Our illustrious President, Randy Crew, has been selected by Governor Jim Hodges to sit on the committee to nominate a new Poet Laurette for South Carolina. This is a great honor for Randy and for the Greenville Chapter of SCWW [of which prime candidate Gene Fehler is a member]. We know Randy will do a good job and will judge all the nominees fairly [especially Gene]. So, of course, we won't be applying any undue pressure to influence his decisions [Gene is keen]. Go to it, Randy [and don't forget Gene]! We trust your wisdom [and we're pulling for Gene].

If you've ever had the itch to expose yourself on the web, now you can do it without a digital camera. Hang out a sample of your work on the South Carolina Writers Workshop's new online forum: http://pub51.ezboard.com/bsouthcarolinawritersworkshop and let the world have crack at critiquing it.

Some of this month's reviews are on hold till next month as reviewer Steve Heckman's household is on the move. Their house just sold, so they are patching, painting & packing, preparing to move to their new place near the mountains. Sounds like a great place to sit back (when the dust has settled and the paint has dried) and finish Genghis.

Well, how bout that Bob Zavasnik. He disappears out of sight and returns a few months later with his baby. Bob held up his new book, Dominion, and we all ooooed and ahhhhed like the proud relatives we are. That Bob. Just when some of us are still trying to retrieve our email, he's mastering the world of online publishing. Bob (a.k.a. David Anthony) worked with 1stBooks http://www.1stbooks.com/ to birth this beautiful child. Dominion arrived with a splendid cover illustration and all its pages perfect in every way. Congratulations, Bob, and best wishes as you enter the world of sales and promotion. We already know what deep, dark, zany folks lurk in the pages of Dominion. Now the world will know.

He did it, folks. That Phil Arnold. He just nagged and badgered and cajoled till we couldn't say "no." Phil asked for a show of hands. How many of us sent something to the Horizons anthology? Nine hands confirmed plus a few others out there among our no-shows. I say, Phil for President. This is probably the best effort we Greenville writers have made in some time. Now let's hope many of us get selected. Otherwise, there will be a lot of sad faces. Now, you don't want that, Phil, do you?

Gene Fehler was as happy as -- well, a kid meeting his baseball hero. Gene's baseball writing won him an invitation to an old time players reunion in Chattanooga recently. Gene thought he died and went to heaven when he got to tee off with 60s great Jim Coates. A well-deserved honor, Gene!

See you June 7.

It was great to have John Kingsbury back with the group. The man has done some mighty writing since we saw him last. His chapter from The M&M Kids was subtitled "The Fourth Vision of Mason Pigg" - and what a vision! How did you like the portable Television Towers of Babel? Or the black and white human chessboard pawns? How does John think of these things? His chapter got some genuine laughs, and it inspired praise for his grasp of original images. Mason Pigg has three more visions, and I can't wait to see them. The Professor thanks John for weaving two lines of an Elvis song into his work.

When Debbie Cohan reads a section of her novel, A Woman In Between, we have come to expect something titillating, something physical. But this time, we were treated to nine pages of wonderful, adult dialog between our two lovers. The thoughts expressed were deep, they told us more about both characters, and they sounded believable. The cat story was a big favorite of the group. The bad thing about reading nine pages was that Debbie didn't have much time left for critiquing. The five page tradition is a good one to remember.

It's always fun to learn what new thing has inspired Pat Stewart to dip into that deep well of personal memories for another essay. This time it is a newspaper article about a man drinking cherry syrup to cure arthritis. Everyone enjoyed Pat's tale about pitting thousands of cherries every summer as a child. Little could be found to change for the better, except a few passive verbs Gene pointed out. Pat did a great job tying the ending and beginning together with a humorous reference to arthritis. However, the Professor suggests she take her chances with bad flash-backs and actually give the cherry syrup a try.
[Editor's Note: For more information on the supposed benefits of cherry juice, check out King Orchards http://www.mi-cherries.com/.]

Gene Fehler delighted everyone with four new poems. "A Ryan's Man Eating Lunch at the Poinsett Club" was an amusing account of a man not dressed to the Club's standards. It was unanimous that the title is perfect, and it was also suggested that Gene send this poem to Greenville magazine. One comment suggested that Gene clarify the recipient of the dinner rolls (the man, not the women in Goodwill outfits).
"Everything's Almost A Poem" was very well received. There were several positive comments regarding the stanza "I need to smell the speedboat's noise/To hear the land the storm destroys". After discussing these lines, you could almost smell the speedboat in the room with us!
Gene's other two poems were treats as well! There were some questions regarding the ending of "Thoughts From a Man Who Almost Failed Physics Class", although many people said that the ending worked for them. Gene's 4 poems made us all wish for even more!!

