Wow!
What happened to Spring? It should have been a comfortably mild
Wednesday night, however, we had the air conditioner going full blast
as Florida was having a record breaking heat wave. We had a hot time
in the meeting as well with another full house of eighteen attendees
and another great evening of readings.
Rod
DiGruttolo once again did the honors of Master of Ceremonies as we
kicked off at 6:30pm. We welcomed back Nancy O'Grady, Linda Schill,
and long time member Bart Stamper. Bart spends most of his time in
the Orlando area, so we are really pleased when he gets a chance to
join us. We also welcomed first time guest Jung Sok Yo, a movie
editor, poet, and producer. (http://thedragonpotter.com/)
George
Mindling opened the meeting with a brief description of the hows and
whys of collecting Florida Sales Tax for retailers and book sellers.
A complete tutorial can be found on-line at:
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/training/nbo/
George kicked off the reading portion of the meeting as well with
poet Shel Silverstein's 1974 humor classic “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia
Stout.” Rod then introduced new guest Sok Yo Jung, who read
dialog from his “Wind of Desire.” Great, succinct,
direct dialog to introduce his style of writing. We look forward to
more writing from Yo.
Jim
Kelly read three letters from our inimitable Irv Newman, written to
members of his high school class of years ago, and of their 73rd
high school reunion attended by “transportable survivors.” Jim
then treated us with two of his poems, “Options” and “Escape.” Options is presented at the end of this posting for all to enjoy.
Bart
Stamper read “Premonition,” another chapter from his
upcoming book about the life and trials of an Army Ranger in Vietnam.
Engrossing, well written and brutally honest, Bart's stories capture
the horror and inescapable fear of combat and death in a far away,
foreign war. Great writing and great story telling, this is going to
be a great book. There is no way to listen to Bart's writing without
getting emotionally involved.
Nancy
O'Grady then read two of her short works, “Thoughts from Roman
Amaral Lane,” and “To My Parents and Granddad,” both
touching and sensitive, well received by the group. Patricia La
Barbera then read several humorous horror selections from Big Pulp,
including one about stereotyping zombies. Great stuff. Another genre.
Joanne Phillips read her last chapter of her Adventures of a Sea
Hag, and took us to our 8:00pm break-time.
After
a short break, we resumed with the further adventures of brain
surgeon Blake Brimstone by Andrew Parker, and once again, he had
everyone completely engrossed. Andrew's writing is fresh, unique, and
definitely a favorite of the group. He even teased the group to see
if anyone could pick out the one allusion to “Went with the
Wind,” a satire by Carol Burnett.
New
comer Linda Schill read another chapter from her "Come
Along With Me"
about a time-traveling kangaroo named Gracie written for 8 to 12 year
olds. Some discussion followed about the level of vocabulary used
and over all suitability for that age group. General consensus was
that the 8 to 12 year old age group will do just fine with the story.
Rod
then allowed George a second spot to read “1964,” the setup for a
techno-thriller in progress about an American airman stationed in
Germany and his involvement with the Baader-Meinhof Red Army Faction
as they plot to hi-jack a nuclear warhead. Discussion followed again
about vocabulary and technical terms.
Rod
wrapped up the evenings readings with another of his Skeets and Jimmy
stories, this on called the “Great Mouse Escapade.”
Great writing, and everyone loved the twist ending. We need more
Skeets and Jimmy, great dialog and visualization is automatic. Mouse
boy is one of us.
We
had a great meeting, but once again, I want to remind readers to
please try to keep readings to under 5 minutes. Three pages or 1500
words is perfect, and allows us to give everyone a chance to read.
Our
next meeting will be May 1st. George Mindling will do a
presentation on self-publishing.
See
you then.
George
Options
The meter accepts his fare-
exact change only.
He sits next to a window,
peers out through his own
reflection...
like he did yesterday and the day
before.
On the corner, street signs hint
of contradiction-
Elm, where shade gives way to rotting
stumps.
Pristine, where clutter dances with
each passing car.
Ruby-eyed vagrants
drift across the pavement
practicing aborted takeoffs,
avoiding strangers' feet.
The bus lurches forward-
his options dangling on a cord
strung above the windows.
Jim Kelly
Englewood, FL
2/20/2013
Reprinted with permission
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