The Hourglass is Full

Greetings, fellow jugglers of time and intention.

October's meeting was like a grande cinnamon mochaccino, with an extra shot. There were nine writers in attendance.

Since Rich Barley was busy trolling through some swamp in South Carolina, it was up to Ralph, our brand-new VP, to take the helm. And what a fine surrogate he turned out to be.

First order of business was the new order of officers. Carol Causey has taken over the treasury, trimming my own duties down to simply secretary. Todd Watson has relinquished his title in public relations in order to explore the long-abandoned office of Education Coordinator.

Alison Beard has taken on the task of alerting the public to our presence. Already, her efforts have managed to attract our newest member, Dave Patton.

Dave hails from Lebanon area, although he did a long stint with Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York. Now that he is free to focus on writing, we look forward to seeing what develops.

And speaking of discovering potential, our next meeting, on November 20th, will be entirely devoted to UnTapped Talent, a new publishing company in Hershey.

Rena Wilson Fox and Maria Montesano Boyer will take center stage to talk about their unique approach to the business. Also on hand will be Arthur L. Ford, the author of Shunned, UnTapped Talent's first published book. It promises to be a full two hours!

Another opportunity to consider in the near future is the 2009 CPWO Writing Contest. The official rules and further details will be announced to the general public in January. We decided not to have a regular meeting in December.

Ralph managed to steer us through an entire hour of business discussion before we even noticed the clock. Now, that's good!

Somehow, we still had time to hear Carol's latest adaptation of her "Because I Was Late" poem.

Ed Guion was able to read two whole stories from his fourth edition of Curmudgeon Vignettes. The first was about a guy named Harlen and his discount dentures.

The second story recounted an experience he had as a soldier during the Korean War. It's the tale of his brave attempt to fashion a leather jacket from a pattern, with minimal instruction. Diane said his words "capture the feeling of every girl who ever took Home Ec."

Todd read a creatively educational piece about cut glass production which also led to a discussion about character description.

Alison shared a letter she wrote to Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, nominating her 82-year-old grandmother for "Worst Person in the World" just because she's afraid to vote. We all agreed with her grandmother, that Alison should win "Worst Person" just for writing the letter.

After spending almost two whole hours with his newfound friends, Dave Patton decided it was safe to share the beginnings of a story he wrote for a writing class.

The emphasis was on setting a scene. He took us, quite vividly, through the mind of a glamorous woman, into a fancy hotel room and "the morning after." Whew!

Folks, the energy and ability that exists in the body of the Central Pennsylvania Writers Organization today, is bursting at the seams. I won't tell you how many hours it took me just to condense our two hour meeting into this letter. I even stayed up to watch the clocks fall back.

But writing is a lot like the hourglass. Just when you think it is empty, one turn, and you are overflowing anew.

Much more to come, Rita