In "Treatment: Worse Than Disease?", Russ Burns takes us through his initial chemotherapy treatment. His depiction of the cancer center is such that we felt as if we were there with him. Yet, in the midst of all of these haunting images, Russell manages to maintain his sense of humor. It is his "voice" that makes the chapter so compelling.
There were two suggestions for further research. On page two, the reference to sub-clavial port may actually be a subclavian port. It was also noted that it may be Marine paratroopers who pin their jump wings to their chest.
This was such a strong chapter. One cannot read it without experiencing a deep sense of admiration for the author - both as a writer and as person.

Linda Elmore, a new writer to this reviewer, presented a delightful personal essay on caring for her mother in a nursing home. She starts with a simple event, trimming and polishing her mother's finger nails. The only thing I would suggest is breaking the piece down into paragraphs. Several paragraph carry more than one idea and a piece this length - a page and 3/4, double spaced - could benefit from a more active paragraphing.
The images are strong. "Long and polished nails were for trollops." "Polished hands were idle hands." Then the piece ends with an application of powder pink enamel. This calls to mind a scene from the writer's childhood involving her mother polishing the writer's fingernails a shade of pink enamel in a mother and daughter moment of playfulness.
Linda refers to a Swiss Army knife which suggest the presence or absence of a father. This might be a place to interject a line or two about the loss of the man in the lives of this daughter and her mother. Or maybe not as the situation dictates, it's just that a Swiss Army knife as such is a guy thing and seems in need of commenting on. How did this knife come into the writer's possession?
Okay, that's this Pigg's opinion and if you don't like it just go fry bacon.

Andi Buckless continues with her story about the Duffer from the Swamp. Did you know when Andi gets a book published she changes her name to Andrea. When my writing partner gets something published he changes my name to "what Pigg?"
Andi is working on the last few scenes for her picture book. She omitted page 22 from her draft. At the end of page 21 Leo's brother picks up his clubs and runs away. IF he were really afraid, he'd leave the clubs for Leo to use.
On page 23 Andi needs to explain why Grandfather drove a golf cart and Leo's brother has to follow behind carrying the clubs. Simple, alligator hand cannot fasten club bags to the back of golf carts and Leo's brother is a bit stout and needs the exercise. Leo drives sometimes because he shares clubs with Grandfather gator.
Page 24. Add: "After their first round Grandpa and Leo have the golf course to themselves. Because the other duffers had run away."
And please find page 22.

Reading a book on writing is no more helpful to the writer than reading a cook book is to the cook. After all, one cannot learn to cook out of a book, bake out of a book, or understand God by reading a book. Read a book on writing? Most certainly not! It would interfere with our dreams of having written or having become an author and all the witty things we will write in our book on writing. ; 8)

"Chrysanthemum!" I whispered in my wife's ear as she leaned to put a can of diced tomatoes into our grocery cart. "Where?" she asked. I made a minute gesture. "There." Right before us stood a young lady with long, spiraling tendrils of golden hair, wearing a gauzy, flowing, handkerchief hemmed gown in many hues of blue. "Indeed," said my wife, confirming our sighting a Naiad in the Publix aisle.
This brief encounter illustrates the two eyes that inform our craft of writing. Not just those orbs of observation in our heads, but those inner eyes of the mind. A vivid imagination is a useful tool in creative writing, but it is best tempered by astute observation of the real world. The most extraordinary flights of fancy will not leave the ground if the reader cannot envision the wings that bear them thither from this realm of reality.
The oldest and most foreign of tales are still enjoyed today because the fundamentals of human nature are universal. Everywhere, and in every age, there are lovers, haters, statesmen, tyrants, angels of mercy and ruthless mercenaries. We identify with these characters because we have known, or have been them.
So let the eyes in your head work with those eyes inside your mind as you craft the image of your characters. And if you happen to meet a Naiad in the grocery store, please give her my regards. ;-D

Printed Matters is the newsletter of the Greenville Chapter, SCWW, which meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at The Open Book, 110 S Pleasantburg Drive, Greenville, SC.

Thanks to our contributing writers & news reporters: Sue Renault, Phil Arnold, Andi Buckless, and John Kingsbury.

Copyright 2001 by Leland Beaudrot, Editor. Contributing writers retain all rights to their work.