OCTOBER 5, 2017

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Bob Philpot, Ronda Garcia, Beverly Stanislawski, Diane Stratton, Katherine Flotz, Sharon Palmeri, Caren Von See, Luneil Morrow

GUEST:

Peggy Glennie

MINUTES approved by Katherine  Flotz and seconded by Diane Stratton.

OLD BUSINESS: 

KATHERINE FLOTZ mentioned that she would be speaking about her book, Pebble in My Shoe, at Munster Park, at a luncheon. Oct. 6.

CHRISTMAS PARTY:  

 Money also collected for party, Dec. 6. SHARON PALMERI  reminded members that Nov 2 is the last day to pay for the event.

READINGS: 

 BOB PHILPOT Chapter 12 of his novel, Strange Friend, found main character Zeb taking a trip to the Yuma airport, wondering if he were being followed and hoping to find out more about the kidnapping of his relatives.

RONDA GARCIA  read from her book, The Island of he Unimagined,  where young Oliver wondered if this island held a boarding school run by his uncle or a prison.

BEVERLY STANISLAWSKI brought two poems, “Twilight Artist,” dealing with the beautiful colors, which the sun uses to paint the sky just before night, and “Lonely House” in which she personified the run-down home and felt its heartbreak at being left alone.

KATHERINE FLOTZ read her poem “ Falling Leaves,” describing the kaleidoscope of autumn colors with a reminder of life ending and resurrecting.

CAREN VON SEE continued reading from Chapter 12 in her novel The Treasure Chest,  Sara discovers a beautiful, carved wooden chest. She also meets a ghostly spirit, Abigail, who questions her about the contents of the chest and why Sara would want to take them.

PEGGY GLENNIE read a work entitled “Dawning of a New Age.” In it, she explained more about a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder, (SAD) and how people are affected by the lack of sunshine in their lives.

Meeting adjourned at 7:30

Respectfully Submitted,

Beverly Stanislawski

SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

HAPPY FALL TO ONE AND ALL!

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sharon Palmeri, Bob Philpot. Caren Von See, Katherine Flotz, Albert Koch, Jackie Huppenthal, Amy Brailey, Rebecca Juergens, Ruthann Graczk, Cathy Dziubla, and Neil Bedeker.

OLD BUSINESS:

Sharon reminded us about the 12.06.17 Xmas Party, and asked for attendance confirmations no later than NOVEMBER 2, 2017. Invitations were e-mailed with the meeting reminder.

A vote of approval for the September 7, 2017 minutes was first given by AMY BRAILEY and seconded by REBECCA JUERGENS

NEW BUSINESS: 

JACKIE HUPPENTHAL read her “Hello Hoots” poem and announced that it will be published in the April 2018 issue of Highlights High Five magazine. Applause and congratulations was share by all.

KATHERINF FLOTZ will be introducing and discussing her book Pebble in My Shoe at the Clarendale Senior Housing center at 7770 Burr street on Tuesday, October 10 at 2 pm.

TOPIC DISCUSSION: 

There was a brief round-robin discussion about issues members were having with their writing projects. Issues included

*not enough time,

*slow work on current and new projects,

*difficulties deciding which book cover to select,

*meeting publication deadlines,

*trying to determine what they should write next, and

*writer’s block.

Support and encouragement eagerly given to all.

READINGS: 

ALBERT KOCH read his article, “The Rarest Bird.” He again delighted us with his wonderful sense of humor. He started with a phrase, “I must word you, however, that I make up some of my “true” stories.” He was in true form, and kept us laughing and entertained as he read about “The Ooh-Aaah Bird” who lays square eggs.

CAREN VON SEE read the first four pages of her story “The Treasure Chest,” based up the prompt: Write a curse of a blessing detailing what would happen to anyone who opens this chest. Caren needs to tailor the romantic tags to be more age specific, and add physical movement to her dialogue characters. 

NEIL BEDEKER continued his play, “Torch Key” set in Florida. Ed read the narrator’s lines, and was joined by Amy Brailey, Al Koch and Rebecca Juergens read the part of Ed’s characters.

AMY BRAILEY read her story “The Lace Patterned Choker” about a young girl, Sarah Maloney, who is in her family attic looking for Christmas ornaments when she finds a card between the floorboards. She and her mother discover that the note on the card is actually about an “actual” murder committed in the 1870’s. 

CATHY DZIUBLA read her poem, “Ignorance” about the reactions that the seeds of ignorance, fear, distrust, and hatred engender.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted

CAREN VON SEE