Always Remember...

WRITE ON HOOSIER MINUTES FOR MAY 16, 2012

“You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars. With it, there is accomplishment. Without it there are only alibis. ”

Henry Ford  (1863-1947)

MEMBERS PRESENT: 

Sharon Buckman, Beverly Stanislawski, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase, Sharon Dorelli, Tom Molnar, George Miga, Michelle McGill-Vargas, Lisa Groszek, Jane Burns, Gail Galvan, Ron Trigg, Sharon Palmeri, Neil Bedeker

NEW BUSINESS:

A vote of approval was asked for concerning the May 2^nd minutes.  LAURIE CHASE gave the first approval which was seconded by RON TRIGG. 

LITERARY NEWS:

GAIL GALVAN announced that an audio podcast has been added to her website which featured an interview with SHARON PALMERI.  It will soon be featured on You Tube. Gail also stated that she is presently working on a short story about a 6 ft. rabbit living in Chicago.

GEORGE MIGA read a few sentences written from The Diary of Anne Frank.  He commented on what a remarkable writer she was for her age and how much she could have accomplished had she had a longer life.

LISA GROSZEK stated she is almost finished with the cover for her newest novel, a sequel to “Lonesome Dove.”

KELLY CHASE, our youngest member, was applauded for receiving a medal from the Retired Enlisted Assn.   Kelly is in her senior year of high school.

READINGS:

MICHELLE VARGAS read two pages of her fictional historical novel entitled, Striving After Wind.  In this part of her novel, which takes place in the marshes near Tolleston, Indiana, Adam strives to “throw his hat in ring” for the new game warden position.  He planned to do this by seeking the land next to the gun club’s property line.

GEORGE MIGA continued with his novel, Medal of Dishonor.  In this part of the story, Tony, the son of Cordell, was told that a possible witness had been found still alive who could verify the story his father had told in a previous deposition.  If true, it would make his father the true recipient of the Medal of Honor.

LAURIE CHASE read a continuation of her novel, Badradin. This part of her novel has been forwarded one year.  Dr. Togalaz, who is still living on the ship, is told by the major that his brother will soon join them in their daily workouts.  The purpose of this, unknown to Dr. Togalaz, is so the major might learn more about her past.

NEIL BEDEKER continued with his novel, Dark Hearts, White City.  In this part of the novel, which takes place on the opening day of the Chicago World’s Fair in May of l893, tells of the beautiful surroundings and special features of the fair.  The main feature was the Columbian fountain, “shooting a stream of water a hundred feet high creating a fine mist bathed in colored lights.”

LISA GROSZEK, reading two pages of her novel, Maude Defined, Maude realizes she has been left alone in the city of Milan by her one time fiancé’, only to be replaced by a “mystery man” named Lucius.  It appears that he has been waiting a long time for her arrival.

TOM MOLNAR read his essay type story entitled, “The Difference between Males and Females.”  This sometimes funny and sometimes very factual account of the differences brought a lot of attention and conversation between the members.

RON TRIGG continued with his novel, Moments on an African Landscape.  This four page account, entitled “A Scream in the Steam,” told of his trip to a public bathhouse in Tunisia in l980.  The bathhouse, called a hammam, featured a segregated gender facility for public bathing for two dollars.  The story had a humorous ending for one of the men accompanying Ron.

SHARON DORELLI read part one of her short story entitled, “A Crystal Heart.”  The story, an adult fairy tale, told of a lovely, gentle natured woman named Tearsa who ended up marrying a handsome stranger who had never loved her.  The marriage eventually caused her to lose her meaning of life and spirit.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her poem, “Ageless.”  The poem compared the ageing of various items, such as shopping bags, to the ageing of two old ladies sitting at a sidewalk table.

KELLY CHASE read her true story entitled, “Wishful Thinking.”  The story told of a happening in her life at the age of ten when she had been bullied by a bunch of girls on the way home from school.  The story got its title due to the way she wished she had handled it.

