January 17th 2018

Another meeting and, as usual, we had fun. 

Lois is back from New York, this is her 8th year visiting us. Debbie returns after an extended northern visit. Linda B, back from the frozen north brought her friend Linda S with her. Welcome back y'all. 

Mary joins us for the first time, we hope she enjoys the meeting making it the first of many she attends. 

After opening the meeting, we turned the proceeding over to Ian. Using techniques suggested by his son, the headmaster at an exclusive school in Great Britain, he presented each of us with a paper entitled, Creative Writing Exercise (Stage 1). We had 15 minutes to write a story including three items, a screwdriver, the number 42, and the color purple. With 15 writers in attendance, you might imagine the subject matter. Writers tend to write about things they know and understand. Subjects broached in these offerings ranged from a simple “junk drawer” in an average home, to a futuristic sci-fi offering. The exercise was fun and challenging; Part 2 is scheduled for the next meeting.

After hearing all the stories from the challenge, we moved on to readings our members brought to share. 

Peter presented a mystical piece entitled Umbachara. A young man, an unlabeled bottle of wine, and a beautiful gypsy girl without clothing, combine in a story set in a vineyard under a warm sun buffered by the shade of the vines. The first wine of the season, the most potent and flavorful, bears the name Umbachara. As the young man imbibes in the new wine and... Look for the story in an upcoming publication.

Returning to his novel following the Roman Emperor Constantine and his family, Ernie gives us a glimpse into the life of  Constantine’s wife, Fausta, as she's held captive by her father in his attempt to usurp the throne. 

Our first-time attendee, Mary, brought us a story aimed at the Young Adult market. Entitled Journey to Cape Canaveral, 2020, a young girl writes an essay of 500 words in hopes of winning a trip to watch the launch of Apollo 8 in 1968. What happens? Does she win? Does she get to Canaveral?

The Second Hand, Ed's poem, elicited a ton of comment. Questions of existence, beliefs, and the future make for an insightful moving piece.

Bill revisited the first chapter, edited to provide a canvas for his portrait of a retrospective look at a life lived to the fullest. His untitled novel shows us an Old Man and his Wife who have an impact on multiple lives throughout their history. Mystery, beautiful prose, and an intriguing plot blend to give us a story to melt the hardest hearts.

We ran a little long, not having time to hear from all our readers, we were forced to ask Ian and Doug to wait until next meeting. They will be first on the reading list. We thank all of our members for their patience as we try to give each piece time and attention befitting the effort put forth by our authors.

Well, that wraps it up for this session. Check back with us often as we will post entries when we have news.

We hope to see you on February 7th. 
Until then, keep on writing.

January 3rd, 2018

Welcome Back!

It’s a new year and our writers are as eager as ever to share their work. This meeting brought us one new face and a couple we haven’t seen in a while. Having been under the weather for a couple of months, we welcomed Darienne back and are glad to see her up and about once again. Also, welcome back Bill. He’s back in town, hopefully for more than a few weeks, we understand it gets cold in Kentucky, we’re glad he’s joined us again this year. As for the first-timer in our midst, Rene, an artist, joins us wanting to use her talents for writing. We welcome her aboard and will do our best to help her feel comfortable here.

At our last meeting Bruce Haedrich suggested a wrinkle for this meeting. So, we decided to give a try. At future selected meetings, a member will set forth a writing exercise prompt, a simple item or idea, and the group will spend 10 minutes scribbling away, coming up with something about the prompt. This week’s prompt being “a crumpled cup.” After the ten minutes it’s pencils down and we read what we came up with. I think it will be interesting, to say the least, the variety of this week’s musings was astounding.

A couple of meeting back, Doug challenged us to write a short, approximately 500 words, using one, or all, of the following words, Obsession, Possession, and Confession. Several of us accepted and read the vignettes. The results were varying and showed a range of ideas.

First up in reading items we would like some ideas on, we heard from Bill. Citing a busy summer schedule, he said finding time to write this summer was nearly impossible and he got more done in the few days he’s been back than all summer. He read a short piece of his story in which a nameless old man, equally nameless wife, and his airplane are the protagonists. Good work as usual. His work is entering the rewrite and edit stage now and it’s going to be good, a short novel which all can enjoy not just flying enthusiasts.

Ernie veered from his work on the Emperor Constantine and brought us a parable from the New Testament with a modern spin. Guests were amazed as a young man came to the aid of a woman at her son’s wedding. It seems she underestimated the amount of wine needed to fill all the glasses for the final toast. While knowing the outcome, it was intriguing to learn how Ernie found a way to set the story in this modern era.

Stepping back from his soon to be published memoir, Don shared a tale of two college friends traveling on a dark and dreary road. Once, in their college days, one of the boys, when romancing the daughter of an influential donor, told the girl his name was his best friend’s name instead. Poor judgement and the lack of proper precautions resulted in fingers being pointed at the wrong man. However, things worked out when the girl said she’d never seen the man in her life who’d been called to the Dean’s office. When a similar incident occurred some years later, a trip in foul weather ended with the pair being stranded at a remote farmhouse owned by an attractive older woman. The devious friend got his comeuppance, although not in a manner you might expect.

Reading from his book, A Gathering of Demons, Bruce tells of a young gypsy girl who sees the future and predicts chaos will reign. She has difficulty convincing others her vision is real. Who among us would be receptive to her predictions?

Wounded but Not Conquered from Ed’s “creative memoir,” depicts the experiences of an underage theater usher. His introduction to less than upstanding individuals unleashes a flood of exciting new adventures and lights the fuse of adolescent curiosity. Lord help us, we look forward to upcoming chapters.

A futuristic look at the fate of certain politicos, as seen by Ian in his piece entitled, Trump in Hell. Analyses the circles of hell while attempting to choose the appropriate castigation for the sins committed. Fantastic humor precedes a conclusion which is completely off the wall and unexpected. Enthusiastically entertaining.

We wish you all the best in the new year. Join us the first and third Wednesday of the month for entertaining interaction with fellow writers designed to help your writing as you help other writers as well.

Until then, 
Keep on Writing.