We had a
wonderful celebration of words at the 15th anniversary of the Hill
Country Women of Words! We were tickled pink to have several too-long-absent
members back with us!
Sally Clark brought us the story starter from
http://thefirstline.com : “Frank Rooney had
been the manager of the Shop and Save for thirty-eight years, and he wasn’t
retiring anytime soon.” If you can write between 300-5000 words starting with
this sentence, send it to The First Line. They pay between $25 and $50 for
accepted pieces.
Liz Eberle has been away for years, but she
is our founding member. Our very first WOW meeting was at her house on Seamoor
in July, 2001. Although Liz has been over-taken with caregiver responsibilities
the past few years, she had been working, even slowly, to put together a book
of her writings and her family memoirs. She brought the Prologue to her book, “My
Stories? Why?” and we all got a glimpse into her life. Liz’s advice is “don’t
let the stories die with you.” We’re so glad Liz is back.
Bobbi Grimmer was back, too! We haven’t seen
Bobbi in about a year because she’s been keeping her grandchildren, one of them
all day and a couple after school. Whew. And she just moved into a new
apartment. Whew again. Bobbi read a memoir piece about her life-long bond with
music. They have “rocked and rolled the years away together.” We’re so glad
Bobbi is back.
Shelley Burkhalter is back! Her job at the Kerrville
Public Library didn’t work out – stacking the books was too hard on her back. I’ve
can commiserate with that. If you know of a good part-time job that let’s
Shelley have Tuesdays off, let her know. We don’t want to lose her again.
Judith Rost is home from her trip to Minnesota - back to the heat. Judith
brought us a picture of the cover of her new book, Secrets of the High Rise. Her daughter designed the cover and it is
gripping! The perfect book cover for a murder mystery. So glad you’re back,
Judith.
Sheila Kale brought us a scene from a myth
she is writing. It’s a stirring scene of child sacrifice in a place and time
when such murders were accepted. Sheila also brought two poems, “Phantoms of
Life” and “I Remember” which she plans to submit to the Hospital Drive Contest
(http://hospitaldrive.org/contest
) in which the theme is “Leaving.” So happy Sheila is with us again.
Rose Huff brought us 11 devotionals to
critique. Rose has a total of 31 devotions that need to be critiqued before the
end of July and she’d be happy to email them to anybody who has time to look at
them. She has been bringing them to TWiG and we’ve been working on them, but we’re
going to run out of time. Just let Sally know at sally_s_clark@yahoo.com if you would
like to critique.
Sally Clark brought three poems she has
submitted to Dos Gatos Press 100-word Southwestern Poetry anthology, “Dairy
Queen,” “Treaty Night,” and “Headed West.” Each one is EXACTLY 100 words. Thanks
to all for catching my typo.
Lynn Harris brought more of her Ben and
Ginger story. Talk about your rocky marriage. Goodness. Ginger is all kinds of
stubborn and Ben is at the end of his rope.
Mary Eckert writes: “Just a note to
let you know that I will be having hip surgery on July 24th there in Fredericksburg. Complete
hip replacement. Ugh! So that said, don't think I will be at WOW until
after the first of the year. I am working on my story though and hope I will
have it ready to read some of it in January. Blessings to all Mary”
Linda Christensen had a 1:30 appt at the Creek Street property her church has been
working on, so she didn’t make it for the meeting.
Don’t
forget Johnson City FREE Writers Event on July 20th
from 1-4. I’ll be going and will be happy for anybody to ride with me who wants
to.
Stay
cool!