GAIL GALVAN read her acrostic poem entitled, “My Dear Loving Mother.”  The poem was a tribute to her mother, Adele Ruth Carpenter Davis, for Mother’s Day.

JANE BURNS continued with four pages from her novel, Atalanta.  This part of her novel related to Atalanta keeping her promise to the wolf that had let her escape with the girl he had entrapped.  It ended with the “sisterhood” trying to decide whether or not to nominate her to be one of them.

SHARON PALMERI read her short story entitled, “Confessions of a Bookie.”  The story began with Sharon clearing book shelves in her office and discovered a book given to her by a friend titled Bibiloholism, which means a person addicted to books. While perusing through the book and re-taking the quiz she began to face the fact that she was indeed a true Biblioholic  -- especially after she discovered a second copy of the same book on the same shelf.

SHARON BUCKMAN brought a five stanza poem entitled, “My Cindy.”  The poem was a tribute to her recently deceased daughter. She also read the note below:

TO WRITE ON HOOSIER MEMBERS:

I can’t thank you enough for all the beautiful expressions of sympathy we received from all of you on the loss of our daughter.  You can’t imagine how much it meant to me.  You are a wonderful group of caring people and I wanted you to know how proud that I am to belong to WRITE ON HOOSIERS with you.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

Sharon Buckman

A  "Featured Famous Writer or Poet"  will be posted every two weeks. If you have any requests for your favorite writer or poet let me know. 

For now, after great deliberation I thought that we could start with Indiana Poet James Whitcomb Riley.

 James Whitcomb Riley

 (click on the name for more information)

 

“The most essential factor is persistence - the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come.”

   

** =  ANOTHER ADDITION ADDED FOR FOR JULY 11-14!!

PLEASE E-MAIL IF YOU HAVE AN EVENT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD HERE (These all link to sites that will give you more information)

WRITING CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS, RETREATS, CENTERS, RESIDENCIES,
BOOK AND; LITERARY FESTIVALS

PRINTER'S ROW - LIT FEST: June 9-10 

CROSSROADS OF AMERICA POETRY EXTRAVAGANZA: June 14-18 (PLEASE CLICK ON LEFT SIDE OF PAGE ON "CONVENTION INFORMATION)

WRITE-BY-THE-LAKE June 18-22,2012

THRILLERFEST: July 11-14 **


MIDWEST WRITERS CONFERENCE JULY 26-28

JULY 27-13 YELLOW SPRINGS, OHIO. FACULTY INCLUDES:JOHN GROGAN, HALLIE EPHRON AND MANY MORE. PRICES REASONABLE. 

MAGNA CUM MURDER MYSTERY WRITER'S CONFERENCE : OCTOBER 26-28 

WRITE ON HOOSIER MINUTES FOR MAY 2, 2012

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Katherine Flotz, George Miga, Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Dorelli, Sharon Jesik, Mike Musak, Jane Burns, Tom Spencer, Ron Trigg, Julie Perkins, Liz Wilson, Michelle Vargas, Cathy Dziubla, Kelly Chase, Laurie Chase, Sharon Palmeri, Sharon Buckman

OLD/NEW BUSINESS:

The meeting was opened at 6:30 P.M.  Sharon Palmeri asked for a vote of approval for the April 18^th minutes.  Michelle Vargas gave the first approval which was seconded by Beverly Stanislawski.

 LITERARY NEWS:

SHARON PALMERI asked the members to bring, or send, any suggestions for anything they would like to write about and have added to the blog, 750 words or less. TOM SPENCER stated he had a few ideas.  Sharon also stated she has added several new people the Write On Hoosier Facebook   page.  Sharon also brought a book, “A Piece of My Mind,” edited by Bruce B. Dan and Roxanne Young. The book included a collection of heart-felt and emotional essays from JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Assoc.) written by physicians. She passed out a sample story from the book entitled “Baby Blues,” by Daniel Waters,O.

KATHY FLOTZ stated that her and her husband, George, will be speaking at the Buckley Homestead in Lowell on May 5^th and 6^th.

