MINUTES FOR JULY 6, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:
Tom Spencer, Jane Burns, Sharon Jesik, Pam Gonzalez, Sharon Dorelli, George Miga, Sharon Buckman, Sharon Palmeri, Ron Trigg, Beverly Stanislawski, Liz Wilson, John Coty, Kelly Chase, Laurie Chase, Sandra Nantais

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Sharon Palmeri announced it was decided at the last board meeting we would need to change the number of pages each member could submit for our annual Hoosier Horizon Magazine to three. She also stated that the print needed to be Times New Roman, 12 font, 1 1/2 spacing with one inch borders. The title in 18 font (bold) and the author's name centered below the title in 12 font. The shorter bio would be placed at the end of the magazine on the contributor’s page. Submission should be sent to Sharon in the Microsoft documentary file.


NEWS:

1. SHARON JESIK gave some suggestions for a few good books, "The End of Everything,"by Megan Abbot and"Claire DeWitt in the City of the Dead," by Sara Gran.

2. SHARON PALMERI told a humorous story of a book she loved to recommend entitled, "The Book Thief." Unfortunately she couldn't remember the name of the author and couldn't tell us since she had loaned the book out and never got it back. She also mentioned that she has been doing some promotional writing and research about the history of Hobart.

3. TOM SPENCER stated he had just returned from attending the National Federation of State Poetry Society meeting in Dearborn, Mich.

4. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI stated she has been unable to do much writing lately due to
volunteering at the vacation Bible School for her church.

5. PAMELA GONZALEZ mentioned that the Chapel Lawn is sponsoring a Craft and Classic Auto Show on September 24th. There will also be a space provided for displaying any of our published books for a fee of $25. Pam also stated that she plans to do some promotional writing.

6. SHARON DORELLI mentioned that she is about to become a grandmother again. This time her son informed her it should be a girl.

7. RON TRIGG stated he has written an epilogue for the second edition of "Up and Down the Dunes." The original reflected the works of Emma Pitcher.

8. JOHN COTY stated he and Liz Wilson were married two weeks prior. Unfortunately we had
nothing but cookies and coffee to celebrate with.

9. LIZ WILSON mentioned that she has been working on a new idea for another book.

10. SHARON BUCKMAN stated that she has been busy going back and forth to their cabin and not able to do much writing.

11. KELLY CHASE, now out of school, has been busy working on "The Ring."

12. LAURIE CHASE stated that their dog recently died - this came after just recently losing her mother and father. She also has recently become interested in doing some ancestry work on the computer after finding the picture of a distant relative who looked exactly like her.

13. GEORGE MIGA stated he also has been doing some investigation in this category. He had been contacted by a cousin who wanted some information about her grandmother. During the course of his investigation he discovered that the grandmother had been shot to death in 1923 while holding her baby on her lap. The murderer, after serving a prison sentence, was later discovered by another relative as he worked at a bar.

14. JANE BURNS stated she has been doing some editing and revision on her newest novel "Atalanta."

15. SANDRA NANTAIS has been busy working on genealogy and researching family
history.

READINGS:

TOM SPENCER brought his free verse poem entitled, "Bridges of the Night."The poem relates the vision of an exhausted man's entity floating above his chair, looking down at himself, then "rising above the grasp of earth" and later returning to the comfort of his chair.

JANE BURNS read her nine stanza, free form poem, entitled "Pomegranate Seeds." The poem relates to Greek mythology and is best described by the beginning line of the third stanza, "I am the beginning and the ending."

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, "Corn Dancer." This part of her novel tells of deceased Doty's friends, Luck and Gar, moving into her house. After awakening in the middle of the night they again find things having been moved and rearranged, adding to this Luck hears Dotty's humming filling her bedroom with the sound of her favorite sonata, Pathetique from Beethoven's eighth.

PAMELA GONZALEZ read a memoir entitled "My Beginning." The memoir starts with the things she had been told by her family and later concludes with happenings she could remember from her childhood, including being displaced to the back of the car when the newest baby came.

SHARON DORELLI read her poem entitled, "Gates." The poem relates to the life of a dog as he is kept imprisoned behind gates and longs to be free.

GEORGE MIGA continued with his novel, "Medal of Dishonor." This part of his novel relates to McCall's involvement with a female journalist and their respect for each other despite their political differences.

SHARON BUCKMAN read the end of her short novel entitled, "A Family Murder." The story ended with the conviction of the victim's wife and tells of the tragic outcome for all involved.

RON TRIGG read a portion of his novel, "Moments on an African Landscape." The chapter entitled, The Bar Scene In Bukavu, related to a typical African bar situated in Bukavu in the heart of Africa. It told of a mixed crowd of local businessmen and workers sitting around tables enjoying the pleasing ambiance and later being barraged by flying katydids. The katydids were then gathered up, cooked and enjoyed by the customers.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read a short memoir entitled, "Warm Goodbyes." The story related to her remembrances of all the various pets she had as a child, mostly given to her by her father, and their tragic endings and burials.

LIZ WILSON read a portion of her newest work entitled, "Grindylow." The story tells of a "down and out" woman named Kelsey that enters a restaurant and is given food that she is unable to pay for. She offers to "take the curse off" of a man working there to pay for her food.

KELLY CHASE continued with her novel, "The Ring." In this part of her story the librarian that has a ring similar to hers, tells of the magic involved with the rings and how the ring possibly chose her.

SANDRA NANTAIS read her haiku entitled, "Sunflowers," and was accompanied with beautiful photographs of sunflowers.

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

Respectfully submitted:
Sharon Buckman

Belated Post: May meeting photo

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR A BETTER VIEW
A SMALL GROUP MEETING

MINUTES FOR JUNE 15, 2011

NOTE: Coffee and cookies are now being served at WOH meetings. Unfortunately the cute little dragon (above) has not appeared at any meetings -- yet!

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Liz Wilson, John Cotey, Sharon Jesik, Neil Bedeker, Beverly Stanislawski, Pam Gonzalez, Sharon Buckman, George Miga, Jane Burns, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase, Kathy Flotz, Sharon Palmeri,
and new member Donna Douglass

GUESTS PRESENT:

Ron Trigg, Sharon Dorelli and Michelle Bass

NEWS

1. LIZ WILSON stated she has been trying to get new story ideas as well as looking for an agent.

2. JOHN COTEY, an art teacher, has just finished up his paperwork for the school year and hasn't had an opportunity to do any writing yet.

3. MICHELLE BASS stated she has been doing some writing off and on since she last attended one of our meetings. In the past she has written five screen plays, two completed, and an article published in an art magazine entitled Midwest Edge.

