JANUARY 19TH, 2022

 Sarasota Writers Group

Our meeting began a six-thirty pm after a lively networking period. Our fearless leader Rod DiGruttolo was unavoidably absent and Ernie Ovitz filled in.

Thirteen members were present and eleven wanted to read, so we began with first on the sign-in sheet, Bill Elam, reading from his Old Man stories. Bill says he thinks he needs one or two more chapters to finish this long-time work in progress. Bill has a great story going and we hope he gets there.

Linda Grischy and her husband have wealth of experience in the property rental business and she has written a book to offer words of wisdom to prospective landlords. She read from her chapter describing the risks associated with tenants with pets. While she was quick to explain that there are many good tenants that have pets, those that are irresponsible can be a costly nightmare for property owners. Her writing was well done and informative.

Bruce Haedrich read an essay titled The Gift. In it he shared his recollections of a gift from his mother, a framed print of Rudyard Kipling’s poem If-. He brought his treasure and let us all see the framed work, one he had taken with him throughout life.

John Heacon read a short work on the relationship between fathers and sons. A lively discussion followed.

Ian Schagen read from his science fiction piece. His protagonist Andraus is drawn to a hidden world where strange beings reveal his destiny.

James Kelly continued with his story of Army life in the Old West. Joshua graduates from West Point while his father looks on.

Peter Frickel penned a fun piece My Neighbors Cat he followed with one humbly titled Me: his thoughts and reflections on a train trip to Paris and his lovely companion who greats him there. As he has done so many times before, Peter set the literary standard in our group.

After a break we continued are readings with Don Westerfield sharing two of his poems: The Human Race and The Road We Travel; wisdom from the man from Indiana we all enjoyed.

Anne Moore passed on her opportunity to read, but shared her appreciation for our writers. Her research project is underway looking to capture the story of women reaching their seventieth year.

Dennis Cathcart has been working on his memoir and the story of his life’s adventures finding reptiles and rare plants from around the world. He wants his readers to understand that his book is a whole lot more than one about snakes. We couldn’t agree more after hearing many of Dennis’ adventure stories. Tonight he read his preface titled About this Book.

Richard Cope read another of his tales of Toby the hound dog from his fictional Bean County, Tennessee. He began by reminding us that this coming Sunday, January 23, is National Pie Day. We should have known what to expect, there was a pie contest going on in Bean County. All was going well until Toby showed up. What a hoot! The group encouraged Richard to publish his Toby stories.

The discussion turned to marketing and Bill Elam shared his experience creating and marketing “targeted” print images to professionals through their associations. His point was that we as authors can do the same if our goal is making money from our writing. A lively discussion followed. Susan Haley was on the list to read next, but she said she was enjoying the marketing discussion too much, and so the discussion continued until nine pm when the meeting adjourned.

Susan Haley is on our list to read first at our next meeting.

For the group,

Ernie Ovitz

January 5th, 2022

The first meeting of the new year is always exciting. Of the seventeen attendees, only three did not choose to share some of their work with us. We did not prepare for writing issues discussions this month, so we went right into the reading portion of our evening.

We welcomed a first-time attendee John Hearon to the meeting. I hope John enjoyed our group and comes back regularly. We use a sign-in sheet to remember who attended our meetings. I have a hard enough time remembering where I’m supposed to be, let alone who was there with me. I usually call on those who wish to read in the order they’ve signed in. Come early, read early. We ask if you read, be courteous enough to remain throughout the meeting, and listen to your fellow readers. They listened to you. Also, participate in the discussion following the readings, even if it’s a simple comment of appreciation. Be honest and tactful in giving critique.

Our first reader of the evening was Peter Frickel. As usual, Peter’s offerings were poignant, evoking emotion with each word. Differences brought to mind the soft, caring hands of a mother compared to the firm guiding hands of a father as they maneuvered a young boy along the path to manhood. The Space Between Loving shows us those moments, days, weeks, months, even years after a love is gone for any reason. Memories, regrets, and wishes guide us forward as we move on. Struggles, are they worth it? Man On the African Plain shows us a conversation, a realization, and a departure. The joy of a fellow traveler, the pain of realizing the future is less satisfying than the past, and moving on into an uncertain future shows us the circle of life. As always, well done, Peter.

