Horizons 2001
South Carolina Writers Workshop Anthology

by Pat Stewat

"Two Dogs" - Phil Arnold
"Tubing" - Robin Prince Monroe
"Grandma's Child" - Nancy Koesy Parker

"A Moment in Time" - Russ Burns
"Eliciting the Muse" - Russ Burns
"Of Vinegar and Other Things" - Steve Heckman
"India Dance" - Susan S. Renault
"Living With Rejection" - Patricia Webster Stewart

The Kitchen Window - Susan S. Renault - Best of Issue Poetry Author
Healing - Russ Burns
Everything and Nothing - Steve Heckman
Laundry Chute! - Robin Prince Monroe
The Junk Drawer and the Medicine Cabinet - Susan S. Renault
I Will Write a Poem - Susan S. Reanult

Look at the above lineup! The Greenville SCWW really hot it big this year in Horizons. Of 23 fiction entries, Greenville had three winners. Of 13 essay pieces, Greenville had five published. Of 16 poems, Sue Renault was the big winner: "Best of Issue Author for Poetry", plus two more poems published.

I was aware that Sue had been named best of issue in poetry and knew no more. True to my essay, I was living with rejection again. Monday, November 5, the postal customers in Taylors got no mail. I couldn't figure out why till my son Tim called and said he'd seen it on the news. "White powder found near the Taylors Post Office. Closed till we can find out if it's anthrax." It wasn't and a few days later when I got a lumpy brown envelope with extra postage, my alarm bells went off. "Should I open it and maybe inhale anthrax?" Then I saw the return address, Steve Vassey, SCWW in Columbia. Two copies of Horizons 2001 and a note congratulating me on being a featured author in the anthology.

I'm sure all the writers were as thrilled as I was to be included. I really had no clue until the package came. Perhaps a list was published somewhere. I don't look a Web pages or the internet for my news. I rely on old-fashioned mail, letters or phone. Four of our Greenville writers had multiple pieces: Russ Burns, Steve Heckman, Robin Monroe, and the big-time winner Sue Renault.

With 14 Greenville published works of the 68 in the anthology, we netted a 21% return on our labors. That's a much better return than any we could make investing the stock market!

Do you have a tale worth telling? Faye Tollison commends to our attention Ike Wilson who works with a non-profit which makes audio tapes for the blind. If you would be interested in offering some of your works for distribution, contact Mr. Wilson at 828-894-5828 or patike@alltel.net

Want to stay on Santa's good list? Don't be Claustrophobic! Come out to our next meeting December 6! You mignt see Dancer, Prancer, Cupid and Vixen. And at critique time, Donner and Blitzen are apt to appear.
*<|:-{o> "Ho Ho Ho!"

Straining inside his crewneck sweater to get away from the meeting and back to his wide-screen TV, Gene Fehler leaped from chute #1 of the Open Book Literary Rodeo Grounds to read four new "sensitive" poems. Following his usual pattern of first explaining where and when the poems were written (and displaying an uncanny knack for irritating the cool off the Sheriff's shiny silver star), the patronizing potential Poet Laureate related how he had written these poems in the steamy mirror of his bathroom while shaving on the morning of the meeting. That said (not really-the Sheriff ad-libs), he entertained us with two poems of young love, one on the value of winning OR losing, and one on tact-in other words, how to keep your mouth shut when your elderly mother-in-law is making a dusty mess of the living room by "cleaning" the dirt off the ceiling fan. The crowd favorite was "Whatever Happened to Elaine Scott," a poem recalling a stuffed bear, a teen love, and a final kiss. Although the gang behind the bottle of Red Eye at table #2 wanted the name changed to "Whatever Happened to James Anne" (or something like that), the Sheriff says Gene has done it again--great poems, well (and quickly) written.

Seductively slithering out of chute #2, Debbie Cohan backtracked to the trailhead of her steamy novel of sexual addiction, In-Between, and introduced us to two new characters: Clem and Sally. A fierce brawl broke out in the meeting hall of the Open Book over whether these names were appropriate and just why Debbie's midlife, sexy-but-vulnerable heroine would be threatened by the voluptuous Sally. Willing to reconsider "Clem" and "Sally," Debbie asked for suggestions of "mountain names." Seems Sally was from the high-country and made her own stiletto-heeled boots. The Sheriff leaned back in his office chair, kicked his own snake-skin boots onto his desk, and got an image of Sally-in a yellow tank top, low riding jeans, and with breasts the size of footballs--skinning a freshly killed grizzly bear for the leather uppers of her dainty boots then forging a pair of heels down at Dirty Jake's-our local blacksmith's. Meanwhile, Debbie got "Luther" and "Bernie" as suggestions. The jury is still out. As for the story, it moves, it's clever, each chapter ends with a hook to the next, and in spite of the telling vs. showing and the "to be" verbs, it hits this ol' peacekeeper as a potential best seller.

