and is available on Amazon. A prolific writer, Ursula has finally allowed her latest book to join her published works. From the wilds of Peru to the boiling turmoil of Soviet Union-occupied Lithuania, her books encompass the world. Now, in independent Lithuania, she follows Grace Urban as she chases Soviet bloc criminals through a maze of lies and deception to save the world from their treachery. Thank you, Ursula. BUT WAIT A MINUTE, there’s more coming. Ursula is working on a new Grace Urban adventure with a working title of Deception Protocol. More good stuff is on the way; stay tuned.

 

Dennis Cathcart is a world-traveler and expert on Bromeliads, among many other plants and reptiles. As the owner and CEO of Tropiflora in Bradenton, he has traveled and lectured in many venues and over 25 countries. Tonight, he gave us a glimpse of standing on the edge of the world in Argentina. Having published two books about his adventures as a Snake Hunter, he is turning his attention to writing about his travels around the world with his lovely wife, Linda. – We look forward to hearing these stories as he begins a new era in his writing.

Well, that was a fascinating journey, beginning our trip with a taste of Japan in the Hiaku of Scott Anderson, visiting a young woman shocked to find out she was adopted, a trip to the red planet, standing alongside a new species of human, then looking into the world of spies and subterfuge, as we end up on the Edge of the World in Argentina. What a way to go.

Our next meeting will be on December 17^th, beginning at 6:30 PM. Join us if you can, and I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Until we meet again, READ, Read, and read some more, then WRITE, Write, and write more. Then bring it to a meeting and share it with the world.

October 1st. 2025

 

Welcome back to our blog. Tonight’s meeting drew 12 of our regulars. A couple were missing, and I heard rumors of a cruise. Which would you rather do? Choose one, or two, or three, or all. You are the only one who will know what you’ve chosen.

1.    1.  Eat until you can barely walk?

2.    2.  Watch shows presented with world-class direction?

3.    3.  Be waited on in almost every venue?

4.    4.  Sit for two and a half hours listening to a dozen people discuss their writing?  

 

We had a discussion about what you can use in your writing without asking for permission. Can you use a song title? How about lyrics from a song? What about images? How about a phrase from another book? We are not attorneys and cannot provide an answer to these questions without assuming liability; therefore, we suggest you consult an expert.

 

Dennis Cathcart led off the reading portion of our meeting with an essay entitled Wasted on the Way. Does that sound familiar? It’s the title of a song by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. If this were published, would Dennis need written permission? He also incorporated a line from the lyrics into the essay. Would permission be required to do that? However, the essay examines ways we waste time in our everyday lives, such as worrying. Does worrying solve any issue? No, so use the time to find a solution rather than worry about it. Over-scheduling, the internet, and maybe even television can be time-wasters, but they can also be necessary for stability in our lives. Dennis poses the question, “Will people remember me for how well I spent my time, or how much time I wasted on the way?

 

Rewrites are an integral part of writing. Ernie Ovitz brought us an example tonight as he presented a redone chapter of his latest work, The Crucible. A significant change was the order of the chapters. Chapter One was moved to later in the story, and the opening chapter begins where the previous Chapter One left off. Why? The original order started with a setup using ‘back-story’ to explain the scene. Now, the subject of the story takes center stage with the death of a key character. We no longer wait for the hook until chapter two.

 

Scott Anderson stays with his project of writing Haiku. He is learning as he continues. Traditional Japanese poetry is still very much alive, but a Westernized version is dominating publications in Europe and the Americas. Scott has shifted his focus from the conventional to the Westernized version and now has over 300 haiku poems written. His mind conjures up new verses almost constantly. Tonight, he read seven more of his little gems.

 

Nadia is the title of Bruce Hadrich’s latest work. The story explores the growing interest in robotics and what would happen if humanoid machines were to take over the tasks of everyday living. What are the repercussions economically and socially? What if it went further? What if the humanoids evolved into a new species of human? Would the ‘Artificial Humans’ take over the world? Bruce weaves a tale that includes suspense, action, and explores the questions posed above. The protagonist shoots two humanoid enforcers. Is it considered murder? After all, they are simply machines, or is it the destruction of private, no! it’s ‘government,’ property?

 

James Kelly has an epic tale of the Mackenzie family in the works. His first four books, available on Amazon, include the stories of a family of soldiers from the hectic days of the U.S. Civil War, to the Indian wars on the Great Plains and Black Hills, and follow the career of an adopted son, a Lakota Indian, into the Spanish-American War with Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan Hill. Now, the latest story takes the family into the War to End All Wars in 1918, France. How do the young men handle their lives? How do they leave family and friends behind as they go off to war? How do they face the horrors of war?

 

Roberta Molaro (I apologize for the previous misspellings) is a poet with a great sense of humor and the insight to know when to use it. Her poem, The Spider & the Fly, showcases her prowess with humor as well as her ability to incorporate a twist at the end of a story. Good Show! Roberta. A second vignette, Not As Advertised, again allows us a glimpse into her humor. As she looks back on her life as a wife and mother, she reveals self-doubt as she takes responsibility for actions dreamed up by advertisements on television and the writers who pen the scripts for those perfect family shows that proliferated the airwaves of the 1950s.

 

Colorado, a cabin in the woods, loan sharks, and inclement weather all play a part in Mike Schlesinger’s story of a writer seeking the solitude to write a novel. Having found the local general storekeeper beaten with severe injury, Mike helps him and pays to have the video equipment in the store repaired or replaced as he fills his larder and equipment needs. Among the equipment is a rifle, a hunting knife, along with boots, a parka, and a water filter. Mike seems to be ready for anything in the coming days. BUT WHAT IS COMING?

 

Developing Characters is an essential part of writing a story. Ursula Wong does that very well. Her descriptions and nuances concerning the characters in her stories give us a clear picture of who and what they are. This evening’s reading from her newest story, “The Last Soviet,” is an example. ‘The Big Georgian’ not only describes the character, but it also gives us an idea of his importance in the story. Although we do know his given name, his nickname is more necessary than that. Another character, ‘Nandino,’ a single name not expanded upon throughout the story but Italian in its sound, leaves us with the impression that the character is dangerous, especially when we discover the character’s role in the story.

 

Danny Spurlock brought a short story entitled ‘Social Disease.’ What does that bring to mind? In this case, a character afflicted with an addiction to websites on the internet loses sight of what he is doing as he drives his car. It’s a rude awakening as he finds himself in the hospital facing his greatly disturbed spouse. Having been up all night on a Social Media site, he fell asleep and crashed. How close to reality is this story?

 

We ran out of time tonight, so Beth Socha will open next meeting’s reading session when we reconvene on October 15^th. We look forward to a packed house and want to remind all of you to READ, Read, read, and keep on Writing!