CATHY DZIUBLA stated she hasn’t been attending our meetings over the past year due to their travels between Maryland and Kentucky visiting with their children and their families.

READINGS:

KATHY FLOTZ began the readings with a speech she had written at her daughter’s wedding in 1994.  Kathy told of the special place they had chosen for their wedding and how they sought the approval of their families, since it would not be a traditional German wedding or a traditional Jewish one.  The wedding turned out well and ended with Kathy relating her favorite “wedding story.”

SHARON JESIK brought a short story entitled “Counting.” The story began as a love story between Annie and Robert but began to change when Robert slowly started to pull away.   The ending of the story revealed that Annie was probably much better off without him.

MICHELLE VARGAS read from Chapter One of her novel, Striving After Wind.  The story told of a decomposed body being found in a large swamp during the time of the civil war.  The swamp is now a part of Gary and it is based upon a true story.  

CATHY DZIUBLA told of a happening when she was visiting her newest grandson in Kentucky.  The story entitled, “Five More, One Mores,” concerned a trick she used to get her granddaughter, Zoe, to eat the rest of her cereal – it worked!

TOM SPENCER brought his eight stanza poem entitled, “Shadow Walk”.  The poem related to a two mile walk through a Northwood’s trail in Wisconsin.  It ended with “shadows of our past.”

LIZ WILSON continued with her novel, The Grindylow.  Kelsey, after awakening from her fever and finding her spell book missing, attacked Val by pushing him up against a wall with her hand on his throat.  After having gotten back her book, and being threatened herself, she decided she must leave.

JULIE PERKINS read her fourteen line sonnet entitled, “Addiction: A Sonnet.”  The sonnet reveals the remembrances of an earlier life that did not include “stale chores, whiny toddler” but then brings her back to the bliss of “it’s good: the daily addiction of motherhood.”

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her four stanza poem entitled, “Gentle Snow.”  The poem, which had previously won second place in a Missouri contest, related to the beauty of the first snow fall on a November day, “covering like a lacy tablecloth.”

GEORGE MIGA continued reading his novel, Medal of Dishonor.  In this part of his novel McCall seemed to change personalities, a much sterner one, as he dealt with three men in an effort to get board approval for the budget he needed to get started with his project. 

KELLY CHASE continued with her novel, The Ring.  Kristine listens to the Ring as her conversation with the Mistress continues.  She is directed to the alter, where she discovers that the sacrifice she has been instructed to kill is a baby goat.

JANE BURNS continued with Chapter 6, “Within a Budding Grove”, from her novel Atalanta. After having been taken to the maidens’ great hall, Atalanta is introduced to the various women and given a place to stay with another girl near her age, Laurel.  Laurel is less than happy with this arrangement.

SHARON PALMERI read her short story based on a true experience, entitled, “No Guarantee.”  The very intense story told of an experience Sharon had when working in the OB department during her nurses training.  The story ends with Sharon deciding a nurse’s career was not for her.

MIKE MUSAK brought a continuation of his screenplay, “Randy’s New Job.”  After assigning two members to parts in the play Mike explained it begins with a newly hired, over qualified employee, being assigned to a menial position; the position even included sweeping the floors.

SHARON DORELLI continued her short story entitled, “The Decision.”  The story dealt with a jury Sharon had participated in. All jurors were deliberating, based on their own moral convictions, during a murder trial.

RON TRIGG continued with his memoir Moments on an African Landscape with the section entitled, “A Gray Area.”  This part of his experience in South Africa from 1988 to 1992, related to the time he lived in Johannesburg when the whites began moving out of the inner city neighborhoods and other racial groups moving in.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 P.M. 

Respectfully submitted: 

SHARON BUCKMAN

WRITE ON HOOSIER MINUTES FOR APRIL 18, 2012

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Buckman, Sharon Dorelli, Beverly Stanislawski, Tom Molnar, George Miga, Donna Douglass, Ron Trigg, Lisa Groszek, Neil Bedeker, Gail Galvan, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase, Jane Burns, Sharon Palmeri, Mike Musak, Michelle Vargas.