Pat Stewart got a "suspicious" piece of mail. It was lumpy, handwritten, and had an incorrect Zip code. According to US Postal Service guidelines, Pat probably should have called in a Haz-Mat team to open it. Instead, Pat sat down to write a sardonic piece, "Irradiated Mail," poking fun at some of the suggestions by postal officials for safeguarding the mail. She imagined ironing her clothes with the same steam iron she just used to "iron" her anthrax-ridden mail. She imagined making popcorn in the same microwave that just nuked some spores. She defiantly opened her lumpy mail unscreened. It was a thank-you note from her grandson. Somehow, Pat reads the same news articles the rest of us read and finds story lines we never saw.

Carol Jellen takes a walk in the woods and creates a world that draws the reader in. Her essay, "In a Quarter Turn of a Revolution," uses images, colors, movements, and sounds to show, not tell, what this autumn world is like. Descriptions like "kaleidoscopic leaves that are engaged in a continuous fall like confetti," and "the soft silent walkway now covered in mother-nature's finest array of color" let the reader share in Carol's wonder as she shuffles through the leaves' "colorful remains."

Andi Buckless read "There's a Monster in Room 202. It will be an eight page children's picture book for early readers. The children come back after recess to a messy classroom. They hear a scary sound "RRRRR", a monster! Inside a cubby they find a kitten asleep, purring. We had a couple questions. How did a kitten open a window to get in? Would a kitten purring make a scary sound? It's a delightful story. Andi's new baby will hear lots of great stories. In fact, he is hearing them now!

Gabrielle Johnson continued "Portals." She introduced us to a new character, Jeremy, an underground rock drummer who's day job is in a fancy candy shop. The main perk seems to be his daily "glimpse of her". On page nine, show us what he did. Let us know what this character wants. Is it more than "drumming and sex?" We want to hear more from this Jeremy and see how his life becomes intertwined with Sara's.

One of the biggest decisions every writer faces is point of view. It is important in fiction writing to choose the correct POV. The three basic choices are: first person, omniscient, and third person.

First person is the "I" voice. It is written as the narrator speaking to the reader. The main advantage to first person POV is it provides your reader more intimacy with your POV character. The reader can get into your character's head and can see the world through his eyes.

In order for first person POV to work, you need to create a strong character who is interesting enough to keep your reader's attention through the entire book.

There are disadvantages to first person POV. First, you can't write about anything your character couldn't possibly know. Second, your reader can only get to know that one character directly. All others have to be presented through that character's viewpoint, a one-sided look.

The omniscient POV is the author's voice and is used for all narrative summary. It can be used to introduce needed information that is hard to weave into a scene. It provides perspective. You do, however, lose the intimacy that you have with first or third person.

Third person is the "he said/she said" POV. It gives you more freedom and is used most often by writers. It gives you both perspective and intimacy. Allows you to move with ease from character to character, and allows your reader to view the story from different perspectives. The main problem and/or downfall of using third person is being consistent with your POV throughout each scene. It is easy to switch POV and not realize it.

Remember! Your descriptions, observations, and interior monologue should be kept to the same viewpoint character.

References:
Self Editing For Fiction Writers By Renni Browne and Dave King
Writing Dialogue By Tom Chiarella

Asia is not going to be civilized after the methods of the West. There is too much Asia and she is too old.... She will never attend Sunday School or learn to vote save with swords for tickets. - Rudyard Kipling

"Are you busy?" Carolyn, my wife asked on the phone. Only a short time back from lunch, I not yet too immersed for conversation. "Good," she said, "I need you to drive me to the emergency room." Knowing how long a wait in the ER can be, I searched our bookshelves for something to occupy the hours. A few days later, Carolyn ensconced in a room in Memorial, I actually found an opportunity to read Kipling's "The Man Who Was". Ten days after our brief conversation, Carolyn escaped alive from the hospital with a couple more pills in her daily diet of medication and hope of relief.

Kipling's quote comes from the mouth of Dirkovitch, a Cossack officer, to Her Majesty's White Hussars stationed in Afghanistan. Both the British and, more recently, the Soviet Union have tasted the bitterness of war in Afghanistan. It is now doubt fortunate that both of these nations are now allied with the United States in our struggle there against terrorism. Nothing compares to the experience of those who have been there.

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: Pat Stewart, Faye Tollison, Randy Crew, and Steve Heckman.

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