MINUTES FOR SEPTEMBER 21, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Jane Burns, Tom Spencer, Donna Douglass, Pam Gonzalez, Sharon Buckman, Kathy Flotz, George Miga, Tom Molnar, Beverly Stanislawski, Charlotte Brislen, Ron Trigg, Neil Bedeker, Sharon Palmeri, Michelle Vargas, Liz Wilson, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase, Brenda Havens

NEWS:

1. KATHY FLOTZ, after just returning from Wisconsin, is scheduled with her husband, George, for a speaking engagement at the United Methodist Church in Crown Point on Sept. 23rd. She will be promoting her book, "Pebble in My Shoe."

2. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI has been notified by the Kentucky Poetry Society that she has taken second place, along with two honorable mentions, for the three poems she had entered. Congratulations Bev!

3. PAMELA GONZALEZ stated she has been getting ready for the Craft & Auto Show at Chapel Lawn on Sept. 24th. She also mentioned that Osborne Books (from Great Britain) has purchased a space to promote their books.

4. CHARLOTTE BRISLEN mentioned that she has just recently had surgery and is now getting back to writing.

5. RON TRIGG is continuing with his work on his African project. He also stated that he recently enjoyed some visitors from South Africa as well as having his pictures published in the "Shirley Heinz Land Trust" magazine.

6. DONNA DOUGLASS took another quick trip to Lake Michigan. She stated she enjoyed another beautiful day as well as getting some writing done. She also mentioned attending a Purdue Calumet event called the Friday University, the event included a breakfast and lunch for $40 with the guest speakers discussing character development.

7. NEIL BEDEKER stated he was beginning to enjoy walking again after some recent back problems.

8. LIZ WILSON stated her husband has gone back to his teaching and she has been working on her new novel, finishing with the second chapter.

9. TOM SPENCER mentioned that he has been "reading & writing," a little of each.

10. MICHELLE VARGAS stated that she had received an honorary award for "The Light of the World." She is now working on a short story - welcome back Michelle!

11. JANE BURNS is still doing a "radical revision" on her novel, "Atalanta."

12. GEORGE MIGA received a rejection notification concerning a short story he had recently entered. Sorry George; it’s their loss.

13. TOM MOLNAR stated he has been exploring the idea of E-Books for his novel, "Dark Age Maiden" as well as his non-fiction book, "Challenging the Changing World." Welcome back Tom!

14. SHARON BUCKMAN stated has been attending quite a number of funerals in the past two weeks, leaving little time for writing.

15. LAURIE CHASE stated she is now working at Sears and has an interview coming up with Carsons. She also stated that she has heard from ARC of N.W. Indiana concerning employment - things seem to be changing for the better in her life.

16. KELLY CHASE hasn't been able to do much writing - she is now in her senior year and has lots of schoolwork.

17. SHARON PALMERI stated she has been trying to decide which of the two stories to enter in the magazine, either of the two she previously finished, or a memoir that she is currently working on. She is currently teaching a class on Publishing in the 21st Century, and her writing class on Writing Children's Books begins in October. She has also been busy working with the radio station at Indiana University NW. She also mentioned she just recently attended the Chicago Radio Show 2011.

18. BRENDA HAVENS has just returned from a ten day trip to Long Beach, Calif. She also signed up for a seminar on writing Young Adult Novels.

READINGS:

JANE BURNS read the beginning of her story, "The Fall Colors." In the beginning of the story a young woman named Allison Bloom awakes to find herself in completely unfamiliar surroundings. She begins to have a conversation with a woman who’s name seems vaguely familiar but she is unable to place it. Allison begins to feel that she must have fallen and hit her head since she can find nothing else to account for all the strange happenings.

TOM SPENCER wrote a short story entitled, "Complacency of Place." The fictitious story starts with Tom preparing for his annual Labor Day party and hearing sirens coming down Main St. in Lowell. He then witnesses police officers trying to stop a robbery in progress. Later that day a friend asked, "Doesn’t anything ever happen in Lowell besides this infernal parade?"

DONNA DOUGLASS read her two page short story entitled, "Pan Am." The story relates some of the events that took place when Donna applied for a job with Pan Am and later turned down.

SHARON BUCKMAN read her short comical screenplay entitled, "The Right To Shut Up." It tells of a very bossy woman trying to entice her neighbors to begin a new Homeowners Assn. (in which she would be the president) and start an elaborate new park.

