Am at the CRRL Salem Church library branch, Room B, and the date is Saturday, 08 January 2011. The RWG is meeting. Fun times in Dodge City, or so I felt after it ended. The trip, well, the trip was fascinating.

The names and personalities of RWG members have been altered to protect the innocent, the guilty, and the unconcerned. These changes are taken as a CYA action, so I don’t suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous literary criticism at some point in the future. I doubt I will, as the altered RWG members are not computer savvy and probably never will ever see the Blog.

A few helpful notes - The RWG meets the second Saturday of each month at the CRRL Salem Church branch. Several poetry and prose events are coming up … the President (Evelyn Bickell and the Programs chair (Larry Turner) each commented on these, covering locations, times and deadlines for submissions. As I’m not interested in writing any poetry I’ll stick with venues for publicizing The Tessera Trilogy ©, but not enter any contests. I’ll skip the more mundane organizational topics mentioned and focus on my areas of interest. The RWG seems to focus on poetry and short stories. All members got a chance to mention their works and upcoming efforts/publications.

Steph mentioned a friend with interests in genealogy, so I provided contact info (networking). John (not at meeting) is a retired government type writing a novel.

Critiques are very word centric, especially for poems. The group chews up each word, each suggestion of symbolism. Hmm!!!

Monday evenings at 7 PM in Central Park, Fredericksburg at Borders’ Book Store readings are conducted. Entries are to be no more than 5 pages, double-spaced. Ten copies are to provided of the article to be read.

March 19^th will see The Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, VA. RWG members are encouraged to carpool.

The following Saturday, March 26^th, will be the Celebration of Poetry at CRRL HQ in Fredericksburg. The morning of that event will see a “Poetry Slam” of readings by members or the general public. There will be no charge if one puts ones book out for display or sale… Hmm!!!!

Critique of Golden Gate ©. I read Chapter 1, In the Sands, to the critique session as the last piece reviewed. Feedback included - “It flows really well”, two typos were noted (corrected), and “bring more to read at next session.” One member asked if she could keep the copy… of course. I mentioned that the entire novel would be provided to anyone sending an e-mail. I was asked if I had published the novel, as one reader noted the writing name (DP Tolan) on the cover. I responded that I had offered the book to cousins via my newsletters and had 34 copies in circulation.

Caution on the RWG, which like any group, has its little cliques and interest groups. Poetry, and prose, evokes the authors’ passions, and defensiveness (not just by ne) was evident. One member even did a bit of back biting after the meeting … fascinating! It is good to know what is in the waters one swims through.

 

After the meeting I asked Candice Ransom, our children’s book author, if she had ever considered using high school art students to illustrate her books. No … the editor or publisher require use of their illustrators. I noted the excellent artwork on display locally at Chancellor High School (CHHS), and the possibly of commissioning a student to do a book cover. I got a rather strange look. Was I slightly off my rocker? Oh, well …

Actions – Only submit double spaced articles, two to three pages in length, for review. Each will be read to the group.

Make your words “a portrait”, be visual and build tension. Include alliteration (personal interest… because it’s cool). Avoid superfluous words.

I might shorten and submit my research paper on “Passages of Josephus.” I checked and it is roughly twenty-two pages in length, minus references, foot and endnotes.