March 16th, 2022

 

A rain-soaked day for sure, capped off by a tornado, made me expect a low turnout for our meeting. But, writers are a dedicated bunch–eleven of us showed up despite the weather. As usual, we opened with a discussion about things that affect our writing. Our group is here to promote authorship, not censor or discuss the subject matter. Some government agencies and elected officials seek to determine what books and written material are appropriate for citizens to read. Books banned in some areas include classics and even religious texts in a direct assault on the constitution of our country. I support the right of parents to determine what their children may or may not read, but I cannot help others decide what I, or my children, can read or write. Enough said.

 

We moved on to the reading and help portion of the meeting. Leading off this evening was Ernie Ovitz. Reading from Imperium, the Thirteenth Apostle, Book 3, Chapter 17 of his trilogy, Ernie described a meeting of Christian Bishops in Caesarea. The historical meeting established immense changes in the early Christian influence within the Roman World. There was a lot of feedback from the group. It is challenging to incorporate such an essential role in world history into a novel, and Ernie works hard to make it work. We hope some of the comments will help ease his burden.

 

When John Hearon began to read, he picked up where he left off at the last meeting. John informed us how some of the group’s suggestions found their way into his previous section. Using those suggestions, he has modified more of this chapter. Reading from I Wasn’t Always a Hero, John tells us of a stranger in the Irish Pub frequented by Mick and his cohorts who creates a stir with his “out of place” dress and manners. But he makes Mick an offer that stirs a curiosity within. Will he follow up? The stranger’s words are threatening and promising at the same time. Suggestions from the group included taking a careful look at the length of the book’s chapters. John seemed to like the idea.

 

As are many writers, Peter Frickel is a letter writer and has been since childhood. Almost ready for publication is a collection of letters written by and to Peter. He prefaced his reading by expressing the thrill of receiving or posting a letter. How it makes one anxious to see what’s inside the sealed envelope is matched only by the feeling of finality one has when a note is taken by the postman from the mailbox, knowing it is final, it can’t be recalled or changed. Then, a letter he once wrote to friends in Africa upon searching for their daughter in the Congo. It was a time of war. The daughter, a Nun teacher, was hunted by insurrectionists and in great danger. Peter’s letter describes the scenes of death and murder perpetrated by and on “boy soldiers” during the conflict. His description of mothers searching for their ten, eleven, etc., year-old sons among the hundreds of bodies filling the roadside ditches is traumatic and heart-rending. Look for the work on Amazon soon.

 

Ponce De Leon searched Florida for the Fountain of Youth for years. It’s unclear as to if he found it. Ian Schagen has an idea about that. Fleeing from the police, Professor William Catnip, a cybernetics instructor at a University in West Florida, stole an airboat and was racing across the Everglades. Unfamiliar as to the properties of an airboat, he struck a stump deep in uncharted waters. Darkness quickly approached as he stumbled through knee-deep water into a grove of cypress trees, encasing a second grove of strange plants. A glowing light within the forest of weird plants drew him to it. Interrupted by a monster alligator, fully 13 feet in length, intent on making a meal of the stumbling man, he fired several shots to stop the gator’s charge. The noise frightened the beast. It turned toward the ball of light with strange results. As it neared the ethereal glow, the gator shrunk in size. By the time it turned away and raced back past the Professor, it was a mere infant only 10 or 12 inches in length. Using his phone, the man took a selfie. His beard was no longer white but a healthy brown, and he felt the stirring of his lost libido. Had he found The Fountain of Youth? Look for Ian to publish a collection of short stories to find out.

 

The Girl in the Red Shirt, Bruce Haedrich’s Noir short story, will soon be available in a collection he plans to publish. An Army Ranger wounded in Vietnam falls in love with his nurse. When the leader of a street gang kills her in Chicago, the Ranger sets out on a mission of revenge. Does he succeed? Will he complete his dark task?

 

Rick Baily writes from the heart, and music helps him focus. Influenced by Bob Dylan, his work A Hard Rain is Gonna Fall takes a bizarre turn as the protagonist in his story is a street lamp beside a bus stop. One of a series of stories about light that begins with fire and progresses through time. The lamp watches as life goes on beneath its glow. A beautiful woman waits for a bus and becomes a favorite of our watcher. Her life changes as she grows and changes. A car crash, a Samaritan, and friends help her change from a beautiful woman into a beautiful human. Rick, your work deserves to be read; we hope you can publish it soon.

