Wednesday, May 15th, 2013

Another good turnout with 22 in attendance, 3 of whom are FWA members. We had three new guests as Jack Wetherson, Ron Babcock, and David Lackey joined us for the first time. George Mindling opened the meeting with several FWA announcements and comments, and since no speakers were scheduled, we began with our first reader, Rod DiGruttolo. Rod doubled as first reader as well as being the Master of Ceremonies of the meeting.

Rod opened by reading an excerpt from “The Red Stain,” a novel in progress by new member Jung Sok Yo. A good discussion followed with positive feedback for Jung's writing. Next was Ed Ellis's story “Digital Technology,” about digital technology used as a diagnostic device for a prostate exam. Well written, it caught the audience off guard as intended. Be glad he didn't ask the proctologist for a second opinion.

We heard more adventures of Gracie, the dwarf kangaroo from the 36^th dimension as Linda Shell read yet another chapter of her YA adventure, followed by Nancy O'Grady's Portrait of a Friend, renamed to Portrait of an Acquaintance, and after hearing the story, we know why. Don Westerfield read Matilda, a short story about a ruthless, young female corporate ladder-climber, and waited until the last sentence to set the hook.

George Collias brought his wry humor to the forefront with a “letter” written to the Czech Minister of Tourism regarding his recent trip to the Czech Republic. Of course, he also read the “rebuttal” letter as well, once again showing George's ability to make the audience laugh. Last night was a tough crowd, but he pulled it off, anyway. Great writing.

New-comer David lackey read two pieces, the first was a one page dialog, taken from “Facebook,” followed by a well received short piece called the The Drawing Session, again based on art. Tasteful nudity always catches our ears. Returning guest, and we hope new member, Ernie Ovitz read from his up coming historical novel, The Seventh King. Opening in the year 302 in the Roman frontier with Germania, the work is well written and well researched with a nice mix of narrative and dialog. We look forward to more of Ernie's writing.

We took a ten minute break and resumed with Ron Babcock's first reading, “A Letter to George Washington.” With his background in audio books, we now have two “FM” voices as Susan Davis now has a male counterpart to smooth, effective reading. Jim Kelly once again enthralled the group with his award winning poetry. (He took second place in the recent Poetry Ensemble of Orlando contest with his poem, Smoke and Ashes) and read his latest poem, “Space,” printed at the end of this blog. Congratulations to Jim on the award.

Andrew Parker read his piece, The Ugly Girl, and once again kept the group's rapt attention with his politically incorrect style that never fails to entertain and engage. Andrew will have his material e-published by Pankhearst, an independent writers collective. Good work, and great writing.

Newcomer Beth Rice read from her novel-in-progress, “Paw Prints Are Forever,” beginning with the introduction and first chapter. Good writing, and during the feed back, brought up a question about use of trademark names in a novel. The answer is generally, “no problem,” when writing fiction, but when in doubt, ask your editor. There are several references, such as

http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2010/12/can-i-mention-brand-name-products-in-my.html 

 and

 http://writingonthewallblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/using-trademarks-in-fiction.html.

Non fiction work will probably require the trademark symbol, but generally not fiction. Again, when in doubt, ask your editor.

Kit Crescendo brought us up to speed with her latest chapter of Three For All, -after a quick poem about self-discovery- and reminded us all about having a favorite subject celebration month. You know, like National Ice Cream Month, or something along those lines. This month is apparently in full swing.

Patricia La Barbera will teach another class at Selby Library on May 18 from 2 pm to 4 pm. She's written an amusing short story that highlights what to avoid in genre writing and includes new information. She'll cover the alternatives so authors can get past a publisher's gatekeeper. Patricia encourages discussions and questions. Show up to laugh and learn.

Space

A sign on the lawn

reads "Space for Sale."

It does not say to whom it belongs.

I cannot touch it, push it aside, or tie it to a tree.

I do not know if I am stepping on it, wading through it,

leaning against it or altering its intentions.

Does it contain sharp corners to snag one's coat

or black holes that swallow errant footsteps?

Are there lines or walls that separate intrusions?

Can I take it and return the unused portion?

Is it "one size fits all"?

Will it leak through a tear in my pocket?

Space for sale.

I wonder if it's mine.

James O. Kelly

Englewood, FL

See everyone June 5 ^th ,

George

Patricia La Barbera class at Selby

Patricia La Barbera will teach another class at Selby Library on May 18 from 2 pm to 4 pm. She's written an amusing short story that highlights what to avoid in genre writing and includes new information. She'll cover the alternatives so authors can get past a publisher's gatekeeper. Patricia encourages discussions and questions. Show up to laugh and learn.