KATHY FLOTZ read her six stanza poem entitled, "The Sunsets of My Life." The poem tells of the various sunsets she has seen, some enduring hunger, pain and fear, and ends with realizing it was always God's gift to her.

GEORGE MIGA read three pages from his novel, "Medal of Dishonor." In this part of the novel Spencer McCall begins to feel threatened of losing his position by the board of directors. He decides to take some time off and renew his relationship with a woman journalist by taking her on a "beautifully extravagant" short trip.

TOM MOLNAR read two pages of his non-fiction novel entitled, "The Challenge of a Changing World." In this second chapter of his novel, Tom tells of the differences of our present day lives compared to our great grandparents, and reviews all the technological and cultural changes.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her five stanza poem entitled "Eyes Wide Open." The poem tells of a mother letting her daughter "test her wings" so that she may envision the wonders she and her mother enjoyed.

CHARLOTTE BRISLEN read a short memoir telling of a favorite uncle teaching her how to "go to sleep."

RON TRIGG continued with two pages from his novel, "Moments on an African Landscape." This part of the novel was entitled The Blessed Virgin of Zongo and related to his travel through Zaire on Christmas Eve and attending a small church where they were relating an reenactment of the Christmas Story. At the end of the reenactment he found everyone laughing - it seems the Virgin Mary actress was far from being a virgin.

NEIL BEDEKER read a two page memoir entitled, "Old Fib." The memoir related his life as a child on his grandfather's farm and a 67yr. old worker that could never tell the truth. The story ended with the sorrow he felt of having to take his grandfather's job of working the "trip rope" away from him.

LIZ WILSON continued with Chapter Two of "Grindylow." The story tells of Kelsey reaching a gas station on a cold snowy night and finding it closed. She was forced to try and find someplace warm and finally encountered a restaurant that was closing. She was forced to finally accept the charity of the owner, offering her some warm food and a place to stay.

LAURIE CHASE read a short story poem entitled, "A Shelter Pup," a true account of how they adopted their dog, Sam. The story also included a photograph of Laurie and Sam.

KELLY CHASE began reading her newest novel, "Wolf." The story began with a woman stranded in the "middle of nowhere" on a cold December night in a car that refuses to start. After getting out of her car she begins to hear the howling of a wolf but is unable to get back into the car before the wolf attacks her.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

WOH MINUTES FOR SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

George Miga, Jane Burns, Donna Douglass, Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Buckman, Kathy Flotz, Pamela Gonzalez, Charlotte Brislen, Sharon Jesik, Tom Spencer, Ron Trigg, Michelle Bass, Brenda Havens, Sharon Palmeri, Sharon Dorelli, Jackie Huppenthal

GUESTS PRESENT:
Tom Molnar

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS:
Michelle Bass
Brenda Havens

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Sharon Palmeri stated that the deadline for submissions for the Hoosier Horizon magazine is September 30th.

NEWS:

1. KATHY FLOTZ stated that her and her husband, George, would be guest speakers at the First Methodist Church in Crown Point for the promotion of her book, Pebble In My Shoe.

2. SHARON BUCKMAN stated that she would be having more time for writing. She will be caring for her grandson only on the weekends.

3. MICHELLE BASS, formerly a member of WOH, is now back with us and stated that her writer's block seems to be gone. She is looking forward to continue with her writing of science fiction stories.

4. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI has been continuing with her poetry and has recently entered another poetry contest with a submission entitled, "Grandmother Earth."

5. TOM MOLNAR, also recently returning to WOH, has been busy writing a non-fiction book entitled, "Christianity, Challenging the Changing World." He also announced he has finished his book, "Dark Age Maiden."

6. GEORGE MIGA stated he is still "hanging out in public libraries" doing family research on his newest endeavor.

7. BRENDA HAVENS, our newest guest, told us she was a former English and ESL teacher in East Chicago. She was also a journalist, working for various newspapers doing feature articles, etc. She is looking forward to possibly writing a novel.

8. RON TRIGG stated he attended a family reunion in Cairo, Ill. at which the only person he really knew was his sister Ron did, however, find an interesting relative he would like to write about.