GUESTS PRESENT:

David Frazier, a retired steelworker from Northwest Indiana, has been writing since 2003 and has fictional stories that have been published electronically. He also enjoys writing poetry.

Anthea Morgan, a former librarian from Highland, stated she had a short story published 20 yrs. prior.

OLD/NEW BUSINESS:

The meeting was called to order by Sharon Palmeri at 6:30 P.M. The minutes were approved for the last meeting by Lisa Groszek and seconded by Neil Bedeker.

LITERARY NEWS:

SHARON PALMERI brought along literature concerning Free E-Books by Project Gutenberg . Sharon also brought along literature on John Milton and told of some of his poems and accomplishments. She mentioned that Milton’s most famous work “Paradise Lost” was written after he completely lost his eyesight in 1651. The epic was dictated by Milton to his assistants. This ten book masterpiece (which later increased to twelve) consisted on well over 10,000 lines of poetry.

RON TRIGG also brought along some literature concerning the Duneland Historical Society. He stated they were featuring Harry Mark Petrakis and his book: The Storyteller’s Golden Wheel, on Thursday, April 19^th at the Westchester Township Library Service Center on Indiana Ave. in Chesterton.

GAIL GALVAN stated her web site is coming along well and should be up in about two weeks. She mentioned that she is working on her HS Hoosier Storybook and Poetry Palace online publications and will be needing submissions soon.

DONNA DOUGLASS stated she just recently sold her condo in Atlanta and will be moving to North Carolina.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI announced that she has just recently won second place for a poem she had entered in a contest for the State Poetry Society in Missouri.

READINGS:

SHARON PALMERI read a poem she had written in memory of John Milton entitled “Ebony.” The three stanza poem told of the darkness that had overtaken John Milton’s sight and “leaving him in ebony of everlasting night.”

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her four stanza poem entitled, “Face-Off.” The poem told of finding the courage to stand up to our unknown fears and what’s to come.

TOM MOLNAR read two pages of the beginning of his novel, Bridestar. The novel, which takes place about two hundred years into the future, tells of two men who have been traveling in space for two months and encounter a beautiful planet. The planet reminds them of earth before civilization took over.

SHARON DORELLI read the prologue of her short story entitled, “The Decision.” The story begins with an actual murder that took place several years prior and will later involve the jury that Sharon was on to decide the two men’s fate.

MIKE MUSAK brought four pages of his screenplay entitled, “Joe’s New Job.” Six of our members were cast into the play which told of the Joe’s “opposable thumbs” as he tried to learn his new job; as usual the play was enjoyed by all the members.

DONNA DOUGLASS read her true short story entitled, “First Lady of Television.” The story took place in 1982 when Donna went to a Cincinnati TV pre-show interview with talk show host Ruth Lyons. She was invited to be on The Fifty-Fifty Club due to a book she had written, however, a Falkland Island crisis preempted her TV appearance.

RON TRIGG continued with his stories from his memoir, Moments on an African Landscape. The titled of this story, “The Silverback,” told of Ron and some other guests from the hotel in Zaire, being taken through the forest to see some gorillas in their natural habitat. After being told they were very “gentle creatures,” they soon learned otherwise.

GEORGE MIGA continued with four pages of his novel, Medal of Dishonor. McCall, after being taken to the Washington National Records Center, learned that Cordell Jackson’s name was not even mentioned in the Belgium road incident where he had saved many lives and for which someone else had gotten the Medal of Honor.

JANE BURNS read four more pages of her novel, Atalanta “Within a Budding Grove”, Chapter 6 of her novel, continued with Atalanta going with the group of women she had encountered before, leading her to a Great Hall where she was given dry towels and blankets after weathering a terrible storm.