4. SHARON DORELLI stated that since she last attended a meeting she had become engaged and then lost her fiancée to cancer. She felt she was ready to try and refocus her life again and get back to writing.

5. SHARON JESIK told about seeing her friend, Christa Foust, author of Snakes on a Plane. She also told of a cute phrase she had heard, "When in doubt have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand."

6. DONNA DOUGLASS stated she is going back to Atlanta for a couple of months but when returning she plans on coming back to our meetings again.

7. RON TRIGG gave us a quick summary of his past writing adventures. He stated he has been writing all of his life, mostly for various magazines as well as working with various memoir groups and about his experiences in Africa.

8. NEIL BEDEKER told us he applied for a copyright for his latest novel and brought along a copy of it.

9. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI has returned to her poetry writing as well as taking a friend for chemo therapy.
10. JANE BURNS has been editing and revising her novel as well as struggling to get back into regular writing.

11. KELLY CHASE has been working on her short story now that she has completed her school year.

12. LAURIE CHASE, who was unable to attend our last meeting due to illness and the death of her mother (and Kelly’s grandmother), has now returned to her writing.

13. PAM GONZALEZ has been working on a book cover for a possible children's book. She has asked a friend for commercial rights to her art work for the intent of self publishing.

14. GEORGE MIGA stated he hasn't been able to do much work on his book, Medal of Dishonor, due to his first priority "kids and grandkids."

15. SHARON BUCKMAN stated she mistakenly thought she would be working on her novel while going to down to their fishing cabin - her computer wouldn't let her do any editing so no writing was accomplished.

16. SHARON PALMERI stated she has been busy writing "publicity stuff," articles for the BrickieFest and the Times, etc. She also told a cute story about how her metaphors and similes on “how to write and edit” she teaches in her writing classes have lately been interfering with her cleaning of the china cabinet: she found things that don't belong and an abundance of clutter, etc.

READINGS:

NEIL BEDEKER read his short story, "That Autumn Night." The story told of a traveling circus coming into town and attending it with a friend named Billy. Billy, a friend with some mental handicaps but strong in physical structure, was asked to help out. That was the last he saw of his friend until attending the evening performance the next day with his parents. His friend was working there.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her six stanza, free verse poem, entitled, "Chicago's Lady."
The poem related to the beauty of Lake Michigan during calm, rough or icy days.

LAURIE CHASE continued with her novel, "Fast Forward." In this continuation Kelly, a mother transported 500 yrs. into the future, struggles with finding a way to keep from missing her home and family. She finds that keeping herself busy cleaning and organizing the ship she is on helps.

KELLY CHASE read the continuation of her story "The Ring." After fearing that there was something very wrong with the magic ring she had found, she decided to leave it at home so as not to be tempted in using it that day. When going to the library to try and find some type of an article that would help her she discovered the librarian somehow knew exactly what she was looking for.

LIZ WILSON read the completion of her mystery story, "Hindsight." After running away from her Vietnam veteran husband, Frannie discovers all types of mysterious things happening to her as she drives down a dark, rain-soaked highway. Trying to retrieve a cigarette, she looks up in time to see a woman standing in the road before her. The ending leaves it up to the reader to draw their own conclusions.

KATHY FLOTZ continues with her newest novel, "The Journey." This part of the story takes the reader back to Germany after the end of World War II, and to a passenger train departing its
passengers at a small German town. A man with "tear-filled eyes" watches through the window as another man is reunited with his family and wishing it could be him.

SHARON JESIK read more of her novel, "Corn Dancer." Deceased Dotty's friends continue their search for the reason of their friend's death. They don't believe that their friend was murdered by another spirit but instead try to decide who would benefit the most from her death and keep trying to decipher the various mysterious happenings around them.

JANE BURNS read a short memoir of her trip to Disney World with her family, remembering all the beautiful scenes and happenings through her eyes as a child. The story ends with her close call in an almost fatal drowning accident and being saved by a stranger.

DONNA DOUGLASS read a memoir of her life with her father, telling of their closeness and similarities. Her father, previously working at a Sheet and Tin Mill, later took some college courses and graduated with her, causing a feature article to be written about them in the Gary Post Tribune.

GEORGE MIGA continued with his novel, "Medal of Dishonor." This part of the novel starts with Oliver Crawford being called into President Johnson's office prior to the announcement of his new appointment. He is instructed of his new duties that the President expects of him in the "not so tame language" only President Johnson could use.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:
Sharon Buckman

MINUTES FOR JUNE 1, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Kathy Flotz, Cathy Dziubla, Sharon Jesik, George Miga, Sharon Buckman, Neil Bedeker, Jessica Bard, Jane Burns, Pamela Gonzalez, Tom Spencer, Sandra Nantais

GUESTS PRESENT: Donna Douglass

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Katherine Flotz stated that Laurie Chase was hospitalized this past week for heart problems. Laurie has also lost both of her parents within the past two months. Our hearts go out to her and Kelly during this difficult time. Kathy also reminded us of the picnic, hosted by Tom Spencer for the Indiana Writers' Consortium, on June 25th.

NEWS:

1. KATHY FLOTZ told us of her speaking engagement at Beecher Junior High School in May and its wonderful outcome. The story was posted in the Beecher Herald and one of its readers remembered a story her mother had told who had a similar experience in Germany. Kathy and the mother will be having lunch together on Friday.

2. CATHY DZIUBLA stated that she recently finished her book, "Sean O'Hara and the Leprechauns."

3. SHARON JESIK stated she has a friend that has been working with her on trying to find an agent.

4. JANE BURNS has been busy writing poetry and investigating her new interest in film making.

5. PAMELA GONZALEZ stated she hasn't had much time lately for writing due to her very busy schedule at home and work.

6. TOM SPENCER stated the State Federation of Poetry meeting went very well and the Lowell High School did a superb job with their Shakespearean play. He also reminded us to bring $5.00 when coming to the June 25th picnic at his house.

7. SANDY NANTAIS stated she enjoyed the spring poetry meeting but wished she had been invite to read her poetry. She also stated she is joining with Tom in volunteering with the public school system for poetry awareness in the lower grades.

8. DONNA DOUGLASS has been busy writing her memoirs and intends to read one of them at tonight’s meeting.

9. GEORGE MIGA is still working on editing his book, "Medal of Dishonor."

10. SHARON BUCKMAN stated she has added another chapter to her book, "Canopy of Leaves."

11. NEIL BEDEKER stated he hasn't been able to do much writing lately due to a computer virus.

12. JESSICA BARD has been busy working on her newest poem, "In The Wake."

READINGS:

CATHY DZIUBLA read a very cute short article entitled, "I Don't Like Pancakes Anymore." It started off with the sudden discovery she no longer liked pancakes or waffles, instead she opted for a "thick slab of cold meatloaf along with some green olives stuffed with garlic on the side." Oh well...