Contact Patricia at patricialabarbera@live.com for more details.

Patricia La Barbera lecture, April 13th

Patricia La Barbera will lecture on what to include in the first sentence, paragraph, and page of a manuscript. The presentation will take place at the Selby Library on April 13 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the conference room.

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013: Attack of the Colons!

A very special night for us as regular member Irv Newman and his lovely wife, Beatrice, stopped by with their son, Len, and his lovely wife Marie. The unsinkable Irv and his marvelous family were special guests of the evening, we hope to see them more often.

New FWA member Meredith Rutter joined us for the first time as well as guests Judy Rousseau and Nancy Cannell. We welcomed back Nancy Lucas and Becky Freed, along with several regular members who have been traveling around the world, from middle Europe to Mexico, for a turnout of 28 attendees. Once again our hosts, the Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department came through and found extra needed chairs. It was a busy night as almost everyone had something to read! Under the gavel of maestro Rod DiGruttolo, everyone got to read and we even finished with time to spare.

George Mindling opened the meeting by asking about interest in presentations on self publishing and collecting state sales tax on book sales. He will develop a presentation for the first Wednesday meeting on May 1^st .

Irv's son, Len, then read his dad's piece about devotion to classmates and friendship from high-school days in New Jersey. Irv then briefly spoke to the group. His book, “Living on House Money,” is in its third printing. Even though he's sold quite a few books, he claims he has donated more to doctors and nurses!

Susan Haley, one of the original founders of our writers group, read her excellent poem “Sleep,” followed by Pat Patterson, who makes the trip all the way from Punta Gorda. Pat read part of chapter one of “The Takers,” his period piece set in Scandinavia at the end of the 10^th Century. Bill Elam, who is in the art publishing world, briefly discussed art and literature similarities, then read more from his upcoming work where the protagonist is a subject from one of his pieces or art. His current selection from his “old man anthology” had the phrase “the spirit has no infirmities,” which, of course, has everyone waiting for more.

Kathleen Schwartz read from her “Jazz at at 69,” a stark, almost brutal phase that is a nice expansion of her work. Great writing. Jim Kelly followed with the reading of two more of his outstanding poems, “Diner,” and “Priceless Penny.” If Jim agrees, I'll print “The Diner” in this blog so everyone will know what I mean when I say Jim introduced me to poetry. His economy of words to evoke images is phenomenal. Jim proves prose is literature written to the rules of grammar while poetry is literature written to the rules of rhythm.

Joanne Phillips read again from her now-published “Adventures of a Sea Hag,” which is already in its second printing. Ed Ellis followed with a really nice Thanksgiving poem written for his three grandchildren. Kerri – Wow! Nice twist on “Home Made Rodeos,” the story hooked nicely and everyone was misty eyed at the unexpected twist. 

Chris Burton – Mesmerized the audience, as always, with her spot-on delivery of her crisp, seemingly effortless writing, and Patricia La Barbera read from her published thriller, “The Wolf's Daughter,” the first book in the Tala Chronicles. Susan Davis read the prologue to her new book aimed specifically at Baby Boomers looking for answers, followed by Kat who read from her upcoming book, which we'll be thrilled to announce when it hits the bookstores (or the Internet). George Collias finished the meeting with his perfectly timed humorous “Attack of the Colons: Wild and Dangerous Punctuation Marks!”

Once again the meeting was showcased by the diverse and eclectic talents who make up this marvelous group of talented writers. We'll see everyone at the next meeting, Wednesday, April 3^rd!

George Mindling

“It was a cold and dreary day...”

No, it wasn't, but it was quite a bit colder than normal as we kicked off the Sarasota Writers Group meeting on Wednesday, March 6th. Inside the meeting room was nice and comfortable as always. We had a good turnout and a really great meeting. We were pleased to have Julie Ann Howell, President and Publisher of Peppertree Press and Peppertree Magazine, as our guest speaker.

