Shawano Area Writers met March 16 in the Veslak room at the Shawano Public Library. Members attending were Tom Thorstenson, Terry Misfeldt, Marilyn Kroenke, Manuel Moreleda, John Mutter, Lee Pulaski, Nicholas Wudtke, Wendy Goerl, Barbara King, Susan Cloutier, Trudy Bosman and Svetlana Allen.
Introductions were made because we had a new person attend, Susan Cloutier. Cloutier can play many instruments, has been in several bands and loves to dance. She was going through some papers and discovered some of her old writings. She discovered there was a writing group in Shawano through the paper and was able to join us.
President Tom Thorstenson announced that the Wisconsin Writers Association has opened the Jade Ring Contest for writers. Entry fee is $20 for members and $30 for non-members.
John Mutter read the Treasurer’s Report. Terry Misfeldt moved to accept the report and Manuel Moreleda seconded it.
Terry Misfeldt announced another release about the George Putz Student Writing Contest is coming out soon. Also, we need to order things for the awards program in May.
Trudy Bosman announced that April is Poetry Month at Writer’s Digest. Each day there will be a prompt for a poem which can be submitted without a fee.
Marilyn Kroenke is setting up a meeting outside the usual meeting to come up with a motto and a goal for SAW, so Jill Adele can start writing a grant for us to provide money for workshops or projects.
Kroenke had some good news to share. She entered a short story contest for Writer’s Digest, and her piece was selected to be in the top five. Readers voted on their favorite, and Kroenke’s writing came in second.
Susan Cloutier started the reading with an untitled piece about a woman’s emotions listening to a man playing in a band.
Barb King read a chapter from her book “The Children in the Garden.” Jillian decides she needs to get a cat to catch all those mice on the second floor. She comes back with a cat and a dog that reminds her of Winston Churchill.
Wendy Goerl read the introduction to her Heartstone series.
Lee Pulaski read from his book “Heartsong of the Lonesome Road.” A group of friends are playing poker when Amara starts showing some pictures on her phone of a local artist who always puts a bowl of chicken soup in every picture she paints. There is Chicken Soup in a Pasture, and Chicken Soup in a Field of Poppies. Chicken Soup with a Tomato Soup Chaser is a bowl of chicken soup on a volcano. Chicken Soup at the Super Bowl shows the players hiking a bowl of (you guessed it) chicken soup instead of a football.
Trudy Bosman wrote a poem about her trip to Florida after following a prompt on a version of memoirs.
Manny Moraleda attended a Zoom session entitled “Educational and Informational,” where eight major languages were spoken. Each person read something in his or her mother language, and the others tried to see if they could figure out what the reader was saying. Moraleda read a poem in his mother language “Waray,” which is an ethnic dialogue of the formal language spoken in the Philippians. Moraleda and 24 other Filipinos received plaques for being members for 20 years.
Svetlana Allen recited a poem from the classical writer, Alexander Pushki, in her mother language, Russian. It was a fairy tale. Allen was saddened that fellow Ukrainians have thrown paint on the statue of Pushki since Russia has invaded her mother country.
Terry Misfeldt wrote a story entitled “What If?” which will be part of his memoirs. Misfeldt was good at several sports in his youth. Misfeldt was a big boy and, of course, gravitated to football. He was planning on a professional career in football until his coach called him a loser for going to Chicago for a family vacation and missed a game. What if he had gone out for baseball?
Tom Thorstenson threw out three ideas for stories he hasn’t written yet. The first idea was an emporium that sold “used” fast food, like hamburgers and hot dogs. The second idea was about retirement, but he felt everyone pretty much prepared for retirement like he did — saving your money in a two-gallon plastic bucket from Menards that you store under the kitchen sink. The third idea was of an orthodontist who made dentures or capped teeth for vampires so they would look more human. Nothing gives away a vampire faster than those fangs.
Nick Wudtke read from the first book in his Black Needle Series entitled “Parabolic, Magnetic Key.” His protagonists, Nick and Dave, find branches from a black needle pine and find that the tree has excellent gripping power, perfect for sword hilts. The tree patterns inside the two branches are different. One is swirls and the other is waves. Old Man Johnson tells them where to go to get their swords made. He writes a note for them to take to Tim Warmane, the greatest swordsmith in the capital of Myothraces, who owes him a favor.
Lee Pulaski made the motion to adjourn, and Terry Misfeldt seconded it.
Shawano Area Writers meets on the third Thursday of every month in the Veslak Room at the Shawano Public Library. The next meeting is April 20 from 10 a.m. to noon.
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