News from Peter in the Philippines

I got this note from Peter, and he wanted me to pass it on to all of you. If you've got a minute, be sure to pop on over and check out his site. Looks like he's been pretty busy even though he's half a world away -- and he's hoping already to make our rejection slip party this year!

Thank you for continuing to send me emails about
"Pencils"

I am in the Philippines, where I managed to bring
along enough materials to continue working on my book.
I have also added an immense amount of material to my
website/blog "Peter's New York"
(www.petersnewyork.com), of very unequal quality. (I
am proud, without reason, of course, of a piece I did
on the "National Public Service Academy," a project
being pushed by Hillary Clinton and Christopher Shays.

I am trying to update the site every day. Most of the
material consists of nonpartisan, issue-oriented
material. Politically I come down almost equally for
Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, the presidential
candidates on the extremities of the political spectra
of the major parties.

There's a chance I will return by the end of
September. Then I shall be glad to be able to see you
all again.

Peter

Pencils! Points: August 14, 2007

First off, a VERY special thanks goes out to Vance, who ran the August 14 meeting when I couldn't be there. I heard you guys had an excellent time!! Although there's not much to report, I would like to announce that:

THERE'S A PROMPT!

Yes, Pencils! members, there is a PROMPT FOR THIS COMING TUESDAY'S MEETING! No excuses -- you've still got the weekend. All you have to do is write 500 words or less using the following sentence somewhere in the story:

"Who is the lucky person who gets garbage detail..."

We'll spend the first hour or so sharing and reading our pieces.

Happy writing...now sharpen those pencils and get busy!

(In case you're wondering, I'm going to do the prompt, too...)

-- Kaye

Where to find Lon's latest poetry on the web

Lon's been at it again. His poem, "A Romance (with switchblades)" will be appearing in next month's issue of Flashquake!

In addition, you can read his poem "Spliced" at http://www.theswordreview.com!

Mike gets his certification

I got an e-mail from Mike letting us know he hasn't "erased" us, but has spent most of the summer pursuing his teaching certification -- and he's succeeded! He's been hired as an English teacher in Bridgeport!

Congratulations, Mike! Our students need competent writers teaching them so we can all look forward to a brighter future!

Congratulations on a fabulous 4th Anniversary Party!

Ahoy, Maties! It was pure mutinous fun down at Carol's house for the 4th Anniversary Party! Not only did we have a great big Clam Bake and Barbecue, we had boat races on the river, the anniversary cake, the unveiling of the Pencils! Writing Workshop T-shirts, and, of course...fake tattoos and lots of beer!

A special thanks to our gracious and generous hosts, Kevin and Carol McManus. They truly went above and beyond with providing the festive decorations, extra victuals, and a comfortable place for us to celebrate. In addition, Lon did a phenomenal job at captaining our boat race project!

Wanna see pix? Visit our Pencils! Scrapbook page!

Lon sells quantum physics and Frost!

Lon sold his poem, "The Roads Both Taken" (A quantum look at Robert Frost) to Star*Line, the magazine of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Congratulations, Lon!

Pencils! Points: July 24, 2007

ANNOUNCEMENTS

PENCILS! PARTY ON SATURDAY IS RAIN OR SHINE. We will be outdoors if it doesn’t rain, indoors if it does. Okay, gang…Saturday is coming! Hope you all RSVP’d. I know I’ll be seeing quite a large number of you there! Kinda busy with stuff, so here’s the low-down on the meeting in case you missed it.

LEON!! WE’VE MISSED YOU!! IT WAS GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!! We hope you’ll be able to find time to drop in again soon…this time with one of your poems/lyrics.

1. Judith was up first with SHU (we are back to the novel’s original title). “Dr. Grieg is going to be your new therapist, Sheila. Isn’t that nice? Why don’t you tell her why you are here?”/ “Because I put my baby in the microwave,” Sheila said flatly.”

2. Next up, Roger with Chapter 10 of How My Retirement Went South called “Health Careless.” “It was not unusual for her to spot prescription meds lying about unattended on cabinets in the hallways outside of the treatment rooms.”

3. Nick presented “The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers,” an essay about his time living in London and meeting Prince Charles. “I realized then that “His Royal Highness would like to greet you” because his attendants thought I was someone else.”

4. Joyce shared more of Venus Ascending: “Estelle remembered her mother decorating the room when she moved in after Poppa died. The sewing machine had hummed as she’d worked her way through her loss.”

5. Newcomer Claudia shared a short called “The Dead End Street,” which had an interesting twist at the end. “I’m not afraid,” he said out loud. He repeated this a second time, just in case the ghosts that he did not believe in did not hear him the first time.”

6. Vance was up last with a story called “Careful” (I think that was the title—he didn’t bring copies, but he did it, he said, ‘just so people like Kaye wouldn’t read ahead.”) It’s just as well, because that way I can’t blow the ending. But, hey, something must have been in the air—three pieces with twist endings this week!