Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
June 18, 2015
Who’s up next . . .
June 23: Karen Judd (chapter 1, To Journey Amongst the Unknown).
June 30: Fifth Tuesday!
July 7: Pat Edwards (???), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), Alicia Connolly-Lohr (chapters 23, Coastie Girl), Millie Mader (chapter 64, Life on Hold), Judith McNeil (short story, part 2, “Seriously”), Andy Brown (chapters, The Last Library), and Jerry Peterson (short story, part 2, Alone at the Hanging Tree).
July 21: Lisa McDougal (chapter, Tebow Family Secret), Cindi Dyke (chapter, North Road), Alicia Connolly-Lohr (chapters 24, Coastie Girl), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), Bob Kralapp (short story, part 4, “Flamingo”), and Jerry Peterson (chapters 9-12, Killing Ham).
Fifth Tuesday!
Yes, our next Fifth Tuesday is less than four weeks away . . . June 30. We will gather at Panera’s on University Avenue, so this is an order-off-the-menu dinner evening.
Your writing challenge: Write a two-sentence story . . . beginning, middle, and end in just two sentences. The subject? Your choice.
Email you mini-mini-masterpiece to Jerry Peterson by Sunday evening, June 28.
From the 1st and 3rd meeting on the 16th
Alicia’s story (Coastie Girl)
Kate should drop the flashlight first, then turn around. Pete would have called her on the radio again while Jared had a gun pulled on her in the house; the father-daughter relationship should be beefed up; sometimes Kate seems too mature.
Judith’s short story (Seriously…)
Alicia and Jerry thought the credibility of news team showing up for a drunk pick up unlikely. I did not indicate that the story was finished, so critique that is a weak ending—I cleared up. Alicia thought characters were not compelling and need to establish genre—paranormal? humor? Etc. I would say a combination of humorous paranormal. First draft of unfinished story–.
Lisa’s novel
Someone thought the beginning of chapter 31 started too slow. Could be cut down to get to the action sooner.
-Jerry suggested a scene where Adam catches his mother with her new boyfriend in bed.
– Pat said to mention the glass table was break way glass or have him be very bloody.
-Group thinks the gun should be loaded
-Add more internal thought from Melissa when she gets into the house.
-Melissa should “creep” up the stairs.
Kashmira’s picture book
Some people had a difficult time thinking elephants walk silently. Mo wanted some notes on it. Pat liked the story. Jerry though having one parent read the story to Ari would work better.
Bob’s short story
Alicia wanted to know what the story was about. Kashmira felt that the current situation conveyed enough information to draw a more complete picture. Jerry thought it was the end of the story.
Mo’s story
Pat found the opening of the story disturbing and didn’t read on. Lisa enjoyed the story. There was discussion about how to begin with story and how best to hook and engage the readers.
What is a short story?
There are many definitions of what a short story is. Since some of us are writing short stories I have included two definitions.
One from celebrated children’s author, National book award winner and my friend Jacqueline Woodson:
“For myself a short story is fiction that is more immediate and urgent than a novel. I think of it cinematically–the camera zooming in on this one climactic moment, then pulling back on either side of the moment to show all that leads up to and comes after it.”
The second is from my editor Donna Bray of Balzer and Bray (HarperCollins):
“A short story is like the illumination of a match. All the details have to work toward that illumination.”
The Word Lover’s Guide to New Words . . .
Courtesy of Word Spy Paul McFedreis:
This week I come not to bury Twitter, but to praise it. Specifically, I want to sing its under-appreciated genius for neological invention, where people tweet not what they had for breakfast, but the word they just coined, the phrase they just made up, the portmanteau they just put together.
Words Spied
ambidisastrous adj. Equally ruinous or calamitous in two ways or along two fronts. (ambi- [“on both sides”] + disastrous) [@DesolateCranium]
aurogenous adj. Aurally pleasing. (aural + -genous; cf. erogenous) [@giggleloop]
courtwalk n. The notional fashion show that women’s tennis is becoming. (tennis court + catwalk) [@VVFriedman]
literallyliterally adj. Definitely not figuratively. [@Rand_Simberg]
loiterature n. Articles, posts, books, or other material that a person reads while waiting. (loitering + literature) [@jeffstrabone]
olfactoid n. An imagined or hallucinated smell. (olfactory + factoid) [@winnig]
Word of the Week
messipe n. An ad hoc or idiosyncratic collection of practices and rules for making a relationship work. (messy + recipe) [@Kendraspondence]
From Pat Edwards:
A crowd-funded publisher (like Kickstarter) for authors.
The Poet’s Almanac App
Introducing the new Poetry East App, “The Poet’s Almanac.”
Poetry East is delighted to announce the release of its first smart phone application, The Poet’s Almanac, which is now available for download on iOS and Android devices! The app analyzes the weather report and couples it withPoetry East’s customized archive to create a new way for users to discover and engage with poetry every day.
The Poet’s Almanac is available FREE for download in theApple App Store and Google Play.
I loaded it and today’s weather forecast had a lovely poem about Pablo Casals!
Tuesdays with Story 
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