Fifth Tuesday: Excuses Galore!
Seventeen members and guests of Tuesdays with Story attended the Fifth Tuesday potluck supper and reading on August 31 at the home of Cathy Riddle in Middleton. Ten writers met the Fifth Tuesday Writing Challenge deadline. Plus, a couple more members came with late-but-welcome writing, along with a zesty home-garden spinach salad and an amazing Wisconsin apple crisp.

In case you snoozed through the challenge of the Challenge, this was the setup: You oversleep. You get to work late, and the boss is in your face about it. You’ve got to say something to get yourself out of trouble – in 400 words or less.

Those who met the Challenge: Jen Wilcher (“An entry from Seto Kaiba’s Journal”), Judith McNeil (“I’m late because…”), Millie Mader (“Truth is stranger than fiction”), Andrea Kirchman (“Cooper’s tale”), Jerry Peterson (“Checkmate” read by Shel Ellestad), Clayton Gill (“Introduction to induced oversleep”), Amber Boudreau (“A trip on LSD”), Randy Haselow (“Voice mail message for ‘the boss’”), John Schneller (“Death and destruction”), Alicia Connolly-Lohr (“Detour”).

Brandy Larson brought her written excuse (“Tardiness”) to Fifth Tuesday, as did Chris Maxwell (at this writing the title was unavailable, but might have been “Lameness” considering its treatment of intergenerational conflict over punctuality).

Altogether, this Fifth Tuesday Writing Challenge contributed to the creative thought bank of oversleepers and shirkers everywhere. Thanks very much to Shel for organizing and Cathy for hosting!

Our Next Fifth Tuesday
Block it off on your calendar now! Our next Fifth Tuesday is November 30. Second-and-fourth group hosts. Send your challenge ideas to Carol Hornung.

Who’s Up Next?
September 7: Greg Spry (short story, part 4, “Goodbye Mars”), Cathy Riddle (chapter 6, Beer Crimes), Jen Wilcher (chapter 1, “first original novel or short story”), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15, yet-to-be-named novel), Pat Edwards (poems), and Millie Mader (chapter 20, Life on Hold).

September 14: Dan Hamre (short story, last 5 pages, “Tractor Jockey”), Annie Potter (a memoir), Kim Simmons (chapter, The City of Winter), Holly Bonniksen-Jones (chapter, Coming Up For Air), Carol Hornung (section, Sapphire Lodge), and Andrea Kirchman (?). Carol notes, “We have a bit of a backlog on September 14th, so some folks (Jack Freiburger and Elijah Meeker) will be on stand-by. If you are scheduled but cannot get your piece to the group on time — or don’t want to read on the 14th — then let me know so I can shuffle things around! If you wish to read on September 28th or October 12th, send me a note, too.”

September 21: Chris Maxwell (?), Judith McNeil (radio play, part 4, “South to Sunday”), Aaron Boehm (film script, part 2, “Hell Cage”), Patrick Tomlinson (short story, part 2, “Any Port in the Storm”), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 1, Thou Shalt Not Murder).

September 28: Kim Simmons (chapter, The City of Winter), Anne Allen (chapter, Homecoming), Terry Hoffman (scene, The Journal), Jen Wilcher (new story), Holly Bonniksen-Jones (chapter, Coming up for Air), and time for one more (let Carol know).

October 5: Randy Haselow (chapter 3, Hona and the Dragon), Clayton Gill (chapter, Fishing Derby), John Schneller (chapter 2, Final Stronghold), and time for three more (let Jerry know).

October 12: Put your dibs for reading at the October 12 Second-and-Fourth meeting to Carol.

Fifth Tuesday Stories
With help from a few handy writers, including the awesome Pat the Poet, we bring you the link for the Fifth Tuesday challenge stories. You may read them all at your leisure. Enjoy!

Here’s the link:
http://tuesdayswithstory.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/tws-writing-challenge.pdf

Writer’s Mail: TWS Newsletter Duty Roster
Following Kim Simmons, who edits Writer’s Mail for four weeks in September, it’s Pat Edwards for October. Thank you Kim and Pat!

We need more editors for Writers Mail: One issue per week for a month, almost any month. A growing group of newsletter editors are ready to help. Join us? How about for November?

September – Kim
October – Pat
November – editor needed
December – Clayton
January – editor needed

Gathering Leaves by Robert Frost
Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.
I make a great noise
Of rustling all day
Like rabbit and deer
Running away.
But the mountains I raise
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.
I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?
Next to nothing for weight,
And since they grew duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.
Next to nothing for use.
But a crop is a crop,
And who’s to say where
The harvest shall stop?

From the Wordsmith: Cooling effect
From A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg, a noun: “Decolletage” or “décolletage,” pronounced day-kol-TAZH or day-kol-uh-TAZH, meaning a low neckline on a woman’s dress.

Origin: “From French décolleter (to expose the neck), from de- (away) + collet (collar), diminutive of col (neck).”

Usage: “If you order The Proposal (as an in-flight movie on Saudi Arabian Airlines), you get a blurry blob over Sandra Bullock’s modest decolletage, and even her clavicles (sic).”
–Maureen Dowd, “A Girls’ Guide to Saudi Arabia,” Vanity Fair, August 2010

More at http://wordsmith.org/awad/about.html.

From Word Spy: Back to nature
A while ago Paul McFedries’ noted “rewild,” a verb, pronounced REE.wyld, meaning to return an area to a more natural or wild state or to return a captive animal to its natural habitat. Also used is “re-wild” and the present participle “rewilding.” McFedries offers numerous citations – here’s the earliest:

“[The Earth First!] forebears are the earnest hippies who, 20 years ago, emerged from the first celebration of Earth Day with plans to do some recycling, switch to non-phosphate detergent and donate $25 a year to the Sierra Club. Today they are eco-guerrillas, radical environmentalists who have turned to outrageous — and sometimes illegal — tactics in their war against ‘greedheads’ and ‘eco-thugs.’ Militants vow not just to end pollution but to take back and ‘rewild’ one third of the United States. –Jennifer Foote, “Trying to Take Back the Planet,” Newsweek, February 5, 1990

For more: http://www.wordspy.com/words/rewild.asp

The Last Word
“Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.” ~Don Delillo

Thanks very much: All Tuesdays members who contributed to this issue of Writers Mail. Please send your news, ideas, and odds and ends for next week to Kim!

Good Words from Way Back
“A lover without indiscretion is no lover at all.” – Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) in The Hand of Ethelberta (1876), found in The Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

No More Excuses: Submit Yours Today
If you haven’t written your Fifth Tuesday mini-masterpiece, do it today! Here’s the set-up: You oversleep. You get to work late, and the boss is in your face about it. You’ve got to say something to get yourself out of trouble. Send your magnificent lie – confined to 400 words or less – to Jerry Peterson today, or at the latest, tomorrow (Friday, August 27).

If you haven’t made your reservation for Fifth Tuesday (7:00 p.m., August 31), do that today, too. E-mail either Jerry or Shel Ellestad and let one of them know you’re coming. Guests are always welcome, but let Jerry or Shel know they’re coming too.

Cathy Riddle is hosting Fifth Tuesday at her home. Jerry has e-mailed us driving directions via Yahoo! Groups. If you have not already volunteered to bring a specific item, then bring something tasty to share at our potluck.

Report from the Field: Gen Con Indy 2010
Gen Con Indy 2010 – “the original, longest running, best attended, gaming convention in the world” — took place August 5-8 in Indianapolis. Patrick Tomlinson participated. He reports that, besides all sorts of gaming, Gen Con has an extensive selection of seminars, readings, critique sessions, and the like for writers.

“The organizers,” Patrick says, “bring in many writers, editors, and publishers to give talks on how to write, the business of writing, and the changing publishing industry. The conference was immeasurably helpful to me. Not only did I get to meet over a half-dozen professional writers and editors, but I learned a huge amount about the craft in a very short time. I made valuable connections in the industry, and I’ve even gotten a position as a slush editor for Apex Magazine.

“I think I’ve probably cut a year or more off of my development as a professional writer by going to this convention. While it certainly focuses on the sci-fi and fantasy genres, the advice given is applicable to all of us. It didn’t come cheap — between the drive, room costs, tickets, food, and so forth — but in the end I think it was the best money I’ve spent all year.”

For more on Gen Con: http://www.gencon.com/2010/indy/default.aspx.

Stackpole on Writing: Notes from His Lectures at Gen Con
Michael A. Stackpole is a Wausau, WI native (albeit raised in Vermont) best known for his Star Wars and Battletech books. He offered these “rules” during lectures at the Gen Con gaming convention in Indianapolis this year.

● Rule 1: Show, don’t tell. Descriptions should hit all the senses: Visuals, sounds, smells, tastes, textures.

● Rule 2: Develop characterization through dialogue and action. Two paragraphs may consist of description — uninteresting stuff in terms of characterization. However, the next paragraph may be characters reacting to what was described. Each scene must accomplish at least two things critical to the story.

● Rule 3: Maintain continuity. Build sets in the reader’s mind in great detail, then reuse them frequently, or describe a new location based on the differences between it and the detailed set. This principle of continuity can work for characters, too.

● Rule 4: Do not use voice tags, “he said, she said.” Create unique voices for each character by means of varying levels of education, sentence structure, word size, and derivation. Verbal ticks, such as “Dude,” “Uh,” “Man,” etc can be useful, but do not overuse them. Dialogue attribution sentences are good in a pinch, as for example, “Bob chewed his fingernails. ‘I don’t know if I should tell you this.’” The exception to the voice tags rule is an effective way to finish a cliffhanger chapter: Break the final dialogue, as in, “Thank God you made it out of the sewers,” he said breathlessly, “because the city is on fire.” However, the “drop” or punch line at the end must be news to the reader.

● Rule 4: Do not use “he said, she said.” Create unique voices for each character by means of varying levels of education, sentence structure, word size, and derivation. There is an exception to the voice tags rule, which provides an effective way to finish a cliffhanger chapter by breaking the final dialogue: “Thank God you made it out of the sewers,” he said breathlessly, “because the city is on fire.” However, the “drop” or punch line at the end must be news to the reader. Verbal ticks, such as “Dude,” “Uh,” “Man,” etc. can be useful, but do not overuse them. Dialogue attribution sentences are good in a pinch, as for example, “Bob chewed his fingernails. ‘I don’t know if I should tell you this.’”

● Rule 5: Do your research. Get it right, be consistent. Find out how things work and why things don’t work or fail.

● Rule 6: Control point-of-view (POV). As in first person narration: “I do this. I did that.” Second person: “You do this. You did that.” Second person narration appears in the “choose-your-own-adventure” book, but otherwise sees little use.” Third person omniscient: “They did this. They thought that.” That’s the godlike narrator, which is no longer popular. Third person subjective: “He saw some of them do this. She thought that.” It’s told from the POV of one specific character for an entire scene or chapter.

● Rule 7: Write before you rewrite. Do not edit as you go. The end of a novel tells you where it will begin.

Stackpole added that sentences should average no longer than 12 words. The average fiction book is written at an eighth grade level. –Patrick Tomlinson

Reading Recap: August 24 Meeting
Twelve Second-and-Fourth members hunkered down at Barnes & Noble West, behind the parapet, above the rank and file. Those who arrived early found themselves in a discussion of books about old English legends, including the origin of the stories about King Arthur. Another topic was a Farmville-type game in which, instead of raising crops, the gamers raise zombies. We do cover all topics! The readings and critiques got underway more or less on schedule at 7:00 p.m.

Dan Hamre was first up, presenting his short story “Tractor Jockey” (part 1). Holly Bonniksen-Jones enjoyed the “storytelling quality.” Terry Hoffman felt there was a nice balance between thinking and action. Anne Allen wanted an explanation of the clutch and two brakes (“sounds like you needed three feet!”). Patrick Tomlinson suggested cutting some of the examples a bit, in order to tighten things up. And Holly said once she had hit the line about how all the character’s effort was for a “stupid thing like love,” she wanted to hear about the girlfriend sooner.