SHARON JESIK continued reading her novel, "Corn Dancer." In this part of the story the friends of deceased Doty discuss their ideas of who her killer might be.

JANE BURNS read her eleven stanza gothic poem entitled, "The Secret Lies with Charlotte." The poem tells of a girl named Charlotte hiding in the nighttime silence of the library and ends with the destruction of the library (and Charlotte) caused by fire.

TOM SPENCER brought his sonnet entitled, "From the Wounds of Time." The four stanza poem relates the uselessness of mourning death instead of enjoying life.

DONNA DOUGLASS read her recent memoir concerning her heartbreaking divorce several years prior. The memoir, entitled "A Late Lunch," told of how she had met her husband of thirty years and how much she had loved him, despite their opposite personalities.

GEORGE MIGA continued with his novel, "Medal of Dishonor." In this part of his novel he told of McCall's relationship with a newspaper journalist who was working on the Cordell Jackson story. She and McCall discuss the shooting as well as McCall's problems with his son.

JESSICA BARD read her six stanza form poem entitled, "In The Wake." The poem relates the useless feeling of the poet as "The world meets in a senseless time of twilight."

SHARON BUCKMAN introduced a new character into her book entitled, Canopy of Leaves." This part of the story told of Tom's father, whom he hadn't seen since childhood, coming back to the area. The chapter ends with the murder of the father.

SANDY NANTAIS read her two page poem (prose) entitled, "Stray Pit." The poem tells of a runaway Pit Bull following her home and her fear of him even though the gentle dog seemed very lovable.

KATHY FLOTZ continued with her novel, "The Journey." In this part of her novel she tells of Martha Brenner and her family coming to America from war torn Germany in l949. She and her family find the Wilson family very hospitable and seem to enjoy their new lives.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

Sharon Buckman

MINUTES FOR MAY 18, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Buckman, Sharon Jesik, George Miga, Neil Bedeker, Pamela Gonzalez,Liz Wilson, Sharon Palmeri, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase

GUESTS PRESENT:
Donna Douglass

NEWS:

1. NEIL BEDEKER has just returned from Florida where he has been renovating some property he owns there. He stated that while he was there he was interviewed, over the phone, by Emil Franzi. Mr Franzi works for a radio station (Voices of the West) in Tucson, AZ. and was interviewing him in regards to his novel, "The Cassidy Posse."

2. GEORGE MIGA stated he has submitted a short story for the weekly edition of Narrative On Line, WWW.narrative.com. He also brought along a book he suggested we all might enjoy called, "The Writing Circle," by Corinne Demas.

3. PAMELA GONZALEZ told us she had hurt her back a couple of weeks ago and has not been able to work. That is the down side; the good side is she has been able to catch up on her writing. She has been working on her new book as well as entering a Cheerios contest for kids.

4. DONNA DOUGLASS, our newest guest, told us she is a retired history and geography teacher. Before this she worked in time management and at this time she managed to have a book published. She grew up in the Hobart/Merrillville but now lives in Atlanta. She recently came to Hobart to help care for her mother. She stated she is interested in writing fiction.

5. LIZ WILSON also stated she has had back problems recently which has enabled her to do more writing. She also has moved into a new house recently.\

6. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI has been busy volunteering but found time to submit seven of her Haiku poems (for which she'll probably win seven prizes *smile*.)

7. SHARON BUCKMAN stated she and her husband went camping with friends last week, which gave her little time for writing. She also stated she and her son, Bob, were given tickets to attend the Oprah “Surprise Spectacular” at the United Center. She said it certainly deserved its name, “Spectacular”.

8. SHARON JESIK said that since the weather has been too cold and rainy to garden, she has spent the last two weeks polishing up on her poetry. She plans on attending the meeting at the Hebron Comfort Inn on Friday, May 20th as well as the luncheon at the Lowell Public Library on Sat., the 21st.

9. LAURIE CHASE stated her back is finally doing better. She also was able to do more writing while she was down with her back (this all sounds like a terrible way to get finally get some writing done.) She has also just become a great-aunt.

10. KELLY CHASE said that she hasn't been able to get back to her writing due to her finals at school.

11. SHARON PALMERI stated her recent writing involved an article published in The Times, concerning the Indiana Writers’ Consortium’s PoPP program. She mentioned that since the end of the PoPP program and the judging for the Indiana Arts Commission behind her she should have time to rest. Think again. She is now working with the "Brickiefest" in Hobart, an all class reunion which will be held at the old Brickie Bowl on July 30th. In addition she is working on her own class reunion which is due this year.
Sharon briefly explained what she has been doing for the radio station where she is employed. It involves placing categorizing and uploading music to a server where it is then streamed over the Internet. She showed a book (listing types, decades, etc) of the songs that need to be uploaded. We were all impressed with the amount of work she has put into this.

READINGS:

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her short story entitled, "The Decision." Her story could have been entered in a flash fiction contest due to its short length; however, it managed to tell a very interesting story of a soldier who had been injured in combat. The soldier, Stefan, had shunned becoming involved with any women due to his scar but finally found it mattered little to a beautiful woman named Maria.

SHARON BUCKMAN read two pages from her short novel, "A Family Murder." In this part of her story her brother's daughter-in-law is about to be arrested for the murder of her husband. This leaves the responsibility for raising his son's two daughters to her brother and his wife.

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, "Corn Dancer." The Ranger was interviewing Luck, a close friend of the deceased Doty, when a light bulb suddenly exploded over the Ranger's head. This caused the Ranger and another detective to only become more suspicious of Luck. Doty's friends knew that it was probably the ghost of Doty causing all the mischief.

GEORGE MIGA continued reading his revised novel, "Medal of Dishonor." In this part of the story, Cordell's son, Tony Jackson, arrived from Washington after learning of his father's serious injuries received from a gunshot wound after being shot by a purse snatcher. The son could not believe of his father's role in the shooting or the fact that he had previously been shot, as told by the hospital.

NEIL BEDEKER read his short story entitled, "The Strip Mall King." The story starts out with a man named Steve telling a college friend how well his investment of a Strip Mall is doing. The friend, having loaned Steve some money to keep it going, does not quite share his friend's view of the genius ideas he shares. In the end he walks away stating some debts are "not worth trying to collect."

PAMELA GONZALEZ read her story, "The Elves Of Rauthuell." Blaming humans for all of their misfortunes, the elves, listening to an elder, decided to listen to his wisdom and send a messenger to bring back a human they could trust to solve their problem.

LIZ WILSON read her short story, "Hindsight." The story involves a woman named Frannie running away from her husband, Bobbie Lee. Bobby Lee, injured during the Vietnam war, had begged her to stay with him, however, as the story continues she is headed to meet another man named Paul and travels down a dark road with another car in pursuit.

