June 19th, 2019

The second meeting of the month was exciting as always. Our round table discussion was tabled so we could hear from all our readers this week. We did take a few minutes at the break to discuss what aid we used to self-edit our work. Most of the writers use aids embedded in their word processing programs or other free-standing programs purchased or downloaded from open-source software. But all use their skill and knowledge to supplement the electronic aids. A few continue to use printed dictionaries, thesauruses, and reference materials. It all works.

Our first reader was a holdover from the last meeting when not all got the chance to read. Jeff Kutcher read a chapter entitled Life in a Solar. A Solar is a complex in which families live in small apartments usually two or three rooms. Residents stand in line for water as most apartments do not have running water. A single faucet in the courtyard is turned on once a day, maybe. Residents vie to be near the front of the line to fill containers with enough water to last until the next release of the needed water. Amauri and his friend turn the wait into a time to play as well as hold their place in line.

Constantine’s rule of Rome had not yet begun in 311 A.D. but intrigue and subterfuge abound in his camps in Gaul. The high priest of Apollo’s temple competes with the Bishop of the Christians for Constantine’s ear. History shows us what occurred but fails to give us an insight into the conversations among the conspirators and in the household of the soon-to-be Emperor, but Ernie Ovitz does in his books.

A legionnaire Colonel and Mamon, a woman of means, are wed. She leaves Colonel Pierre for a Cuban diplomat and moves to Cuba. The Colonel lives only to enjoy his friends and a few evenings at a local café in Paris. One night he meets a girl, young, comely, and in need. A few francs, a charity donation; another evening she again is there, he continues to give her money and an attraction grows in him. He looks forward to seeing her, but one day she’s gone, and loneliness sets in. Look for this tome in the future, a love story, a saga of intrigue, where does it go, how does it end? Only Peter Frickle knows, or does he?

It’s been a while since our friend and poet James O Kelly joined us, he’s been busy as a volunteer teaching 4^th and 5^th graders about poetry. We welcomed him home again this meeting and enjoyed his wonderful work with two poems. Anderson Creek and Acid Rain were inspired by his youth in Pennsylvania’s coal mining communities. Descriptive and poignant, one could hear the roar of coal trucks and smell the sour aroma of polluted water.

Cruising, a look at Don Westerfield’s idea of a perfect cruise imparted his sense of humor as well as made this listener a little jealous. Able to relax in the warm sunshine while cool ocean breezes sweep over you and at the same time read your favorite author’s latest work seems idyllic and he expresses just that in his poem. On the other side of the idyllic spectrum, The Last Day, provides an unexpected look at what a person might feel after a fatal love affair. Check out Don’s work in one or more of his published tomes.

Flash Fiction has captured Bruce Haedrich’s fancy. He’s writing a FF story each day this year and hopes to publish an anthology at the end of all 365 stories. This week’s entry was The Phone Call, a one-sided conversation in which we are privy to only one of the speakers; fascinating.

A lost city dwelling beneath the ocean, could it be Atlantis? Rene Fletcher takes us on a submersible to explore ruins discovered only after an earthquake and storm create a fissure in the seabed off the Bahamian coast. Intrigue and corruption play a role in who’s allowed to know about the project. Officials and governments are covering up something while the wonders of the deep inspire awe in the explorers.

Another poet took center stage as Scott Anderson read 6 short works. Jailer showed us how he retaliated in hearing a sharp critique of his everyday speech. He shot back by dangling participles and possibly tossing off a few clichés. Whispers, Voice Mail, Closets, Mosaic, and Family Photos all gave us a glimpse into his true nature as he mourned his wife. More than one listener wiped a tear from their eye as he finished.

When Parker Converse was in the islands of the Caribbean, he met a man named Billy Bob aboard his yacht, The Southern Belle. The yacht was, in Parker’s words, OUTRAGEOUS. Hired to captain the yacht for no money but an all-expense paid Caribbean Voyage a new deckhand was interviewed. Expecting to meet a salty Swede, a Swedish beauty came aboard and because of limited quarters, she agreed to bunk with the Captain. He stopped reading here but promised to continue the next meeting. I’ll be there, for sure.