 

We’ve enjoyed Don Westerfield’s poetry and prose for years. Today’s works are as mighty and full of inspiration as always. Tonight’s reading of Metaphor of Life strikes deep in our hearts as Don compares life to an actor’s time on stage. Not to be outdone, his The Last Parade strikes a chord in every person’s life with a finality present in its predicted suspense, “Closer, closer the marchers come.”

 

We ran out of time tonight, and James Kelly graciously acquiesced to reading first at the next meeting. Thank you, James.

Until the next time, April 6^th, 2022, right here at the Nokomis Fire House, please KEEP ON WRITING!

March 3rd, 2022

Okay, I’m back. I’ve been away for a couple of meetings. My wife and I have been moving and are still unpacking. I didn’t know we’d accumulated so much “stuff.” Thank you all for indulging in my absence.

Our meeting started with a discussion. I asked the attendees (there were ten of us) did we include some of our aspects, quirks, traits, or whatever in our characters? Do we write to please others or ourselves?

The half-hour-long discussion was lively and informative. The first question was answered with a resounding “yes,” even though sometimes we give our characters the right to do things we would never do but think about with nefarious delight. One of the great things about writing is that we can be as good or evil as our minds can envisage, sometimes even more than imagined. The devil and angel on our shoulder often guide us to ultra dark or enlightened places only our minds can conceive.

We all want to please ourselves with our writing unless it is a contracted piece. If a writer takes on a job for a client, you need to satisfy your client. After all, they’re paying for the privilege. 

 

We tabled our discussion as we had a lot of writers wanting to share their stuff. Ernie Ovitz led off, reading a selection from Chapter 15 of The Thirteenth Apostle, in which Constantia, Constantine’s wife, seeks the counsel of a Christian Bishop. Her brothers have attempted to usurp the emperor’s crown but have failed. After their defeat, she wishes to plead for their lives to her husband. Will mercy abound? A riveting story pulled from the pages of history. Good job, Ernie.

South Boston is the setting for John Hearon’s I Wasn’t Always A Hero. Mick, an enforcer for loan sharks in the city, meets a stranger wearing a suit and tie in a “Southie” hangout bar. The wine-drinking stranger is as out of place as a screen door on a submarine. Will he survive the night?

Poetry from the mind of Don Westerfield is a beautiful thing to behold. Tonight Don graced us with three short but meaningful works. Echos, To Race the Wind, and Memento Mori. Echos explored the memories of a mature and wiser person thinking back over the rights and wrongs they’ve committed. To Race the Wind can be physical or metaphysical in its interpretation. The thrill of soaring above the world as a pilot or a spirit; each brings forth a wondrous joy. We’ve all lost someone, but Don’s time in the military meant he lost more than a few close friends. In Memento Mori, Don mourns the loss as he relives the moments of an Honor Guard’s reflection over a flag-draped coffin.

Seeking something missing from the opening chapter of his new work, Rod DiGruttolo read his draft, hoping for help finding that little missing piece. Under attack by ruthless pursuers, Leah has to fight back with skill and courage. Set in the outskirts of Tehran overlooking the city, Leah neutralizes three attackers and escapes. But to what does she escape.

Have you ever read something and felt as if it was written in black and white like the old Noir movies? Bruce Haedrich has done it in The Girl in the Red Shirt. The opening paragraph shocks with, “I was looking at the man I came to kill.” After that, it does something impossible; it gets even more exciting.

When Peter McNally first came to us, he was recovering from a devastating illness. He still is, but his writing skills have blossomed, and his story, Rewired, is unfolding with clarity drawing us in deeper with each reading. How can a person recover all the facilities taken away by massive strokes? How can one find those memories wiped from their brain by a calamity? Go for it, Peter!

James Kelly takes us back to 1875 in the Dakota territories. In These Sacred Lands, he unfolds a tale of the unlikely relationship between a Lakota Brave and a U.S. Calveryman. In the chapter entitled Woman Walks Alone, James tells us of one of the many hardships of Native Americans as the brave’s wife prepares to have her first child. It’s a haunting story of devotion and personal pain.

Have you contemplated how we would know when “time” was coming to an end? Rick Bailey has, and he wrote about in A Bird hit the Windshield. When a bird strikes the windshield of a car driven by a young woman, she panics. For a few moments, she cannot move as the shock causes her to lift her hands from the steering wheel. Her passengers bring her back to reality, but the author wonders did the bird fly into the window glass by mistake or on purpose? Do animals know when their time is coming to an end? DO WE? I want to hear more of Rick’s work, don’t you?

 Well, that concludes all I can remember, even with the notes I take, of what happened. If you need to know more, join us. We have a lot of fun and help each other with writing issues. We ain't perfect, but we're sincere in our advice. So, until next time; KEEP ON WRITING!