9. TOM SPENCER said he has gotten back into his writing doing poetry, short stories as well as working on a novel.

10. JANE BURNS stated she is working on editing chapter seven of her novel, "Atalanta."

11. SHARON JESIK introduced another book she enjoyed reading entitled, "Fall of Giants," written by Ken Folleck. She also recommended another book, written by the same author, entitled "Pillars of the Earth."

12. DONNA DOUGLASS told us she had recently enjoyed spending some time at the Dunes. She recommended it to anyone who might need some inspiration in their writing, it helped her tremendously.

13. JACKIE HUPPENTHAL has been busy writing poetry. She also reminded us of the banquet on Oct. 20th for the Indiana Writer's Consortium at the Avalon Hall in Merrillville. The fee is $27 for members and $30 for non-members. If you wish
to reserve a space to sell your book the fee is $10.

14.CHARLOTTE BRISLEN stated she has been working on "memoir type" stories and thought she might enjoy writing stories for children.

15. SHARON DORELLI has been working on a non-fiction book regarding sociopathy.

16. PAMELA GONZALEZ reminded us of the Craft & Auto Show at Chapel Lawn on September 24th for which she has been busy making posters, etc. The show will benefit the American Diabetes Assn. and will also have places setup for authors to sell their bopioks.

17. SHARON PALMERI stated she has been busy getting ready for submissions of the Hoosier Horizon magazine and flyer.
She is also finished with the DVD she was working on for her class reunion. She will soon begin her Monday class for Publishing in the 21st Century at the Merrillville High School. Sharon reminded the members that the WOH Christmas banquet will be on December 7th and there will be no regular meeting in December.

READINGS:

SHARON BUCKMAN read her true story, concerning her autistic grandson, entitled, "Danny Be Good." The story relates to a happening at a Walmart store several years prior and how a customer at the store changed her opinion of a "spoiled child" and then became a helpful bystander.

KATHY FLOTZ continued with her novel, "The Journey." In this part of her novel, taking place at the end of WWII, Michael Brenner, a soldier trying to find his family, is traveling on a train through Germany and encounters several people trying to help him. One woman offers him a pair of her husband's pants to help make him more presentable when he finds them.

GEORGE MIGA read his short story entitled, "The Other Man." The story takes place in 1967 following WW II and concerns a Japanese pilot who is unaware the war has ended. Finding an old Japanese war plane on the island where he has been hiding, he sets about putting it in flying condition so he can continue with the war, justifying his long absence.

DONNA DOUGLASS read her true short story concerning the eventual death of her brother. The brother, having been shot 20 yrs. prior by the man dubbed the "Shotgun Killer," was forced to live the rest of his life in severe physical, emotional and psychological pain. The story concluded with Donna accidentally encountering a friend of the murderer.

RON TRIGG continued with his novel, "Moments on an African Landscape." Ron, having spent 4 yrs. in South Africa, related part two of his novel entitled, "Tomorrow Mandela Will Be Free." This part of the story begins at the end of the Apartheid Regime and tells of the beginning of a "wonderful day" when Mandela was finally released.

JANE BURNS wrote a short memoir entitled, "Toes." Remembering Sunday mornings with her family, Jane tells of the game her mother used to play with her and her sister, "This Little Piggy," and the wonderful breakfast her father would fix later.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her poem entitled, "Poop Scoop." This comical poem relates to the endurance required to go through with a colonoscopy, even though it turned out well.

TOM SPENCER read his poem "Oligarchy Our Oil-anarchy," relating to the logic, or lack of it, with our society. The last line reads "selfish souls of creature comfort greed, fools indeed."

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, "Corn Dancer." In this part of the novel, Luck shows his friends, Robert and Yan, downloaded photos of a trip he took with his friend, Gar. The photos reveal a snake, ready to strike, that was not seen when the original picture was taken, concluding with other "mysterious happenings' since their friends death.

CHARLOTTE BRISLEN read her two page memoir entitled, "Up In The Air, Junior Birdman." The memoir tells of her life growing up with two deaf parents and three sisters and the trouble they got into when "flying" through the air from the dresser in their parents’ bedroom and landing on the bed, breaking it down.

TOM MOLNAR read two pages from Chapter Eight of his novel "Dark Age Maiden." In this part of his novel Tom tells of a young maiden named Carina who still tries to decide between two lovers and ending with the realization of loving the man who is the least capable of caring for her.

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

SHARON BUCKMAN