Julie Ann's presentation on Peppertree Press and the evolving world of publishing was enthusiastically received. The comments and questions that followed added to her in-depth explanation of what new writers can expect, and should look for, when searching for a publisher. Peppertree Press's support of the Florida Writers Association (Peppertree Press is a Platinum Sponsor of the FWA Writers Conference) is greatly appreciated, and we certainly appreciate Julie Ann's great presentation. Julie Ann also awarded a beautiful coffee table photo book about Sarasota to Kat Levato for having the right ticket stub, and a coffee mug to first time guest Larry Burnett, who uniquely drew his own number. Amid the cries of “foul” and “fixed” (Do you really believe everything I write?”) Don Westerfield drew the last prize of the evening, a signed, hardback copy of Julie's book "Haunted Echoes." The Peppertree was the first to publish Don's poems in 2009 and gave him the confidence to go on writing. We are so glad he did.

New writer Rachel Fritsch returned, and we greeted first time guest, and coffee mug winner, Larry Barnett. A brief discussion about the new Critique and Comment blog (http://critandcom.blogspot.com/) where members can post writing they want critiqued, anonymously if they so choose, shows the idea has merit, but needs to be simplified. So, the procedure for posting on the “critandcom” page has been revised. Simply e-mail your writing to George Mindling at the special e-mail address on the blog page, and it will be posted exactly as it is received. Critiques can be posted as comment at the bottom of each blog. The restriction on keying in “special” codes has been removed, but that also means spam may appear on the page. Please let me know if anything out of order pops up in the comments section that needs to be removed.

After general comments about upcoming writing contests mentioned in earlier blogs, the meeting was turned over to Julie Ann.

Following Julie Ann's presentation, we took a ten minute break, then gavel-master Rod DiGruttolo resumed our regular meeting with a reading from Laura Heath. Laura's transition from a non-fiction writer to narrative non-fiction story telling is underway with a marvelous first attempt called The Bus, set in the jungles of Guatemala. Written as a short story, her first reading drew both applause and comments. We will hear more from Laura in the future.

George Mindling followed with two whimsical poems, not his specialty, but apparently the humor was well received as there was no booing. Peter Frickel then read his delightful “Country Cottage,” from his “Shoebox Anthology,” as always, his reading embellishing his already great writing.

Don Westerfield read two of his wonderful poems, “When a House, a Home,” and “The Human Race,” and Mary Byrnes followed with the second part of her non-fiction fiction called “Embellishments, Section II.” Mary's writing again held everyone's attention to the “embellished, true tale,” enhanced by showing photos of her beautiful mother in comparison to another beauty of her time, Amelia Earhart. Kat Levato read her short Love at Sunrise, followed by Joanne Phillips who read “Computer Conversations,” which told explicitly why she loves talking computers, as we wrapped up another great meeting. 

Patricia LaBarbera announced her two of her books will be available for free Kindle downloading this weekend from Amazon.  The Celtic Crow Murders, a cozy mystery will be available for free download from Amazon March 8 through March 10. World Castle Publishing will be releasing The Wolf's Daughter, her paranormal romance, on March 15. She plans to have the book available for free Amazon download on that day. See both book trailers at www.patricialabarbera.com. Patricia is also asking if anyone has a booth at the Venice Book Fair and is looking for someone to share space. Contact e-mail is editor@patricialabarbera.com. You don't want to miss the opportunity to read any of Patricia's work.

 We said goodbye to Lois Stern who is returning to New York for the summer, and eventually turned off the lights.

We'll see everyone on March 20^th, spring should be here by then.

George Mindling

Patricia La Barbera Lecture

On Feb. 23 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Patricia La Barbera will lecture at the Selby Library on self-publishing. The program will include details about CreateSpace and Kindle. She recently revised and republished her mystery novella, and she'll share information about the process. Patricia will also show several pages of revisions, and discuss the book's first sentence, first paragraph, and first page regarding their vital elements. She'll point out important considerations for a cover choice. This presentation will encourage self-publishing by showing it's an achievable goal. From 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., attendees will have the opportunity to read excerpts from their genre manuscripts. This is a free lecture, and guests are welcome. 

George
 

Patricia La Barbera Lecture

Patricia La Barbera, MFA, will lecture on publication by a small independent press on January 26, 2013, from 1:30pm to 3:00pm at the Selby Library Conference Room. The Sarasota Editors Association sponsors this free presentation. Publication of the first three books in her paranormal romance series, The Tala Chronicles, is upcoming. The author and editor will discuss information from her own experience on topics such as how to research publishing companies and what manuscript elements impress a publisher. After the lecture, participants who write in genre categories will have the opportunity to read excerpts from their work.

E-mail address is editor@patricialabarbera.com for any questions.  

www.patricialabarbera.com