Anne Allen brought in chapter 18 of Homecoming. Patrick felt the information about the ex was presented in a nice, linear way – it did not interfere with the flow of the story, and was not an information dump, as Anne had feared. Elijah Meeker wanted the readers to reach some of their own conclusions. He recommended trimming the explanations just a bit. Kim Simmons pointed out some repetition in Matt’s musings which could be edited out. Carol Hornung liked the interviews and the developments of possible motives, but suggested that it is time for some physical clues to the mystery, too. Jack Freiburger recommended not gloss over Matt’s psychological make-up: If he was in the war and has PTSD, then he will have some very distinct characteristics that could be very useful.

Terry Hoffman read from The Journal (and grinned a lot as we speculated and questioned certain elements. Hmm.). Elijah said it was a great moment when the main character scribbled on the page and it had an effect! Holly commented that the dialog was very good and descriptive, which is vital since the journal itself reveals nothing but dialog. Carol wanted to know more about the power of the book — how far back does it go? Dan said the reader got a step ahead of the character when her writing causes Phil’s cell phone to ring.

Randy Haselow presented his rewrite of the beginning of Hona and the Dragon. It turned out that most members preferred the original. Jack said the original voice and form had been lost in the rewrite. Carol was concerned that the story had become more brutal in this version, less fairy-tale-like. Members advised Randy: Keep the dream and establish and maintain the connection between Hona and the dragon early on. Holly was concerned that the sensory detail was lost in this version, while Elijah thought the dialog worked a bit better than in the original.

Patrick Tomlinson read his short story, “Ride of a Lifetime.” Elijah suggested getting rid of some excess words in order to “punch up” the dialog. Carol liked the balance between the Texas tone and the science fiction story. Jen Wilcher wondered whether Cole would call his father Daddy? Anne wondered would the use of the word “pensive” fit the Texas tone? When Cole thinks, it is on a higher level than he speaks. Keep it consistent, Anne recommended. Dan suggested the title “Rodeo Star” instead of the current title.

Thanks to Carol Hornung, who reported on the August 24 meeting.

Who’s Up Next?
August 31: Fifth Tuesday — 7:00 p.m. at Cathy Riddle’s home in Middleton – featuring the most fabulous, fantastic excuses for your late arrival at work.

September 7: Randy Haselow (chapter 3, Hona and the Dragon), Cathy Riddle (chapter 6, Beer Crimes), Jen Wilcher (?), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15, yet-to-be-named novel), Pat Edwards (poems), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 1, The General’s Watch).

September 14: Dan Hamre (short story/last 5 pages, “Tractor Jockey”), Annie Potter (a memoir), Kim Simmons (chapter, The City of Winter), Holly Bonniksen-Jones (chapter. Coming Up For Air), Carol Hornung (section, Sapphire Lodge), and Andrea Kirchman (?). Carol notes, “We have a bit of a backlog on September 14th, so some folks (Jack Freiburger and Elijah Meeker) will be on stand-by. If you are scheduled but cannot get your piece to the group on time — or don’t want to read on the 14th — then let me know so I can shuffle things around! If you wish to read on September 28th or October 12th, send me a note, too.” E-mail Carol at CHornung88@aol.com.

September 21: Chris Maxwell (?), Millie Mader (chapter 20, Life on Hold), John Schneller (chapter 2, Final Stronghold), Judith McNeil (radio play, part 4, “South to Sunday”), Aaron Boehm (film script, part 2, “Hell Cage”), and Patrick Tomlinson (short story, part 2, “Any Port in the Storm”).

September 28: Kim Simmons (chapter, The City of Winter), Anne Allen (chapter, Homecoming), Terry Hoffman (scene, The Journal), Jen Wilcher (new story), Holly Bonniksen-Jones (chapter, Coming up for Air), and time for one more (let Carol know at CHornung88@aol.com).

October 5: Greg Spry (short story, part 4, “Goodbye, Mars”), Clayton Gill (chapter, Fishing Derby), and time for four more (let Jerry know at jerrypeterson@att.net).

Writers Mail: TWS Newsletter Duty Roster
Howdy duty! We need editors for Writers Mail: One issue per week for a month, almost any month. How about October? A bunch of former and continuing editors provide mentoring, tips, and both raw and finished material. Editors ’R’ Us. How about you, too?

August – Clayton
September – Kim
October – Pat E.
November – editor needed
December – Clayton
January – editor needed

What’s Going On at B&N?
The board of directors put Barnes & Noble up for sale earlier this month. A couple days ago, investor Ronald Burkle, himself a millionaire, launched a proxy fight to get control of the board and buy the company. The board responded by saying that Burkle is screwing up their plan to sell the company at a premium price.

B&N lost $62.5 million during the quarter than ended July 31. For comparison, B&N made a profit of $12.3 million during the same quarter a year ago.

Stores open at least a year saw their sales drop nearly 1 percent. Company executives expect stores sales to drop another 1-3 percent this quarter, but they hope to pick it all up during the holiday quarter and end the year with the same volume of sales they had last year.

The e-book division is the only section of the company to grow, increasing sales by 42 percent in the past year. Nonetheless, e-book sales still amount to less than 10 percent of the company’s revenue. –Jerry Peterson

Roving E-Readers
Jerry Peterson tells us he plans to rework one of his early novels specifically for e-book publication. He is looking ahead to a reading market both more diverse and more specialized than may be possible through traditional publishing.

An article in the August 25 edition of the Wall Street Journal by Geoffrey Fowler and Marie Baca highlights findings from one of the largest market surveys of e-reader owners: “A study of 1,200 e-reader owners by Marketing and Research Resources Inc. found that 40% said they now read more than they did with print books.”

In the online article, the posted comments show that the speed and convenience of book purchase and the flexibility of e-reading software are major factors in the appeal of devices like the Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc.

“You can download the Kindle and Nook software to your PC or laptop for free and then order and read e-books,” says Louis Ciola, commenting on the WSJ story. “I find that although I still love the print books, this is an enormous convenience. I can read a Danielle Steel novel is something like five hours because I can set the font any size that I want and the width of the sentences as wide as I want as well….

“I actually like the Kindle software on my laptop better than on a Kindle unit itself. The best advantage of course is that you can get a couple of chapters of any book free, and then if you like the book, you can buy it in less than one minute…. The other advantage is that the electronic books do not take up the space that the paper books do, so if you like to read a lot, it will give you a whole lot more shelf space!”

For more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604575448093175758872.html?mod=djemTMB_t.

Going Traditional: The Query Letter
If you plan to publish your book by “traditional” means – that is, in paper with a large publisher – then you’re probably going to need an agent. Finding the right agent for your book and yourself can be a challenge. Kim Simmons is in the midst of that process. This week she is considering whether to sign her first contract.

As Kim knows, the first hurdle is to describe your book to an agent in the most effective way. That’s the job of the query letter.

Brandy Larson recommends a recent blog by Curtis Brown agent Nathan Bransford, in which Bransford writes, “A query letter is part business letter, part creative writing exercise, part introduction, part death defying leap through a flaming hoop.”

For more: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/08/how-to-write-query-letter.html.

Terry Hoffman offers another take on the query letter, courtesy of thriller author Marcus Sakey (Good People, The Blade Itself, At the City’s Edge, and more), by way of Jane Friedman of Writer’s Digest.

Sakey’s “Step One” for the query letter: “First of all, finish the book. And I don’t just mean type ‘THE END.’ If it isn’t polished to a high gleam, if it hasn’t been read by a dozen friends and rewritten in response to their comments, then you aren’t ready to worry about Step Two.”

For more: http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2010/08/16/HowToEnsure75OfAgentsWillRequestYourMaterial.aspx

From the Wordsmith: Stargazing
From A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg, an adjective: “Sidereal,” pronounced sy-DEE-ree-uhl, meaning (1) relating to the stars, and (2) measured with reference to the apparent motion of the stars (for example, sidereal time).

Origin: Sideral comes from the Latin sidus (star).

Usage: “The silvery, coarse grain of Maisel’s prints in negative makes it hard to tell whether they present day or night views. In several, a darkness looms different from that of sidereal night.” –Kenneth Baker, “‘Home Movies’ Not Like the Ones Your Dad Made,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 14, 2007

Much more at http://wordsmith.org/awad/about.html.

From Word Spy: For mystery writers in the digital age
Paul McFedries’ Word Spy includes “cybercasing,” a present participle for “using online location-based data and services to determine when a home is unoccupied with a view to robbing it.” The verb form is “to cybercase.”

McFedries’ citation: “Data stored in digital photographs can help criminals locate individuals and plot real-world crimes, a practice two researchers called ‘cybercasing’ in a recently published paper. The site Pleaserobme.com was one of the first to expose the problem by displaying tweets tagged with location information, although it has since stopped the practice.” –Niraj Chokshi, “How Tech-Savvy Thieves Could ‘Cybercase’ Your House,” The Atlantic, July 22, 2010

Visit http://www.wordspy.com/.

The Last Word: “Love Means…”Erich Segal, author of the novel and screenplay Love Story also coined the best-seller’s tagline, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Besides writing popular novels and screenplays, Segal also taught as a classicist and literature professor at Harvard University and other U.S. and European universities. He died early this year, but the 1970s angst of his aphorism lives on in aging baby boomers. See the obit blog from National Public Radio’s Martha Woodroof: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/01/remembering_erich_segal_noveli.html

Segal suffered from Parkinson’s disease. His daughter, Francesca delivered a eulogy at his funeral in London: “That he fought to breathe, fought to live, every second of the last 30 years of illness with such mind-blowing obduracy, is a testament to the core of who he was — a blind obsessionality (sic) that saw him pursue his teaching, his writing, his running and my mother, with just the same tenacity. He was the most dogged man any of us will ever know.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Segal.

Thanks very much: All Tuesdays members who contributed to this issue of Writers Mail. Please send your news, ideas, and odds and ends for next week.

Good Words from Way Back
Light rain-drops fall and wrinkle the sea,
Then vanish, and die utterly.
One would not know that rain-drops fell
If the round sea-wrinkles did not tell.

So souls come down and wrinkle life
And vanish in the flesh-sea strife.
One might not know that souls had place
Were ’t not for the wrinkles in life’s face.

–“Souls and Rain-Drops” by Sidney Lanier (1842-1881), found in The Joy of Words “from the library of Sheldon G. Ellestad.” This poem was published posthumously in The Poems of Sidney Lanier and characterized as one of his “unrevised early works” (per Wikisource at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Souls_and_Rain-Drops).

Lucky Draw from Verse-O-Matic
Pat Edwards tells Writers Mail that Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf is partnering with Verse Wisconsin to conduct the Jawbreaker Poetry Project. “Luck of the Draw” is the theme. These poetry proselytizers are seeking poems that “touch, in some way, on good fortune, misfortune, opportunities gone awry, flukes, coincidence or second chances.”

They will pack selected poems into “jawbreaker capsules” along with candy, gum, or toys, and a chance to win a year’s subscription to Verse Wisconsin. Then they will load the capsules into a dispenser called the Verse-O-Matic. The Verse-O-Matic, packed with poems and goodies, will hit the road in April–National Poetry Month—visiting venues throughout Wisconsin. Then it will travel with the Verse Wisconsin editors to events, conferences, and festivals nationwide throughout 2011. “Luck of the Draw” poems will also be published in the summer 2011 online issue of Verse Wisconsin.

Contributors of selected poems will receive one jawbreaker capsule with their poem in it, a photo of the Verse-O-Matic in action, and publication of their poem in the summer 2011 issue of Verse Wisconsin enhanced by an audio file. For “Luck of the Draw” poem submission guidelines, visit http://www.poetryjumpsofftheshelf.com/.

Visit Pat’s blog at http://poetiosity.com/.

Money for You…
August Moon Publishing House wants your best short story, reports Jerry Peterson. And, they will pay you for it–and publish it–if your story makes it into the top 10 of any of three divisions in the company’s short story contest.

The divisions are: (1) Thriller/suspense, crime fiction/mystery, science fiction/fantasy, horror; (2) romance, paranormal romance, historical romance, chick lit; and (3) literary fiction.

There is a 4,000-word maximum, a $15 entry fee, and a submission deadline of October 31. Winners will be notified by November 15. Here’s the link so you can check it out: http://www.augustmoonph.com/contests.html

Reading Recap: August 17 Meeting
Seventeen First-and-Third members met at Barnes & Noble West (7:00-9:00 p.m.) to hear and help six fellow writers.