DONNA DOUGLASS read her story entitled, "Turning Point." The story starts with a young college freshman girl making her bed in her dorm when she learns President Kennedy has been shot. Unable to believe what has happened she runs outside to hear the bell tower bells ringing at the Valparaiso University. The somber sound of the bells and the dean's secretary make her finally realize the sad truth and she had to come to terms with the death of our president as well as witnessing the murder or Lee Harvey Oswald on TV.

LAURIE CHASE continued with her novel, "Fast Forward." Kelly, the housewife who had been transported 500 yrs. into the future and onto a ship, finally begins to accept her situation and realizes that her situation could have been worse. She could have ended up on a ship with people that were not so kind and begins to make friends with a strange person named Katzy.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P.M.


Respectfully submitted:
Sharon Buckman

Members at the May 4 meeting . Laurie not shown (sorry Laurie) and Palmeri is behind the camera)

MINUTES FOR MAY 4, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Pamela Gonzalez, Sharon Buckman, Sharon Jesik, Jane Burns, Beverly Stanislawski, Judy Whitcomb, George Miga, Sandra Nantais, Kelly Chase, Laurie Chase, Tom Spencer, Jackie Huppenthal, Sharon Palmeri

GUESTS PRESENT:

Lisa Gineris

NEWS:

1. JACKIE HUPPENTHAL stated she has been busy with her writing and is suffering from poison ivy for the second time this year. She and her son just acted in a movie short for Columbia College. She stated it was a great experience and a lot of fun.

2. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI said she has been feeling a lot better and has gotten back to her writing.

3. SHARON BUCKMAN stated on June 17th she will be attending Oprah's Surprise Spectacular along with her son, Robert. She has been doing a lot of gardening and not much writing in the past two weeks.

4. GEORGE MIGA has been working on finishing his novel, "Medal of Dishonor."

5. SANDY NANTAIS has been busy with her photography and writing, she is working on genealogy at the moment.

6. KELLY CHASE stated she participated in the WW II ROTC Color Guard at Buckley this past weekend.

7. LAURIE CHASE has been having problems with her sciatic nerve for which she has been taking various medications. Laurie and Kelly are also starting piano lessons. She also told a not so funny story of her parents insurance company mixing the names on her mother's claim - the insurance company put her mother's name as the deceased instead of her fathers.

8. LISA GINERIS our new guest, stated she has taken several of Sharon Palmeri's writing classes and is presently working on a memoir.

9. PAMELA GONZALEZ has been redoing a story she started some time back. She also stated her daughter was just married this past weekend (from which she is still recovering). She also read a letter she received from our last guest, Robert Durling. He stated that do to a hearing problem he will probably not attend any more meetings but said he enjoyed being at the one he did attend.

10. TOM SPENCER reminded us of the May 20th open microphone meeting at the Hebron Comfort Inn, (1 65 and Rt. 2) at 6:00 P.M., a meeting of the State Poetry Society on May 21st at the Lowell Public Library, as well as a luncheon will be served at 12:00 noon, $l2.00 per person, at the library. When asked what he has been doing for himself he stated that he was doing spring cleaning and writing.

11. SHARON JESIK stated she has been working on her novel, "Corn Dancer" and has presently completed 85 pages.

12. JANE BURNS has been editing and revising her novel, "Atalanta." She has completed 40 pages and is now on part 2.

13. JUDY WHITCOMB has finished grading papers for her class at MSU and has started two children's stories.

14. SHARON PALMERI just returned from Indianapolis where she participated in judging for the Indiana Arts Commission. Sharon stated that thirty grants will be awarded out of the ninety participants. The awards will be posted on the IAC’s website in July. She also told of a funny (not for her) happening at the Indiana Government Center when she forgot to remove a small pair of children's scissors from her purse.

READINGS:

SHARON BUCKMAN continued with reading her novel, "A Family Murder." In this part of the story she told of trials of her nephew's two stepchildren. The stepson, Daniel, was sentenced to 22 yrs. and the stepdaughter, Christina, was sentenced to 5 yrs. in prison.

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, "Corn Dancer." The detective continued with his investigation of the murder of their friend, Doty. Since the murdered victim's closest friend, Luck, inherited almost all of her possessions he was the natural suspect. He convinced the detective that he and Doty were not romantically involved since he was gay.

JANE BURNS surprised everyone when she continued her novel, "Atalanta." She told of the bear, Ursula, being murdered by several men and then taking the young girl that had been raised by the bear with them.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read a type of essay she had recently written entitled, "Apple Seeds." The story concerned the type of character everyone sought and how best to teach your children how to find true character. Several members thought it would be a good story for Guideposts magazine.

JUDY WHITCOMB read one of her recent children's stories entitled, "I Want a Puppy, I Really Want a Puppy." The story involves a young boy trying to persuade his parents to let him have a puppy and eventually succeeding. She is planning on submitting it to a publisher soon.

GEORGE MIGA continued reading from his novel, "Medal of Dishonor." In this part of the story, the gun, that had been turned on Cordell, had jammed and was then wrestled away from the shooter by Cordell. In the process Cordell was shot but still had enough strength left to kill the shooter before being taken to the hospital.

SANDRA NANTAIS read her short story, "Pickles, Pretzels, and Prancing," a story concerning her memories of her grandmother as she was always rushing in and out of the house during backyard family gatherings and bringing pretzels, cola, and a relish dish complete with pickels and green olives.

KELLY CHASE continued with her novel, "The Ring." The ring is a magical one and Kristine felt she should not keep using the ring to accomplish getting anything she wanted. This soon changed when her parents were refusing to let her wear the new clothes she had just bought for a concert.

LAURIE CHASE continued reading a few pages from her novel, "Fast Forward," a story that involved a young housewife being transported 500 yrs. into the future and placed on a space ship. In this part of the story she decided she would need to do some "cleaning" if she was to be there for awhile.

LISA GINERIS, our newest guest, read a memoir, as being told by her grandmother, entitled, "Elsie Mae -A Life Recycled. The story told of her grandmother's heartache after losing two of her children and was followed up with the reading of a letter, written by her grandfather to her grandmother.

TOM SPENCER brought his seven stanza poem entitled, "The Superlatives of Nature." The poem dealt with man's desire for destruction of the earth by breaking the rules of nature.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 P.M.

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL read her poem about phobias and gave examples of different ways it could be printed out to give a more effective picture of the uncomfortable feelings phobias invoke.

Respectfully submitted:
Sharon Buckman

MINUTES FOR APRIL 20, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Buckman, Sharon Jesik, George Miga, Jane Burns, Beverly Stanislawski, Pam Gonzalez,
Lisa Groszek, Mike Musak, Sandra Nantais, Bill Burns, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase
GUESTS PRESENT:

Robert Durling

NEWS:

1. GEORGE MIGA stated he has been working both of his novels, "Spin Doctor" and "Medal of
Dishonor."

2. PAMELA GONZALEZ has entered a 500 word, or less, children's story contest. The sponsor is Cheerios and the winner will have the honor of having the small book published and placed in
each box of cereal.

3. JANE BURNS stated she has been working on her book "Atalanta".

4. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI stated she received a rejection letter concerning a recent poem she had sent in.

5. LISA GROSZEK has been working on her novel "Above and Below" and stated she is about one chapter away from finishing.

6. MIKE MUSAK has been busy working on his screen play, "The Plant."

7. SANDY NANTAIS stated she has been busy writing poetry and doing photographic work.

8. BILL BURNS, who became a member today, stated he has been busy playing "free cell" on his computer. He and his wife are also planning a three week trip, first to China and then Alaska.

9. SHARON JESIK has been busy writing some poetry and working on her novel, "Corn Dancer."

10. LAURIE CHASE has been working with her niece revising her novel, “Dual Heritage."

11. KELLY CHASE has been busy with her school work and writing some poetry.

12. Guest ROBERT DURLING graduated from a junior college on the south side of Chicago. He worked in the college newspaper, which started him writing. He them attended Northwestern Univ. and majored in journalism. Wrote various plays as well as for radio and was in WW II, where he purchased all the black cloth for Patton's funeral. He is a comedy writer and is working on a book called, "Life is Like Eggs, Scrambled or Sunnyside Up."


FYI:

Sharon Palmeri, Katherine Flotz, Jackie Huppenthal and Judy Whitcomb were not in attendance at the meeting this evening because they are attending the PoPP (poetry awards for children) event at Lake Street school.

Immediately after the PoPP event Sharon Palmeri will go to Indianapolis to be a panel judge on literature/writing for the Indiana Arts Commission, where several writers will be chosen to receive state grant money later this year.

READINGS:

GEORGE MIGA continued with his novel, "Medal of Dishonor." In this part of the story, Cordell Jackson, a Negro war hero who shined shoes for a living and had been overlooked for the Medal of Honor, managed to stop a robbery. The potential robbery then turned to murder as a policeman was murdered and the gun then turned on Cordell as it ended.

JANE BURNS continued with Chapter 2 of her novel, "Atalanta." The story took a diversion from the young girl that was being mothered by a bear to two twin wolves who could talk to each other.
As the story continued, Tay and Kah, the twin bears, managed to kill Baba, the King of Beasts. The killing proved to be a disaster since from that point on none of the animals were able to talk again.

SHARON BUCKMAN continued with her true story, "A Family Murder." In this part of the story, her brother arrived from Florida to find the investigation of his murdered son already underway. Following the funeral, one of the largest she had ever seen, the family discovered that the murdered victims stepson had already been arrested and the police were suspecting other family members.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read a short story that she had written several years prior and had taken first place in a Christian Writers contest in Tennessee. The poem, entitled "The Passover Lamb," began with a young boy trying to take his lamb to the Passover as a sacrifice for his family. When the lamb ran away the young boy sought the help of a stranger to find him. The story ended with them witnessing Jesus being taken to the cross.

LISA GROSZEK continued with her novel, "Above and Below." After being told that her family was in danger, Elizabeth awaits the arrival of her niece, Clarissa, hoping she can shed some light on why they are in danger. They come to the mutual opinion that it involves the previously murdered Dominic, who they had to murder fifteen years prior.

MIKE MUSAK brought another of his humorous screen plays entitled, "The Plant." After assigning speaking parts to several of the members, we again enjoyed Mike's humor as it involved the conversations of various employees of the plant sitting at Tony's Tiny Tap.

SANDY NANTAIS read her four page memoir entitled, "Dyngus Day," a polish tradition celebrated on the Monday following Easter in Poland. Explaining that her polish family formerly practiced this when living in Poland she explained that it involved polish boys awakening girls with a bucket of water on their heads and striking them about the legs with switches from a willow - this was for girls they liked.

BILL BURNS related how he started this story several years prior when traveling under the Golden Gate Bridge. After several mishaps, involving the loss of his pages, he finally continued with the story he entitled "Bridge." The story involves a widower sitting on a park bench admiring the Golden Gate Bridge and being approached by a woman of "questionable intentions." It ended with the man finally going with her to "her place."

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, "Corn Dancer." This part of her story involves the main character, Luck, entering the front door of his house with his male friend, Gar. They discovered a pungent smell and smoke and upon entering their bedroom found an image of a very large snake that had been "blasted" into their ceiling. They also found changes had been made, again,. to the picture of Corn Dancer.

LAURIE CHASE continued with her novel, "Fast Forward." In this part of her novel, Kelly O’Callaghan was told that somehow she had been moved 500 yrs. into the future and was aboard a spaceship. Since everyone on the spaceship was as confused as she was, she was told that she would just have to wait, and work, until they could contact another ship that could possibly give her some answers about somehow getting back to her family.

KELLY CHASE read the poem she had just written, entitled "Storm." The poem told of the
"frightening beauty" of lightning and thunder, engaging conversations between the members of all our recent storms.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

Sharon Buckman

MINUTES FOR APRIL 6, 2011

Think Spring!!


MEMBERS PRESENT:

Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Buckman, Kathy Flotz, Jane Burns, Sandra Nantais, Tom Spencer,
Sharon Jesik, Pamela Gonzalez, George Miga, Jackie Huppenthal, Lisa Groszek, Sharon Palmeri, Neil Bedeker, Audrey Warzyniak, Cathy Dziubla, Jessica Bard, Art Wilkerson, Mike Musak, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase

GUESTS PRESENT:

William Burns

NEWS:

1. MIKE MUSAK stated he hasn't been able to do any writing lately due to illness.

2. JACKIE HUPPENTHAL has entered two of her poems to the Edge of the Prairie magazine. She also stated her and her family are in the midst of planning an Alaskan vacation (we're all envious).

3. GEORGE MIGA stated he recently went to Wheaton, Ill. to meet with a history buff who specializes in the history of General Grant and Lee. He also mentioned that this person does impersonations of Presidents Ford, Lincoln, Nixon as well as an excellent impersonation of Lyndon Johnson, complete with his special "vocabulary."

4. LISA GROSZEK has been busy working on her sequel, "Above and Below," and is presently on
Chapter 14. She also stated that she entered one of her short stories, "Avoidance," online with
Weebly.com. She would appreciate any constructive comments from her readers.