KELLY CHASE continued with her novel, The Ring. Still not being told of what the “sacrifice” would be, Kristine was taken before an altar in the center of a soon-to-be witches circle and then introduced to the “Mistress.”

LISA GROSZEK read three pages of her novel, Maude Defined. Maude learns from Jimmy, her former lover, that he is nearly two centuries older than her thirty two years and that he was commissioned to watch out for her, He explains that the closer they are to water the easier for her enemies to gain a foothold.

LAURIE CHASE continued with her novel, Badradin, by telling of the acceptance of the other crew mates to Togalaz. Colonel Kryton, known for his” imposing, direct and arrogant manner,” even began to accept her, telling her that he looked forward to working with her.

GAIL GALVAN shared a poem written by a friend and entitled, “Into This Fine Thicket.” The one page poem tells of the race for life of a hare and a Chocolate Lab, first from the hare’s viewpoint and then the Lab’s.

DAVID FRAZIER read a six stanza poem entitled, “Rebel Mom.” The poem tells of the sad ending of Mary E. Surratt when she was hung for supposedly helping her rebel son who helped Booth run.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:03 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

-------------------------------------------------------------------

JUST A REMINDER: TYPESET FORMAT FOR WOH READING HANDOUTS

The new format for the readings at our meetings is as follows:

1. Margins - one inch
2. Font - Times New Roman 12
3. Spacing: a. Single spacing only two pages
b. Double spacing (not 1 1/2) four pagesOther stuff:
Please bring at least 10 copies of your piece if possible
Tell us before you begin if you are sharing the piece. Otherwise it will be critiqued.

WRITE ON HOOSIER MINUTES FOR APRIL 4, 2012

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Katherine Flotz, Beverly Stanislawski, Julie Perkins, Lisa Groszek, George Miga, Michelle Vargas, Jane Burns, Tom Molnar, Tom Spencer, Ron Trigg, Sharon Buckman, Sharon Palmeri, Lliz Wilson, Jackie Huppenthal, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase, Gail Galvan

NEW BUSINESS:

The meeting was opened promptly at 6:30 P.M. with Sharon Palmeri calling on a vote vote to approve the minutes from the March 25^th meeting. JULIE PERKINS was the first to vote for approval with LISA GROSZEK seconding the motion.

LITERARY NEWS:

SHARON PALMERI passed around a brochure pertaining to the Write-by-the Lake Writers Workshop & Retreat, to be held from June l8th to the 22^nd. Sharon also passed around copies of the Writer’s Digest magazine as well as the The Writer magazine. She encouraged members to contact her with any information on contests, workshops, seminars, or other literary events and she will post them on the blog.

KATHY FLOTZ passed around a brochure pertaining to the Valparaiso Organization for Learning and Teaching Seniors VOLTS program , sponsored by Valparaiso University. The program VOLTS caters to teaching seniors on Mondays at 3:30 P.M. at the Union Hall. The fee for joining is $20.00. See webs site above for details.

TOM SPENCER stated he attended a poetry reading at Purdue University Calumet Campus. The event, sponsored by the English Department, featured Indiana Poet Laureate Karen Kovacik. He also mentioned that the Indiana Poets Society hosted a radio program (89.l) in Lowell at 4:30 P.M.

JANE BURNS read a passage from one of her favorite books, The Faith of a Writer, by Joyce Carol Oates.

TOM MOLNAR gave some good advice on promoting various books by having a “tri-fold” printed with the names and other information concerning his books on each section. The cost was approximately $2.99.

GAIL GALVAN stated her web site is going well with audio poems coming up. She also mentioned that anyone wanting to hear the poem of Rosa Parks could go to www.youtube.com.

READINGS:

GAIL GALVAN read an interview she had done on Kathy Flotz. The interview she read was from Gail’s book entitled “Author Unknown/Author Undaunted,” a book about self publishing, memoirs and other helpful information.

KELLY CHASE continued with her novel, The Ring. Kristine finds herself being dressed in attire from an earlier century by a group of women that seem to treat men as slaves. She is then told that she would be required to kill a “small sacrifice.”