John Schneller read from Chapter 1 of Final Stronghold, the third book in his fantasy trilogy. Pat Edwards said she considered the story as an allegory and needed a reminder in this chapter about who is exacting revenge and why. Millie Mader asked for clarification about how the character of Broken became Kotel. Jen Wilcher wanted to know whether you had to read the books in order to understand the plot, or would you be able to read them in any order. John recommended reading the trilogy in order, which generated discussion about how much back story was necessary at the start of the second and third books in order to bring readers up to speed for the third book. Randy Haselow was a little overwhelmed with the number of characters in the first chapter. Greg Spry suggested starting with the main protagonist. Clayton Gill noted John’s “sampling technique” of unnamed characters during a crowd scene and asked the group about other ways a writer could cope with dialogue and action to represent crowds of people. Patrick Tomlinson thought the chapter was dense with characters and action, but not overwhelming in the beginning. He thought a few characters could be held back until later chapters and then “trickled in.” Elijah Meeker cautioned John about the use of words out of place with a medieval or other old-time setting, specifically pointing out the use of “teens.” Pat thought there were a lot of “great visuals” in this opening chapter, which set the scene well and helped identify the characters as individuals.

Skye Winspur shared a page of his alternative history about an aristocrat from the highly civilized and technologically advanced Muslim East on a quest in barbaric England which remains mired in the Dark Ages. Elijah wasn’t sure about the voice of the narrator, which he liked in the opening passages, but which seemed part way through to an omniscient narrator. He also questioned the proposition of selling life insurance to a Muslim. Patrick wondered how Europe had become a backwater, which is essential to the story, and recommended that Skye add some of that back story as soon as possible. Skye said he planned to explore historical info as the story developed. Pat liked the rich and poetic quality of the narrator’s language. However, Skye questioned his use of the term “smart-aleck.” Elijah was able to give him a quick web-search of the origin which appeared to post-date the story, especially as it originated in the British Empire. Pat thought use of the Muslim calendar year 1210 might be too arcane without some reference to the Christian calendar of the locals of “Lundewik” (about 1830 A.D.).

Patrick Tomlinson read the first part of his short story “Any Port in A Storm.” Pat said the story offered many good turns of phrase, but the beginning got off to a slow start. Elijah said that the waking of the main character, Kataigida, was a good place to start. But if she woke to an emergency, would her mind ramble on about background on her giant pet “sea-bat”? Clayton liked the combination of real-world problems, like the threatening storm at sea, and the magical instruments to cope with those problems, like the mysterious storm compass. He noted that winged horses populate Kataigida’s world, but Pegasus was a singular mythological creature, so Patrick would have to come with a common noun plural (maybe “pegasi” or “pegasae”) to describe the airborne herd. Jerry Peterson said that Kataigida, as the captain and only human crew aboard the catamaran, probably would not leave the tiller to retrieve her charts (“maps” to the landlubber) during a crisis situation. John thought the catamaran probably would not be able to outrun the storm, which in any case does not play much havoc upon reaching the port. Jerry wondered how someone could have seen the little boat come into port in the deep darkness of a stormy night. Amber Boudreau wished Patrick could have found another name for the sea-bat Zephyr, which also is the name of the leading creature-character in her novel. “But,” Amber rationalized, “great minds, etc.”

Judith McNeil offered three more scenes of her radio play “South to Sunday.” Pat thought the dialogue was great, but wondered whether Judith needed to add clues to show the age of the different characters. Is it important to the story that there are age difference, Judith noted. She wanted to introduce age as both a barrier and as a bridge for one character to get to know another. Elijah thought the characters were a little too casual about the breaking of their “social contract” during their hours of travel by car. John said he did not know “where the story is going” by the end of the last scene. The conflict and choices could be more clear. Jerry looks forward to a main character’s reaction to the change of plans. Bill Dries wanted to know whether the Nebraska town in the last scene was big enough for a bus station. John thought a character would be more specific about where he worked in Wyoming. What city?

Aaron Boehm shared the first part of his first attempt at a feature length screenplay, Hell Cage. Millie asked whether there was such a thing as steel cage wrestling. The answer: Yes, though Aaron’s version is extreme. Patrick wondered whether the wrestler Ash Tree Strangler actually strangles trees. Pat thought there was a lot of opportunity to salt some dialogue in there. Clayton recommended a few bloodthirsty old ladies in the crowd could cheer on the competitors and provide one of the views from the bleachers. Amber suggested some smack-down language in the locker room or in the arena aisles before the fight. Jerry pointed out that if one wrestler is from Madison, WI, then the other must be from a specific city in West Virginia. One of the Tuesdays members recommended the real town of War, WV.

Elijah Meeker presented the beginning of his novel Heahwerdtunm, having converted Chapter 1 to the prologue, a series of letter through years between the main character and those who were close to him. Skye said this form of narration reminded him of Robert Lewis Stevenson. Jerry asked who Elijah had in mind as a target audience. Elijah admitted the Old English diction and invented words might make reading a challenge, but that he was trying to make it as accessible as possible. Jerry suggested the reader at the beginning of the book is looking for the kind of mindset they must have in order to read the book. A book that appeals to a very select audience is likely to be difficult for a general audience. Patrick agreed and added that Elijah might be too ambitious, at least at the start. Pat said her problem with the start of Heahwerdtunm was that none of what Elijah told Tuesday members about the story is actually in the piece he read. If the prologue anticipates the story, that anticipation should build from the beginning of the prologue, rather than appear in the last couple of paragraphs. Judith had read further in Heahwerdtunm than others at the meeting and said that Elijah’s storytelling technique becomes more readable later on. Cathy Riddle enjoyed the beginning set up in the form of letters. She thought of it as a primer in language and thought for what is coming in the rest of the story.

Special thanks to Amber, who provided the August 17 Recap.

Who’s Up Next?
August 24: Randy Haselow (chapter 2, Hona and the Dragon), Dan Hamre (short story, first five pages, “Tractor Jockey”), Andrea Kirchman (?), Terry Hoffman (chapter, The Journal), Anne Allen (chapter, Homecoming), and Patrick Tomlinson (chapter, A Hole in the Fence).

August 31: Fifth Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. meeting at the home of Cathy Riddle (3321 Prairie Glade Road, Middleton), details below.

September 7: Randy Haselow (chapter 3, Hona and the Dragon), Cathy Riddle (chapter 6, Beer Crimes), Jen Wilcher (?), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15, as-yet-unnamed-novel), Pat Edwards (poems), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 1, The General’s Watch).

September 14: Dan Hamre (short story, last five pages, “Tractor Jockey”), Annie Potter (a memoir), Kim Simmons (chapter, The City of Winter), Holly Bonniksen-Jones (chapter, Coming Up For Air), and Carol Hornung (section, Sapphire Lodge), with room for one more.

September 21: Chris Maxwell (?), Millie Mader (chapter 20, Life on Hold), John Schneller (chapter 2, Final Stronghold), Judith McNeil (radio play/part 4, “South to Sunday”), Aaron Boehm (film script, part 2, Hell Cage), and Patrick Tomlinson (short story, part 2, “Any Port in the Storm”).

Fifth Tuesday: “The Dog Ate My… Oh Dear, I Used That One Already”
Cathy Riddle will host our two groups to Fifth Tuesday at her home in Middleton on August 31. Jerry has posted directions to Cathy’s house via our Yahoo Groups e-mail.

Our grand and glorious social event is only a dozen days away–August 31. Have you made your reservation? Send a note to Shel Ellestad or Jerry Peterson, telling them you are coming and who you’re bringing as guests. Yes, guests are welcome. Always.

It’s also time to write your Fifth Tuesday mini-masterpiece, a fantastic excuse for being late to work. Here’s the set-up: You overslept. You’re late, and the boss is in your face about it. You’ve got to say something to get yourself out of trouble.

Say it in 400 words or less, and send your magnificent lie to Jerry no later than Friday, August 27.

Cathy told the First-and-Thirders, “There’s plenty of parking on the street.” But we’re talking about Middleton, so don’t give Cathy’s advert any ink in your Fifth Tuesday Writing Challenge.

Writers Mail: TWS Newsletter Duty Roster
August – Clayton
September – Kim
October – Pat E
November – volunteer needed
December – Clayton
January – volunteer needed

From the Wordsmith: May A New Peace Be Upon You
From A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg, an adjective: “Irenic,” pronounced eye-REN-ik or eye-REE-nik, meaning “promoting peace or conciliation.”

Irenic comes from the Greek eirene (peace): “Eirene/Irene was the Greek personification of peace.”

Usage: “Kate Neal’s Hourly Scrutinising floated ecstatically, emphasising irenic calm and harmony.” –Peter McCallum; A Beautiful Darwinian Experience; The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); November 21, 2009.

Garg’s “thought for today” is good, too: “You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: Make use of suffering.” –Henri Frederic Amiel, philosopher and writer (1821-1881). For more: http://wordsmith.org/words/today.html.

From Word Spy: Unemployment Gets Fun

From Paul McFedries’ Word Spy comes “funemployment,” a noun:
“A period of joblessness that a person uses for leisure and other fun activities.”

The citation: “A growing group of jobless across the nation are joining a self-proclaimed movement: ‘Funemployment.’ It’s a group of jovial unemployed who say they’re finally doing what they’ve always wanted to do—whether it is blogging or starting a nonprofit.” —Elizabeth Prann, “The Happy Unemployed,” Liveshots (Fox News), July 18, 2010.

McFedries says there is a verb, too–“funemploy.” He does not say, but this editor thinks it must be transitive: “We frequently funemploy members of Tuesdays with Story.”

For more: http://www.wordspy.com/

The World of Kids under 19
For them, email is too slow, so they text on their iPhones. Also, their telephones have never had cords, and the computers they played with when they were little are now in museums.

If you’re writing for young adults, you should read Beloit College’s Mindset List to remind yourself of what the realities are in youth culture, so you and your book don’t come off looking silly because you used a handful of out-of-date cultural references.

Retired public affairs director Ron Nief and English prof Tom McBride have churned out Beloit’s list at this time of year for 13 years to remind the school’s teaching faculty that their world is not the world of their students. Here’s the link so you can read this year’s list: http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/ . –Jerry Peterson

Downloadable Book on Book Promotion
“Nothing really earth shattering here,” reports Alicia Connoly-Lohn, “but a free, downloadable book is just that.”

The title is Get Your Word’s Worth: 555 Tips for Improving Your Book Promotion by Brian Jud. Download from https://csp-mw-landing.s3.amazonaws.com/BookPromotioneBook.pdf.

Alicia notes that the book covers a number of areas in book promotion, including general tips, press releases, cover letters for the media, reviews, advertising, slogans, direct mail, sales promotion, personal selling, bookstore events and exhibiting at trade shows. Here is Alicia’s sampling of five of the top tips:

● 184. Press Releases: Involve the reader in your press releases by using verbal play. Use a sequence of words or sounds that provoke repetition through its rhythm or alliteration.

● 353. Slogans: A fundamental rule of marketing is to find a need and fill it. Then let people know you filled it.

● 377. Take the “Junk” out of Direct Mail: Your plan should outline the actions you intend to take in six key areas. These are the books/products you offer, the target market, the special offer you are proposing, the format you present and the ways in which you test and evaluate your implementation.

● 506. Bookstore Events: we’ve actually found that signings are the lease effective author promotion which can take place in the store. What really works are events or panels. Marcella Smith, director of Small Press & Vendor Relations at Barnes & Noble, .

● 513. Exhibiting at Trade Shows: You will increase your chances for success at any trade show if you plan, promote a prominent display that communicates your message effectively to the largest number of attendees.

The Last Word: “If Books Are Dead”
Try this yourself: Google “if books are dead” and see the great, gaping, hungry maw that is our audience. (Today’s search: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=%22if+books+are+dead%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=C4kuIqN5uTNSkHYXyzASAsNz9DwAAAKoEBU_QW_Jf&pbx=1&fp=ad526d12389e3c08)

And Alicia sent us this story(<a href="http://www.kclibrary.org/?q=community-bookshelf):
Kansas City Library’s Epic Parking Garage

Kansas City Public Library

Thanks again to all Tuesdays who contributed to this issue of Writers Mail.

Good Words from Way Back
“It is better to wear out than to rust out.” –Bishop Richard Cumberland in G. Horne’s The Duty of Contending for the Faith (1786), found in The Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

Pick Up a Few Bucks, Plus Free Tips
Tuesdays member Terry Hoffman reminds us that the 2010 Wisconsin Book Festival opens next month, September 29-October 3 in downtown Madison (http://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/).

