The PSB Writers Guild met on Sunday, August 20, 2017 with nine members present. The next meeting will be on September 17th from 1:30pm to 3:30pm.
Cindy Louden opened with a welcome to a prospective member Joe Vitella. Continue reading “August Guild Meeting Update”
Our next Writers Guild meeting is Sunday, August 20th from 1:30pm to 3:30pm in the Cultural Center (the Red Barn building) on the beautiful grounds of Pearl S. Buck’s historic home at 520 Dublin Road, Perkasie, PA 18944. We welcome all writers and would-be writers to join us at this monthly (from March to October) roundtable discussion.
Bring ten or more copies of a 3 or 4 page selection of your work if you wish to share it for comments. Be sure to include your name and email address on your work for additional feedback.
Bob McCrillis Publishes First Book Continue reading “August Guild News”
(With apologies to Messrs. Chapman and Keats –but I needed a title)
Always on the lookout for a bargain, I found myself perusing the public domain table at Barnes & Noble. For those unfamiliar with these offerings, they are cheap hardback editions of classics that are no longer protected by copyright priced with the student budget in mind. Continue reading “On First Looking Into Dickens’s Oliver Twist”
The theme for the Fall 2017 Issue, Volume 2, Number 2, of the Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal is Justice and Mercy. We see a host of possible avenues for writing about justice and mercy — the lack of either virtue OR the presence of either virtue. We include both sides of this theme, for, in Anne Kaler’s words: “If there were perfect justice, we would not need mercy. If there were perfect mercy, we would not need justice.” Continue reading “Fall 2017 Literary Journal Theme is Justice and Mercy”
Eight Writers Guild members came together this past Sunday for our July meeting. For the benefit of our new member, Holly Odell, we went around the table and introduced ourselves and told about our current writing projects.
It was announced that Sandy Cody, a presenter at PSB Writing Center workshops, and Guild member, sent two links from Authors Publish magazine: First Eleven Literary Journals that Read Submissions Blind (without regard to the author’s identity or previous publishing history). Second, a free PDF The 2017 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.
Anne Kaler congratulated Bob McCrillis on the paperback proof copy he brought of his new collection of short stories published through CreateSpace. Entitled Puckerbrush: Stories of the Journey to Manhood. Bob had just finished rereading and marking the editing changes he plans to make before correcting them and releasing the book for publication. Continue reading “July Guild Meeting Highlights”
Writers use patterns the same way that fabric designers use patterns – as guides for their material. (Note the pun there – both use “material” which means it is “of matter” or words.) Writers use the patterns called formulas to make their words conform to an understood, preconceived expectation for the reader.
And readers become intensely annoyed when the pattern/formula/genre is misrepresented. Classic story. The well-meaning children of a church pastor bought him a surprise book – Erskine Caldwell’s God’s Little Acre — thinking that the subject matter was suitable for a man of the cloth. It wasn’t.
So, knowing what the pattern of a book is becomes paramount in the construction of that book. That’s why there are genres or types of books which are classified by the patterns they use. Often times the title itself will suggest enough of the ultimate pattern for me to want to read the book. Continue reading “How to Write Using a Pattern”
Ever wonder where writers get their ideas from?
Today one source landed right outside the window and insisted on being the center of my universe for the morning.
A young, a very young, robin perched on the top of an iron-ledge of a garden chair as I went out to get the newspapers. His gimlet eye watched as a circled around him so as not to startle him into flight.
I knew he was young – the speckled head and shoulders and the orange hint on his pale breast gave away his age. And he did not seem ready to fly away when I passed by. It was only after observing him for an hour that I realized that this was indeed a very young bird. Continue reading “Writing, Watching, and Wondering”
By Susan Wagner
When I was in fourth grade, the economic problems of Appalachia were in the news. I had seen it myself when I watched the news with my mother. We talked about it in school because our school planned to raise funds to aid children there. It was a penny collection. Over a period of a month, we were all asked to collect and donate as many pennies as we could. Continue reading “What Is Your Passion?”
Our next meeting is Sunday, July 16th from 1:30pm to 3:30pm in the Cultural Center (the Red Barn building) on the beautiful grounds of Pearl S. Buck’s historic home at 520 Dublin Road, Perkasie, PA 18944. We welcome all writers and would-be writers to join us at this monthly (from March to October) roundtable discussion.
Bring ten or more copies of a 3 or 4 page selection of your work if you wish to share it for comments. Be sure to include your name and email address for additional feedback.
Recap of June Guild Meeting and
Janet Benton Publishes Debut Novel
There are 16 contributions to this Spring 2017 Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal. The theme of this issue is birth, rebirth and renewal. Submissions include essays, memoirs, poems, short stories, flash fiction and an excerpt from a novel.
Our thanks to authors, Anne K. Kaler, Bob McCrillis, Lois Guarino Hazel, Susan Wagner, Meredith Betz, Fred W. Donaldson, Linda C. Wisniewski, Jennifer Yuan, John McCabe, Carol Kretovich, and Judith Wrase Nygard.
(Click title to read selection. Author’s biography at end of contribution)
ESSAY BY ANNE K. KALER, PSBVA
SHORT STORY BY BOB McCRILLIS
SHORT STORY BY LOIS GUARINO HAZEL
EXCERPT FROM A NOVEL BY ANNE K. KALER PSBVA
POEM BY SUSAN WAGNER
MEMOIR BY MEREDITH BETZ
ESSAY BY FRED W. DONALDSON
SHORT STORY BY LINDA C. WISNIEWSKI
MEMOIR BY LOIS GUARINO HAZEL
SHORT STORY BY JENNIFER YUAN
SHORT STORY BY JOHN McCABE
POEM BY SUSAN WAGNER
MEMOIR BY Carol Kretovich
POEM BY JUDITH WRASE NYGARD
MEMOIR BY MEREDITH BETZ
FLASH FICTION BY JOHN McCABE
Pearl S. Buck Writing Center 