SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Katherine Flotz, Sharon Buckman, Sharon Dorelli, George Miga, Meggie Tolkland, Jane Burns, Tom Spencer, Ron Trigg, Neil Bedeker, Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Palmeri, Michelle Vargas, Donna Douglass, Michael Musak

GUESTS PRESENT:

Doris Curless

OLD BUSINESS:

The minutes for our last meeting was first approved by NEIL BEDEKER and seconded by DONNA DOUGLASS

NEW BUSINESS:

SHARON PALMERI announced that our WOH Christmas party would be on December 6^th, the first Thursday of December.  The fee, per person, will be $23.00.  She also announced that our entries for the Hoosier Horizon (3 pages) as well as the entries for photos of it should be turned in soon.  

LITERARY NEWS:

MEGGIE TOLKLAND stated that she would be speaking at the Portage Library, her topic will be “So You Want to Write.”

SHARON BUCKMAN asked for advice from any of the members that have published a book; she needed to know the best and cheapest way to publicize it.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI mentioned that she had received an Honorable Mention for her sonnet in an Ohio contest.  She also received an Honorable Mention from the state of Michigan for two of her entries in a Haiku contest.

TOM SPENCER stated that there were 27 rooms being held at the Turkey Run State Park on Oct. 28^th for the Indiana State Poetry Club.  Anyone wishing to attend should call Tom.

SHARON PALMERI stated she would be teaching a Writer’s Workshop at the Merrillville High School from Sept. 24^th to Nov. 26^th.

GEORGE MIGA stated that he had recently had a conversation with a good friend, and writer, Rick Karr.  He noticed that some of the critique he was given by his friend was similar to what he had received from our various members, one of them was “show, don’t tell.”

READINGS:

MICHELLE VARGAS continued with her novel, “Striving After Wind.”  In this part of her novel, Tabitha reflected on her frustrating life, especially all the time and work it took to take care of an elderly woman named Helen.

MEGGIE TOLKLAND continued with her sequel, “The Mayhem – Thorn’s Story.”  In this part of her sequel, Thorn was killed while trying to defend Tru.  While Thorn lay dying, his cousin, Roan, was sent to watch over and protect her.

KATHERINE FLOTZ told about the Indiana Writers’ Consortium’s fourth annual banquet.  The banquet is open to all writers and guests and will be held at the Avalon Manor in Merrillville on Tuesday, Oct. 2^nd.  The fee, before Sept. 24^th, will be $27 for members and $30 for non-members.

DONNA DOUGLASS read her memoir entitled “On My Honor.”  This part of her memoir told of Donna being charged with a violation of her university honor code and how badly her depressed state had affected her grades.  The end of her memoir revealed the jury finding in her favor and acquitting her.

RON TRIGG read from his memoir, “Moments on an African Landscape.”  In this part of the memoir, entitled “Climb at Own Risk,” taking place in Zimbabwe in 1989, Ron began climbing Mount Nyangani, the highest peak in Zimbabwe.  After taking the wrong trail back down the mountain, he tells of his scary time as it was near dark and he was without food or shelter.

MIKE MUSAK brought his screenplay entitled, “Randy’s New Job.”  The screenplay had two character parts, which was given to two of our members, and told of how an overqualified woman was applying for a position that would give her very few benefits for very little pay.

JANE BURNS read from her novel, “Atalanta.”  In this part of her novel the Sisterhood met at The Wall, which was their own private quarry, to learn the art of knapping flint for their arrowheads.  Atalanta had gotten into the prized rocks, obsidian cores, and fashioned a beautifully sharp blade.  However, instead of being praised, she was punished for taking one of the rare pieces.

TOM SPENCER brought his eleven stanza line poem entitled, “Illusion.”  Tom stated he decided to write his poem, which concerned the social graces of sin, several years prior when he realized how the seven dwarfs may have been a metaphor for the seven deadly sins.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read several of her award winning poems.  The first she read had received Honorable Mention in a Michigan Haiku contest.  The second was called “Orange Sunshine,” in which she had taken first place in the Voices International Award in Arkansas.  The third was entitled “Go Fly a Kite,” which had given her first place in the Spring River Award in Arkansas.

NEIL BEDEKER continued with Chapter 6 of his novel, “Dark Hearts, White City.”  This chapter, entitled “A Lucrative Offer,” told of Mary Cassidy meeting with Sioux Chief Plenty Horses.  He was sent to find her by Buffalo Bill to offer her the position of riding in the Wild West show for the sum of $5 a day.

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

Respectfully Submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

Write-on Hoosiers is celebrating the dawn of our 24^rd anniversary

Mark your calendar for our holiday celebration!

This social event is open to WOH members, family & other writers’ groups

NOTE: PLEASE BRING A GIFT FOR THE GIFT EXCHANGE

WHEN: December 6, 2012

WHERE: Lake of the Four Seasons Country Club Ballroom

TIME: 6:30 p.m. Doors open for cash bar & socializing; Dinner at 7:30 p.m.

COST: $23.00 per person

MENU: Sliced roast beef with mushroom Bordelaise, fried or baked chicken, citrus and herb cod, green salad, rolls, vegetable and potato, with apple pie for dessert. Coffee, iced tea, or water (other drinks available from the bar.)

HIGHLIGHTS:

8:30 p.m.: Welcome from WOH officers. Door prize drawing.

8:40 p.m.: A short five minute synopsis of the year’s events from each writers’ group in attendance.

9 p.m.: Gift exchange

9:30 p.m. Unveiling and distribution of annual magazine. 50-50 drawing

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

RSVP to: writeonhoosiers@comcast.net or send your check (made payable to Write-On Hoosiers) to Sharon Palmeri

Labor Day

Guidelines for Hoosier Horizon Cover Photo Entries Deadline October 3rd

Hoosier Horizon Cover Photo Entries  

Deadline October 3rd

Interested applicants may submit:

·   Up to four photos maximum

·   Size should be 5x7

·   Photographic or brochure paper (glossy shows off the photo best)

·   Photo should be taken in Indiana (or at least LOOK like Indiana)

·   Cover photo WILL be in color

·   Do not place your name on the photo or identify them in any way to assure unbiased judging.

·   Deadline for photos to submit is October 3rd

·   Judging by members will be on October 3rd

If you have any questions please contact Sharon Palmeri

NEW HOOSIER HORIZON MAGAZINE DEADLINE October 3rd

NEW HOOSIER HORIZON MAGAZINE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

 

Due to the growth of our membership it was felt that a new format was needed for the magazine. 

The new format includes:

Three pages or less per member (This is to include short stories, inserts from novels, poems and pictures.) 

Print should remain Times New Roman, 

Font size is to remain 12

 

Spacing remains 1 1/2 with one inch margins.

 

The title should be 18 font, bold, with author's name centered below title in 12 font. 

The author's bio needs to be short and will be placed on the contributors’ page at the end of the magazine. 

All entries need to be sent to Sharon Palmeri through the Microsoft doc file before the end of the first of October.

 

Photo entries need to be sent in J Peg.

DEADLINE: October 3rd

AUGUST 15, 2012

 MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Buckman, Beverly Stanislawski, George Miga, Donna Douglass, Jane Burns, Tom Spencer, Gail Galvan, Neil Bedeker, Sharon Palmeri, Tom Molnar, Ron Trigg, Julie Perkins, Michelle Vargas, Mike Musak

GUEST PRESENT:   Jean Rattay

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval was asked for concerning the August 1^st minutes.  NEIL BEDEKER gave the first approval which was seconded by GEORGE MIGA.

NEW BUSINESS:

SHARON PALMERI stated that the Four Seasons Clubhouse has been secured for our Write On Hoosier Christmas party.  Sharon also stated that due to the unavailability of the date for the first Wednesday of December, the Christmas party will be on the first Thursday (Dec. 6).  Submissions for our yearly magazine were also mentioned, as well as the photo contest for our cover. 

LITERARY NEWS:

JEAN RATTAY, our newest guest, stated she had previously attended SHARON PALMERI’S writing class as well as attending a few Write On Hoosier meetings.  She brought a few copies of her newly published book, TheKirkfield Heiress with her.

GAIL GALVAN brought along her newly printed business cards introducing her audio poetry and songs.  She also stated the Chicago Writers Conference would be held from September 14^th to the 16^th and must be paid for by August 31^st.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI stated she had received honorable mention from an Ohio poetry contest she had entered.

TOM SPENCER stated that anyone wishing to attend a meeting of the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society at the Lowell Library, could do so on the third Saturday of each month.  He also stated they would be having a Country and Western writer as a guest this coming Saturday.

READINGS:

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her humorous short story entitled ,”A Friendly Card Game.” A Friday night card game ended badly when a woman made a stupid play, causing her partner to accidently drop his cigar into her famous shrimp dip.

GEORGE MIGA continued with his newest novel, “Ariela - Lioness of God.”  After crawling out of the trench, which was dug for the executed prisoners of the Bergen-Belsen prison camp, a young girl is found and helped by a woman named Chaya.  Chaya gave her the name of Ariela, since she could not remember her own name.  Her name was Anne Frank and this is a fictitious story of what could have happened to this gifted child if her life had not been shortened.  

DONNA DOUGLASS read her short story entitled, “Rage and Resistance.”  Her story takes place in the fall of 1969 at the Indiana University where she was a student; it tells of the rage of a large percentage of the students against the Vietnam War and leaves Donna trying to separate her own emotions.

JANE BURNS continued with Chapter 7 of her novel,  Atalanta.  In this part of her novel, entitled  “All Acts of Love and Pleasure,” Atalanta enters her hut to find her roommate going through her personal possessions.  After a short battle, with Atalanta pinning her to the floor, the roommate later apologized and they both began to laugh.

TOM SPENCER received a lot of praise for his nine stanza poem entitled, “Punctuation Station.”  Turning punctuations into living things Tom explains their purpose,  and ends with “when e e Cummings has his way they will all retire.”

GAIL GALVAN read a poem from one of her novels, Autoimmunity Counterattack: A Sequel.  This part of her novel relates back to a friend she encountered while on a cross-country bicycle trip with eleven other adventure bicyclists, one of them an Australian, and is entitled  “Awesome Aussie Storyteller.”

NEIL BEDEKER continued with his novel,  Dark Hearts, White City.  In his continuation of  chapter 5, “Opportunity For Evil,” which takes place during the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, tells of how easy it was for a young man, Herman Mudgett, to take advantage of naïve young women during this time.

TOM MOLNAR read two pages from his novel, Christianity, the Challenge of a Changing World.  This part of his novel tells how TV, and other multi-media items such as cell phones, iPods and video games, are influencing our beliefs.

RON TRIGG read four pages from his memoir, Moments on an African Landscape.  This part of his memoir is entitled “Heartless Highways” and takes place in Nigeria during l984 – l986, when he relates a story of his travel along a Nigerian highway and the risks it encounters.

JULIE PERKINS continued with her short story entitled, “One Night Stand.”  After being left alone without enough money to pay for a motel, a pregnant woman encounters a prostitute who offers her a room for the night.  

MIKE MUSAK brought his newest screenplay entitled, “Randy Moves.”  After assigning the two speaking parts to two of our members, the play tells of a young female lawyer offering to help one of her clients by promising to feed his pets while he is gone.  The story takes an interesting turn when she cannot find the pets she is supposed to feed.

MICHELLE VARGAS  offered to read  her piece at the September 5^th meeting due to time constraints.

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

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

                                                        

Mary Flannery O'Connor
March 25, 1925 - August 3, 1964

 

 Occupation Novelist, short story writer, essayist

 Period 1946–1965 Genres Southern Gothic

Notable work(s)

 Wise Blood,

The Violent Bear It Away,

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Did you know that Flannery O’Connor completed more than two dozen short stories and two novels while battling lupus?  Read more at: Wikapedia Flannery O ‘Connor   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannery_O%27Connor

or:

A  Students Guide to Flannery O’Connor  http://www.flanneryoconnor.net/

The Habit of Being 

“There is something in us, as storytellers and as listeners to stories, that demands the redemptive act, that demands that what falls at least be offered the chance to be restored. The reader of today looks for this motion, and rightly so, but what he has forgotten is the cost of it….” 

― Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

 

AUGUST 1, 2012

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."

 ~Anton Chekhov~

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Buckman,  Katherine Flotz, George Miga, Michelle Vargas, Jane Burns, Tom Spencer, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase, Gail Galvan, Beverly Stanislawski, Julie Perkins, Meggie Tolkland, Sharon Palmeri

OLD BUSINESS:

The minutes for the July 18^th meeting was first approved by TOM SPENCER and seconded by GAIL GALVAN. 

NEW BUSINESS:

SHARON PALMERI introduced the June newsletter for “Magna Cum Murder.”  She stated there would be a forum coming up, before Halloween, from Oct. 26 to Oct. 28, for anyone interested in writing murder mysteries.