When Ian Schagen stepped up to read his newest sci-fi adventure, Armontiriath, he began with a summary of previous events leading up to the portion he would read this evening. Space travel, a mutiny, factions with opposing political and civilization views have created a civil war before attempting to settle on a newly discovered planet beyond our galaxy. A haunting dream of a captivating woman torment the captain and leads him to come upon a new civilization. Yes, I want to hear more. I guess I’ll wait until the book is out.

Our new attendee, John Hearon, is also a sci-fi writer, a futurist looking at a dystopian scenario in his book, The Lighting Clock. His opening chapter entitled, Lighting Always Strikes Twice in the Same Place, tells the story of a young female in transport to prison, convicted of murder. Justice does not exist in the future country of “USA Amcourt,” a corporation country. In John’s story, a single phrase evoked comment, “not my clowns, not my circus,” when spoken by the prisoner about a group of children in the company sent to the prison as slave labor elicited a dislike for the protagonist among several members of the group. Will she remain a despicable character? We look forward to the rewrite as John promises to come back at the next meeting.

Back from his Holiday Cruise, Don Westerfield brought us a couple of poems, Night Walker, a new offering, and Walk Away, written a few years ago. In Night Walker, a man of advanced age approaches the water’s edge, thinking he will walk on into oblivion. Will he or won’t he? Read the poem to find out. Walk Away lets us delve into the mind of a man at a reunion. There, he espies one whom he thinks was a former love. Does he approach? Does he “walk away?” Don, we all love your poetry.

Ed Ellis has been working on a non-fiction book for several years. In the meantime, he’s produced many witty, often humorous stories to share with us. Tonight he asks us to read, critique, and return a portion of his nearly ready work. Appendix 102 – Creative Questioning teaches how to form and ask questions capable of moving us forward in our life, business, or even our writing. It is complete with Tables and Figures to guide us along. Congratulations, Ed, it’s going well.

Attending for the second time, Cat Christensen shared a unique use of Haiku with us. An artist produced a series of paintings to which Cat applied her talent. It was a fantastic display. The poetry is in tune with the images. A lump forms in my throat as I read the words describing the scene. Great job, Cat, and kudos to the artist.

Tiny Poems About an Ordinary Life, that’s how Abby Karish entitles her work. Short and directed toward the common occurrences of everyday life, her lively words give insight into those thoughts we all have but tend to ignore. Everybody’s life has its exciting moments, but daily life is priceless.

Have you ever had a moment in your life you can’t explain to others without thinking they will call you crazy? The Phone Call by Bruce Haedrich might qualify for him. Dialing his daughter’s number, Bruce hears the phone ringing on the other end. But, the voice answering is not that of his daughter. It is his older brother. They have a two-minute and eighteen-second call, interrupted by static that disconnects them. With unanswered questions still in his mind, Bruce cannot fathom the substance of the call. You see, his brother has been dead for a year and a half.

Toby and the High Roller by Richard Cope brings a light-hearted bent to the evening. It seems Toby gets mistakenly packed in a U-Haul and transported to Las Vegas from his home in Bean County, Tennessee. All is not lost as Toby befriends a High Roller in Vegas who turns him into a national hero by proclaiming him to be a super good luck charm. Yes, Toby finally returns home, welcomed by a Senator and the whole county.

Have you ever experienced Puppy Love? Well, a lonesome old man in Linda Grischy’s story did. It seems he found a puppy on the street by his house. The puppy rushed inside and ravenously ate the leftovers the man gave him. It was love at first sight, but the puppy ran away only to return the next day. Friends tried to tell the man, “the dog belongs to another,” but the man persisted in claiming the puppy was his. After following the puppy one day and finding out, the little dog visited another old man down the street to get fed as well; his persistence remained. The puppy didn’t show up for a few days. The man asked the other man if he’d seen the puppy. “Yes,” the old man replied, “she comes for her steak every day.” That afternoon, the man cut up his best tenderloin to feed his little friend.

Having read an article in a newspaper asking, How much is Poetry Worth? Or something like that. Ernie Ovitz shared it with us. Our group values the poets who share their work with us. This article agreed, poetry is timeless and a valuable part of our lives.

Rod DiGruttolo shared a bit of a travelog. His experiences of getting underway on a driving vacation during rush hour made for a bit of humor to end the meeting.

Well, that’s about all for this time. If you don’t have time to write, READ! But do your best to KEEP ON WRITING. See you next meeting.