We welcomed Keri Dieffenwierth back after an extended absence, after all, world travel and a broken neck might be an excuse for not attending. Keri, we missed you and hope to see you more often in the future. Although she didn’t bring some of her own work to read, she did read from a favored work, A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. Great writing is never unwelcome.

That pretty much sums up our meeting, I hope to see you again in July and until then, KEEP ON WRITING.

June 5th, 2019

For those who live with extended family, I know you understand when I tell you, I don’t always have time to complete my duties. Writing the notes of meeting activities while tending to 9, now 10, active great-grandchildren requires most of my waking hours. Occasionally I cannot complete all the tasks I have taken on. I hope you can forgive my lapses and will continue to follow our group.

Our writers are important to our group and we band together to provide help in a myriad of ways. Each meeting is unique. Problems or issues encountered by a single writer are handled with in-depth input from most of the group. Our discussion last night began with a question from Debbie MacAvoy, “What is the fiction writer’s responsibility when it comes to making statements in a story?”

A spirited discussion ensued, with 14 members on hand plus 3 first time attendees, I expected to hear a half-dozen opinions. I was wrong, I heard a minimum of ten opinions and saw heads nodding at each of those. The intent of the writer bears greatly on how such statements are handled. Intending to entertain his readers, a fiction writer can make up stories such as Jules Verne did in many of his writings. His theories were pipe dreams in the era in which they were written. If he'd been forced to prove his statements we'd not have some of the most compelling literature in history. The same goes for Science Fiction writers today or in the future. Other stories are meant to change social situations or directly influence public opinion. Some social issues are so important a lie told by a writer could inflame or dampen public opinion. Maybe there are times when a fiction writer must look at what they're saying with a truth detector. What I anticipated to be a short discussion, lasted nearly a full hour. GREAT!

Readers send me your opinions on this question. 

With seventeen attendees and fifteen reading requests, we had a full night of reading. Even with one reader abstaining, we still had two readers unable to read and they will be first on the agenda at our next meeting. My apologies to Jim and Jeff.

Leading off was Bruce Haedrich with a flash fiction piece about an ancestor’s experience on a sailing vessel, The Maggie Abbott. Written in verse emulating the Ancient Mariner, the story depicts a voyage from the Caribbean carrying a cargo of teak. Sailing into a hurricane, the ship is in dire danger of going down. Only the bravery of the Captain and crew can save her. Can they do it? Wait for the publication and find out.

Two poems by Don Westerfield remind those of us who swell the ranks of Senior Citizens of the frailties of our minds. Senility gives a glimpse of a departed loved one remembered with vivid clarity as to make us think they’re really in our presence. Maybe they are! Unwritten recalls those words we often think of but fail to put on paper because they do not please us at the time. It’s too familiar. 

Sue Haley presented a pair of poems making us think. Offense and Clutter took us to places in our lives where we could change things. Did we take advantage of the opportunity or simply continue in the old ways of use, discard, and injure? What did you do?

When Ed Ellis took the floor announcing the title of his piece, Never Trust a Drunken Sailor, chuckles swirled in the room. A seventeen-year-old boy leaves home for the first time to join the Navy. His father and mentor approve and paints a picture of world travel, possible romance in exotic ports, and partaking of forbidden fruits a long way from home. In truth, San Diego is not that far from hometown Los Angeles but a weekend in Tijuana brings an adventure even the young man did not expect.

Fish tales are almost always about the one that got away. Peter Frickel brings salvation to the fish tale in his work, Big Fish. As a young man hooks a huge fish off the coast of South Africa, he begins a struggle unmatched in his experience. A valiant fighter, the fish pulls the boat through the water, tries to break the line in submerged rocks, and twists unceasingly beneath the crystal waters in attempts to gain freedom. Unsuccessful in its fight, the exhausted fish comes to rest in a shallow pool near shore. The fisherman is moved by the gallant efforts of his quarry and removes the sharp hook from its mouth, granting a pardon to such a valiant fighter. Helping the fish regain some strength by forcing water across its gills, he releases the fish into the depths.

