APRIL 2, 2014

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Palmeri, Sharon Buckman, Katherine Flotz, Sharon Dorelli, Beverly Stanislawski, Bob Moulesong, Jane Burns, Tom Spencer, Denise Taylor, Mary Ellen Beecher, Michelle Vargas 

GUESTS PRESENT:

Dwight Debruler

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the March 19, 2014 minutes was first given by KATHERINE FLOTZ  and then seconded by DENISE TAYLOR.

KATHERINE FLOTZ read the treasurer’s report for the year 2013.

NEW BUSINESS:

TOM SPENCER stated that the Northwest Indiana Poetry Society would have their next meeting at the Signature Banquet Hall (next to George’s Restaurant in Lowell) on April 13^th. Guests are invited.

KATHERINE FLOTZ brought a copy of the POP magazine, a poetry book revealing the winners of the 4^th and 5th grade students attending the Solon Robinson, Jerry Ross and Lake Street Schools. 

LITERARY NEWS:

SHARON PALMERI announced that the Write-On Hoosier blog had received a total of 2,498 hits in the past month and an all-time total of 17,200 of hits  as of April 2^nd.

MICHELLE VARGAS brought a copy of the Splickety Magazine which revealed her short story, “A Better Place” as the leading story.

READINGS:

BOB MOUSELONG read four pages of the first part of his short story, “Under the Bridge.”  His captivating story told of a 12yr. old boy living under a bridge with his dog, Roscoe.   At the beginning of the story, Jake climbed out of the box he had been sleeping in and walked off in the direction of town to find food.  After encountering a group of hobos sitting around a small fire he tried not to reveal his fear.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her very funny five stanza poem entitled, “Several Cross Words for Your Crosswords.”  The poem was written to her local newspaper in an effort of trying to place the crossword puzzles in the same location of the paper each day.  It seems the editor either missed the point that her poem, or ignored it, because he/she simply replied that poems were not accepted in the newspaper.   Only time will tell if this editor really got the hint or not.

DENISE TAYLOR read two pages of her young adult fiction novel, Beth’s Secrets.  The first chapter, “A Secret Revealed,” told of a young girl, Beth, starting out after school to join three of her friends at one of their homes.  She was stopped by another concerned male friend who tried to convince her that since these meetings were not supervised – and it was not a good idea.

TOM SPENCER brought his touching poem entitled, “Observation.” The poem related how a person with very poor eyesight can judge the character, etc. of a person they are unable to visualize.

MARY ELLEN BEECHER, one of our newest members, read an early draft of her novel, Out Of Control.  The story related to “living with an addict” and told of all the sorrows and complications that were involved, including having a terrible time trying to find medical help even with the addict himself trying to help.

JANE BURNS read her short story, “The Hep Cat.”  The story began with a man walking along the street looking for a place to relax and walking into a curio shop.  After a curator noticed the man climbing a ladder in the shop to look at a crown, the curator insisted on helping him. They were interrupted by another man who took offense at something the Hep cat had said.  When Hep Cat managed to get away from the disgruntled man he was killed by a shelf-tower collapsing on top of him.  The last words of the story were “the ‘Curio City’ killed the cat.”

The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN  

 

MARCH 19, 2014

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Palmeri, Sharon Buckman, Katherine Flotz, Beverly Stanislawski, Suzy Stueben, Bob Moulesong, Paul Mulligan, Ruthann Graczyk, Kelly Chase, Laurie Chase

GUESTS PRESENT:

Denise Taylor, Mary Ellen Beecher

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the February 19, 2014 meeting was first given by BOB MOULESONG and was seconded by BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI.

NEW BUSINESS:

An introduction was first given by guest, Denise Taylor. Denise stated that she was presently employed by Midwest Products and was in the process of revising a novel she has been working on for the past two years, entitled  Beth’s Choice.  Mary Ellen Beecher introduced herself by stating that she had formerly been a student of Sharon Palmeri’s, in her 2009 class, and had always enjoyed writing.

LITERARY NEWS:

PAUL MULLIGAN stated that he had watched a video entitled, “LIES AT THE ALTER THE TRUTH ABOUT GREAT MARRIAGES,” by Dr. Robin L. Smith.  He recommended either the book or video to all members.

BOOKS: 

SUZY STUEBEN recommended “MARY POPPINS, SHE WROTE” a biography by P. L. Traverse.

MOVIES: 

SHARON PALMERI  recommended a 2001 movie she watched called “I AM SAM” and  BOB MOULESONG recommended the recent release “THE DALLAS BUYERS CLUB.” 

READINGS:

BOB MOULESONG read seven flash fiction stories.  The titles are as follows: “Absence,”  “Desolation Angel,” “Mi Familia,” “A Dark and Stormy Night,” “Ricky Gets What He Came For,” “Voices Carry,” and “Reflections.”  Each story was exactly 50 words and gave a complete understanding of the story.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her 14 line Shakespearean sonnet entitled, “My Maiden Fair.”  The sonnet told of the admiration and longing to be with the one he loved, ending with, “For fate barred me from my Eden’s bliss.”

SUZY STUEBEN continued with three pages of her humorous story, “Mrs. Walter’s New Pet.”  In this part of her story she told of the destruction caused by her stone, but very much alive, gargoyle.  After being seriously reprimanded by her mother, she decided that she should tone down her antics.

