Prompt
Create a short story from one or more of the following prompts.
Where ever you go I will follow
Moving down the lane
Navigating the tunnels of my mind
The big red barn sat silently

Five Words
Create a short story using these five words, have fun.
Valley, submission, reference, wildflowers, raven

The Williamsburg Creative Writing Group meets every Thurs. at 10:30am. Please join us. If you would like to participate remotely, just email your submissions to vogelam@oplin.org.

I Am and Nothing More

By youth winner, Tiffany Fite

I am the harmony

I am the melody

I am the tenor of voice

I am the sunshine

I am the darkness

I am the gray of the dawn

I am a quiet moment

I am a lioness roar

I am also none of these things

I am and nothing more

The Moon is My Companion

By Lisa Brandstetter Holt

She is a silent chaperone,

A quiet presence ever known

as reflected light, a wave’s flight,

caught atop firs that cool the night.

Her weight, I sense within my bones

caressing me with miles of stone.

I carry her less well these days,

a willow bending with her phase.

Amid a velvet sky so starred,

our surfaces are pocked and marred.

Our atmospheres are cold and spare,

with rigid hearts, this lea is bare.

Yet she has guided all below

with gentle pull and tender glow.

Though far away from those a tilt,

she makes her loving presence felt.

A faithful friend, she does abide

when no one else is by my side,

when my house is not a home.

Sequestered, yes, but not alone.

Prompt
This week we will pick a person. Each of you will pick a person from the pictures that I bring in. I want you to create an identity for that person. Tell us who they are, what they are like, give them a background etc. Then the next week you will put them into a story.
Ex. Linda came from a long line of black haired ravens. She always wore it long, thereby enticing the boys to pull on it every chance they got. She was from a large family where even her brothers were considered beautiful.
When she graduated high school it was assumed that she would go to college but Linda had other ideas. Etc., etc., etc.

Five Words
Create a short story using these five words, have fun.
Journal, confident, awkward, revolutionary, Persian cat

The Williamsburg Creative Writing Group meets every Thursday and 10:30am. Please join us. If you can’t join us, please feel free to create something from the prompts and share by email to vogelam@oplin.org.

I say “not exactly,” because behind those warblings, you’ll find some great classical music. Take for example, Verdi Without Words, an arrangement of his best-known themes by former Cincinnati Pops conductor Eric Kunzel. Even for the uninitiated, you are likely recognize the Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore, which is often parodied in popular culture (just think of Looney Tunes). And then there’s “La donna è mobile,” whose melody has become for many the epitome of Italian opera. My personal favorite piece is the “Egyptian March” from Aïda.

Put on your Viking helmet complete with horns for the Overtures and Preludes from the operas of Richard Wagner (pronounced vahhhg-ner, not wag-ner). Sure, the man’s legacy isn’t exactly without tarnish, but the music is brilliant and you won’t be subjected to eighteen hours of Germanic mythology in song form. Who can’t resist banging their head to The Ride of the Valkyries? A favorite from this album is the Prelude from Act III of Lohengrin, which puts me in the mood to be heroic.

Until next time–may your personal rite of spring not be riotous.

If you are looking for an awesome Contemporary Christian Music CD, check out the Burning Lights Album.

The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley
This is Priscille Sibley’s first novel. The novel opens on the aftermath of a tragic accident that leaves astronaut, Elle Beaulieu brain dead and the families at odds about life support once they learn that she is pregnant. The story is told from Matt’s point of view. Sibley does a good job of weaving their back story with the present scenes of medial and courtroom drama. A good read alike of fans of Jodi Picoult.

The Bughouse Affair by Marcia Muller
On a lighter note Marcia Muller has written a new series. Two former Pinkerton detective form forces and set up their own detective agency in San Francisco. This first novel in the series has the detectives trying to solve several burglaries with the help of “Sherlock Holmes”. Takes place in late 1880′s

The Good Dream </a>by Donna VanLiere
The setting is 1950 in a small Tennessee town, and Ivorie Walker finds herself lonely after the death of her elderly mother. When she discovers a boy stealing from her garden, she reaches out to uncover where he comes from and seeks to help him, only to face fierce resistance from the town who wants to keep certain secrets. This is a character driven novel with strong women, mystery and inspiration.

