It really does get cold in Florida. Reports of snow are coming in from our northern border area. Northern Florida, that is. I once saw an old humorous weather map showing the Canadian Border a few miles above Tampa and a demarcation line at Fort Myers, assigning all south of that as South America. Maybe the weather gods took it seriously. It’s chilly outside right now, but that didn’t stop eleven of us hard-core writers from showing up at our meeting. This was the last meeting in January, and we will return to our regular schedule for February 5th and 19th at the Nokomis Fire Station Training Room. We hope to see you all there.
I accidentally clicked on an icon for an AI site while writing a bio for myself. Within a fraction of a second, I had an impressive bio on my screen. After reading it, I discovered I was much more accomplished than I knew. The only problem was, IT WASN’T TRUE! I don’t know where the information came from, but AI took snippets of my work and amplified it, filled it with falsehoods, and made my bio sound like a Madison Avenue advertisement. BEWARE OF WHAT YOU ASK FOR.
Oh well! Let’s move on to the readings we enjoyed this week.
Anne Moore is moving on with her project of 70 women in their 70’s offering their life experiences and wisdom to younger women. Anne is looking for an appropriate title for her book. Although she has several suggestions, she’d like more. Send us a comment at the bottom of the page if you can think of a title you might pick up at the bookstore.
As an experienced lecturer and presenter on exotic plants and their care and his adventures in finding these beautiful and rare species all over the tropics, Dennis Cathcart has experienced many extraordinary and, yes, exciting adventures to procure such specimens. He’s written two books about his escapades in Koule’v, Books I and II. Being asked to address audiences of plant lovers from all over the world, Dennis tries to relate to his love of plants as discovering life experiences and feeling respect toward things in our work-a-day world. Kudos Dennis!
THEY’RE HERE! Ernie Ovitz (E.G. Ovitz) has published this Trilogy, The Story of Constantine the Great, IMPERIUM, books l, ll, and lll are now available on Amazon, and Ernie is pressing on with a new project. His efforts have moved into the future as he delves into the world of organized crime. With a working title of Ghost, Ernie’s characters have drawn the attention of Federal Investigators after the private plane of a former President’s brother crashes, killing all on board. Why did a major Real Estate company headquartered in Colorado pay for the wedding of the former President’s brother? The company’s CEO is the nephew of a powerful, aging Don of the Crime Syndicate.
Have you ever been to Bryant Park in New York City? Although I haven’t, Don Westerfield must have been there. His poem Bryant Park paints a picture I’ve seen in more than one city park. I don’t know if the parks today are as pastoral as they once were, but it is nice to remember as Don does in his second poem, Past Memories. Visions of the past come to mind of when we were… well, you know, young. Naughty or Good, which memories do you miss the most?
Richard Cope brings us the conclusion of his short story, Coolangatta. After more than a week in a life raft and contemplating reverting to cannibalism of the body of the dead First Officer, a trio of survivors make their decision as one of them flings the only knife aboard out to sea. The corpse is commended to the deep. Another, driven insane by the sun and lack of food and water, dives overboard and strikes out swimming. A shiver of sharks ends his swim in a frenzy after a few hundred yards. Now, there are two, Nathanial and Becky. Visiting Australia, Prince Charles and his new bride, Diana, reference the sole survivor, Nate, in a speech at the terminus of the race. Where was Becky?
Bruce Haedrich set aside his collection of Noir short stories to honor a request from a fellow writer. He is returning to an Essay entitled, The Future of History. Reaching into the past five thousand years, Bruce details when mankind has risen to a level wherein an Empire was formed. In each case, corruption and social occurrences destroyed the basic foundation of the Empire, causing it to fall. After a time, another empire took its place, only to suffer the same fate. Will mankind eventually learn from history, or will we continue to make the same mistakes? Let’s see what Bruce has to say.
Ursula Wong is preparing her latest offering for publication and plans to include a second in a series. Read over the handout and send Ursula your suggestions. Even bad ones may hold some semblance of ideas.
James Kelly reverted to the beginning of his latest tale and reconstructed the first chapter. He heightened the anticipation of the coming war in Europe. He amplified the importance of the use of tanks in the conflict. Life in a military academy with a social hierarchy, even between brothers, is clarified in this edition.
Note to Jim: Your work has always been top tier, but you are improving with each chapter.
All is well and we've started off well in the New Year but as always, KEEP ON WRITING. We'll see you on Feb, 5th at 6:30 PM at the Nokomis Fire Station.
Support your Local Fire Department.
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