5. JESSICA BARD stated she recently found a dog, a young pit bull, and is trying to find a home for it, this has taken time away from her writing.

6. SHARON JESIK brought a small book of painting illustrations by John Fincher, who is the person who inspired her to write her present novel, "Corn Dancer."

7. TOM SPENCER stated that on April 16th the Lowell Public Library will be hosting a reading of poems by Emily Dickinson. Tom also stated that on Monday, April 11th, the Lowell Poetry Group will be featured, at ten minute intervals, on 89.l F.M. radio since this is National Poetry month.

8. SANDRA NANTAIS has been busy writing poetry as well as visiting Plymouth, IN., taking images for her various photography clubs.

9. ARTHUR WILKERSON stated he finally has a workable E-mail address, something he has had a problem with in the past. He also has been busy researching articles and submitting them to various magazines.

10. AUDREY WARZYNIAK stated she felt she was finally able to return to Write On Hoosiers following the death of her mother a few months prior. She has been busy writing some poetry and wanted to ask some of the members what they felt was an advantage to having a blog.

11.PAMELA GONZALEZ has been busy planning a wedding shower for her daughter who is to be married on April 30th. This has left her with little time for writing.

13. NEIL BEDEKER has been busy working on a web site to promote his book. Lisa Groszek suggested he try weebly.com and Sharon Palmeri suggested godaddy.com to look for domains and web site help.

14, JANE BURNS stated she has been working hard on her book "Atalanta."

15. BILL BURNS has been busy writing short stories which he hopes to publish as a collection.

16. KATHY FLOTZ stated her and her husband, George, have a speaking engagement (for the 13th time) on Tues., April 12th for the history class at Purdue University. They also have another speaking engagement in Beecher, Ill. on May 12th, in between these engagements she is having cataract surgery - not sure what she's doing in her spare time, ha.

17. BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI stated she has been staying at home trying to stay well. She has also been sending in a few poems to various national magazines.

18. CATHY DZIUBLA has just recently returned from visiting her children in Maryland to find that her son is coming to visit her from Kentucky. She has not had much time for writing.

19. LAURIE CHASE stated she has been trying to re-adjust her life following her dad's death a few weeks ago. She has begun writing again.

20. KELLY CHASE has been busy studying and working on her novel, "The Ring."

21. SHARON BUCKMAN stated she has been busy helping her husband with fix-up chores at their cabin, which has left little time for writing.

22. SHARON PALMERI has been busy working with the Indiana Writers Consortium on the magazine for the PoPP awards night at Lake Street School in Crown Pont on April 20. She is also working with the Indiana Arts Council, looking over grant applications Sharon was asked by the council to help critique entries for the April 21st literature panel for the individual artist judging .

READINGS:

PAM GONZALEZ read a short story entitled "I Love History," a humorous memoir of her early days in a catholic school. The refreshing memoir told of the various outfits they were required to wear, etc., and ended in a child's view of the death of a President.

NEIL BEDEKER began with reading two pages of the beginning of his book, "Early Retirement." His novel is about a high school teacher, Mitch Baden, who gets into trouble after accidentally walking into the girl's dressing room and finding one of his students partially undressed.

JANE BURNS continued with her book, "Atalanta/Ursa Specularis." The story concerns a young girl who was abandoned by her father, a King who wanted only sons, and was found by a female bear named Ursula. The baby girl was nursed by the bear, along with her cubs, through hibernation. As the story continued the young three year old girl got separated from her bear mother when attacked by bees.

BILL BURNS read his 360 word short story entitled, "In Your She Disappears Again Dream," a story inspired by the dream poetry of Richard Hugo. The story tells of meeting a fellow classmate who was working as a bell cap at a luxery hotel; a classmate who he thought was an interior architect.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her four stanza poem entitled, "Nights Full Pregnant with Evil." The poem, inspired by Psalm 7-16, tells of various modern "evil things," starting with mankind’s birthing.

CATHY DZIUBLA read her "ghazel style" poem entitled, "Aliens." The poem tells of various green lights, coming at night and mysteriously disappearing, asking if it could be possible they are coming to ponder man's evolution.

LAURIE CHASE continued with her novel, "Fast Forward." In this continuation of her novel, Kelly O'callaghan is told that she is on a space ship, 500 years ahead of the time she was suddenly abducted from earth, and is as baffled as the people on the space ship.

KELLY CHASE read from her novel, "The Ring." In this part of her novel the young teen-age girl, Kristine, is taking her friend into various dress shops where she is reluctant to go. Her friend tells her that she feels Kristine has changed, acting weird. This makes Kristine wonder if she can change her friend's mind by using the magical ring.

SANDRA NANTAIS presented three beautiful pictures, accompanied with poems. The first picture starts with the line, "Winter's Sleeping Tree," and shows a shallow stream surrounding an old mis-shaped tree. The second picture reveals an old weathered tree standing in a field with the first line reading "Skeletal Bone Bare," and was cut down shortly after the picture was taken. The third picture, a curious white goat, has a first line," The Other Day While On A Walk."

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, "Corn Dancer." In this part of the novel they talk about the Avanyu pot being made by the Corn Maiden and who died a tragic death shortly after it was made. The friends of Dotty were beginning to wonder if having the pot was what led to her death and they all felt the presence of both the Corn Maiden and Dotty on their way back home.

TOM SPENCER brought his short story, "Residual Guilt." The story, an exercise in using all five senses, started with a man going into a bar after finishing his job for the day and witnessing a murder. The murderer, a jealous wife who walked in an discovered her husband with another woman, ended up shooting the female bartender.

JESSICA BARD read the end of her short story, "The First Snow." The story ended with Whit going back to his home, trying to figure out what happened to the murdered friend he found. Falling asleep he dreamt he saw her, standing on a frozen lake and covered in a white dust. After she approached him she kissed his cheek; when he awoke he found the cherry print of lips on his cheek, formed by her blood.

LISA GROSZEK read three pages of her sequel, "Above and Below." In this part, Chapter One, Elizabeth hears the voice of her deceased husband, Dominic. He tries to warn her that she and her entire family are in danger, including his son.

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

Respectfully submitted:

Sharon Buckman

MINUTES FOR MARCH 16, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Pam Gonzalez, Sharon Buckman, Sharon Jesik, Judy Whitcomb, George Miga, Lisa Groszek, Sandra Nantais, Jane Burns, Laurie Chase, Kelly Chase

GUESTS PRESENT:
Neil Bedeker, Bill Burns

NEW LOCATION:
The meeting was held in the Banquet Room of the Chapel Lawn Funeral Home in Schererville.