LITERARY NEWS:

KATHY FLOTZ stated she and her husband, George, would be giving several more speaking engagements concerning her book,  Pebble In My Shoe.  The first three, in September, would be at several different faith churches in Wisconsin and another at the Del Webb Retirement Community on September 7^th.

GAIL GALVAN stated she seemed to be having a hard time trying to do an E-book on HTML.

JULIE PERKINS stated that she might possibly try doing a revision in original Word Document and then converting it into HTML.

TOM SPENCER announced that as the new President of the Indiana State Poetry Club he will be editing the newsletter.   The price for anyone wanting to purchase a year’s subscription would be $18.00.

READINGS:

SHARON BUCKMAN read a three page memoir concerning her husband.  The memoir, entitled “Old Mac,” told of her husband’s younger years when he was sent to Missouri for the summer to live with an older man named Mac.  He ended up returning for several  more summers, giving credit to this old man  for turning his life around.

KATHERINE FLOTZ continued with her novel, The Journey.  This part of the novel  dwells on the letters of excitement  from Michael  to his family after finding they are living in the United States.  The man who sponsored his family coming to America begins paperwork to sponsor him as well.

GAIL GALVAN wrote (and sang) her newest rendition of “A Change of Hearts: Rappin’ Rabbits Song.”  Her rappin’ song is the song that was composed by the gangster rabbits from Chicago who have big plans to go to the New Jack Rabbit City where the water will supposedly make them “sprout up like Jack and the Beanstalk.”

GEORGE MIGA read the beginning of his newest novel  Ariela – Lioness of God.  The novel begins at the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Northern Germany  with a young girl crawling out of a trench where she was left for dead.  She manages to crawl, unseen, to a shed where a woman named Chaya tries to help her.

MICHELLE VARGAS continued with her novel,  Striving After Wind.  This part of her novel, which takes place near a gun club in Tolleston, Ind., tells of Tabitha meeting Adam Connelly, someone she’d had a crush on years prior, after he followed her into a shed that had been converted into an icehouse. This was the place where she butchered some of the meat for the gun club.”

JANE BURNS continued Chapter 7, “All Acts of Love and Pleasure,” Part ll of her novel, Atalanta.  This part of her novel dwells on Atalanta trying to master shooting with a bow and arrow, part of the initiation to belong to the Cult of Artemis, a sisterhood she found seven years after leaving home.

TOM SPENCER brought his eight stanza poem entitled, “A Noctambulist’s Question.”  The poem relates to the question of our nightly dreams by stating in one stanza, “What use, these apparitions, nocturnal visitors, Un-invited guests, phantoms of the night?

LAURIE CHASE began reading from Chapter 10 of her novel, Badradin.  This part of her novel told of the investigation by the Security Chief of the previous disturbance involving two guards and Dr. Togalaz.  The guards were very unhappy when finding out the scene had been recorded.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her four stanza poem, “Framed.” Her poem, written in a western theme as requested for a particular contest, tells of a barroom shootout.  The shootout ended with the killing of an unintended victim committed by the man who was the intended victim.

JULIE PERKINS read four pages of the first part of her short story entitled, “One Night Stand.” The story tells of an unfortunate situation a young pregnant woman finds herself in; she cannot come up with the necessary funds to spend the night in a motel.

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

Respectfully Submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

 

Zora Neale Hurston

January 7, 1891 - January 28, 1960

A novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston was the prototypical authority on black culture from the Harlem Renaissance. In this artistic movement of the 1920s black artists moved from traditional dialectical works and imitation of white writers to explore their own culture and affirm pride in their race. Zora Neale Hurston pursued this objective by combining literature with anthropology….  The year 1937 saw the publication of what is considered Hurston's greatest novel Their Eyes Watching God.
Read more at: http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/hurs-zor.htm

Hurston's work slid into obscurity for decades, for a number of cultural and political reasons:

Many readers objected to the representation of African American dialect in Hurston's novels, given the racially charged history of dialect fiction in American literature. Her stylistic choices in terms of dialogue were influenced by her academic experiences. Thinking like a folklorist, Hurston strove to represent speech patterns of the period which she documented through ethnographic research. 

Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston

“There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words, and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought.”
― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

HOW DO YOU KNOW...

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT

JULY 18, 2012

"Booksare a uniquely portable magic."

