July 15th, 2026

 Good afternoon, evening, or even morning, whatever the case may be. It’s good to know someone is reading this post. This evening, ten of our stalwart crew came together to share ideas and listen to some inspiring words. We opened the discussion with something most of us seem to dread, though we know it’s absolutely necessary and must be done. We talked about “Rewriting.” 

Yeah, I know it’s hard work. You’ve written a masterful story. The words flowed so easily—well, maybe not so easily, but they are beautiful, well-formed, and without a doubt, immortal. There are so many. How can you change them? The members of your writer’s group have listened and approved, given you a few suggestions, and sometimes their suggestions hit on a good idea. Yep, I can make a few of those changes; they were good ideas. Well, the good ones I’ll keep. The first sentence should read… Wait a minute, that change works… It grabs your attention in the first paragraph. Oh, here, we don’t need all these words; strike them out.

Guess what? You’re rewriting, and it’s helping your story on to the next paragraph. Wait, nobody mentioned that. Did I write that? The next thing you know, the 110 thousand words become only 90 thousand of your darling words. Now, is it time for the Editor?

Here in this setting, where you read your work to a group of authors, you expect challenges; you expect critique; but you do not expect rude or unfriendly criticism. Don’t take the critique personally but take it to heart. Your fellow authors want you to create something you can be proud of. Because the readers of the world aren’t as well-versed in the skills needed to write your story, they are who you must satisfy when it comes to who will read your work. All of us can do better. That’s why we rewrite, not just edit. If you discover that the woman you called Joan in chapter one has become Joanne in chapter seven, don’t you think you should fix it before publication? What happens if you are in the third or fourth book of a series? You might have to go back to the first, second or wherever to fix that. Be prepared.

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OKAY! Let’s move on to the reading portion of tonight’s meeting. Nine of the attendees had work to share. Leading off was Ernie Ovitz. Working on the third book in a trilogy, Erine brings us a scene from The Roaring Lion. Money is the theme for the three books of this series. In this installment, a congressman visits a private (I think it’s a charter school) in West Chicago. A change in the availability of government funds leads to funding cuts. Where will the money to keep the school open come from? I mean, after all, this is Chicago.

 

Chapter 7 of The Reluctant Heiress takes us to a rural setting in southern Pennsylvania. There, Roberta Molaro places Jennifer in a situation new to her. She’s dining with a family whom she is meeting for the first time. The McCoy’s are friendly yet mysterious in some ways. The food is excellent, but different from the fare Jennifer is used to. The ingredients were mostly from the farm the McCoys own. During dinner, a phone call brings some bad news. Aunt Mae has died. Aunt Mae is not really an Aunt, but simply a close family friend who was looked upon as an honorary ‘Aunt’ by everyone in the family. All this was explained to Jennifer by an attractive young man, Drew McCoy, who was about the same age as Jennifer.

 

Bob Miller is writing his memoir and shares Chapter 17 with us this evening. Joining The Navy at 17—What Could Go Wrong? For a youngster setting off in the world is hard enough at the tender age of 17, but to join the Navy straight out of High School can be a bit enlightening. Expecting to sail the high seas, visit new places, and meet new people are great expectations. Boot camp was not in those expectations. Bob did not anticipate becoming a professional toilet scrubber, nor did he think yelling was an effective way to convey ideas, or that sweating was something you did while running at a trot for mile after mile in the hot sun, not playing baseball or football. Oh, and the language. Words never used in public or around the fair sex became part of normal conversation. Cussing like a Sailor was something he now understood where the saying originated. 

 

Dennis Cathcart brought us an update to his original essay, Time Traveler, for our enjoyment. Time travel does exist; we simply ignore it as we look at the ancient trees, plants, and flowers that have survived floods, droughts, and upheavals for time immortal. Dennis sees these things as he travels the world’s exotic locales such as the rocky highlands of Brazil, the windswept cliffs of New Zealand, and many other places where he seeks the rare and unmatched beauty of flora and fauna worldwide. Thank you, Dennis, for giving us a unique look at these wondrous living species as they have existed over time. 

Scott Anderson is experimenting with Hikau and learning about the many ways of expressing thoughts about different phases of life and things around us. Tonight he brought us seven unique offerings of a personal nature. Poets look at life and divine images not all of us can grasp. To look at a memory we cannot see, they show us a feeling put into words. Even the manner in which the words are accented can change the meaning of a poem. Scott masterfully writes and reads his work so that, to this writer, it seems like a video. 

Another masterful poet is our own Don Westerfield. Don’s work often takes us back in time, for those of us who are now senior citizens like himself. As he reads his poems, a scene forms in our minds, and our hearts beat to the cadence of memories. The Sinner tells of the sinful things we’ve done in the past, mostly those we might regret and have no way of correcting. In today’s realm, the Sonnet is almost forgotten. But Don returns to an earlier time as he reads Blue Sonnet, a true Sonnet expressing the happiness that often dwells in poetry and replaces misery.

 Hearing Ursula Wong read a piece I shall call Return to Scrabble Hill because I failed to catch the title, she does an excellent job of showing the readers the actions of a robust party of simple people of the land. The piece had a wholesome feel of rural America, possibly in New England, as evidenced by a lobster pot and regional language, but could as well have taken place in an unlimited number of places. It was a well-written piece that conjured the nuances of friendship, sexual tension, and even a competitive undertone one might feel at such a gathering. Great job, Ursula.

 

 Bruce Haedrich has completed the initial work on his novel, Nadia, and has moved on to a project of writing Flash Fiction. Tonight he brings us, Nancy, a brief but poignant story of a young woman who wanted to bear a child but couldn’t for years. But, as a result of a miracle, according to Nancy, she finally bore a daughter. Nancy’s brother was suspicious of Nancy’s steadfast belief in God and scoffed at it. When Nancy reported noticing a loose seatbelt on the baby’s car seat, she stopped to fix it. To her surprise, there was no problem. Oh well, better safe than sorry, she thought and continued on her journey. A pickup truck ran a stop sign and broadsided her. Because the seatbelts were fastened, both Nancy and the baby survived without major injury. Her brother still did not change his tune, If you hadn’t stopped to fix a seatbelt, you wouldn’t have been at that intersection at the wrong time.

James H. Kelly tells us of the War to End all Wars, WWI, in his tale of the Mackenzie clan, Advance the Line. Young Lieutenant Mackenzie volunteers for the newly formed Tank Corps under then Major George Patton. New weapons will bring about new ways to fight. Learning about the machine and its abilities is the first priority in this chapter. The massive machines are not invincible, but they provide much greater protection for the soldier than infantry does. Or that is what young Mackenzie tells his lover in letters home.

Well, there you have it. We’ve completed another meeting and enjoyed hearing some fine writing. We did our jobs by critiquing our fellow writers and learning something with each session. We’ll be back at the firehouse onAugust 5^th, at 6:30 PM. We hope you can join us and share ideas and stories with us. Until then, READ, Read, and read some more, then WRITE, Write, and KEEP ON WRITING.