The Bishop Ossius contemplates his sins and lapses in faith as he returns to Constantine’s house, this time in Gaul. Ernie Ovitz takes us back to 311 A.D. to witness the intrigue in the Roman Empire as emperors plot and scheme to usurp control of the empire. Ailing rulers, dying emperors, and burgeoning Christianity shape the destiny of the Empire. The behind-the-scenes look at what might have happened lets us imagine how history was formed.

Fingernails, toenails, and a boy’s bad habit make for Dennis Catheart’s story, Toe in a Bottle. In the jungles of Costa Rica, a boy joins his father and a fellow adventurer searching for a rare plant. The boy’s habit of biting his fingernails irks the companion. One evening the boy is present when their companion takes off his shoe. His toenails are fungus filled and he’s missing a toe. The man says, “If you like biting nails so much, bite these.” Repulsed, the boy gags and listens as the man produces a bottle with what appears to be a toe with a long toenail inside. The boy is presented with the bottle to take back to his village and, in telling the story, almost eliminates nail-biting in his village.

A first-time attendee, Parker Converse, read a portion of his work from A Caribbean Voyage. Billy Bob shows off his craft, The Southern Belle, to a visiting Sea Captain. Seemingly equally proud of his drinking ability, he attempts to coax his guest into a drinking bout. The Captain says he’s given up alcohol and does not imbibe. Billy Bob admits, he used to have a drinking problem, but his wife made him cut back some years ago. He recalls as to how he used to fly his plane with a bottle of Scotch between his legs and take many sips during the flight. Sometimes he’d get lost. Searching out a nearby airport, he'd land. Not willing to ask directions or even ask as to where he might be, he'd go into the parking lot and see what tags were on the cars, that way he at least knew what State he was in.

Remaining in the Caribbean, Rene let us sit in on a meeting between an Admiral and an island resident of an old Bahamian family with great influence in local government. Mr. Lighford meets with Admiral Pratt to discuss a recent storm Mr. Lighford is convinced the Admiral caused with a secret weapon and created a chasm in the coral reef which exposed ruins heretofore unseen. Rene’s sci-fi story has all the earmarks of a great story. Keep an eye out for its completion.

Yale Larsson is busy as he investigates the murder of an up and coming young woman. Doug Sahlin’s book develops with Larsson’s interrogation of a neighbor, a nosey old lady deemed a nut-job by her neighbors but, in truth, is a best-selling author and very observant.

A flash fiction piece presented by Deb MacAvoy at our last meeting came back with revisions. Much better and more succinct, A Long Way depicts the advances in our lives as to how we look at trauma and mental health. When a man accidentally kills his child in the 1950s by backing over her, he is shunned by neighbors, ridiculed by family, and left to his own devices to cope with the terrible aftermath of what he’s done. He commits suicide weeks later. In 2018 another man suffers a similar disaster. He’s given support by friends and family. Referred to a professional therapist, he receives needed treatment and resolves, or at least comes to grips with his guilt. He builds a memorial to his daughter. How far have we come?

That’s about all for this session, I hope all in attendance enjoyed the meeting. I did, as do those who emailed me or expressed approval at the meeting's conclusion. We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming meeting, so far this starts out to be a wonderful summer session. Until June 19th, keep on writing!

Englewood Authors are offering a 3 part program of Creative Development of Characters for fiction, short story, and non-fiction. The program will be presented in three elements. The objective is to tie three major elements of writing. Creativity, Scene, and Character into a clear pathway through your story.

The first section of the presentation will be:
Wednesday, Jun 13th from 5 PM to 7:30  PM 
Location: Elsie Quirk Library 100 W Dearborn Street, Englewood.


All are welcome