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova
While dealing with her husband’s infidelity, Beth tries to recapture the independent, creative spirit she used to be through writing. What emerges is a startling new voice, one that will help her heal. Newly separated Olivia Donatelli is struggling to understand the unraveling of her marriage, and to make sense of her eight-year-old autistic son Anthony’s short life and accidental death. A chance encounter between these two women develops into an unexpected and meaningful friendship, giving one writer the opportunity to find her voice and a grieving mother a chance to finally understand her son. The characters are flat and the stories of the broken marriages really aren’t developed and didn’t need to be there. I only included this book because I thought the author’s portrayal of autism and its misunderstandings and effect on the family were well done.

In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin
Leisurely paced and intrically plotted this novel is about Harry, a Jewish special-ops WWII paratrooper (we learn all the throttling details in sustained flashbacks) who has just returned home from the front to find his family’s top-of-the-line leather goods company failing and his father dying. Harry is determined to rescue. When he spies a beautiful woman on the Staten Island Ferry he seeks to learn her identity and to marry her. Catherine turns out to be a level-headed, musical, blue-blooded heiress. With the backdrop of 1940s mobster rule and Harry’s business woes their love grows against all odds.

Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration by David Roberts: Describes the epic journey undertaken by Douglas Mawson, who suffered starvation, the loss of his team, and a crippling foot injury as he resorted to crawling back to base camp during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1913.

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg: Sheryl Sandberg — Facebook COO and one of “Fortune” magazine’s most powerful women in business — looks at what women can do to help themselves, and make the small changes in their life that can effect change on a more universal scale. She draws on her own experiences working in some of the world’s most successful businesses, as well as academic research, to find practical answers to the problems facing women in the workplace.

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan: Follows the tale of a bookish young woman whose passion for learning leads to revolutionary new understandings about dragons and defies the stifling conventions of her world.

Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss: Traces the rise of the processed food industry and how addictive salt, sugar, and fat have enabled its dominance in the past half century, revealing deliberate corporate practices behind current trends in obesity, diabetes, and other health challenges.

The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore: Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean meet regularly at the first diner owned by black proprietors in their Indiana city and are watched throughout the years by a big-hearted man who observes their struggles with school, marriage, and parenthood.

The Vatican Diaries: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities, and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church by John Thavis: Presents a behind-the-scenes perspective on the Vatican’s inner workings that challenges popular perceptions, revealing the personal conflicts, authority-undermining scandals, and modern considerations that are challenging the Vatican’s daily business. 

Wool by Hugh Howey: In a ruined and toxic landscape, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly upheld the silo’s rules for years, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: He asks to go outside.

More interested in the show itself than in the books featured on it?  Then check out some of these Mad Men-inspired items from our collection:

Analyzing Mad Men: Critical Essays on the Television Series edited by Scott F. Stoddart:  The 12 critical essays in this collection offer a broad, interdisciplinary approach to this highly relevant television show, examining Mad Men as a cultural barometer for contemporary concerns with consumerism, capitalism and sexism.  A detailed cast list and episode guide are included

The Fashion File: Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Menby Janie Bryant with Monica Corcoran Harel: Offers readers a peek into the dressing room of the hit television show “Mad Men,” revealing the design process behind the characters’ looks and showing every woman how to find her own leading lady style.

Mad Men and Philosophy: Nothing is as it Seems edited by Rod Carveth and James B. South: This collection of essays takes an unprecedented look at the philosophical issues and themes behind AMC’s Emmy Award-winning show, Mad Men, exploring issues ranging from identity to authenticity to feminism, and more.

Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the ’60s and Beyond by Jane Maas:  Mad Women is a tell-all account of life in the New York advertising world of the 1960s and 70s from Jane Maas, a female copywriter who succeeded in the primarily male environment portrayed by the hit TV show Mad Men.

The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook: Inside the Kitchens, Bars, and Restaurants of Mad Men by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin:  Dine like Draper and drink like Sterling with more than 70 recipes from the kitchens, bars, and restaurants seen on Mad Men.

Never watched Man Men?  Wondering what all the fuss is about?  Feeling the need to catch up on previous seasons?  We’ve got you covered!  Borrow the first five seasons from the library, available on DVD.

Prompt
Create short story using one or more of the following:
The total cost is
Your first mistake
Don’t confuse your
An undisputed truth
Just what would you suggest?
Five Words
Create a short story using these five words, have fun.
Victory, remove, thought, power, owls
The Williamsburg Creative Writing Group meets every Thursday at 10:30am. Please join us. If you can’t join us, please feel free to create something from the prompts and share by email to vogelam@oplin.org.