The Festival’s theme this year is “Beliefs.” Speakers include Marilyn Taylor, Wisconsin’s Poet Laureate, who brings together a panel of poets for an event called “The Gods Will See You Now: Five Wisconsin Poets on Matters of the Spirit.”

Also, Terry forwarded a “help wanted” notice from fellow Madison writer and Festival organizer Carrie Kilman, who is “looking for someone to help coordinate publicity, promotions and logistics for the 2010 Wisconsin Book Fest… as well as to help wrap up the Festival in the couple of weeks following. In all, the position would last about two months….

“The right person would be a dynamic self-starter, would love books and reading, would have event-planning/publicity experience (or transferable skills), and would be available for approximately 10-20 hours a week (and possibly more, if available). The position would start ASAP.

“This could be a good fit for freelance writers and/or anyone with a part-time job. If needed, most (though not all) of the work could feasibly be done during odd hours, outside of the 9-5 work day.”

If you’re interested in the paying job, please contact Carrie soonest: Carrie Kilman, tel. 608.698.5755, e-mail carrie.kilman@gmail.com; and visit her website http://rageisgood.com.

Otherwise, the Festival could use your volunteer help: http://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/support/forms.php?id=445&category_id=2407

All the News That’s Fit to Embellish
“News stories can provide great inspiration for writers, “says Tuesdays member Alicia Connoly-Lohn. She offers these “kernels”:

● “Sink hole swallows SUV, traffic light in Wisconsin” http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100723/od_yblog_upshot/suv-swallowed-by-sink-hole-in-wisconsin

● “King Arthur’s round table located”
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/07/king-arthurs-round-table-located.html

● “Lone thief robs Paris museum of $613M in art”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/20/world/main6502139.shtml

● “Abandon Earth or face extinction, Stephen Hawking warns—again” http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/08/09/abandon-earth-face-extinction-warns-stephen-hawking/

Even the Half-Way Famous Resort to “E-Publishing”
Tuesday member Brandy Larson found Martha Woodroof’s blog touting the ease of electronic publishing a novel she had written then abandoned “half a decade ago.” Woodroof reports and blogs for National Public Radio from station WMRA in Harrisonburg, VA.

“I went with Kindle,” Woodroof reports, “mostly because it takes so little investment—and because, well, it puts your book on a website with a staggering amount of traffic. With all those people itching to buy books, I figure maybe someone—someone, that is, who is not a member of my family—will buy mine.

“The one thing Kindle doesn’t do is erase author typos. A friend has already let me know about mine.”

For more, see http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/08/10/129103513/the-new-world-of-electronic-self-publishing-a-true-story?sc=nl&cc=msb-20100810

Reading Recap: August 10 Meeting
A full roster and a full table of writers spent the evening–7:00-9:00 p.m. at Barnes and Noble West–delving into the essence of male, the supernatural, the art of funny, blue towels, and more.

Holly Bonniksen-Jones was first up with a scene from Coming Up for Air. Kim Simmons felt that Mike should try to control some element of the phone call arranging the meeting–maybe have him choose the time. Holly wondered about cutting the end of the phone call, but Patrick Tomlinson said to keep it in because it eliminates the need to explain when and where the meeting scene takes place. Terry Hoffman felt that Mike’s dialog was far too wordy for a guy. Elijah Meeker and Patrick agreed. Carol Hornung felt Liza would seem more sympathetic if she eliminated any expectation of an apology from Mike.

Jen Wilcher rewrote the beginning of And So We Meet Again. Elijah felt it had improved a great deal over previous drafts, and Patrick said it was time to move forward. Holly said to get rid of the speech tags, and Anne said to look out for repeated words. Holly and Carol liked the term “soft indigo.” Blue is a key thematic element in this story.

Patrick Tomlinson presented a section from A Hole in the Fence. Though it was funny, Dan Hamre said it took an awfully long time to get to the point of the scene–the phone call. Anne Allen suggested starting out with some action, otherwise the reader would get bored. Kim suggested editing down the footnotes: Make them much shorter, otherwise they distract too much from the story. Members pointed out some minor technical issues: Use commas, not periods, before speech tags; and, capitalize Professor when used as a pronoun.

Carol Hornung read the first scene of a new mystery, Sapphire Lodge. Anne pointed out there’s a lot of detail, but we have no idea what Finley looks like. Patrick had some technical concerns about the location of the wound on the victim, and there was debate about the blue towel, which Carol noted will be “light blue” in the revision. Carol introduced the concept of synaesthesia: Colors being sensed in the place of something else, in this case emotions. Elijah liked the first description of the occurrence until the word “synapses” appeared, which made it too technical too quickly.

Terry Hoffman read Chapter 3 of The Journal. Anne wanted the main character to react more to the realization that Doug did not succumb to temptation. Elijah and Holly felt the use of the word “relived” was “a bit too cutesy” in this case—generally, other plays on words do not appear. Holly also thought the description of Nathan and his room should be more emotionally wrenching. Andrea pointed out that the main character needed to stop wondering about whether she’s going crazy and begin to believe the journal is real.

Kim Simmons finished the evening with two chapters of her fantasy novel The City of Winter. Patrick suggested clearing out the speech tags when it’s clear who is speaking. Pacing is good, members pointed out. Dan would like some more emotion, a bigger reaction to the revelation told to Ryoko. Holly felt some of the words were a little too modern for the fantasy setting. Then broke out a big discussion on the weight of various swords and things kind of swirled into a GenCon enigma. Members suggested that readers unfamiliar with the fantasy genre needed a basic explanation of the weaponry used in City, while devout “fantasy/ska people” would be well aware of the challenges of running with a heavy scimitar whapping against one’s body.

Special thanks to Carol, who provided the August 10 Recap.

Who’s Up Next?
August 17: John Schneller (Chapter 1, Book 3 of trilogy On Mount Zi), Patrick Tomlinson (Any Port in a Storm), Judith McNeil (radio play Part 3, “South to Sunday”), Aaron Boehm (?), Elijah Meeker (Chapter 1, Heahwerdtunm), and Skye Winspur (?).

August 24: Randy Haselow (Chapter 2, Hona and the Dragon), Andrea Kirchman (?), Terry Hoffman (The Journal), Anne Allen (Homecoming), Patrick Tomlinson (A Hole in the Fence), Dan Hamre, (first 5 pages of Tractor Jockey)

August 31: Fifth Tuesday details of exact time and location to come.

September 7: Randy Haselow (Chapter 3, Hona and the Dragon), Cathy Riddle (Chapter 6, Beer Crimes), Jen Wilcher (?), Amber Boudreau (Chapter 15, as-yet-unnamed-novel), Pat Edwards (poems), and Jerry Peterson (Chapter 12, For Want of a Hand).

September 14: Dan Hamre (last 5 pages of Tractor Jockey), Annie Potter (a memoir), Kim Simmons (The City of Winter), Holly Bonniksen-Jones (Coming Up For Air), Carol Hornung, (Sapphire Lodge), with room for one more.

Writers Mail: TWS Newsletter Duty Roster
August – Clayton
September – Kim
October – Pat Edwards
November – volunteer needed
December — Clayton

Pat Conroy’s My Losing Season: Book Review by Millie Mader:
This often dark, searing biography was written in 2002, and was given to me recently. Since I have always been a Conroy fan, I relished the hope that this book might open a portal into his life, bringing to light why his protagonists always seem plagued by self-doubt and deprecation. In this revealing book, Conroy replays his sad childhood in lyric prose and stunning metaphors. His writing is pure art, and it opens his soul.

Conroy paints a bleak, disconcerting picture of his entire youth. It was a life of belittlement and degradation at the hands of an abusive, militaristic Marine colonel father. The eldest of seven children, Pat Conroy saw them all beaten and ridiculed by Colonel Don Conroy. The manhandling was thrust upon young Conroy’s beloved mother as well. The family had moved 23 times from the day Conroy started school until he entered college. Just when the family felt they were making friends, they were uprooted. There was no sympathy, and no attempt at understanding by their father. Conroy leads us through several journeys to schools he loved, only to be jerked out within a short time. He praises the nuns and Jesuits who taught him—his father would brook no public schools and paid no heed to any praise that his son received. Conroy’s great love of basketball allowed him to retreat into his own world for brief periods. He was beloved by all his English teachers, as he showed great promise with his writings way back then. His father called English a “pussy” class, and showed nothing but scorn.

Conroy details his development as basketball player from high school through his college years, where he played as a Bulldog at the Citadel. What he lacked in height, at five-foot ten or eleven, he made up in pure drive and heart. He was overjoyed for one of the first times in his life, when he was elected “All State,” with an invitation to represent his high school in the North-South All State games in Columbia, SC. There was only sarcasm from his father. “We’ll all be in Omaha, Nebraska by then,” his father declared. Yet another tour of duty was in the works. With the intercession of his mother, Conroy was allowed to go to Columbia for the games. He was given the cheapest train ticket available, and had to sleep upright for three nights. At Columbia, he did well, and impressed the coaches. Sadly, he did not receive a scholarship, but was offered a “walk on” position with the Bulldogs. His family would incur no expense, but Conroy was told there would be no college in his future if he did not accept this offer. His love of the game superseded his distaste for a military college, and he packed up to leave. The next four years would be the most meaningful of his life. He later learned that he had received several offers of full scholarships from other schools, which his parents had discarded without showing him. Colonel Don Conroy called these institutions “too Protestant.”

The book details in vivid text how Conroy barely overcame the cruelty and indignities of being a plebe, and his achievement in becoming a valuable basketball player. About this time, a curtain opens in his subconscious, and he foresees, too, his blossoming love and talent for writing. The first male to understand him and to compliment his work was a kind and brilliant English professor.

Conroy’s book describes the games played at The Citadel as though the reader is in the stands, but they are also fraught with Conroy’s insecurities and disappointments. Senior year plays out as a season of joyous wins and many close, but devastating losses. Lasting friendships are forged and Conroy revisits them in this book.

The publication of Conroy’s The Great Santini in 1976 forces Conroy’s father to see himself in the dictatorial, abusive military colonel who is the protagonist of this novel. Conroy’s father feels furious and betrayed, yet, as Conroy writes, the man slowly morphs into a far more normal father and husband. An uneasy peace results, and, when he dies in 1998, the father is truly loved by his family. My Losing Season includes a lengthy prologue and epilogue, which were both necessary and helpful to follow Conroy’s own account of his remarkable journey.

From the Wordsmith: Burn, Not Spurn
In darkest, coldest January, we prayed for sunshine. We could not scorn it, as we might now in August when the heat index pushes 100-degrees. Back in January, A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg featured “heliolatry,” a noun, pronounced “hee-lee-OL-uh-tree,” meaning “worship of the sun.”

Heliolatry comes from the Greek helio- (sun) + -latry (worship). A related word, Garg says, is heliotrope (a plant that turns toward the sun). For usage, he offers: “Professor Frazer himself has warned that his vaccine is not an invitation to feckless heliolatry, stressing that any jab, no matter how effective, ‘is not a replacement for prevention’.” –Tamara Sheward, “Browned Off by a Baking Fad” in the Herald-Sun (Melbourne, Australia), January 7, 2010.

For more: http://wordsmith.org/words/today.html

From Word Spy: Life at Idle
From Paul McFedries’ Word Spy comes NEET or Neet, a noun, meaning a young person who is neither working, in school, nor in a training program (from the phrase “not in employment, education, or training.”)

As an example of usage, McFedries offers: “Here’s another thought, lifted from Ridley’s inspiring book: ‘The 21st century will be a magnificent time to be alive,’ he says, a message which deserves to be disseminated far beyond the literary pages, so as to reach everyone from Neets and unemployed graduates to Lib Dems who cannot believe what they have got themselves into.” –Catherine Bennett, “Phew. At last we can ignore the gurus peddling happiness,” The Observer, June 27, 2010.

For more: http://www.wordspy.com/
“So What’s Your Excuse This Time?” You overslept. You’re late. The boss is in your face about it and you’ve got say something ASAP—up to 400 words—before our Fifth Tuesday feast and festival on August 31.

Let Shel Ellestad or Jerry Peterson know you’re coming and how many others you plan to bring as guests. Your guests don’t have to be writers, or even readers, yet. If they’ve already heard your old, lame excusesFriends, spouses, and children are welcome. Details on the exact time and location are coming soon.

Please send your Writing Challenge “Late-to-Work Excuse” to Jerry pronto.

The Final WordThanks very much to all Tuesdays who contributed to this issue of Writer’s Mail.

“When an editor tells you (the writer) that something is not working and makes a suggestion about how to fix it, you have to be the judge of whether that is the right fix. Editors are very happy to have the writer come up with better fixes than theirs.” –Kate Wilhelm (author of more than 30 novels and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and other awards) in Storyteller.

Another Madison with Good Ink
It was a hot and sticky night. In my backyard, the long dog day of August collapsed at last and rolled over in the dark to pant with tongue hanging out. Distant lightning bared its fangs, but I heard no bark, no growl of thunder.

Unfortunately, I heard no Tuesdays with Story members begging for ink in Writer’s Mail, either. So I prodded the laptop to attention and googled “visiting writers” plus “Madison.” Then I discovered there is another Madison, a lively writers’ place, back East in Connecticut. This New England Madison is the home of RJ Julia Booksellers (http://www.rjjulia.com/) where mystery writer Karen E. Olson regularly reads her work.

Karen has a part-time day job editing a medical journal at Yale University. But she also has seven books under her by-line, including three in a series called “The Tatoo Shop Mysteries”—every book features “ink” in the title. See http://www.kareneolson.com/index.html. For insight into Karen’s choice of narration style and point-of-view, check out her blog at http://kareneolson.blogspot.com/.

Many thanks to Greg Spry for editing Writer’s Mail during July. Please see below for the “Newsletter Duty Roster,” which needs editors to volunteer for October and November.

But hey fellow Tuesdays, we’ve got more dog days ahead, so please throw some meat – or ink – to your August newsletter editor. Always hungry, despite the heat. Thanks!

You Overslept, You’re Late, But You’ve Got an Excuse
And it’s a doozy. Just what your boss wants to hear. We’re looking forward to hearing it, too – all 400 words — at our Fifth Tuesday feast and festival on August 31.

Make your reservations now. Send a note to Shel Ellestad or Jerry Peterson to say you are coming and how many others you plan to bring as guests. Friends, spouses, and children are welcome. Details on the exact time and location are coming soon.

Fifth Tuesdays are the best time for First-and-Thirders and Second-and-Fourthers to meet and mingle. Nearly 30 attended the Fifth Tuesday on June 29.

And send your Writing Challenge “Late-to-Work Excuse” to Jerry as soon as possible. In the last newsletter, Greg reported that the first two manuscripts were in already. You’ve still got a couple of weeks, but only fictional excuses remain.

Reading Recap from August 3 Meeting
Twelve First-and-Third members met August 3, 7:00-9:00 p.m., at Barnes & Noble West to hear five authors.

Millie Mader read her poem “Anonymity,” which is set in a shopping mall. Greg thought the poem captured the feeling of just being “another face in the crowd.” Elijah liked the mall as a stage for self analysis and appreciated the way Millie made the experience more universal through the use of “just” and “only” statements. Pat liked the image of the mall, but found use of the word “visage” redundant. However, she added, it might work on a different level “because poetry is poetry.” Pat also noted that this poem is the first Millie has offered which does not rhyme throughout. Only the last line has an internal rhyme, which Bill and some other Tuesdays members considered did not add to the poem and may be an unnecessary distraction.

Randy Haselow read from the “fairly dramatic revision” of the first chapter of his fantasy novel Hona and the Dragon. Kim said she misses the Prologue of the earlier version. She wanted a little more description, “like where and when are we?” Bill had a similar concern but John thought the chapter included enough subtle description to set the scene. Millie enjoyed the down-to-earth descriptions in the opening sequence of scenes. Greg thought Randy could play up the kids’ interest in the menacing figure of the Lord of the Valley. Pat considered the mention of “summer vacation” incongruous with the medieval or feudal setting. Maybe “before the harvest” would be a better way to set the season. Clayton had similar concerns with common elements of what would be a relatively primitive agrarian lifestyle. For example, would the characters use another word for lunch? Should it be dinner? Kim pointed out that horses don’t “screech,” they scream. Several Tuesdays members wanted to know more about the family relationships, especially of the father to his daughters. The father’s manner in the beginning suggested to some that the girls wouldn’t want to risk listening at the door.

Greg Spry read from Goodbye, Mars Part 3. Pat wanted to know “why Mars sucks?” It was settled at some time, she pointed out, so it must have been worth something at some point. How it became a dystopia isn’t really a main part of the story, Greg explained. Kim noted that for some reason dystopia were much more interesting than utopias and were much more prominent in fiction. In the opening scene, Elijah didn’t know whether “the young woman” (who turns out to be Ryssa) would want to lead Ethan on if he was such a klutz as to fall off the fence and plant his face in the dirt. Randy wanted to know why Ethan had been chosen for this special mission to Mars, considering he was such a klutz. Pat enjoyed the scenes with the “jetter.” Also, based on her own experience of broken ribs, she remembered that inhaling hurts more than exhaling. John could not tell whether the disheveled young woman described at the end of Part 3 was Ryssa. Greg confirmed it was. Members discussed whether contractions should be used only in dialogue in a story and not used in narrative. Very common contractions like “won’t” for “will not” may be acceptable, while less common contractions, such as “would’ve” for “would have” may not be acceptable.

Amber Boudreau read from Chapter 15 of her as-yet-untitled novel. Pat liked the idea of the “living book” which can change its language to suit the reader. Clayton liked the image of little squiggles of characters reforming and altering themselves like tiny worms before the reader’s eyes. Millie liked the development of the Zephyr character as a Wyvern dragon. Randy and Pat think Bucktown should defend his teaching of yoga. There was some discussion about whether yoga was strange enough to cause Bucktown’s embarrassment at having to justify teaching it. Kim suggested that he could teach jazzercise. John thought the chapter offered many good opportunities to promote the bond between girl (Moira) and dragon (Zephyr).

Kim Simmons, who substituted for Clayton, read from Chapters 41 and 42 of City of Summer. Elijah was really drawn into the story through the action scenes, but a few incongruous phrases brought him out again. Clayton thought Leviathan’s wrenching metamorphosis from human to dragon physical shift was really neat, what with rupturing back, emerging wings, etc., but didn’t think “pus” was appropriate. John agreed, but pointed out that infection and pus could be a factor if Leviathan was sick when he was in his human state. Then he could heal when in his natural, dragon state. Clayton wondered how this character changes back to human, which Kim said happens in the next chapter. Elijah contrasted Leviathan’s metamorphosis with that of Ryoko and thought there might be a limit to the number of times a character could change shape. Pat has an issue with the way Leviathan speaks – his modern American lingo — because she finds it incongruous with the story’s setting in a fantasy world.

Special thanks to Amber for her extra effort as scribe!

Who’s Up Next?
August 10: Patrick Tomlinson (chapter, A Hole in the Fence), Jen Wilcher (???), Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (chapter, Coming Up For Air), Jack Freiburger (chapter, Path to Bray’s Head), Dan Hamre (short story, “Tractor Jockey”), and Carol Hornung (new mystery).

August 17: John Schneller (chapter 1, book 3), Patrick Tomlinson (???), Judith McNeil (radio play/part 3, “South to Sunday”), Aaron Boehm (???), Elijah Meeker (???), and Skye Winspur (???).

August 24: Randy Haselow (chapter 2, Hona and the Dragon), Andrea Kirchman (???), Terry Hoffman (The Journal), Anne Allen (Homecoming), and Patrick Tomlinson (chapter, A Hole in the Fence).

August 31: Fifth Tuesday details of exact time and location to come.

September 7: Randy Haselow (chapter 3, Hona and the Dragon), Cathy Riddle (chapter 6, Beer Crimes), Jen Wilcher (???), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15, unnamed novel), Pat Edwards (poems), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 12, For Want of a Hand).

Writers Mail: TWS Newsletter Duty Roster
August – Clayton
September – Kim
October – volunteer needed
November – volunteer needed
December — Clayton

Another Great New Word – New for Yanks, Anyway
Last newsletter, Greg noted Sarah Palin’s new word “refudiate,” which gave British commentators a good laugh. This editor followed up with the UK newspaper, The Guardian, and found Michael Tomasky’s blog from July 29 commenting on Kentucky politico Rand Paul:

Here’s the lead of Tomasky’s piece, which is titled “Rand Paul hits a hazard”:

“This Details magazine profile of Rand Paul is getting some play, and for good reason: Reporter Jonathan Miles plums (sic) new depths of Paulian ignorance or at least insouciance about how the world as we know it came to be.

“The piece opens with this little vignette of gobsmackery….”

Read on at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/jul/29/us-midterm-elections-2010-kentucky-rand-paul

However, whatever “gobsmackery” is, a Yank might think, it can’t be too good. Unfortunately, the term does not yet appear in Merriam-Webster Online, nor in Wiktionary. It’s not in the Oxford Dictionaries Online, either, but “gobsmacked” is there (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0340160#m_en_gb0340160), meaning “utterly astonished” or “astounded.”

So gobsmackery refers to something that is utterly astonishing or astounding. Oxford notes the root word’s origins in the 1980s “from gob + smack, with reference to being shocked by a blow to the mouth, or to clapping a hand to one’s mouth in astonishment.” The words nearby are interesting, too: Gobony, gobshite, and gobstopper.

From the Wordsmith
Courtesy of Anu Garg in this week’s “A.Word.A.Day”: Jejune, pronounced “ji-JOON,” an adjective, meaning: (1) dull, insipid; (2) lacking maturity, juvenile; (3) lacking in nutrition.

Jejune, Garg writes, comes from the Latin jejunus (empty, hungry, fasting, meager): “A related word is jejunum, the middle part of the small intestine. It was so called because it was usually found empty after death.”

In usage: “Some songs are inspired and done with a knowing sense of irony. Others are jaw-droppingly jejune.” — John Doyle; Glee’s Back; Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); April 13, 2010.

For more: http://wordsmith.org/words/today.html

From Word Spy: Quite Treatable in Wisconsin
Paul McFedries offers “nature-deficit disorder”: A noun—“A yearning for nature, or an ignorance of the natural world, caused by a lack of time spent outdoors, particularly in rural settings. Also: nature deficit disorder.”

In usage: “Now a nonprofit educational enterprise, the manor is among the New York-area farms attracting locavores, green-minded students and urbanites suffering from nature-deficit disorder who yearn to raise produce and livestock for a day, a week or longer.”—Kathryn Shattuck, “City Slickers Take to the Crops, With Song,” The New York Times, May 28, 2010

For more: http://www.wordspy.com/

The Final Word
Former Tuesday with Story member Kashmira Sheth conducted a book-signing for her novel Boys without Names earlier this year at Barnes & Nobel West. Written in the first-person voice, Boys follows the ordeal of a young Indian villager, Gopal, as he is abducted and learns to survive forced labor in an illegal Mumbai tenement factory. Following a harrowing episode, Gopal narrates: “My mind is no longer blank. It moves from one thought to another like a monkey moving from branch to branch.”

Next Fifth Tuesday: August 31st, 2010
It’s only 5 weeks away, August 31. Make your reservations now. Send either Shel Ellestad, or Jerry Peterson, a note telling them you are coming and who you’re bringing as guests. Yes, guests – friends, spouses, children – are always welcome.

It’s also time to write your Fifth Tuesday mini-masterpiece. The first two are already in.

Announcements
Anne Allen wrote an article for Nebraska History and won Best Article of The Year. It even involved a cash prize! Anne Beiser Allen’s article, “A Scandal in Niobrara: The Controversial Career of the Rev. Samuel D. Hinman,” has been selected by the Nebraska State Historical Society to receive the 2010 James L. Sellers Memorial Award for the best article to appear in Nebraska History during 2009.

Andrea Kirchman’s short fiction piece, “Don’t Listen to the Sirens” just got published on the Six Sentences blog. Check it out! http://sixsentences.blogspot.com/2010/07/dont-listen-to-sirens.html

Meeting Recap: Tuesday, July 27th – 2nd & 4th
Eleven folks gathered at BN for critiquing Tuesday night.

We started with Terry Hoffman’s piece from The Journal. Patrick Tomlinson liked it and wanted to keep reading on. Anne Allen and Carol Hornung both felt the quotes and talking aloud to herself wasn’t necessary. Carol did like quotes and speaking aloud to Mom, though. Annie Potter felt it built up the tension really well, and we all knew Tara was going to be a troublemaker!

Annie Potter read the next segment of her memoir. Outstanding job describing the uncle’s stroke, the way he spoke. But be sure to be consistent on how you spell Eddy/Eddie. Felt there should be some more reaction from Annie to the kiss on the cheek. For time’s sake, it might be worth investing a couple of sentences about the ice cream to keep the situation from jumping so suddenly.

Anne Allen brought in Chapter 17 from Homecoming. Dan Hamre wasn’t sure about the use of the word frisson. Some of us didn’t know what it meant, and wondered if it fit, style-wise. Terry liked the one use of sleeping like the dead, but cut out some of the further comparisons of sleep/dead. She really liked the metaphor of silk stockings draped carelessly on the floor. Andrea Kirchman said to be more specific about the number of people at the bar – it’s either two or three. Some confusion, too, over who discovered Grandpa’s body – seems like Chris, but on the next page Sheila is the one who discovered him. Hmm.

Karl Bryan read segment 3 of Dubai Stopwatch. Why does Omar yell at the kid even though the kid is of higher rank? Omar is afraid of change, afraid of losing his daughter. He does everything he is supposed to do, struggles to do what’s right, but it’s not working. Make sure Omar is very sympathetic when East-West ideas of education and women clash. Show don’t tell is an important rule, but when dealing with something like a culture that’s quite foreign to the target audience, a fair amount of explaining is needed. And the time/speed metaphor works quite well.

Karl is heading to China next week, but would like to keep up with the group via email.

Who’s Up Next?
August 3: Kim Simmons (chapters 41-42, James Hyde), Greg Spry (novella/part 3, Goodbye, Mars), Randy Haselow (chapter 1/part 2, Hona and the Dragon), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15), Clayton Gill (chapter 15, Fishing Derby), and Millie Mader (poem).

August 10: Patrick Tomlinson (chapter, A Hole in the Fence), Jen Wilcher (???), Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (chapter, Coming Up For Air), Jack Freiburger (chapter, Path to Bray’s Head), Dan Hamre (short story, “Tractor Jockey”), and Carol Hornung (new mystery).

August 17: John Schneller (chapter 1, book 3), Patrick Tomlinson (???), Judith McNeil (radio play/part 3, “South to Sunday”), Aaron Boehm (???), Elijah Meeker (???), and Skye Winspur (???).

August 24: Randy Haselow (chapter 2, Hona and the Dragon), Andrea Kirchman (???), Terry Hoffman (The Journal), Anne Allen (Homecoming), and Patrick Tomlinson (chapter, A Hole in the Fence).

August 31: Fifth Tuesday

September 7: Randy Haselow (chapter 3, Hona and the Dragon), Cathy Riddle (chapter 6, Beer Crimes), Jen Wilcher (???), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15, novel), Pat Edwards (poems), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 12, For Want of a Hand).

September 21: Chris Maxwell (???).

Newsletter Duty Roster
August – Clayton
September – Kim

Laugh a Week
Subscribe to Sara Barnes’ weekly e-letter from her store, Booked for Murder – you remember, we were there for Fifth Tuesday back in the spring – and you’re guaranteed a laugh. Here’s how she started last week’s letter:

Hello Mystery Fans!

You just deep-fried who?!

I was dining out with my parents several years ago and the restaurant’s special-of-the-day was walleye, which our server (obviously not a lass of the Northland), proudly decreed to be “deep-fried Wally”.

Bummer.

I’ve been thinking about other easily-mispronounced names, such as: Socrates (when pronounced as though his favorite hobby were to “sew crates”). My high school self, while reading classics, was personally responsible for pronouncing Penelope as though it rhymed with “antelope”; pronouncing Persephone as though it rhymed with “telephone”; and who could forget Hector’s lovely and tragic wife, Andromache? (I remember wondering how such a famous heroine could have been called by so stumpy a name as “Andromash”.)

Do you have any favorite pronunciatory problems to share with the rest of the class?

If you’d like to get Sara’s weekly e-letter, send her a note at sbarnes@bookedformurder.com

Great New Word
Check out the new word Sarah Palin invented: “refudiate.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2010/jul/19/sarah-palin-refudiate-new-word

Great Word
Courtesy of Wordsmith Anu Garg:
nebbish
PRONUNCIATION: (NEB-ish)
MEANING: noun: A pitifully timid or ineffectual person.
ETYMOLOGY: From Yiddish nebekh (poor, unfortunate), of Slavic origin. Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhag- (to share) that is also the source of baksheesh, Sanskrit bhagya (good fortune), and words related to -phagy (eating), such as onychophagia and xerophagy.
USAGE: “Nebbish son-in-law Lando must stand up to his shrewish wife Tiffany.”
David Schmeichel; Greed is Good at Celebrations; Winnipeg Sun (Canada); Apr 4, 2007.

Great New Phrase
Courtesy of Word Spy Paul McFedries:
qwerty tummy
n. A stomach illness caused by typing on a germ-ridden keyboard. Also: QWERTY tummy.

Example Citations:
“One common bug that researchers have turned up is staphylococcus aureus, a classic causer of food poisoning, signs of which include nausea and diarrhea. Accordingly, stomach sicknesses caught from computer equipment have been dubbed ‘qwerty tummy’ after the ‘Q-W-E-R-T-Y’ keys on a keyboard.”
– Your keyboard can give you food poisoning, MSNBC.com, July 2, 2010
“No one wants to have to look at a dirty keyboard. Too often, people don’t bother to wash their hands after eating or using the restroom. Not only is this unhealthy for you in many ways…it can also end up causing you to fall ill with QWERTY Sickness.”
– Chris Pirillo, A Cleaning a Day Will Keep the QWERTY Tummy Away, Chris.Pirillo.com, July 3, 2010

Earliest Citation:
“Many users are at risk of becoming ill with stomach bugs, according to the consumer group Which? It warned that ‘qwerty tummy’, named after the first six letters on a keyboard, could sweep through workplaces after tests on equipment in its own London offices showed alarming results.”
– Sean Poulter, How your computer keyboard is FIVE TIMES dirtier than your toilet seat – and could even give you ‘qwerty tummy’, Daily Mail, May 1, 2008

The Final Word
“The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.”
— Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam to Paul Atreides in the novel Dune

Next Fifth Tuesday: August 31st, 2010
It’s only 6 weeks away, August 31, our next Fifth Tuesday feast and festival of writing, August 31. Place to be announced, but not the writing challenge. We have that: You’re late for work because you overslept. Your boss hates oversleepers, but he does love entertaining stories. Create the most outlandish excuse for why you were late . . . and do it in no more than 400 words.

Write your mini-masterpiece now. Git ’er done, and email it to Jerry Peterson.

Meeting Recap: Tuesday, July 20th – 1st & 3rd
Randy – Judith wanted to know where the story takes place. Randy tells us it takes place in a fantasy world, in medieval times. Pat felt like it was Mexico. Judith thought it was Finland. She also felt the dream could be more mystical. Jerry wondered why Hona didn’t turn to look and see what was carrying her in the dream, or at least try to see if she was able. John and Jerry wanted to know what made the creature noble. Elijah thought she needs to take the time to consider her answer after her friend asks an evocative question. Jerry thinks her world feels very real, but for a medieval period, would she be allowed out in the woods? Does Thil hear the conversation between Hona and the goat?

Jen – She tells us a few years ago she was searching for something and a little lost. Pat enjoyed the poem and picked up on the Zen of it but had a question about the opening lines. Pat would like to see her take the poem to the next step, because the rhythm is there, she’s curious to see what she could do with it. Elijah thought it didn’t rhyme, but that it worked. Judith wanted to see what happened to the mind throughout the poem. Cathy got more of an understanding from Jen’s introduction than she did from the poem itself – something she could relate to. John wanted to know about one line in particular. Millie wanted to know why one word was capitalized, but if it’s a spiritual reference, then it made sense.

Judith – Elijah found words that ratchet up the tension in any conversation, not just in the car on the road. Pat was surprised Marshall didn’t make any comments about it being Sam’s fault the car got pulled over. Perhaps the tiredness is causing some of the tension. Randy wondered if you can say ‘shit’ on the radio. John thought it strange he died and then survived with a head wound. Cathy wasn’t sure about the word dialogue – perhaps it could be replaced with tirade or rant.

Pat Tomlinson – Someone wanted to know if Wynn was British or not. Pat decides on the spot that he’s a New Zealander. Pat E, brought up the story to print it out and couldn’t stop reading. Jerry had a problem; after a while the android is referred to as a character, who is dead on a table, but now there are two – it’s a naming issue for him. Amber wanted the main character to show a bit more bravado, but Pat insists that since the character isn’t curled up in the fetal position on the floor shows he had some guts. Cathy thought the main character could go over his feelings in the epilogue.

Who’s Up Next?
July 27: Terry Hoffman (chapter, The Journal), Karen Zethmayr (“Oak Arena”), Karl Bryan (short story, “Dubai Stopwatch”/part 3), Dan Hamre (either “Afterthought” or “Tractor Jockey”), Annie Potter (chapter, memoir), and Anne Allen (chapter, mystery)

August 3: Kim Simmons (chapters 41-42, James Hyde), Greg Spry (novella/part 3, Goodbye, Mars), Randy Haselow (chapter 1/part 2, Hona and the Dragon), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15), Clayton Gill (chapter 15, Fishing Derby), and Millie Mader (poem).

August 10: Patrick Tomlinson (chapter, A Hole in the Fence), Jen Wilcher (???), Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (chapter 18, Coming Up For Air), Jack Freiburger (chapter, Path to Bray’s Head), and Randy Haselow (chapter 2, Hona and the Dragon)

August 17: John Schneller (chapter 1, book 3), Patrick Tomlinson (???), Judith McNeil (radio play/part 3, “South to Sunday”), Aaron Boehm (???), Elijah Meeker (???), and Skye Winspur (???)

August 31: Fifth Tuesday

September 7: Randy Haselow (chapter 3, Hona and the Dragon), Cathy Riddle (chapter 6, Beer Crimes), Jen Wilcher (???), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15, novel), Pat Edwards (poems), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 12, For Want of a Hand)

Book Review – THE JOURNEY TAKERS BY LESLIE ALBRECHT HUBER
SUBMITTED BY: MILLIE MADER

The fabric of Leslie’s ancestors, and the threads that bind the past to her present, are woven into an intriguing tapestry in this, her first book. She has walked in the footsteps of those who preceded her, and she draws the lives that they lived into her own imagination, then onto paper. This book is factual genealogy, colored by the fictional narrative of each person, time, and place. Leslie relives in her mind, and on the page, the thoughts, emotions, and purposes these long ago men, women, and children would have experienced.
Leslie started on her journey 12 ago when she was a carefree, 21-year-old college student. She researches every birth, marriage, and death certificate through the internet and a maze of ancient church and county records. She begins in an obscure village in what was then part of the Prussian state before Germany was a country. The earliest German ancestor she discovered was Christoph Harprecht, who was born in 1769. By 1795, the name was shortened to Albrecht. These people were all peasants, barely existing under the system of serfdom. A few were “landed” peasants, some “partially” landed, and most “ordinary” peasants. Leslie’s research is tireless, motivated by a desire to know her family and how their lives interweave with hers. “There was no royalty, no wealthy merchants,” she tells us. Many died early, often at birth. There were, surprisingly, many illegitimate births. Leslie learned that this was because young people were not allowed to marry until the man could prove that he could provide for a household. The customs and mores of the day were strictly governed by the German Protestant Church. Hardship, hunger, and death plagued the peasants’ lives. There was little time for gaiety – and it was usually overruled by exhaustion. Love matches were made, however, but many married several times due to the death of a spouse.
Georg Albrecht, born in 1837, and his wife Mina Haker Albrecht, born in 1840, were the first “journey takers” on Leslie’s German side – the first to come to the United States.
In the next section we travel with Karsti Nilsdotter, who was born in 1843 in the hamlet of Skane, Sweden. She, of all her family, undertook the journey to America alone. However, there was a group of Mormons whom she accompanied. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had sent missionaries to many small hamlets of Europe, hoping to gain converts. These preachers were widely persecuted. Slowly, by aiding people who wished to join them, they were successful in recruiting many peasants who desired to leave Europe and help in establishing a communal village and church in the Utah territory.
All the emigrants suffered horrific conditions on the overseas sailings. Seasickness and dysentery took many lives. Leslie narrates each segment through the eyes of her “journey takers”, and to readers this evokes intense feelings and images. We smell the stench and recoil at the conditions they face on the ships. Daily they deal with illness, death, and hunger. Karsti Nilsdotter and the rest of the voyagers reached New York in 1861. They spent several days in Castle Garden, the predecessor of Ellis Island. The American Civil War had just begun, and the trip by rail went only as far as Omaha, Nebraska. Missouri was a split state, and the train windows were boarded up as the cars swayed and rumbled through. The travelers could hear gunfire in the distance. After Omaha, the Mormons continued on by riverboat and then ox cart, with most of the people walking. They piled their wagons high with whatever provisions they could secure.
The English “journey takers” section of the book starts with the birth of Edmond Harris in 1825. He was born into a poor farm family at a time when England was embroiled in dissension. Ultimately, Edmond met and married Eliza, and they were baptized into the LDS church. Their journey to Utah by way of Australia was fraught with disaster and sorrow. A shipwreck fractured the family. Edmond finally arrived in Utah, and all the branches in Leslie’s family tree joined here.
Leslie continues with her ancestors’ pursuits in the Mormon settlement of Freemont, Utah. In summing up their lives, she concludes that those whom she thought were ordinary were actually far from it.
Leslie has done an amazing amount of research and traveling. The book took 12 years to complete, and she is now the mother of four. She and her husband both earned their degrees at Brigham Young University, and their graduate degrees at the University of Wisconsin. Leslie grew up in Texas, where her parents are professors at Texas A&M.
The Hubers now live in Massachusetts, where Leslie’s husband George – called David in the book so readers wouldn’t confuse him with Georg Albrecht – teaches and does research at the University of Massachusetts.
When Leslie gives her book talks, she speaks fondly of Madison. In her acknowledgments, she thanks Tuesdays with Story for steering her in the right direction.

Buy The Journey Takers
Above, you read Millie Mader’s review of Leslie Huber’s book, The Journey Takers. Crank back a half a dozen years and Leslie was a member of Tuesdays with Story. She was working on the manuscript that became this book while she was with us. To get a copy, go to Amazon. It’s there, $17.95.

Great Old Word
Courtesy of Wordsmith Anu Garg:
gimcrack
PRONUNCIATION: (JIM-krak)
MEANING: noun: Something cheap and showy, of little use.
adjective: Showy, but worthless.
ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of Middle English gibecrake (small ornament), possibly from Old French giber (to shake).
USAGE: “Uncle Rabid Prophet TechEye has worshiped more gimcrack bits of junk and practiced more half-baked religions than all of Hollywood combined.”
Bow Down And Open Your Wallet; Warsaw Business Journal (Poland); Aug 21, 2006.

Great New Phrase
Courtesy of Word Spy Paul McFedries:
apocalypse fatigue
n. Reduced interest in current or potential environmental problems due to frequent dire warnings about those problems.
Example Citations:
“Heading into one of the most important climate-change summits ever, global warming has an image problem. For the first time in 25 years, a majority of Americans rank economic concerns above environmental ones, a major poll shows. People also are exhibiting signs of what some environmental experts call ‘apocalypse fatigue.’
– Mike Lee, Climate-change skeptics getting warmed up, The San Diego Union-Tribune, December 6, 2009
“The lingering question is whether the collapse of the climate campaign is also a sign of a broader collapse in public enthusiasm for environmentalism in general. Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, two of the more thoughtful and independent-minded figures in the environmental movement, have been warning their green friends that the public has reached the point of ‘apocalypse fatigue.’
– Steven F. Hayward, In Denial, The Weekly Standard, March 15, 2010
Earliest Citation:
“I think the problem, Larry, is that we keep on seeing this science by press release with these apocalyptic pronouncements. If we were in California, we’d probably say the people are getting apocalypse fatigue and each one of the these things has to be hyped more and more and more, and you know that.”
– Pat Michaels, Crossfire, CNN, February 10, 1992
Notes:
Although the phrase apocalypse fatigue as been around for a while, its recent popularity is thanks to a paper by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Schellenberger called “Apocalypse Fatigue: Losing the Public on Climate Change” (PDF document).

The Final Word
“Don’t lose your faith to your lost naïveté” — Lyric from the song Viva La Gloria by Green Day

Meeting Recap: Tuesday, July 13th – 2nd & 4th
To borrow the immortal words of “Pogo,” “Friday the Thirteenth came on a Tuesday this month.” But it was a good 13th as 13 people gathered at Barnes & Noble for talk of divorce, fairy tales, lobster fishing, science fiction, and the grapes of death. . .

Holly Bonnicksen-Jones started things off with a scene from Coming Up for Air. There was some confusion regarding the phrase “Little Sister Lecture” – we weren’t sure which one was the little sister. Have Liza tune out for a second, not a minute. That’s too long. And the love of Ty isn’t being question, it’s whether Liza is being a good mom. Maybe move some of the ruminating to the scene with the psychologist.

Randy Haselow read chapter three of Hona and the Dragon. Be sure to have Hona tell her friend the name of the dragon, now that she knows it. The dialog had a lot of complete sentences – chop that up a bit. There was a lot of discussion about Hona’s character – should she have more attitude and strength now, or is it all part of the Master Fairy Tale plan to have the character develop more later on? We agreed that the dragon and flying carpet are driving the story now, but it seems to be a quietly building classic fairy tale, and the other elements will come through soon.

Jack Freiburger presented a scene from Path to Bray’s Head. Tighten up a bit – there’s some redundancy about folks not talking, but keep details like the “whine of the winch.” Also, “Immediately I realized” seems too long of a phrase to best serve Sean’s sudden realization that Dick isn’t there. The action was nicely upped at the end with that revelation.

Patrick Tomlinson read a segment of his novel A Hole in the Fence. The humor works well, but an absurd plot or quirky characters are needed sooner to engage the reader. Too much narration, could use more dialog. There seemed to be an odd mix of technological description and nature metaphors, and there were times that the hard core science fiction was conflicting with the fun, humorous bits. Watch the point of view – stick to one character per scene, and be careful of description for the sake of description.

Andrea Kirchman finished things up with chapter 3 of Reunion. Lots of great descriptions and funny lines. There were some continuity issues – can’t describe someone’s face if the character can’t see her face. Take out some of the eye rolls (but keep the last one, where it’s passed on to the children). And why does she throw the grapes away? Have her react, give her an emotional reason to chuck ‘em in the trash.

Who’s Up Next?
July 20: Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Nicole Rosario (???), Jen Wilcher (chapter, Memories Awakened), Judith McNeil (radio play/part 2, “South to Sunday”), Patrick Tomlinson (short story/part 2, “Downloading Death”), and Karl Bryan (short story, “Dubai Stopwatch”/part 2).

July 27: Terry Hoffman (chapter, The Journal), Karen Zachary (Oak Arena), Karl Bryan (short story, “Dubai Stopwatch” part 3), Dan Hamre (either “Afterthought” or “Tractor Jockey”), Annie Potter (chapter, memoir)

August 3: Kim Simmons (chapters 41-42, James Hyde), Greg Spry (novella/part 3, Goodbye, Mars), Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15), Clayton Gill (chapter 15, Fishing Derby), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 12, For Want of a Hand)

August 10: Patrick Tomlinson (A Hole in the Fence), Jen Wilcher (???), Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (Coming Up For Air), Jack Freiburger (Path to Bray’s Head), Randy Haselow (Hona and the Dragon)

August 17: John Schneller (chapter 1, book 3), Millie Mader (poem), Patrick Tomlinson (???), Judith McNeil (???), and Aaron Boehm (???).

Next Fifth Tuesday: August 31st, 2010
Still looking for a place for our next Fifth Tuesday feast and festival of writing, August 31. But we’re no longer looking for a writing challenge. We have that: You’re late for work because you overslept. Your boss hates oversleepers, but he does love entertaining stories. Create the most outlandish excuse for why you were late . . . and do it in no more than 400 words.

Got our date on your calendar? Have you started writing your mini-masterpiece?

First Pages (Article talks about writing the first few pages of a story)
by Kate Pepper
Published: August 12, 2005

Context, character and conflict — I call them “the three c’s.” They are the essential fictional elements a writer should braid together on the first page of a story or novel in the quest for a sparkling beginning. If you save all the good stuff for page fifty, but you haven’t held your readers’ attention, no one will ever find out what a great writer you are because they will have already put your work aside.

Your very first readers will be the most jaded: the agents and editors whose help you need to reach the reading public. Generally, agents and editors are so overwhelmed by submissions that they’ll skim just a few pages to find out whether the work is competent and, better yet, magical; more accurately, they’ll have their young assistants make that evaluation. On a practical level, you must engage your first readers or your work will have a form-letter rejection slapped on it and sent back to you. On a creative level, you don’t want your story or novel to begin so slowly or clumsily that it’s plain boring. Writing a good first page is a discipline, but it isn’t as hard as you might think.

Begin by delving right into the story’s action. One of the biggest mistakes new writers make is over-writing their beginnings. There is an inclination to wax poetic about weather or to delve into the thoughts of a character we don’t yet know or care about. If you need to do some pre-writing to get yourself started, go for it, but then set it aside in your personal file of “Gems to Save for Later.” Now, choose an opening moment that will ignite the story in your reader’s mind. Something should be in the process of happening on that first page; it doesn’t need to be momentous, but it should engage your reader’s curiosity.

Context. Quickly give us a sense of where we are — in an urban penthouse; on a farm in summertime; in a space ship; on an ocean liner; looking at a storefront on Madison Avenue; in an office. Identifying the setting will orient your reader; otherwise, he may have to re-read just to put the story into accurate perspective. The moment he has to regroup, you have pretty much burst the bubble of his suspended disbelief and possibly lost his attention all together. If you know your character — let’s call her Marcella — is going to pour herself a cup of coffee, then make sure to place her in a setting where there would be a coffee pot. But don’t just inform us of the context, or setting; integrate it into the action. Action doesn’t need to be dramatic, just the sense that something is happening or about to happen. To echo an old chestnut: action is story, and story is character.

Character. Your character experiences your story’s context; it informs her, and she informs it. If it’s cold, she puts on a sweater and turns up the heat; if it’s hot, she strips to her underwear and opens all the windows (or turns on the air conditioning). If she’s in an office and her feet ache, she still keeps on those toe-pinching high heels; or maybe she stows a pair of fluffy pink slippers under her desk. In the particular, idiosyncratic world of her mind, she experiences her world uniquely. Context and character fuse and play off each other. It’s all in the details, so choose carefully. Think about what you want to show readers as you introduce them to your fictional world. Marcella’s in her office, she’s pouring herself a cup of coffee, her feet are killing her and she’s thinking about those fluffy slippers under her desk. Good, but nothing’s really happening and you’re halfway down your first page. Someone once said that every character must want something, even if it’s a glass of water. Know what your character wants, and set her quest, however minor, into motion.

Conflict. What’s at stake? What does Marcella care about? What does she want? Maybe she’s been up all night with a dying pet and has come into the office to meet an important deadline. She pours a cup of coffee and can smell that it’s burned before it scalds her tongue. She screams at her coffee-brewing secretary, who quits. If we can smell the burned coffee and feel the scald on her tongue, then we’ll also feel her exhaustion and frustration. Despite her loss of control, we’re sympathetic, because her beloved pet is dying at home, alone, while she had to come into work. And now, without the help of her secretary, she’ll be at the office hours longer than planned. The vet’s office closes at six o’clock, but her boss has made it clear that she’ll lose her job if she doesn’t meet her deadline . . . you get the idea. By now, you’re at the bottom of page one and your readers are going to feel compelled to turn the page to find out what happens.

By quickly establishing context, character and conflict, you have set in motion some of the essential fictional elements that will resonate throughout your story or novel. Marcella’s off on her quest, you have conquered another first page and won the hearts and minds of readers who will probably go easier on you next time. But the trick is this: in the future, you won’t need their mercy, because through practice and discipline you have come that much closer to mastery of your craft.

Copyright © 2005 Kate Pepper -Posted Aug. 12, 2005

Kate Pepper
Author of Seven Minutes to Noon
Kate Pepper is the pseudonym of author Katia Spiegelman, who teaches fiction writing at New School University; “First Pages” is based on an original exercise she developed for her workshop. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and two children. Her most recent Kate Pepper thriller is Seven Minutes to Noon (Signet; May 2005; $6.99US/$9.99CAN; 0-451-21579-6)

For more information, please visit the author’s Web site at www.katepepper.com.

Meet Our New Poet Laureate
We have a new top poet in our country – W.S. Merwin, the appointment made two weeks ago.

Merwin looks the role – a mop of white hair, somewhat bushy eyebrows. It’s as if he had studied the portraits of Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg and said, “I can look like that.”

But more important than “the look”, Merwin’s a sterling poet who has gathered in a basketful of honors for his work, including two Pulitzer prizes – in 1971 for his poetry collection The Carrier of Ladders and last year for his collection The Shadow of Sirius – and a National Book Award. He got that one for his 2004 collection Migration: New and Selected Poems.

Merwin also served a previous hitch with the Library of Congress, in 1999 as a poetry consultant.

The poet’s muse touched Merwin early. At age 18, he contacted Ezra Pound and asked for advice on what he should do to become a poet. Pound came back with write 75 lines of poetry every day and, oh, by the way, you ought to translate poetry from other languages into English, to learn what a person can do with language. Merwin has done both.

In the 1960s, he became, with Allen Ginsberg and others on the New York scene, a hell raiser. He opposed the Vietnam war. He condemned it. It’s all there in his 1967 collection of poems, The Lice.

In that decade Merwin began writing poems without any punctuation, and then without capital letters, except for the first letter of each line. Said he, “I came to feel that punctuation was like nailing the words onto the page. I wanted instead the movement and lightness of the spoken word.”

He also works toward that in the manner in which he writes. No computer. No typewriter. Too inhibiting, says Merwin. He writes with a pencil or pen in a small spiral notebook and on napkins. “It’s the nearest thing to not writing,” Merwin said. “The more self-conscious it [the act of writing] gets, the stiffer it gets.”

Merwin is more than a poet. He’s also a playwright, and he’s written a novel, Folding Cliffs: A Narrative, published in 1998. The novel is in verse, and it deals with Hawaii’s history and legend – Hawaii, where Merwin has lived for the past three decades.

You’re not likely to see much of Merwin, our 17th U.S. poet laureate. He’s a recluse. He has agreed to come to Washington, D.C., in October and give a reading at the opening of the Library of Congress’s annual literary series.

That may be it for his travels as poet laureate.
– Jerry Peterson, posted on his “Talking Books” blog on 7-13

Great Word
Courtesy of Wordsmith Anu Garg:
bibliolatry
PRONUNCIATION: bib-lee-OL-uh-tree)
MEANING (noun): Extreme devotion to books.
ETYMOLOGY: From Greek biblio- (book) + -latry (worship).
USAGE: “Bibliophilia: the love, and collecting, of books. No problems there… But watch out. The next step up may be bibliolatry: an extreme fondness for books.”
David McKie; The Baron of Bibliomania; The Guardian (London, UK); May 5, 2008.

epigraph
PRONUNCIATION: (EP-i-graf)
MEANING (noun): A quotation introducing a book or a chapter. ETYMOLOGY: From Greek epi- (on, upon) + -graph (writing).
USAGE: “A Counterfeit Silence includes an epigraph from Thornton Wilder: ‘Even speech was for them a debased form of silence.’”
William Grono and Dennis Haskell; Solitary Writer Randolph Stow Chose Silence; The Australian (Sydney); Jun 1, 2010.

The Final Word
“I believe that intelligence and rationality will always be primary no matter what shape sentient creatures take. To not think that would be to doubt the value of life itself.” — Tochee from Pandora’s Star, written by Peter Hamilton

Next Fifth Tuesday – August 31
Our next Fifth Tuesday feast and festival of writing is August 31. Where, we don’t know. But we do know what the writing challenge is: You’re late for work because you overslept. Your boss hates oversleepers, but he does love entertaining stories. Create the most outlandish excuse for why you were late . . . and do it in no more than 400 words.

Here are two things you should do now:
– Put our Fifth Tuesday event on your calendar. First-and-third hosts.
– Write your Fifth Tuesday mini-masterpiece now. There isn’t a good reason to put it off. Yah, right, I overslept. Who’s gonna believe that?

Who’s Up Next? 
July 13: Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (???), Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Ann Potter (chapter), Jack Freiburger (chapter, Return to Bray’s Head), Patrick Tomlinson (???), Andrea Kirchman (???), with Dan Hamre as alternate.

July 20: Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Nicole Rosario (???), Jen Wilcher (chapter, Memories Awakened), Judith McNeil (radio play/part 2, “South to Sunday”), Patrick Tomlinson (short story/part 2, “Downloading Death”), and Karl Bryan (short story, “Dubai Stopwatch”/part 2).

July 27: Terry Hoffman (chapter, The Journal), Karen Zethmayr (“Oak Arena”), and Karl Bryan (short story, “Dubai Stopwatch”/part 3).

August 3: Kim Simmons (chapters 41-42, James Hyde), Greg Spry (novella/part 3, Goodbye, Mars), Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15), Clayton Gill (chapter 15, Fishing Derby), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 12, For Want of a Hand)

August 17: John Schneller (chapter 1, book 3), Millie Mader (poem), Patrick Tomlinson (???), Judith McNeil (???), and Aaron Boehm (???).

Special Event
TWS alumnae Leslie Huber will be here Thursday promoting her book, The Journey Takers. 

Come join us for dinner with Leslie at 5 p.m. at Cafe Porta Alba. That’s in the Hilldale Mall area. At 7 p.m., she will do an author talk and signing at the Sequoyah library.

For Our Short Story Writers
            Looking for a place where you can posts your stories and get some attention while you work on legit sales or finishing your novel? Check out Fiction Writers Platform, http://www.fictionwritersplatform.net/

            You can post here while keeping all publications rights to your stories. Hey, that’s all right.

Great Word
Courtesy of Word Spy Paul McFedries:
cradle-to-gate
n. The portion of a product’s life cycle from inception to the point where it leaves the manufacturer.

Example Citations: Salt Spring Coffee’s French Roast Nicaragua is carbon neutral from cradle to gate. This means that the company has bought enough carbon credits to offset all the carbon produced until the consumer buys the coffee. That’s only 37 percent of the carbon created by one bag of coffee. After that, it’s up to the consumer to pick up the slack.
– Rebecca Lindell, You want cream, sugar or carbon credits with that?, The Globe and Mail, June 29, 2010
This paper aims to identify and quantify the environmental impacts associated to Eucalyptus TCF pulp manufacture by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as an analytical tool. The system has been defined using a cradle-to-gate perspective, that is to say from forest activities to the exit gate of the pulp mill.
– Sara Gonzalez-Garcia et al., Environmental impact assessment of total chlorine free pulp from Eucalyptus globulus in Spain (PDF), Journal of Cleaner Production, February 13, 2009

Earliest Citation: Furthermore, environmental burdens of ‘upstream’ processes such as ammonia and electricity generation were included in the study, but downstream processes using nitric acid were not. The study was therefore ‘cradle-to-gate’, rather than the more comprehensive ‘cradle-to-grave’ analysis.
– Jack Eisenhauer, Shawna McQueen, Environmental Considerations In Process Design & Simulation, The Center, January 1, 1996 (approx)

Notes: The “gate” here is the factory (or farm or mill or whatever) gate (or door or loading dock or whatever), so cradle-to-gate refers to everything that happens with a product until it’s ready to ship. This means the usage in the Globe and Mail citation is slightly inaccurate because cradle-to-gate doesn’t include shipping to the retailer and retailer storage. The phrase cradle-to-gate is based on the much older phrase cradle-to-grave, which refers to a product’s entire life cycle, and which has been in the language since at least 1943.

 The Final Word
“Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.” —Orson Scott Card

Fifth Tuesday Recap – June 29, 2010

Twenty-nine TWS writers and guests reserved chairs for last night’s Fifth Tuesday event at Terry and Jan Hoffman’s home . . . and most made it!

A discussion, initiated by Brandy Larson Yosephi, took place of commencement address stories – the writing challenge – not written. Said Bill Dries, “I intended to write one for a graduation ceremony for a dog obedience class: ‘Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof.’”

Donna Coughlin suggested Bill insert a few ‘arfs’ for variation.

Mark your calendar for our next Fifth Tuesday . . . August 31. First-and-third group hosts.

Who’s Up Next?
July 6: Greg Spry (novella/part 2, Goodbye, Mars), Pat Edwards (poems), Elijah Meeker (???), Karl Bryan (short story, “Dubai Stopwatch”/part 1), Clayton Gill (chapter 13, Fishing Derby), Cathy Riddle (chapter, Beer Crimes), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 11, For Want of a Hand).

July 13: Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (???), Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Ann Potter (chapter), Jack Freiburger (chapter, Return to Bray’s Head), Patrick Tomlinson (???), Andrea Kirchman (???), with Dan Hamre as alternate.

July 20: Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Nicole Rosario (???), Jen Wilcher (chapter, Memories Awakened), Judith McNeil (radio play/part 2, “South to Sunday”), Patrick Tomlinson (short story/part 2, “Downloading Death”), and Karl Bryan (short story, “Dubai Stopwatch”/part 2).

August 3: Kim Simmons (chapters 41-42, James Hyde), Greg Spry (novella/part 3, Goodbye, Mars), Randy Haselow (chapter, Hona and the Dragon), Amber Boudreau (chapter 15), Clayton Gill (chapter 15, Fishing Derby), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 12, For Want of a Hand).

Next Special Event
July 8, TWS alumnae Leslie Huber will be here promoting her book, The Journey Takers.

Come join us for dinner with Leslie at 5 p.m. at Cafe Porta Alba. That’s in the Hilldale Mall area. At 7 p.m., she will be at the Sequoyah branch library where she will do an author talk and signing.

Newsletter Duty Roster:
July – Greg
August – Clayton
September – Kim

Great Word
Courtesy of Wordsmith Anu Garg:
bromidic
PRONUNCIATION: (broh-MID-ik)
MEANING: adjective: Commonplace; trite.
ETYMOLOGY: From the former use of bromide compounds as sedatives. Bromine got its name from the Greek bromos (stench) due to its strong smell.USAGE: “Joe Lieberman has the hectoring, bromidic, high-rhetorical style reminiscent of an especially pompous clergyman.”
Michael Kinsley; The Capitol’s Pious Pair; The Washington Post; Jan 24, 2003.

Another Great Word
This one from Word Spy Paul McFedries:
virtopsy
n. A virtual autopsy performed using medical imaging devices that create a detailed, three dimensional image of a body.

Example Citations:
Prof Thali and his team carried out an autopsy on the woman, but not the kind we’re used to seeing in television shows such as CSI and countless police dramas. This was a scalpel-free, virtual autopsy, or “virtopsy” – a radical new approach to forensic investigation, in which Professor Thali is one of the pioneers.
– Laura Spinney, Body of evidence: A radical new approach to forensic pathology, The Independent, May 31, 2010

The researchers are already pioneers of virtual autopsies, or “virtopsies”, which use non-invasive imaging of a body inside and out rather than the radical post-mortem surgery typically used to determine cause of death. … Their virtopsies combine 3D imaging of a body’s surface with a CT scan of its interior anatomy. The result is a faithful, high-resolution virtual double of the corpse.
– Paul Marks, Industrial robot hones virtual autopsies, New Scientist, October 24, 2009

Earliest Citation:
In this project called Virtopsy, we used the newest generation of multidetector row CT (MSCT) and a l.5 Tesla MR scanner.
– Michael J.Thali, M.D., Peter Vock, M.D., and Richard Dirnhofer, M.D., “Virtual Autopsy with Radiological Cross-Sectional Modalities,” in A Radiologic Atlas of Abuse, Torture, Terrorism, and Inflicted Trauma, CRC Press, February 27, 2003

And here I thought the virtual autopsy that has been a staple of CSI: New York since season one was science fiction. – Jerry

Any Last Words?
“Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital.” – Thomas Jefferson