One of our members, Pamela Gonzalez, is an employee of Chapel Lawn and had made arrangements for Write-On Hoosiers to continue using this facility if they desire. The members that were present seemed to feel it was perfect for our needs and wished to have it remain there. We wish to thank Chapel Lawn for their hospitality as well as their free, very good, coffee.

NEWS:
The members introduced themselves to our newest guests, telling of their writing preferences and how much writing they have managed to accomplish in the past few weeks. Neil Bedeker, a guest, stated he formerly belonged to Writer's Expressions which was disbanded in December. He also stated he has written two novels, one of them, "Cassidy Posse" was self published. Our other guest, Bill Burns, Jane Burns father, traveled from Wood Dale, Ill. to join us. He stated he formerly taught Creative Writing at St. Xavier's in Chicago and had a number of published articles, including five poems and six short stories as well as co-authoring a text book.

READINGS:

SHARON JESIK, reading from her novel, "Corn Dancer," revealed the importance of "Avanyu," and the necessity of protecting it. Yan, Robert's uncle and an old man from the Zuni tribe, told them a story of the Corn Maiden and how she tried to reveal a message concerning their friend’s death.

JUDY WHITCOMB read her Concrete Shape Poem entitled "Tiny Little Insect." The poem, cleverly shaped like a leaf, manages to be read from several different angles, still rhyming.

GEORGE MIGA continued reading his novel, "Medal of Dishonor." In this part of the story President Lyndon Johnson is still trying to talk his friend, Spenser McCall, into going to them ideas for him, promising to make him an ambassador to Iran if he will help him out.

LISA GROSZEK read from the beginning of her newest novel, "Lonesome Isle 2," The story begins with a mother talking to her son, Mitchell, and later telling the reader of the unbelievable memory her son has, including the memory of his own birth.

SANDRA NANTAIS read two of her poems, "Deep in the Kettle," a poem relating in the "idleness of a slumbering soul." Her second poem entitled, "Two Lips," is accompanied with beautiful photographs of pink tulips and another photograph of a woman feeding a dove from her lips.

JANE BURNS began reading from the second chapter of her novel, "Ursa Specularis." It begins with Ursula, a bear about to go into hibernation with her two cubs, encountering a human baby and carrying it back to her cave, nursing it along with her cubs through the long winter.

LAURIE CHASE continued with her novel, "Fast Forward." In the last reading she told of a housewife, Kelly O'Callaghan, suddenly finding herself in an unknown room while waiting in line for Dunkin Donuts. She is suddenly told she is on a spaceship that hauls cargo from planet to planet and believes it to be some kind of elaborate hoax.

KELLY CHASE read from her story, "The Ring." In this part of the story she convinces her mother that she needs to borrow their truck to go visit friends at the mall - this is accomplished by the magic ring she carries in her pocket.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted:
Sharon Buckman

MINUTES FOR MARCH 2, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:
Kathy Flotz, Sharon Buckman, Sharon Jesik, Beverly Stanislawski, Kelly Chase, Laurie Chase, Jessica Bard, John Boufis, Cathy Dziubla, Tom Spencer, Lisa Groszek, Sharon Palmeri, George Miga, Sandra Nantais


GUESTS PRESENT:
Dennis Hodges, Jane Burns

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sharon Palmeri announced that the members would need to decide on our next meeting place. Several suggestions had been given by various members over the past two weeks. Three of the suggestions are as follows: Banquet room at Chapel Lawn in Schererville, Schoops Restaurant in Crown Point, Twelve Islands Restaurant in Crown Point and the Elks Club in Hobart (still waiting for approval response). It was decided to rule out the Elks Club due to the distance involved for most members and to hold our next meeting at Chapel Lawn and further decision will be made then. Sharon also stated that our "Traveling Story" needed a little pick-me-up as far as the story line was concerned and encouraged the future writers of the story to possibly start "livening it up a little."

NEWS:
Our members introduced themselves to our newest guest, stating their accomplishments and preferences in writing. Dennis Hodges then introduced himself, stating he resided in Merrillville and was presently involved in publicity writing for the Lutheran Church. He also stated he did a publication for the "Tour of Railroads" in Europe.

READINGS:
SHARON BUCKMAN read two pages of her newest short novel, "A Family Murder." The true story related to the murder of her nephew, John Parker, in 2003. It began with the disbelief of family members as to how anyone could want to harm such a nice person and ended with the suspicions of the Merrillville police department involving several members of his family.

KATHY FLOTZ read one page of her newest novel, "The Journey." The story continued with Martha Brenner, a refugee mother, and her two children, reluctantly leaving Germany to head for their new life in America, possibly never to know what happened to her husband.

SHARON JESIK continued with her novel, "Corn Dancer." In this part of her novel Robert was leading the friends of deceased Dotty to a safe location in a "basement like" area, away from the severe storm raging outside. A Zuni scream was heard from above, and beautifully repeated by Sharon, as they all huddled around a table below.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her four stanza poem entitled, "Mountains' Majesty." The lovely poem related the beauty of the mountains "straining for a chance to touch the face of God." It has been entered in an Arizona magazine entitled, The Sandcutters.

KELLY CHASE continued with her story, "The Ring." The two pages told of her questionable judgement in having a boyfriend like Travis and slipping off her ring, a ring with magical powers, and placing it in her backpack. It then continued with her annoyance at seeing her friend, Ranee, happily talking to Annabeth, a former friend.

LAURIE CHASE read the first four pages of a previous novel she had written entitled, "Fast Forward." The novel tells of a housewife, Kelly O'Callaghan, starting out with her normal daily routine and suddenly finding herself in disbelief as she stared around at some unbelievable looking people in a completely unknown location.

JESSICA BARD continued with her short story, "The First Snow." In this version of her short story the dying woman, who had asked her friend Whit to stay with her to the end, tells of fighting off her attackers and ends up dying in his arms, only to have disappeared when he returns with the police.

JOHN BOUFIS, after again reminding us of the word, "seep," continued with a "sarty," the previous night, involving two women who had recently seeped into their new bodies only to fall eight stories, dying of broken necks and then seeping into new male bodies. The story then continued with a new person, John, being shot, however, his outcome is not known.

KATHY DZIUBLA remembered a Greek quote from her father, "A Camel Can't See Its Own Hump," and made this the title of her poem. The poem reminded us that we probably can't see our own limitations but they can certainly see ours. She also questioned as to why a negative word would be used to describe something as "awfully nice?"

TOM SPENCER had written a poem entitled, "The Poet's I," in response to a friend and intended as a thank you. The poem tells of the poet's intention to "foster change, bringing a social change to better our world."

LISA GROSZEK, in her two page memoir, tells of happy childhood memories of the Fourth of July at a friend's house, waiting impatiently for the first glimpse of fireworks and the sad farewells to their friends as they are forced to go home.

GEORGE MIGA continued with four pages of his novel, Medal of Dishonor." In this part of his novel he tells of President, Lyndon Johnson, trying to talk his friend, Spencer McCall, into leaving his present position in the oil business and going to the Mideast, returning to give President Johnson the true facts concerning the dissention between the "Jews and the A-rabs."

SANDRA NANTIAS read her beautifully illustrated poem entitled, "The Lady Bug." The three stanza poem describes the beauty of a lady bug and reveals beautiful photography of one sitting on a yellow flower.


JANE BURNS began her story, "Atalanta," an ancient Greek mythology, with the first part entitled, "The Apple Doesn't Fall." It begins with a Queen giving birth and a boastful King telling every one of the wonderful things his "son" will do as he talks to a stable boy. It ended with the queen's attendants showing him into the room to see his new "son."


The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:
Sharon Buckman

IMPORTANT MESSAGE -- March 2 meeting place change

The next meeting of Write-on Hoosiers will be at Schoops Restaurant in Crown Point.
1124 North Main Street
Crown Point, IN 46307-2789
(219) 663-2288

They have a large room in back with comfortable seating and tables. Please be considerate and order something from their business.

At this meeting we will discuss a place to have our future meetings. Please arrive at 6 pm to give enough time to order something to eat before the meeting begins. Thank you

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail. I will send out a reminder to members before the meeting.

MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 16, 2011

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Beverly Stanislawski, George Miga, Sharon Buckman, Liz Wilson, Jessica Bard, Gail Galvan,
Kathy Flotz, Sharon Palmeri, Sharon Jesik, Pamela Gonzalez, Jackie Huppenthal, John Boufis,
Kelly Chase, Laurie Chase, Judy Whitcomb, Mike Musak


ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sharon Palmeri announced to the members that Borders Bookstore would be closing. She asked if anyone had any suggestions as to where we might continue with our meetings. Several suggestions were given, such as, various libraries, restaurants, churches, community buildings, etc. It was decided that a few of the members would take it upon themselves to call a few of the places suggested. If any of these places agree to let us use their facilities, it would be discussed, and decided upon, at the next meeting. Katherine mentioned that she would try to arrange for our next meeting to be at Schoop's Restaurant in Crown Point.

NEWS:
BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI won another poetry contest with a Shakespearean sonnet entitled, “The Tempest." Congratulations Bev!

SHARON BUCKMAN stated she had received several phone calls regarding the WOH Christmas photograph and editorial that was placed in both The Times and Post Tribune.

LAURIE CHASE informed the members that her father, who had been recently residing with her, passed away. She also stated that the pain she had been suffering in her right arm was bursitis not damage to her rotator cuff, thank goodness.

PAMELA GONZALEZ stated that the revision she had started on her novel is almost complete.
JUDY WHITCOMB announced that she had received another rejection letter concerning her children's book, "Grandma is a Science Teacher." She is also working on her newest story, "At Rainbow's End - Oops!"

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL stated that she has been busy writing. She also reminded us that there will be stories and poems read from the Prairie Writers Guild concerning their newest book, "From the Edge of the Prairie." The readings will be from 2:00 to 5:00 on Saturday, Feb. l9th.

GAIL GALVAN talked about her book, "Simplicity, From Fat to the New Me & Maybe You." She also told us of the various writing projects she is involved in, especially concerning print on demand. When asked how many she has had published, she stated probably twelve or thirteen.

JOHN BOUFIS stated he has been working very hard trying to get "safe harbor," (meaning trying to keep the school where he teaches from closing.)
KATHY FLOTZ has been busy re-reading, and enjoying, Write On Hoosier's newest book, "Hoosier Horizons."

SHARON PALMERI is presently in her second week of teaching Writers' Workshop. She has also been busy with the Indiana Writers Consortium’s PoPP project. She is compiling and designing a magazine showcasing the childrens contest poetry winners. Sharon is also involved in working as a media technician for IUN’s radio station (no writing involved). She also stated that she will be on a selection panel for Indiana Arts Commission concerning Individual Artist Grants that will be awarded in At the IAC on April 21.

READINGS:

GEORGE MIGA read a few pages of his newest book, "Medal of Dishonor." This part of his book concerned a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden, honoring three men who were about to receive the Medal of Honor for their actions during the Battle of the Bulge. The medals, presented to them by President Harry Truman, neglected to include another soldier, three thousand miles away in a U. S. Army hospital.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her new, award winning, Shakespearean sonnet, "The Tempest." The sonnet told of a captain's valiant fight to save his ship from the raging sea.
SHARON BUCKMAN read the last few pages of her book, "Canopy of Leaves." The story concludes with the captor of a young teenage girl, losing his life as he chases the girl into the freezing high water of a local river, setting the victim free.

LIZ WILSON continued with a few pages of her book, "Bottomside," in which Isaak, a clairvoyant runaway counselor, who is trying to save the subterranean city of Bottomside, has a war of words with his "bodyguard," an elf named Cullen. Due to the terrible headache he is presently suffering, his psychic abilities have begun to diminish.

JESSICA BARD read the beginning of her short story entitled, "The First Snow." The story told of a man heading home when he spotted a woman lying in the snow. The woman was badly injured, and bleeding, begging him not to leave her so that he might call an ambulance.

GAIL GALVAN read her "Top Ten Reasons Why A Writer Should Not Give Up," reasons, some very humorous, that all the members certainly agreed with.

SHARON JESIK continued reading several pages from her book, "Corn Dancer." Events that took several friends of deceased, Dotty, on a trip to New Mexico, began to take shape as they encountered a large basket filled with various items that they began to withdraw, helping to explain things Dotty was trying to tell them.

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL read the first part of her delightful short story entitled, "Our Little Girl." The "little girl" turned out to be a "mid-sized mutt with a dark face and floppy ears," who they realized was a pregnant female mutt who later gave birth to five puppies.

JOHN BOUFIS, after explaining the word "seep" to us, read his two page story, "Seeping." The story tells of a seeping party, in which old bodies were exchanged for new ones, and then enjoying the benefits of their "new bodies."

JUDY WHITCOMB read a past story that she revised into a children's short story, "At Rainbow's End - Oops!" The humorous story told of a leprechaun losing his recently found gold and blaming a young boy and his dog. In the end, the dog, Wrigley, accidently helps him find his gold.

MIKE MUSAK came through with another humorous screenplay. After various members each took part in the cast of five characters, the play, "White Elk Bar," came alive, telling another humorous tale. This play concerned a man who ate his meal much too fast, causing him to fall, face first, into his plate; the outcome being that no one wanted to leave his dinner to go call the police.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 P.M.
Respectfully submitted:
Sharon Buckman