Thursday, January 5, 2012

JANUARY 4, 2012



MEMBERS PRESENT:
Ron Trigg, Liz Wilson, Pam Gonzalez, Lisa Groszek, Sandra Nantais, Tom Spencer, Sharon Jesik, Jane Burns, George Miga, Carol Castaneda, Gail Galvin, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase, Michelle Vargas, Kathy Flotz, Sharon Buckman, Sharon Palmeri
NEWS:
RON TRIGG is still working on his African project. He also stated that he had lots of company over the Christmas holiday.
LIZ WILSON stated that work on her book has begun to lag due to the enjoyment of her new Christmas gift, a gift certificate to a restaurant where she enjoyed a lobster dinner.
PAM GONZALEZ attended many Christmas parties over the holiday for which she is slowly beginning to recover. She also stated that her daughter and three children have found an apartment and will be moving from her house this coming weekend.
LISA GROSZEK stated she has had very little free time over the holidays due to her job coupled with her two children; however, she is planning on finishing her new novel. She also attended a self-publishing expo in New York; she didn’t feel it was all that beneficial.
SANDRA NANTAIS launched a new project, portrait photos for seniors. She stated she goes to various senior centers with a backdrop, and cameras, to take the pictures; she seems to be making a lot of seniors and their families very happy. She is also enjoying her new Kindle.
JANE BURNS has made a New Year’s resolution to do 25 pages a week on the revision of her novel, Atalanta. She also stated that her father, William, also a member of WOH, is recovering from brain surgery performed last week and is doing well.
GEORGE MIGA, besides painting a bathroom last week, sent out eight query letters to different agents concerning his novel, “Medal of Dishonor.”
CAROL CASTANEDA stated she just enjoyed celebrating the holidays with her stepdaughter who paid them a surprise visit from Taiwan.
GAIL GALVAN stated she also enjoyed the holidays, but ate too much. She also stated that she finished editing her latest book and is now planning on writing some poetry.
LAURIE CHASE stated that despite some family turmoil she enjoyed a quiet Christmas and sang a solo in their church.
KELLY CHASE has completed 54 pages on her book, “The Ring.”
SHARON BUCKMAN stated she entertained her children and grandchildren by having the usual family dinner; she also completed editing another chapter of her novel, “Canopy of Leaves.”
MICHELLE VARGAS has been reading some historical fiction and is presently working on a short story.
KATHERINE FLOTZ stated she just recently ordered another 1,000 books of her novel, “Pebble In My Shoe.” She and her husband, George, have also lined up three more speaking engagements at Purdue and various churches for the promotion of her book.
SHARON PALMERI stated she enjoyed the holiday (after a short stay in the hospital}, by starting to read a Stephen King novel entitled, “11-22-63” Sharon also made an announcement that WOH now has $217.50 left in the account following our Christmas Party, etc. She also mentioned that the WOH officers met on Dec. 19th to discuss various plans for the upcoming year. Some of the plans included possibly having some of our very talented members give a series of “mini-talks” concerning their particular genres. The series would take place at various times throughout the year at different libraries.
READINGS:
MICHELLE VARGAS read four pages of her short story entitled, “A Multitude of Conviction.” This well written story is a love story that also gives the point of view of the Hebrew people during the time of the Exodus.
GAIL GALVAN, instead of giving a reading, passed out copies to our members concerning help on self-publishing; thank you Gail.
LIZ WILSON continued with her novel, “The Grindylow.” In this part of her novel, Kelsey, a young woman who had managed to escape being a rape victim, is determined to help a mute cook get rid of his curse; his brother is equally determined she will not.
SANDRA NANTAIS read her four page short story entitled, “I Hate the Beach.” Sandra’s story starts out with giving all the details of why she hates the beach and ends with her equal enthusiasm of how much she now likes it.
KELLY CHASE continued with her novel entitled, “The Ring.” In this part of the novel, Kristine, who was walking to a concert with her friends, is hit by a moving car. Kristine is almost killed but is miraculously saved by “The Ring.”
LAURIE CHASE continued with her completely revised novel, “Badradin.” The novel begins with Badradin escaping a near death encounter with a tall, black creature called a Troden. Badradin then begins to head towards her cave with her constant companion, Grizzka, and is suddenly attacked again by the Troden. This time the two are able to kill the beast and escape.
SHARON BUCKMAN read the beginning of her short true story entitled, “Weekend Best Forgotten.” The story tells of a murder, committed by a family friend, and how her husband and their family is pulled into it.
RON TRIGG continues with his African memoirs, this part is entitled, “Devil in the Desert.” Ron tells of a close encounter with a horned viper, a very venomous snake that travels across the desert in a sidewinding fashion, and had entered one of their tents.
LISA GROSZEK read from her novel entitled, “Maude Defined.” The story begins with Maude, a neophyte vampire, being pursued instead of doing the pursuing, down a dark street. Maude finally began to hear a voice in her head that was apparently trying to help her, giving her some guidance and the direction she wanted.
TOM SPENCER brought his four stanza poem entitled, “The Nutcracker, Sweet.” The poem relates how an experienced craftsman renders a walnut limb into a cherished piece of wood.
SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, “Corn Dancer.” In this part of her novel the detectives reveal that the murder victim, Dotty, had been poisoned by being injected with snake venom as well as another botanical substance. The detectives decide to pay a visit to the museum curator, Andrew Tafoya, since the museum held a connection to both Dotty and another murder victim as well.
JANE BURNS continued with chapter four of her novel, “Atalanta.” In this part of the story seven year old Atalanta is now living with Lachela, a local midwife who had agreed to take her in after the seven year old had been living in the wild all her life. Lacheia, who has tried to keep Atalanta from constantly escaping, gives her a copper dish with which Atalanta can see herself for the first time.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m..
Respectfully submitted:
Sharon Buckman

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