~~Stephen King~~

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Buckman, Sharon Dorelli, Liz Wilson, Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Jesik, Donna Douglass, Jackie Huppenthal, George Miga, Sharon Palmeri, Ron Trigg, Jane Burns, Meggie Tolkland, Tom Spencer, Sandra Nantais

GUESTS PRESENT:

Doris Curless

OLD BUSINESS:

The minutes for the June 20^th meeting wasfirst approved by DONNA DOUGLASS and seconded by BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI.

NEWBUSINESS:

TOM SPENCER introduced his friend and fellow member of the Lowell Poetry Group, DORIS CURLESS. Tom stated that Doris is a lover of rhyme and rhythm.

LITERARY NEWS:

SHARON BUCKMAN announced that Create Space stated her novel, “Canopyof Leaves”, should be in her hands by the end of this month.

MEGGIE TOLKLAND brought copies of her newest novel, “The Mayhem, Roan’s Story”. Several copies of her book were bought by someof the members.

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL stated that she received First Honorable Mention in anOregon poetry contest for a poem called “quietly encased”. She also mentioned thatthe Magic Hour Writers, a writers’ group for children’s stories, is beginning to put together a book of poems, short stories and recipes.

TOM SPENCER announced that he is now the President of the Indiana State Poetry Club. He also stated that there will be a meeting at Turkey Run State Park the last weekend of October, Oct. 26^th to the 28^th.

GEORGE MIGA told of the research he has been doing on Anne Frank, beginning with there-reading of “The Diary of Anne Frank”. George is contemplating writing a novel about her.

READINGS:

SANDRA NANTAIS read her short story entitled, “North Hammond Rat Pack.” Sandra decided to write the story after coming across an old invitation of her father’s. The invitation invited various friends and relatives to their house for their Saturday night get-togethers and brought back lots of fond memories for Sandra.

DONNA DOUGLASS read the beginning of her short story, “Two Flowers in My Garden.” The story told of the close friendship between her and her friend Rose. The friendship started after meeting during a race their daughters were involved in and continued over the years, despite their difference in color.

TOM SPENCER brought his four stanza poem entitled, “Gossip.” The beautifully written poem accurately told of the destruction that can be caused by gossip.

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL read her very original short story entitled, “First Day.” The story began with the student’s first day of school. The print began getting smaller as she told of the stress the student experienced as she tried to go unnoticed throughout the day.

LIZ WILSON continued with four pages of her novel, Israfel. The story, taking place in Persia, tells of the ruler getting ready to use a young girl as his annual sacrifice only to betreated indifferently by the girl herself. Because of her attitude he decided to take her up to his tower instead.

JANE BURNS continued with her novel, Atalanta. After making a quick return trip to her home twenty miles away, Atalanta returned in time to witness the maiden’s Riteof Passage, usually presided over by the high priestess.

SHARON DORELLI read her two page short story entitled, “Farewell to Jonna.” The story, written several years prior, toldof the death of her daughter’s close friend, which had been caused by a car accident, and how many people it had effected.

MEGGIE TOLKLAND read two pages of her newest novel, The Mayhem: Thorn’s Story. The story is a revised version of her previous story which concerned a young woman who runs a night club for the inhuman aspect of Chicago’s night life. After placing a ghostly friend in a taxi sheis accosted by a werewolf and a few other ghosts and pulled into an alley.

RON TRIGG continued with his memoir, Moments on an African Landscape. This part of his memoir, entitled, “To Go toTogo,” tells of his unfortunate experiences on the West African coast while trying to reach their destination of Togo, a place exalted by the African travel guides.

BEVERLYSTANISLAWSKI read her two page short story entitled, “RainbowBridge of Love.” The story told of a Russian grandmother, called Busha Nadia, telling her two grandchildren of how the rainbow began, as related to her by her father, and ending with God’s promise to Noah that he would not ever send such trouble again.

GEORGE MIGA continued with his novel, Medal of Dishonor. In this four page segment of the novel,President Johnson is told of the possibility that the wrong person, the present Secretary of the Army, should not have received that medal and in fact had possibly abandoned his unit.

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

Respectfully submitted:

SharonBuckman
Secretary

~~>

Stephen Edwin King

September 21,1947--

As of 2011, King has written and published 49 novels,including seven under the pen name RichardBachman, five non-fiction books, and nine collections of shortstories. Many of his stories are set in his home state of Maine.

For more information on Stephen King go to

Wikipedia -- Stephen King

or

Stephen King.com

HAVE A WONDERFUL 4TH! (AND STAY COOL!)