LAURIE CHASE read three pages from her novel, Badradin. Dr. Togalaz, the half human and half Allizorn main character in the novel, is asked to explain some of the differences of her physiology since she appears to be unique to the others on the ship.

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL read two of her poems. The first poem, entitled “Together” was written by Jackie when she was in high school about her reflections of a friend. The second poem, “Apart” was recently written and was the later reflection of the same friend.

LIZ WILSON continued with her novel, Grindylow. After becoming half delirious from her previous fall in the bathtub, Kelsey flashes back to the time her sister, Shannon, told her of her upcoming marriage to Will Moureaux, causing Kelsey to hallucinate and seeing giant six-legged creatures.

SHARON BUCKMAN brought two pages from her novel, Canopy of Leaves. The two pages represented two different versions of the beginning of her novel. The members were asked to decide which they preferred.

RON TRIGG shared his story “The Polish Professor” from his novel Moments on an African Landscape. In the story he tells of his experience, while working for the American Embassy, and encountering a Polish national who had been living in Nigeria for l0 years. Ron’s job was to try and help him get to America.

TOM SPENCER brought his six stanza poem entitled “Complacency.” The poem relates to a disjointed dream, symbolizing, a metaphor for complacency.

TOM MOLNAR read two pages of his novel, Bridestar. It is the story of a preindustrial society (taking place approximately in the year 2240) and beginning with two space crafts quietly descending on the outskirts of a town on a “faraway planet.” Two of the villagers were immediately killed when they tried to enter the force field surrounding the space crafts.

JANE BURNS began this part of her novel Atalanta with Atalanta leaving the temple of Apollo and deciding to go in a southerly direction since the city of Tegea could not help her. After hearing singing up in the hills she decides to get closer and encounters a wolf getting ready to attack of group of dancing and singing women.

GEORGE MIGA continued with four pages from his novel, “Medal of Dishonor.” In this part of the novel Cordell’s son, Tony, was told of the part his father played in saving lives during World War II and how this ordeal probably was responsible for his terrible nightmares. Cordell had never revealed any of this to his family.

LISA GROSZEK continued with her novel entitled, “Maude Defined.” Maude, now a vampire, finds out she had been adopted and also discovers she is being pursued by some “dark force.” After asking for help she then learns that “Jimmy,” a former lover, has been silently trying to help and guide her.

JULIE PERKINS read the four page synopsis of her novel, The Levee. The novel reflects the life of a prostitute living in Chicago when a Vice Commission was appointed, beginning in 1910. Julie was seeking help in trying to condense the synopsis to fewer pages.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

WRITE ON HOOSIER MINUTES FOR MARCH 21, 2012

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Ron Trigg, George Miga, Lisa Groszek, Kathy Flotz, Sharon Dorelli, Luneil Morrow, Sharon Palmeri, Sharon Buckman, Jane Burns, Tom Spencer, Pam Gonzalez, Beverly Stanislawski, Neil Bedeker, Julie Perkins, Gail Galvan, Kelly Chase, Laurie Chase

NEW BUSINESS:

Sharon Palmeri opened the meeting promptly at 6:30 P.M. and called for a vote from the members pertaining to the question asked in a prior e-mail about having our blog go more public. The vote passed nearly unanimously. The blog will soon go public. Sharon also asked for members to submit the information on their published books so that they can be added to the blog site.

LITERARY NEWS:

Sharon Palmeri then asked for any new literary news from the members.

LISA GROSZEK stated she had recently finished the draft of her sequel to “Lonesome Isle.” She also mentioned that she had sent in an application to be part of Printers Row and is presently waiting for confirmation.

SHARON PALMERI asked if there was anyone interested in going to Printers Row. She stated that it would be held on June 9^th and June 10^th, on Dearborn in Chicago, and would be helpful for anyone wishing to sell books, etc.

