MEMBERS
PRESENT:
Sharon Dorelli, Sharon Buckman, Beverly Stanislawski, Bob
Moulesong, Mike Musak, Jane Burns, Suzy Stueben, Kathy Flotz, Denise Taylor,
Sharon Palmeri, Mary Ellen Beecher, Paul Mulligan
OLD
BUSINESS:
A vote of approval for the April 2, 2014 minutes was first
given by MARY ELLEN BEECHER and was seconded by DENISE TAYLOR.
LITERARY
NEWS:
BEVERLY
STANISLAWSKI stated that she had taken 2nd prize
in the Missouri State Poetry contest for her entry of “Ballerina.” She also had an
Honorable Mention for her entry of “Jammin.”
KATHY
FLOTZ mentioned that the Crown Point Library is looking for
writers to promote their books. All
interested members should call the library to set up a date and time.
SUZIE
STUEBEN stated that she has tried Microsoft Word on her Ipad and it
worked quite well. She also had asked
the members opinion on paying an entry fee before submitting a poem, short
story, etc., before entering a contest.
Most members, including BEVERLY
STANISLAWSKI, agreed that some sort of small fee was generally expected.
BOB
MOULESONG inquired as to when you needed to file a 1099 form with the
IRS, how much income warranted the filing?
Most members thought it was $1,200.
READINGS:
DENISE
TAYLOR continued with her young adult fiction novel, “Beth’s
Secrets.” In this part of her novel,
Chapter 2, “It’s Not Fair,” Beth met three of her friends after school to go
shopping. The shopping trip did not go
well, especially after Beth and two of her friends were berated by JoAnne for
not being able to afford the expensive stores she was accustomed to. She decided to shop without them.
MARY ELLEN
BEECHER continued with the early draft of her novel “Out of Control.” The constant ringing of her phone at 2:37
A.M. , awoke her to the sound of her son’s voice begging her to “get rid of
everything – I’m about to get my ass kicked by twenty niggers.” A second call soon after informed her that
her son was in the Community hospital and directed her to his room.
KATHY
FLOTZ read her four stanza poem entitled, “In Remembrance of Our Displacement From The Batschka.” This beautiful poem was written in honor
of the 50 year anniversary of their release in 1944 from the camp they were
forced to stay in. The poem was written
on a card with an illustration on the backside showing the prisoners release,
the same illustration that is on the front cover of her book, Pebble in My
Shoe.
PAUL
MULLIGAN read two pages of the speech he is going to deliver
entitled, “Having Life Giving Relationships.”
The point he will try to make is, “you are a winner and moving toward
the winners circle!”
MIKE
MUSAK read his one page query letter to a literary agency
concerning his screenplay, “The
Plant.” After reading the “series of
misadventures” that were condensed in the letter, he was given advice by
several of the members to include some of the comical aspects, etc., that were
in the screenplay.
SHARON
PALMERI read part 1 of her story, “Animal Stories.” In this
story Sharon told of an experience she had at the age of five when her father
brought home two hamsters. She named her
hamsters, Dick and Jane and occasionally let them run loose. Dick’s demise happened when her Aunt came for
a visit. After being handed to the Aunt
by a proud Sharon he was thrown against the wall. Jane’s demise was the following week after
being laid on an oven door to “get warm.”
JANE
BURNS read four pages of her novel, Atalanta. This part of her novel, Chapter 11: The
Crossing, told of Atalanta the terrible ordeal she endured while trying to
reach Calydon to deliver a message.
After crossing inland mountains, with her strength almost gone, she
still had a ninety-mile trek to cover.
When finally reaching her goal she was found by an old man and woman who
tried to help her.
SUZIE
STUEBEN read another story from her Mrs. Walters series entitled, Mrs. Walters New Neighbors. When meeting her new neighbor, Rex, she was
asked if she might let him borrow her gargoyle to be used as a model. After agreeing she set out on a trip to the
grocery store, only to encounter a policeman flagging her down and
commandeering her old vehicle to capture two robbers he had been chasing. They were captured after a “little” help from
Mrs. Walters.
BOB
MOULESONG continued with his short story, “Under the Bridge.” In this part
of the story, Jake and his dog Roscoe return to the apartment where he had
resided with his parents. After
encountering the manager of the apartment building who explained that his
parents would not be returning and why; Jake found some food in a dumpster and
returned to the bridge he had been living under. When crawling into his box he had a pleasant
surprise, some hobos had left him some healthy food.
BEVERLY
STANISLAWSKI read five stanzas from her poem, “Ultimate Fisher.” The poem, originally to be shown with an
accompanying video, told of a beautiful large Osprey diving for fish. It eventually found its prize, a five-pound
steelhead, and surfaced, “straining every muscle to fly away proudly.”
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 P.M.
Respectfully submitted:
SHARON
BUCKMAN
