July Guild Meeting Highlights

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By Linda Donaldson

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” →

How to Write Using a Pattern

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By Anne K. Kaler

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.

Anne Kaler Head ShotAnd 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” →

When Writing What You Know May Be Too Much Reality

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By Susan Wagner

Once, in college, I wrote a short story that was published by the school’s literary journal. I was criticized for it, publicly, by a professor I didn’t even know. It was too personal, she said. It was something that should have stayed within the family.

Sue Wagner NewI was shocked by this because it was a piece of fiction. Did it have elements I related to? Of course. Like Stephen King, some things in my life just had to be written or they’d overwhelm me. But I did use the emotions I’d felt to drive me, changing the actual circumstances. This was largely to protect myself. The last thing I ever wanted was for my family to figure out what I was writing about. Continue reading “When Writing What You Know May Be Too Much Reality” →

Writing, Watching, and Wondering

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By Anne K. Kaler

Anne Kaler Head Shot

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” →

What Is Your Passion?

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By Susan WagnerSue Wagner New

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?” →

Writers Guild News

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By Linda Donaldson

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

Continue reading “Writers Guild News” →

Pearl S. Buck’s 125th Birthday Celebrated

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By Linda Donaldson

Sunny weather welcomed guests on both days of Pearl S. Buck’s 125th birthday anniversary on Sunday, June 25th and Monday, June 26th (her actual birthday). I had the privilege of attending both days which showcased the Short Story Contest winners and the re-release by our own Pearl S. Buck Writing Center Press of Pearl’s children’s story Matthew, Mark, Luke and John on the 50th anniversary of its original printing.Coconut Cake 125

After enjoying delicious cake and lemonade, guests were treated to a free house tour which included concerts on both Pearl’s Steinway piano and her organ by talented musicians.

Short Story Contest Winners

Continue reading “Pearl S. Buck’s 125th Birthday Celebrated” →

Spring 2017 ♦ Volume 2, Number 1

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Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal

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)

 

Journals – Seedbeds of Memory

ESSAY BY ANNE K. KALER, PSBVA

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The Doe

SHORT STORY BY BOB McCRILLIS

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Reinventing Judith

SHORT STORY BY LOIS GUARINO HAZEL

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The Stitches of Lydwyna the Spinster

EXCERPT FROM A NOVEL BY ANNE K. KALER PSBVA

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Rain

POEM BY SUSAN WAGNER

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South Carolina Restaurant

MEMOIR BY MEREDITH BETZ

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A Letter to My Son

ESSAY BY FRED W. DONALDSON

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What a Man’s Got To Do

SHORT STORY BY LINDA C. WISNIEWSKI

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Cleaning the Crevices with a Cotton Swab

MEMOIR BY LOIS GUARINO HAZEL

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Plum Flower

SHORT STORY BY JENNIFER YUAN

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The Irishman

SHORT STORY BY JOHN McCABE

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Doug the Foster Child

POEM BY SUSAN WAGNER

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A Difficult Journey

MEMOIR BY Carol Kretovich

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Achieving Inner Calm

POEM BY JUDITH WRASE NYGARD

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You Are Creative…You Just Don’t Know It…Yet

MEMOIR BY MEREDITH BETZ

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Two on a Railing

FLASH FICTION BY JOHN McCABE

Brains, Butterflies, and Writers’ Retreats

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By Anne K. Kaler

Anne Kaler Head ShotWhat do writers do when they are not writing?

Read? Do housework? Twiddle their thumbs? Get in trouble?

While all these solutions are possible, many writers enjoy a day to allow their creative muses out to play in the fresh country air with a like-minded group of writers. And what better place to let the muses frisk and scamper about than in an Upper Bucks County writer’s retreat. Continue reading “Brains, Butterflies, and Writers’ Retreats” →

Character Development

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By Susan Wagner

Sue Wagner NewRecently, I found myself binge-watching United States of Tara, Showtime’s now concluded series. I was reminded of the series because May is Mental Health Month and the series deals with the Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) of Tara, wife, mother and artist. It is a comedy-drama, quirky, well acted and thought provoking.

I love this series. Not just because Toni Collette is wonderful as Tara, though she is. And not just because I’ve had a fascination with psychology for, well, my whole life. But because there’s something as a writer I find fascinating in the ability of the human mind to create not only what it needs to survive, but to develop whole personalities, essentially different people, to live in one body. Continue reading “Character Development” →