NEIL BEDEKER announced that he was working on the sequel to his book: White City, Dark Hearts.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI stated that she had just recently won another poetry contest for an entry in Pennsylvania, taking second place and third place for another. She also mentioned Tom Spencer had recently won another poetry contest (he was too shy to mention this himself). I sure hope they're keeping track of all these awards.

GEORGE MIGA mentioned that he is still working on a query letter for his book Medal of Dishonor but had to stop due to computer problems.

GAIL GALVAN has been very busy working on her new website. She brought along copies for the members who revealed the tagline: DESIRE TO INSPIRE, PLEDGE TO MOTIVATE AND LEND HOPE, PATHWAYS TO PROMISES; BOOKS.

JANE BURNS brought along a book she has enjoyed entitled Mystery and Manners, written by Flannery O’Connor. Jane passed the book around to the members as she read a page that she had particularly enjoyed.

READINGS:

RON TRIGG read a captivating four pages entitled, “The Mighty Mango,” from his novel, Moments on an African Landscape. The story told of the repercussions of eating too many mangos, especially on an empty stomach. Needless to say, he taught us all a lesson.

GEORGE MIGA continued with his novel, Medal of Dishonor. In this part of his novel he read the deposition of the war hero, Cordell, to his psychiatrist, telling of the actual event for which he should have been awarded the medal that had been given to someone else.

LISA GROSZEK read a continuation of her novel, Blazing Truth. In this part of the story young Russell is told that his younger brother and sister are going to be taken away from him to go and live with their aunt and uncle. This will leave Russell alone with his abusive father.

KATHY FLOTZ continued with her newest novel, The Journey. In this part of her novel, some of the happenings based on a true story, she tells of Michael, a young German soldier returned from war, accidently finding the whereabouts of his family, now living in the United States.

LUNEIL MORROW read the first story of what she hopes to be a series of stories. The children’s book, entitled Lottie Nora and the Toilet Paper Incident, tells of the embarrassing incident of Lottie’s favorite teacher getting ready to go in front of her class with toilet paper stuck to her foot.

SHARON BUCKMAN read her four stanza poem entitled, “Rhyme Time.” The poem tells of the necessary inspiration of spring to encourage her to start writing poetry again.

JANE BURNS continues with her novel, Atalanta. In this part of the novel, Atalanta, now a young teen, enters the temple and approaches the High Priest. As the Priest tries to find the reason for her coming to Athena, she begins to explain it is due to her dreams and the Goddess that appeared in them.

TOM SPENCER brought his ten stanza poem entitled, “Group Critique.” The poem is a “tongue twister” of ideas with punctuation that resists critiques. (Thanks to the members for helping me with this.)

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her six stanza poem entitled, “Playing for Keeps.” This poem evoked a lot of memories from the members as it told of the fun of playing marbles and ended with the phrase most of us remember: winners, keepers, losers, weepers.

NEIL BEDEKER continued with his novel, White Hearts, Dark City, a sequel to The Cassidy Posse. In this part of his story, taken place in Chicago 1892. The main characters are getting ready for the World’s Fair when one of them wants to introduce his lady friend, Mary Cassidy, into the Buffalo Bill show as an Indiana talent.

JULIE PERKINS continued reading her novel, The Levee. In this part of the novel, taken place in 1910, business owners in the levee have just discovered that a Vice Commission has been established to decide which businesses can stay or go, leaving all of them upset.

GAIL GALVLAN read her poem entitled, “Humanity”about how although many people believe in God’s perfect world order, often imperfection is the case; but with positive changes, the human dimension can again become a celebration of life toward better achievement.

KELLY CHASE continued with her novel, The Ring. In this part of the story, Kristine, finds herself in a situation where she is being taken out of town and into a forest by Jesse. Jesse then introduces her to a group of people standing around a campfire, most of them women wearing a ring like hers.

LAURIE CHASE began reading Chapter 4 of her novel, Badradin. In this continuation Dr. Togalaz is interviewed by Major Zon, her superior, and is asked to explain why her Torza was not listed in her records.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN