Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
February 12, 2014

Tuesday night 2nd & 4th reconvened after far, far too long…

Carol Hornung started the night with a scene from Ghost of Heffron College – the big reveal explaining the ghost’s name. Jack thought the library building description contained too many mixed up architectural styles and suggested just looking at an existing library and describing it. Holly liked the back-and-forth dialog between the two characters but wondered if Jennifer would be so up front and personal. Also, the group felt Jennifer would be a bit more curious about the archives Kyle is looking into, and would probably ask a few more questions. Had a discussion, too, on whether a guy, when confronted with a friend who was now suddenly sporting a bright pink head of hair, would say “Love the hair” (too girly?) or just “Cool hair.”

Ryan Wagner read a poem “The Path Out of the Forest.” Carol really appreciated it a lot more read aloud than written on the page. Some words, like “lives” can be read two different ways and a little more context around them would help guide the reader. Jack suggested working on meter and structure, to create music with the verse. Also need images to make the poem more memorable. Holly said to look for the most important words and read the poem aloud again to listen for the natural line breaks.

Karen Zethmayr regressed us all back to preschool as she put scissors out on the table and passed out pieces of her do-it-yourself pop-up book, “Where’s Bear’s Stuff?” The more crafty folks among us blew through the instructions without difficulty, while those who were a bit more literal got a little left behind. Key comment – keep instruction lines short. Provide a supply list for each page and be sure to point out that the book needs to be printed on one side of the page only. A suggestion was also made to provide photos of each finished page for reference at the beginning of the book.

Who’s Up Next?
February 18: Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (novel), Pat Edwards (???), Judith McNeil (chapter 8, My Mother, Savior of Men), and Jerry Peterson (chapters 24-29, Capitol Crimes).

February 25: Ruth Imhoff (chapter, Motto of the Hound), Ryan Wagner (poems), Deb Kellerman (chapter), Carol Hornung (scene, Ghost of Heffron College), Jack Freiburger (??).

And we will be meeting at Barnes & Noble as usual, but it was really tempting to take up Jack’s suggestion to meet at the Mucky Duck, a lovely little restaurant on Capitva Island, Florida, where it isn’t stupid-degrees-below-zero. 🙂

March 4: Lisa McDougal (chapter 12, Tebow Family Secret), Cindi Dyke (chapters, North Road), Bob Kralapp (short story, “Hole in the Wall”, Part 2), Millie Mader (chapter 51, Life on Hold), Ruth Imhoff (scene 2, Flame of Souls), and Jerry Peterson(chapters 30-33, Capitol Crimes).

A short story contest for you . . .
We TWS writers are masters of the short short story, soooo here’s an opportunity for you.

The Wisconsin Public Radio program To the Best of Our Knowledge is running a short story contest. If your story is one of the top three, it will be turned into a radio play that will air on TTBook.

Big point number 1: Your story must be sci-fi. It must be based on real science, and it must be set in the near future.

To get you going, here are some themes ideas you might use, all suggested by TTBook: communication, energy, computing, robotics, biomedicine, drones, spaceflight, nanotechnology, ecological concerns, food production, reproduction, end-of-life, and surveillance.

Your story must run no less than 500 words and no more than 600, so it can be read aloud in three minutes.

Big point number 2: Your entry – only one – must be submitted by midnight March 1.

To get more info on the contest and to submit your story, go to http://www.ttbook.org/3-minute-futures

Great words . . .
From Wordsmith Anu Garg:

This week I’ll share five Americanisms. Some of these are words from the American West. For most, the origin remains obscure. Many of these are pseudo-Latin words, fanciful formations that may sound highfalutin today. Use these words to bring a certain earthy flavor to your discourse. But like spices in a preparation, a little goes a long way. Use them judiciously.

bloviate
PRONUNCIATION: (BLO-vee-ayt)
MEANING: verb intr.: To speak pompously.

ETYMOLOGY:
Pseudo-Latin alteration of blow (to boast). Earliest documented use: 1845.

USAGE:
“All you cinephiles who like to find grand statements and social criticism in horror movies, prepare to bloviate. It’s midnight at the Tribeca Film Festival.”
– Neil Genzlinger; Scare Me, Sure, But Also Make A Statement; The New York Times; Apr 18, 2013.

skulduggery
PRONUNCIATION: (skuhl-DUHG-uh-ree)
MEANING: noun: Underhand dealing: trickery, bribery, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:
An American coinage, apparently from the alteration of Scots sculduddery (fornication, obscenity). Earliest documented use: 1867.

USAGE:
“In the 1980s [the Vatican Bank] was accused of involvement in financial skulduggery and responsibility for the still-mysterious death of a prominent Italian banker, Roberto Calvi.”
– God’s Bankers; The Economist (London, UK); Jul 7, 2012.

honeyfuggle
PRONUNCIATION: (HUN-ee-fuh-guhl)
MEANING: verb tr., intr.: To deceive or swindle, especially by flattery.

ETYMOLOGY: Perhaps from honey + fugle (to cheat). Earliest documented use: 1829. Also spelled as honeyfugle.

USAGE:
“Don’t try to honeyfuggle me, Wolf McCloud. I’m not pretty, and we both know it.”
– Jane Bonander; Wild Heart; Pocket Books; 1995.

lallygag or lollygag
PRONUNCIATION: (LAL-ee-gag, LOL-ee-gag)
MEANING: verb intr.:
1. To fool around, waste time, or spend time lazily.
2. To neck.

ETYMOLOGY:
Origin uncertain. Earliest documented use: 1862.

USAGE:
“I lallygagged around and when it was evident that they were not coming home to take me, I had to start off.”
– Margaret Mason; A Memory at Large; RoseDog Books; 2011.

bumfuzzle
PRONUNCIATION: (bum-FUZ-uhl)
MEANING: verb tr.: To confuse.

ETYMOLOGY:
From bum-, probably from bamboozle (to deceive) + fuzzle (to confuse). Earliest documented use: 1900.

USAGE:
“Latt insists the company is not trying to bumfuzzle anybody into believing Asylum’s releases are big-studio product.”
– James Hebert; Knockoff Movies Touted as ‘Tie-ins’’; Union-Tribune (San Diego, California); August 17, 2007.

The last word . . .
“A grain of poetry suffices to season a century.” – José Martí, revolutionary and poet (1853-1895)