Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
October 19, 2018

They gathered at the bookstore

John Schneller led 11 TWS members gathered in the writers circle through critiques of the works of seven of their colleagues. Here is some of what was shared:

Lisa McDougal (chapter 6, The Tebow Family Secret): There was some confusion about why Adam gave Jessica a Sprite instead of a beer when she asked (under age). It was suggested that the African mask be made less valuable so that it would be more believable that Adam would have it. Also to rework line about camera being new. Tracey recommended I change the lines from the movie because of copy right issue. Larry thought the ending wasn’t subtle enough.

Millie Mader (Short story, rewrite, “Stone Cold Stripper”): My only contribution is that I’m going to do more rewriting. (sigh!!)

Jack Freiburger (chapter 18, A Walk Upon the Water):

Bob Kralapp (short story, part 1, “Capacity”):

Larry Sommers (prologue and chapters 1-2 rewrite, Izzy): My experimental start on the Izzy story was generally acknowledged to have a more authentic little-boy voice and perspective, but still lacking enough focus and dramatic circumstances to be really “hooking.” Jack offered some suggestions on wording changes. There were two schools of thought on whether the prologue really is needed or adds anything important. I myself am ambivalent about that. Thanks to everybody for reading and commenting.

Meg Matenaer (chapter 5, Write in Time): The gentlemen had strong feelings about some muddled analogies and poor word choices. John felt the fistfight on the bluffs was over-the-top. Jerry thought that John in the story ought to at least get swiped by the cat. Amber wondered why John in the story hadn’t packed a second pair of shorts. The humidity was clearly communicated.

Amber Boudreau (chapter 1 rewrite, Avice): Amber took another stab at the first chapter to her new urban fantasy novel for adults. Overall, reactions were positive. Larry suggested that the lead was buried with the talk about werewolves, but John didn’t think so. Jack suggested getting rid of the word ‘crossfire’ in anything to do with a school setting as it will make people think of school shootings. John suggested cutting the last line.

Who’s up next

November 6

Paul Wagner (???)

Amit Trivedi (???)

Kashmira Sheth (???)

Cindi Dyke (???)

John Schneller (chapter 4, Final Stronghold)

Jerry Peterson (short story, part 3, “Death Rides the Rails”)

Fifth Tuesday

Yes, October 30, the night before trick-or-treat night—All Hallows Eve. “A howling good time” is the prompt for our writing challenge. The story, poem, essay, or memoir you write for this one doesn’t have to be a Halloween story, but it could.

Maximum length: 500 words.

Deadline: Email your mini-masterpiece to Jerry Peterson by Sunday evening, October 28.

Jack Freiburger will host the group at his farm south of Fitchburg. This is a potluck dinner event, so plan to bring your lucky pot filled with good food to share with the group.

News of our alumni

Katelin Cummins is still writing. Go to her Facebook author page [https://www.facebook.com/Katelin-Cummins-880624622136205/?ref=page_internal] and read what she’s working on. While there, also LIKE her page.

Carol Hornung brought out her second novel, The Ghost of Heffron College, this month. It’s up on Amazon.

Here’s the squib: After his roommate is forced to leave, Kyle Zander finds himself sharing his Heffron College dorm room with a ghost—a melancholy spirit with no memory of who he was or how he died. Working with only a vague spectral appearance and a nickname, Kyle and his best friend, Shaggy, uncover the ethereal roommate’s identity. Together they discover that the ghost, once a student at Heffron College, had been murdered.

The Ghost of Heffron College is a mystery. Carol started the book when she was still with us.

Our editor

Tracey Gemmell finished her month as editor with this issue of Writer’s Mail. Amber Boudreau takes up the job next month. Do send her your news and other good stuff you’ve found that pertains to writing that she can include in the first November issue.

NaNoWriMo is back

November is National Novel Writing Month, your opportunity – your challenge, too – to write a novel in 30 days. NaNoWriMo defines a novel as 50,000 words. If you’ve never participated, do so. Click here <https://nanowrimo.org/> for details and to sign up.

A short story contest for you

The Public Library Association is sponsoring a short story writing contest. The theme that each story must employ is courage.

The story’s maximum length is not in words, but in characters . . . 8,000 characters, including spaces. Nuts? Perhaps, but that’s the way it is. Eight thousand characters is roughly 2,000 words.

Writing a story and submitting it is worth it. The winner gets a check for $1,000.

The deadline for submitting a story is October 30. Where, how to do that, and all the other contest details are at PLA.short-edition.com. Click here to get there: https://short-edition.com/en/contest/set-stories-free-2018

A good read: Jerry submitted this article by K.M. Weiland. It reminds us of the importance of language. (Your editor tried to pull snippets from it to save you some reading time, but the site won’t allow it. Worth the long read. Please copy and paste link to your browser as it refused to hot link here.)

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/words-are-radical-or-how-to-cherish-language/

And last, but not least …