Tag: Fiction

Summer 2018 ♦ Volume 3, Number 1

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Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal

There are 12 contributions to this Summer 2018 Pearl S. Buck Literary Journal. The theme of this issue is Justice and Mercy. Submissions include essays, memoirs, poems, short stories, and an excerpt from a novel.

Our thanks to authors Dr. Anne K. Kaler, Rev. Edgar P. Roosa, Bob McCrillis, Susan Wagner, Harry J. Houldin, Jane Bleam, Sandra Carey Cody, and Paul Teese.

Anne K. Kaler, PhD
Professor of English Emerita
Gwynedd Mercy University

 

(Click title to read selection. Author’s biography at end of contribution)

Justice and Mercy

ESSAY BY ANNE K. KALER, PSBVA

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Social Justice Themes in the Life and Writings of Pearl S. Buck

ESSAY BY REV. EDGAR P. ROOSA

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The Thief of Time

POEM BY ANNE K. KALER, PSBVA

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Mrs. Hastings

SHORT STORY BY BOB McCRILLIS

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Everest

POEM BY SUSAN WAGNER

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To the Bulge

EXCERPT FROM A NOVEL BY PFC HARRY J. HOULDIN

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Lydwyna the Spinster and the Pearl Embroidery

EXCERPT FROM A NOVEL BY ANNE K. KALER, PSBVA

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Sans Poetic Punctuation

POEM BY JOHN McCABE

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The Goose Family

MEMOIR BY JANE BLEAM

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The Cherry Trees

ESSAY BY SANDRA CAREY CODY

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Respite

ESSAY BY PAUL TEESE

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Extinguished Camp Fires Burn

SHORT STORY BY JOHN McCABE

How Much Research?

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By Bob McCrillis

In a talk she gave, Anna Quindlen claimed that she only does as much research as is convenient. That’s quite a statement.

My first thought was, “Sure, if you’re already a best-selling author.” A reader told her that getting from Miami to Tampa in three hours by car was impossible, she replied, “Not in my Florida.”

Yay! I don’t have to bother with inconsistencies and impossibilities. Well, maybe not so fast. I remember a person complaining that the book he was reading wasn’t accurate. It seems that he was familiar with Paris, where the story took place, and the places and street names were all wrong. “It ruined the whole book for me,” he grumbled. Continue reading “How Much Research?” →

Personhood Added Life to My Stories

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By Bob McCrillis

This is boring! Who in the heck told you that you could write? This isn’t writing, it’s just typing!

My internal editor pointed out the many deficiencies of my first twenty-five pages. He delights in bashing my fragile ego, doesn’t ever take a vacation or get laryngitis.

I had labored mightily and created a corpse.

My sentences were flat and lifeless. Paddy shook off his guilt over Phou.ng’s death and took point position, leading the rest of the squad into the bush. Oh, yeah? Guess it didn’t bother him too much, then, did it? Okay, it isn’t bad but it isn’t alive. Telling a story is not stringing together a series of events. I needed to get my reader involved but how? Continue reading “Personhood Added Life to My Stories” →

Writers Guild Updates

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By Linda Donaldson

A reminder – our June meeting on the 17th falls on Father’s Day. We start at 1 pm and meet till 3 pm. Please bring 10 copies of any work you’d like to share up to 3 pages long, and remember to put your name and email on your work for further feedback.

Anne Kaler began our May Writers Guild meeting by announcing our Literary Journal plans for this year. The former Fall 2017 issue, with the theme of “Justice and Mercy,” will be posted mid-June as the Summer 2018 issue. The Editors have chosen the theme “Transformation“ for the Winter 2018 issue with the deadline of October 31, 2018. Submission guidelines will be posted soon on the blog. Continue reading “Writers Guild Updates” →

What Genre Do You Work In?

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By Bob McCrillis

I admit, I thought the question was a little silly the first time someone asked. Genre, unless you were an English Literature professor, was a euphemism for formula and no one wants their work to be viewed as something written to a formula.

Bob cropped tightIt didn’t take long to discover that the question of genre is critically important to the people who sell books. Readers tend toward books similar to the ones they’ve already read and enjoyed – hence the popularity of a series. If you’re in the business of selling books, knowledge of the preferences of the market is critically important. Continue reading “What Genre Do You Work In?” →

October Writers Guild Meeting Recap

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By Linda Donaldson

Our last meeting of the Pearl S. Buck Writers Guild brought a dozen of us to the Cultural Center at Green Hills Farm on Sunday October 15th.

Four people brought work to share, and we began with John McCabe’s new introduction to his collection of short stories about the Market-Frankford Elevated trains. Many voiced a connection to John’s depiction of the silent “rules of the riders” that discourages people from talking to each other on trains. We liked his handling of the protagonist’s reconnection with a childhood pal and their subsequent adult friendship as the “glue” that brings these stories together. Continue reading “October Writers Guild Meeting Recap” →

Finding Your Market

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by Sandy Cody

Editor’s Note: This message, shared with permission, is from Sandy Cody to her writing class at the end of this year’s classes.Sandy Cody

This will be our last meeting, but I hope you’ll find time in your busy schedules to keep writing. I’m in awe of what you’ve all come up with when given just a hint – and time. I think that’s what this class has been about – providing time and space for you to write.

If you want to send your “babies” out into the world, here’s something to get you started. Mainly, I suggest you just play around on the computer until you find something that looks interesting. Continue reading “Finding Your Market” →

August Guild Meeting Update

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By Anne K. Kaler

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” →

On First Looking Into Dickens’s Oliver Twist

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(With apologies to Messrs. Chapman and Keats –but I needed a title)

By Bob McCrillis

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” →

Fall 2017 Literary Journal Theme is Justice and Mercy

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By Linda Donaldson

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” →