SHARON BUCKMAN read her short story entitled, “A Dark and Stormy Night.”  The story involved a young mother enjoying her birthday when a storm suddenly appeared.   An uninvited guest suddenly entered her house as she looked for a candle; after threatening him with a toy gun, the young mother discovered he was trying to find refuge for his wife who was about to give birth.

PAUL MULLIGAN continued with his novel, Be Brave and Die – Damn It.  In this part of the story, Akem, a young male who was caught on camera robbing a neighborhood store and killing the store clerk, still denied it was him and was sentenced to eighty years in prison.  After a number of years had gone by, Carl Jones never forgot the awful waste of this tragedy and hoped he could do something in the future to prevent a future tragedy.

LAURIE CHASE read four pages of the beginning of her novel, Allizorn Hegemony, Zoristall, a novel that takes place in a future time and tells of the prejudice in which a young girl, half human and half alizorn, must live.  The little girl, Togalaz, is introduced to her uncle who then confronts her father and forces him to reveal the little girl’s heredity.

KELLY CHASE continued with two pages of her novel, THE RING.  In this part of her story, Kristine, is confronted by her high school friends who are desperately trying to find out what her famous date, Jesse, was really like.  When Jesse appeared in his shiny black sports car to pick her up, her boyfriend, Travis, was watching on the sidelines.

RUTHANN GRACZYK read the preface of her soon to begin novel, The Reconnection. The preface tells of the portrayal by her husband of twenty years, leaving her now standing at a crossroad in her life not knowing which way to go.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

MEMBERS PRESENT: 

Sharon Palmeri, Sharon Buckman, Kathy Flotz, Beverly Stanislawski, George Miga, Luniel Morrow, Paul Mulligan, Judy Whitcomb, Janice Beier, Michelle Vargas, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase

GUESTS PRESENT:

Yusef El, Bob Moulesong, Serena Yester, Ted Hawthorn

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the January 15^, 2014 meeting was first given by Beverly Stanislawski and seconded by Kathy Flotz.

NEW BUSINESS:

SHARON PALMERI asked the guests that were present to introduce themselves.  

YUSEF EL stated that he enjoyed writing, and learned of our writer’s group from the Times.  He also stated that he has had several books published including, One Room Shack, Raw Tears, How To Feel Good About Yourself, and a children’s book entitled Rhyme Tyme.  

BOB MOULESONG stated that he has enjoyed writing since his high school days.  He started his employment at the mills, but then moved on to working at the Times as a sports writer.  He is now enjoying his freedom to write since his retirement.  

SERENA YESTER stated that she enjoys doing illustrations as well as writing, and has been involved in doing some illustrations for her mother’s books, (Janice Beier.)

TED HAWTHORN stated he was there to accompany his fiancé, Janice Beier, and was in awe at all the work he has witnessed that goes into writing and publishing a book.

LITERARY NEWS:

JANICE BEIER stated that her newest book, Fragile Lives, will hopefully be published this year.  Janice also has two other books that have been self - published, Zebert the Rainbow Striped Zebra, and Zebert the Rainbow meets Tilly the Tortoise.

GEORGE MIGA introduced a book he read entitled, Margo, by author Jillian Cantor.

JUDY WHITCOMB stated that she read an older book from the 1970s that she found intriguing.  The name of the book was The Rosary Murders by William Kienzle.  [She later e-mailed this additional information: “Out of curiosity I looked up the author and discovered that Kienzle left the priesthood because he disagreed with the Church's refusal to remarry divorcees. The Rosary Murders was actually made into a 1987 movie starring Donald Sutherland.”]

READINGS:

SHARON BUCKMAN continued with her novel Beyond the Canopy.  In this part of the novel Anne is told by detective Collins that it was more probable Tom had drowned in the river, rather than still alive and trying to come after her.  Knowing Tom’s endurance she is not convinced.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her six stanza poem entitled, “Murmurations.”  The poem relates to the minions of starlings migrating to warmer climates, following the command of their leader and giving such a  beautiful performance.

PAUL MULLIGAN read two pages of his novel, Be Brave and Die, Damn It.  This part of the novel begins with Carl hiding in his father’s basement from a gang bent on doing him harm, though he’s not sure why.  It ends with a related story of his friend Akem, who wanted to leave the hood. He tried to make the basketball team, and after being unsuccessful, he turned to a life of crime.

JANICE BEIER read a short query letter concerning her 40,000 word, young adult novel, entitled, Crossing Lines.  After members read her very descriptive summary of the novel, it was generally decided that less description was probably needed.

MICHELLE VARGAS read four pages of her newest novel, Salt and Light.  The novel tells of a young minister, crawling out of Lake Michigan onto the beach, completely unaware of how he got there.  After being told by a passing older woman of his location, he does not understand why everything there looks so different from the way he remembered it.

LAURIE CHASE read her very emotional six stanza poem entitled, “What You’ll Never Hear.”  The poem relates to her very intelligent son, who was recently diagnosed with a rare disorder called Selective Mutism. The poem relays all the beautiful things that only his family is selected to hear.

KELLY CHASE continued with her novel entitled, The Ring.  After deciding to get rid of the ring that has turned her life into such turmoil, the young girl returns to the old house where she found it.  After entering the house the ring tries to dissuade her by telling her it would be a big mistake, however, throwing the ring across the floor she quickly left.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN