Summin' Up

We, a total of eleven, had a great meeting last Wednesday. Charles Meyer summed up his TV ME contest and how to get involved in that, we had some beautiful readings in both poetry and prose. Peter got his bi-monthly entertainment when Andrew read a portion of his rather off the wall novel.

Kerri Dieffenwierth embraced us all with an article she'd written for commemorating the tenth year since 9/11. It was absolutely beautiful, both the words and the way she read. Kerri read in such a way it lifted right off the page and floated out over rapt listeners. I talked to everyone about it on Thursday.

I wrote to Kerri and told her how much I loved her work and to please tell me about Maine in more detail. She told me a good bit, some of which we can share as she advances through the stages with additional things to share as well. I used most of her own words below so I didn't get anything wrong. :)

Kerri applied to the Stonecoast Writing Program at the University of Southern Maine in December, 2010. She never thought she'd be accepted and hardly told a soul, but she liked the program and the admissions process was a challenge. It included three letters of reference from published authors, some samples of her own work, a personal essay and three critically- acclaimed artiles by other authors in her Creative Fiction genre. She received a letter in mid-February that she'd, indeed, been accepted!! The hoorays and 'Oh, my God's' sounded, I'm sure.

This is called a 'low residency' program. I fly to Maine for two weeks twice a year in July and January for two years and for two weeks at the end of the course, a total of fifty days in Maine. The rest of the lessons will be done by old fashioned USPS delivery and the occasional email email. During the two weeks the workshops are held in a stone house by the sea near Freeport. Simply, perfect for writing!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

Best, Susan

Great Meeting - More to Come!

Hello to everyone! Thanks to all who participated and all who attended our poetry celebration last night. And a special thank you to Jim Kelly for presenting his workshop and to Peter Frickel for doing a great job of leading the group! I'm so enjoying being able to sit and just enjoy all of you! Before I go on, I want to thank Linda White as well. She did an absolutely magnificent job of 'reading' the heartfelt work of Daniel Lyman, both a song and a poem by Ed Lyman's son. Daniel even wrote music for the work. Linda, too, unabashedly shed tears at the end! Ed was so pleased and the work was incredible. It is titled "Now Is The Time" and I have Ed's permission to type it for my website as poem of the month for May. I'll announce when it's viewable. Linda, so supportive and also a member of our group, is the esteemed leader of the Voices of Venice Poetry group as well. She gathers poets every Thursday at Jacaranda Library at 6 p.m. Many of our group attend that one, too! Linda has worked very hard organizing her Poetry Month Celebration to be held in the library's 'big' room on Thursday evening, April 14th from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. She has some pleasant surprises for us. It is open to the public and even if you don't write poetry, it would be nice to be the 'poem' and support our friend, Linda! We've had a great 'return' average this season. Bill Elam, Fred Weiss and Ellen Magnusun are showing up regularly and former attendees are returning! It was such a pleasure to welcome Cathy Marine from Mote Marine back after her experience with Taz, the rescued baby Bottled-Nose dolphin. Taz after being saved by the Mote Marine volunteers and professionals has been adopted into a new 'pod' at the Indianapolis Zoo as he is unable to be released to the wild due to the death of his mom before he could be taught how to be a dolphin. Cathy said Taz thought he was a 'kid'. I'd have been in my glory with him! I'll email the zoo's link to Russ and maybe he can help me make it active here. I can't get it to work!! (http://www.indyzoo.com/sitepages/planyourvisit/breakingnews.aspx) The poetry was wonderful last night and we had reading of good prose as well. Treats were provided for everyone to enjoy. Joe Porter was able to attend because Jean is in rehab for a week or two and he shared a poem Jean wrote this week and also one of his own always great poems. Peter read from his new story. It was wonderful to 'hear' and it was decided that Peter could read the phone book and mesmerize his listeners. :) How many time have we heard that? He also shared that Russ Heitz is going to help him make it into an ebook, the wave of the future. In addition, Barbara Frickel brought her watercolors scrapbook and also some lovely colored sketches created at Myacca State Park's birdwalk accompanied by her thought meditations. What a talented couple! And for those that don't know it, Lee Heitz, Russ' wife is also an excellent sketch artist. Talk about a foursome! :) Dr. Karen Pirnot has just recieved another award for Garret Frey's story, "As I Am." She's won so many awards for her children's books and her own memoir "Just a Common Lady" is wonderful. Believe me, she is humble! She's well beyond 'common'. Lois and Ken Stern are back safe and sound in Long Island and they had a wonderful winter here. I hated to see them leave as I really didn't get to spend much time with her this visit. Oh, and don't forget to stop by John Wolf's Fox and Quill this month and vote in the Poetry Contest. "Jack" works so hard for all writers and I still marvel at his coming all the way from San Diego to meet all of us. Jack is a writer's angel and has featured many of us! Russ wrote a series on writing a mystery that is still viewable there as Jack archives his editions. Really a great 'rag sheet' as he calls it. Just type http://www.foxandquill.com into your browser or go to our link column to your left and click on Fox and Quill. I think I will start highlighting everyone a couple at a time here. So many exceptional people and there's just not enough room to do all at once. Jeeze! I actually came up with an idea. :) Is the brain beginning to rumble again? Kerri "D" has been officially accepted to study for her Masters Degree in creative writing at Southern Maine University. What an honor for her! It's difficult to gain acceptance into this program. It is an online course but she will have to go to Maine for two week periods twice a year. That's it for this post. My washing machine hose sprung a leak last night and I'm still cleaning up water! Do you believe it!!? :) Thank the Powers that Be I was home and caught it shortly after it happened around midnight. In a few hours the entire house would have been flooded! Son Vince was able to calm me and the machine down. :) To all leaving for the north, have a safe trip and hurry back! Best, Susan