JUNE 2, 2016

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Buckman, Sharon Dorelli, Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Palmeri, Dave Wilgus, Stephanas Lynch, Caren Von See, Gail Galvan, Bob Philpot, Amy Brailey, Helena Qi, Hardarshan Valia, David Moore, Neil Bedeker

GUESTS PRESENT:

Susan Blum

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the May 19, 2016 minutes was first given by CAREN VON SEE and seconded by DAVE WILGUS.

LITERARY NEWS:

SHARON PALMERI was our speaker for this evening.  The topic was on writing Children’s Books.  Sharon offered tips on writing children's books, and presented the members with several instructional brochures, including:  “Writing Picture Books, “The Difference Between Middle Grade & Young Adult,” “Teaching Versus Preaching,” “How to Get Creative,” and a “Children’s Story Arc Graph.”  A number of our members who are very interested in writing children’s stories found this material very helpful.

READINGS:

NEIL BEDEKER read two pages of his present novel, “Early Retirement.”  In this part of the novel, Chapter 8, Anne noticed that another car was following her sister Claire as she drove down Cicero Ave. in Chicago.  Anne decided not to tell her sister this to avoid alarming her, instead she pretended the car needed washing and drove into a car wash, backing out quickly when the other car did the same.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her seven-stanza poem entitled, “The Eagle Has Landed.”  An encounter with a very large dead bird several years prior was the inspiration for this beautiful poem, which ended with the words, “Supreme in life, Mystery in death, elegant bird, Still takes my breath.”

SHARON PALMERI read her three-page short story, a time warp entitled, “Sign of The Times.”  The story began with a young man sitting in of his computer screen, staring at ahis messenger app, which read “no messages.” He had been corresponding with a woman who supposedly worked for the Sun Times in Chicago.  Since she had not kept their appointment to meet and he could find nothing relating to her employment at the Times, he began to feel he was being deceived.  The story has a SURPRISE ending.

CAREN VON SEE read two pages of a novel that she and her sister Carol have been working on, entitled The Aftermath and the Promise. The story told of the depression a lead detective suffered in the aftermath of 9/11, especially since he had lost five members of his investigative team in the fall of the towers.  Caren also read two poems, the first entitled, “Beyond,” which concerned “faith beyond that which we believe.”  The second poem was a five-stanza poem entitled, “Soul,” which reminded us of what really remains behind is the “memories in the hearts and minds of those, we touch.”

GAIL GALVAN read an excerpt, with minor revisions from the HS-Hoosier Storybook entitled, “Poetry Palace.”  The beautifully written,31 line free verse poem, tells of “A Poetry Palace of Hoosier origin – celebrating two hundred years.”  

DAVE WILGUS continued with his novel, A Cross to Bear.  In this part of the story Chad and Cindy decide to take a weekend getaway from all the trouble Chad had gotten himself into.  The trouble, which included the burning of a cross on a man’s lawn, had then caused racial tension in their local community.

BOB PHILPOT read four pages of his novel, Strange Friends.  This part of the novel began with Dora meeting “the stranger” as he went from being a customer in her diner to capturing two would-be burglars as they tried to rob her.  The “stranger” later turns out to be her husband.

HELENA QI read her beautiful five-stanza poem entitled, “Seems to Me Only Yesterday.”  The poem is a mother’s farewell to her firstborn on the eve of his departure for college.  The poem’s closing lines are “Spread your wings wide, my dear firstborn, My love will fly with you, always.”

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

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN

MAY 19, 2016

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Buckman, Caren Von See, David Wilgus, Beverly Stanislawski, Sharon Palmeri, Mary Lu Cowley, Hardarshan Valia, Mary Ellen Beecher, Ruthann Graczyk, Adam Sedia, Luniel Morrow, Helena Qi

GUESTS PRESENT:

Andrew Kuck, David Moore, Isleen Moore

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the May 5, 2016 minutes was first given by MAY LU COWLEY and was seconded by HARDARSHAN VALIA.

LITERARY NEWS:

ADAM SEDIA announced he was having a book release party at the Hammond Innovation Center on Friday, May 20^th.  Everyone was invited for the hors d’oeuvres, beverages, live music and poetry readings.

READINGS:

MARY ELLEN BEECHER read part of her children’s book entitled, Dancing Bear.  The illustrated book, told of C.B. (Cubby Bear)  was being taught by his parents how to catch fish. When that did not work, they decided to try teaching him sports.  None of these things appealed to C.B. until they finally tried music.  C.B. was so good at singing and dancing that they finally changed his name to D.B. (Dancing Bear) Brown.

ANNE HUNTER also read her children’s book entitled, The Busy Barnyard.  When the little white hen found that she had nothing to do all day, and was tired of hearing how she was always in the way, she took matters in her own hands and re-planted the seeds the sea gulls were digging up.  At the end of the story, Farmer Gray realized that she had saved his crop and praised her in front of all her friends.

CAREN VON SEE read her short story entitled, The Choice.  The story tells of an old heavy cat, named Jako, trying to climb a very large sycamore tree and coming upon a creature he does not recognize.  When he asks the creature where he is from, it answers from the garden of good and evil.  When a conversation ensues, Jako discovers the creature is trying to deliver a message to him.

MARY LU COWLEY read from her short story, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”  The story continues with Hollie finally finding a man, Nick, that she immediately felt was meant for her.  Her family and friends felt that she was so gullible they had always tried to keep her in a “Ziploc bag.”  Her mission in this part of the story was to try to free herself from it.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI read her nine-stanza poem entitled, “The Wolf’s Bane.”  This very humorous poem relates to the children’s story “Little Red Riding Hood,” only this time it is the wolf’s version.  In the last line of the poem, the wolf decides he just might call PETA on them.

SHARON BUCKMAN read four pages of her book sequel, Beyond the Canopy.  In this part of the novel, Harold must decide if he should tell the police that he suspects his father is guilty of hiding the kidnapper and rapist they have been looking for.  Before doing this, he tries to discover what his father had done with the body.

DAVE WILGUS continued with four pages of his novel, A Cross to Bear. In this part of the story Chad Henderson goes to the hospital to see the co-worker who had been mortally stabbed in the lung.  After returning home his wife realizes that he feels guilty over the incident and arranges a week-end getaway for them.

HELENA QI read two pages of her memoir entitled, “The First Room of My Own.”  In this memoir, Helena begins with her arrival at Purdue University Pharmacy School as a visiting scholar after leaving China.  She continues with describing the living space in the crowded basement residence. As bad as this sounds, however, in the remaining part of the memoir she then describes her living conditions in China, which were much worse.  The end of the memoir states she has now realized her American Dream.

ANDREW KUCK read his delightful seven-stanza poem entitled, “What Should I Do?”  After deciding to pose this question to the creatures he sees, a walrus, chimpanzee, lion, hippo, zebra, cobra, gecko and aphid, he finally hears, “Be a gecko, he’s a hunter, most definitely; Not delicate prey like you and me.”

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 P.M.

Respectfully submitted:

SHARON BUCKMAN