Writers Mail
November 4, 2014
Andy Pfeiffer read from his NaNoWriMo novel, A Song of Destiny. Judith mentioned that the age or school status should be revealed earlier in the chapter. Pat pointed out the Andy has a distinctive voice and that he should give it free rein in wackiness. Pat asked about Carter’s remarking on race of a couple of Wal Mart employees. Andy said the he has a mild case of Asperger’s Syndrome and is extremely detailed oriented. Pat suggested that Carter should either be totally focused on the person, remarking on the color of their clothes, etc., or more focused on distances, etc. Judith asked about Destiny’s knowledge of cutting lens. Others suggested that she not be allowed to cut the lens, which would provide additional conflict in the runaway venture.
Judith McNeil read from My Mother, Savior of Men, Chapters 22,23, 24. Jerry felt that Charlie’s dad had smoothed the way for his chair to be accepted at the museum. The group liked the chapter on the trip to Ecuador. Millie liked the development of the father son relationship on the trip. Jerry pointed out the need to insert how “tea” got into hotel room in that scene and to action of Charlie picking up phone in one of last scenes.
Mike Rickey read his poem Grandfather’s Barns. Everyone loved the descriptions of the barns holding the energy of various aspects of the farm. Pat loved the phrase “knowers of grit”. She suggested that he show effects of weather and the elements on the barns.
Andy Brown read from The Last Library, Part 1. Pat commented that the beginning was much stronger than the last draft. Andy said that the action takes place twenty years after the Apocalypse. Humanity is responding to the wind returning, relating it to passages in the Bible. Pat talked about the unexpectedness of the images. Also said that the language is very powerful. Jerry reminded him to indicate that in the last scene, Skully had lost control of the crowd and must regain in order for them to hear and respond to his words.
Jerry Peterson read from Rooster’s Story, Chapter 1. Andy commented that the dialogue between the four men had little setting, so hard to know what was going on. The men use war medic protocol to help stabilize Rooster after his arm is severed. Pat found that interesting. Also, noted the sound and rhythm of machine tipping them off that something was malfunctioning. Andy found the mechanical descriptions too technical for the lay person. Judith and Millie noted the feeling of levity at beginning of chapter that rapidly descends into disaster.
She said it . . .
“Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way.” – Alice Childress, playwright, author, and actor (1916-1994)
Who’s up next . . .
November 11: Liam Wilbur (chapter, Prisoner of the Gods) and Jen Wilcher (???), Rebecca Rettenmund (chapter 4, Lookout), Alicia Connolly-Lohr (chapter 3, Coastie Girl), and Karen (???).
November 18: Lisa McDougal (chapter, Tebow Family Secret), Andy Brown (chapter, The Last Library), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), Pat Edwards (???), Millie Mader (chapter 59, Life on Hold), and Judith McNeil (chapters 25 & 26, My Mother Savior of Men).
December 2: Cindi Dyke (chapter, North Road), Andy Pfeiffer (chapters, The Void), Mike Rickey (poems), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), Bob Kralapp (???), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 2, Rooster’s Story).
Where next we meet . . .
First-and-third group moves to the Alicia Ashman Branch Library for its next three meetings, November 18, and December 2 and 16.
Second-and-fourth group moves to Alicia Ashman for its sole meeting in December, December 9.
A new meeting start time, 6:45 p.m., so we can be out of the library by 9:00 when the staff locks up for the night.
She’s in charge . . .
Judith McNeil is this month’s Writers Mail editor, and Alicia Connolly-Lohr takes over in December. Who will step forward for January? This can be your opportunity to mold the content of our e-newsletter for a month.
Love those short stories . . .
“Short stories are the poetry of prose,” says mystery writer William Kent Krueger. “They are precise, cut to the bone, every word a necessity.” Says fellow mystery writer Libby Fisher Hellmann, “I do have to confess something: I love writing short stories. I often say that a novel is like a marriage, but a short story is an affair: passionate, all-consuming, wonderful, and brief.”
Hellmann, over the years, has written a pile of short stories, all published somewhere including two sets of them now out in collections.
A couple years ago, she wrote a post about why, as a writer, she’s hooked on the short story. In that post, she gives six reasons why writing short stories can be good for you and your career as a writer. Here’s the link to that post: http://www.libbyhellmann.com/6-reasons-to-write-short-stories/
Great words . . .
We could say it’s all Greek to me as a way of introducing this collection of words from Wordsmith Anu Garg.
Says Garg, ancient Greek literature is replete with stories of mortals and heroes and gods. “Many of these figures have become part of the English language as eponyms, words derived from people’s names.”
Here are the stories of words that have their origins in characters from Greek mythology.
odyssey
PRONUNCIATION: (AH-duh-see)
MEANING: noun: A long eventful journey or experience.
ETYMOLOGY: After Odysseus, whose 10-year wandering after the fall of Troy is described in Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey. Earliest documented use: 1886.
USAGE:
“In The Beast, … journalist Oscar Martinez chronicled the treacherous odysseys that Central Americans undertake as they cross Mexico. … The ‘beasts’ of the title are the trains on which the travelers ride not in boxcars, as American hobos did in earlier times, but on the roofs.”
– Harold Meyerson; A New Children’s March; The Washington Post; Jun 19, 2014.
cimmerian
PRONUNCIATION: (si-MIR-ee-uhn)
MEANING: adjective: Very dark or gloomy.
ETYMOLOGY: After Cimmerians, a mythical people described in Homer’s Odyssey, who lived in perpetual darkness at the entrance of Hades. The historical Cimmerians, who lived in Crimea, were unrelated. Earliest documented use: 1594.
USAGE:“All along the beach they had travelled on the empty bus, watching as lightning slashed the brooding, Cimmerian sky.”
– Anita Rau Badami; The Hero’s Walk; Algonquin Books; 2001.
narcissist
PRONUNCIATION: (NAHR-si-sist)
MEANING: noun: Someone with excessive self-interest or self-love.
ETYMOLOGY: In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a hunter and a young man of exceptional beauty. He spurned the nymph Echo. One day, he saw his reflection in water and fell in love with himself. Not realizing it was himself and unable to leave, he eventually died. Earliest documented use: 1917.
USAGE:
“Dreyfus’s vice-president is a narcissist who plays an important scene in a room filled with pictures of herself.”
– Jaime J. Weinman; Politics for Pretty People; Maclean’s (Toronto, Canada); Jul 18, 2012.
atlas
PRONUNCIATION: (AT-luhs)
MEANING: noun:
1. A person who supports a great burden.
2. A book of maps, charts, tables, plates, etc.
3. The top vertebra of the backbone, which supports the skull.
4. A size of drawing paper 26×33 or 26×34 inches.
5. An architectural column in the shape of a man. (Plural: atlantes. Another word for this is telamon. The female equivalent is caryatid.)
ETYMOLOGY: After Atlas, a Titan in Greek mythology, who was condemned by Zeus to support the heavens. A book of maps is called an atlas because early books of this kind depicted Atlas on the cover holding the earth on his shoulders. Earliest documented use: 1589.
USAGE:
“Williams’s performance is forced, as if he believes he is an Atlas holding up the whole picture.”
– Afterlives; Stanley Kauffmann; The New Republic (Washington, DC); Oct 26, 1998.
charon
PRONUNCIATION: (KER-uhn)
MEANING: noun: A ferryman.
ETYMOLOGY: After Charon, the old man who transported the souls of the dead across the rivers Styx and Acheron to Hades. In some cultures a coin was put in the mouth of the dead to pay for the ferry ride. Also see psychopomp. Earliest documented use: 1522.
USAGE:
“On the Ganges, a charon pulled me soundlessly across the water.”
– Pico Iyer; Maximum India; Condé Nast Traveler; Jan, 2011.
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