June 21, 2017

Our June 21^st meeting was fun and informing. Two new attendees were there and we welcomed them with open arms. One of them has recently moved to the area and the other was her guest, a good friend from the Northwest. They joined in our conversation and contributed information germane to our discussion.

The discussion covered a multitude of subjects; traditional publishing vs. self-publishing was the highlight but several sub-themes came to the fore among them, the difference between critique and criticism.

Darienne returned after a vacation wherein she traveled across the country. She is itching to write many stories but shared with us the good news that four of her pieces have been accepted for publication in various magazines.  

We moved on to the reading portion of our night. Ed Ellis shared a poem entitled Bird House. The free-verse poem depicted how we all live in some type of container.

Ernie Ovitz surprised us by reading the introduction to his handbook geared toward the Englewood Real Property Market. A realtor, he wants to introduce some of his personal history with the area to his clients and other realtors. He read the rough draft and received a lot of feedback. We look forward to the revised version.

Peter, who says, “I’m not going to write a memoir” elicited laughter and a few tears from the listeners as he read his piece entitled, Me. Peter writes so much about his homeland in South Africa and his travels across Africa and the European continents. His writing is suburb. Although he chooses not to write a memoir, his stories show the reader much about him and his life.

Our visitor, Barra, consented to read a selection from his forthcoming book, And the Jester Cried. The book shows signs of being a big hit as it is composed of a series of vignettes written in a unique style using fast moving verbiage in the prose of a freeform thinker.  

When Don read his opening paragraphs, the listeners were laughing so hard I think I missed some of the good stuff. When a private attempted to smother an aircraft engine fire in front of an audience of military brass, including the Base Commanding General, and handled a high-pressure foam hose… Well, I’ll let your imagination prompt you to wait for his memoir’s publication.

With the brogue of a true Irish woman, Noreen let us peek into the private life of her dog, Rocky. When joining the family including another pesky canine, Rocky was introduced to the realities of life when a trip to the Vet for neutering was scheduled. The conversation between the two dogs, as imagined by our Gaelic writer was funny, so funny I missed the name of the second dog.