Energizing the Tuesday Fiction Writers

Our writing group, Tuesday Fiction Writers, has been around for quite a while. Probably more than 12 years, but its membership is dropping. We used to be promoted in the library's print magazine. Then budget cuts occurred and our listing is now pretty hard to find on the library's website. When I finally got off my rosy cheeks and looked at the listings, I discovered the location was incorrect and, sometimes even the days and times were wrong. This has probably been going on for a long time. I found someone at the BPL who would take the time to correct the information, so that's finally done, but now what?

We need approximately  10 to 14 members to insure that writers who are having their work critiqued can get a good mix of comments. For years our problem was having too many members. Getting 18 to 23 people through 30 pages of writing in slightly more than 2 hours was almost impossible, so I didn't mind when the number of attendees was around 8 as long as it was 8 people who knew how to critique.

At first I put up notices on bulletin boards, but I don't get to Boulder too often these days. Tuesday Fiction Writers meets in Boulder so it's expected that most members will be from the immediate area. Then I got the bright idea to pay some money to list the group on a "meet up" website. Today is the first day of the listing and I've gotten 8 inquiries so far. I'm wondering if I've done a good thing or a thing that's going to backfire on me. I won't know until the next meeting on May 13th.

I want the Tuesday Fiction Writers to survive but at what amount of effort on my part? A librarian has approached us about someday taking over the group, but I fear it would lose its ability to be uncensored and a little bit wild.

Catastrophic Flooding in Colorado 2013

2013 is still careening, wild and crazy, much like a 17-year-old driver in Daddy's SUV. We are watching history being made as Colorado gives itself a makeover with torrential rains, flash floods, and the accompanying destruction. The numerous fire-scarred mountains can't absorb the rain. The debris washes down the drainages and trees are uprooted along the creeks and rivers. Cottonwoods become nature's battering rams.

Longmont has declared a state of emergency. Lyons, next to the mountains, is severely flooded and cut-off. Five dams have been breached outside of Lyons. The National Guard is sending its high-clearance trucks to help out. In Jamestown, some buildings have collapsed as the area tries to absorb over 10 inches of rain, and the list goes on and the rain continues. A wall of water is heading down Four-Mile Canyon and authorities are frantically trying to get people out of harm's way. Boulder is already flooded in many places, filling basements with water, and closing roads. The flash flood watch stretches from Wyoming to New Mexico, and the rain is predicted to continue through Friday, and maybe through the weekend.

At our house, the rain has pretty much stopped for now. We walked down to LaBella Coffee and ran into a pretty lady who turned out to be bonkers. She was very nicely dressed with a smile full of perfect teeth. She seemed to know my daughter but that turned out not to be the case. She said she was a reporter. I asked the owner of LaBella if she had interviewed him and he rolled his eyes. Turns out she has a blog and is very unstable. She is posting on Facebook about every two minutes as she walks around town. A sampling: I'm in the light..The city is being destroyed. Pray that God sends his helicopter to the rescue. And: I will be reporting live from the Bella Vita Coffee House at around 10:00 AM....And: Just met. Man same as Jesus..He believes we can all be saved. He has sent an angel of the lord to deliver this message. Thise (sic) that have ears. Hear the Lord. Fear your fears...Let love prevail.

I kind of think the "Man same as Jesus" was Steve. She posted that as soon as she left the coffee house.

I'm worried about my horse, Cooper, who is boarded right by the foothills. But, despite that, I'm just riding out this weather event, wondering if the cabin will survive one more trauma. When the rain stops, we'll see if there's anything we can do to help out.

As I write this, the skies have darkened again and the trees are stirring in a new breeze. It would seem that another round of rain is about to make its appearance.

We wanted rain. We got it.

Don't ask me....

How to Become a Fiction Writer: Theory # 8903

Begin writing. Write every day. Don't judge, just write. Keep some sort of a journal. No one will see it, unless you decide to share it with your friends. (Don't!)  Write every day until a writing habit is formed.
Freewriting is all about writing on and on until you silence your inner critic and you start to write for the sole purpose of putting words on paper. If you want to know more about freewriting, google it. If you want to write fiction, you'll write a lot of crap before a wonderful thing happens. You quit trying to "write like you're trying to write like a writer", (which is a major insult you'll understand later if you don't already get it) and you'll find your voice. Your writer's voice.

Read. Read fiction. Notice why you like what you like, and why you don't like other stories. Meet other writers. If there isn't a group you want to join, start your own. An ad on Craigslist and on coffee house bulletin boards will start the ball rolling. (avoid cliches like "start the ball rolling" whenever possible.) Our group in Boulder is a good one and could use some more dedicated writers.

Writers are awesome, unique people with a different way of interacting with the world. Come join us. I wish we lived in a world where the pen is mightier than the sword, and in a world where the written word is honest and true. The way our society is manipulated by journalists is depressing and, sometimes, horrifying. Don't use your skills as a writer to join the dark side even if it offers you lots of cash.

Not all writers drink.

It's easy.

A Fantabulistic Friday in March

We're cruising through the week with all the elements of any good American life. Family drama from the mother-in-law, a new baby joins the family in far-away Australia, lots of cleaning, lots of crumbs and laundry, a little bit of writing on a daily basis no matter how worthless, and hundreds of other elements that make up a typical week in our home.

I read an article about Longmont's gentrification since the people who are both interesting and not rich, are being driven out of Boulder. If Boulder isn't careful, it'll have nothing left but trust fund slackers, bicyclists,  and college students. Longmont has a thriving art community, a wealth of writers, great view of the mountains, cheaper housing, nice parks, and a lot of events. Our farmer's market is close to rivaling Boulder's. The journalist who wrote the article tried to come up with a cool nickname for Longmont along the lines of LoDo, or NoBo but couldn't do it. I laughed about how Longmont used to be called Longtucky. No one I've spoken to around here has ever heard it called that. Personally, I think it should be our new, cool nickname. If anyone says it without some respect, we'll just kick that person's ass Longtucky style.

The relatives move in and Steve starts hiding under the clothes rack.

The second date is always better than the first, but he still did all the driving.

Frick and Fracking

I bought a copy of National Geographic because it contained an article on The World's Largest Trees but the cover indicated there was an article about fracking,  a hot button topic around Colorado.

I was reading in bed about methane gas and fracking, which wasn't a good choice for helping me to fall asleep. No one will argue that it's depressing to read about all the crap we're doing to screw up the planet and, therefore, people's lives. We're a long way from integrating the world so that we can all work together for the common good. I'm wondering if we'll figure it all out in time, but some people are trying to work toward a positive outcome as if we will. There's a reason Sci Fi and dystopian writing is popular. Just like every good lie has enough truth in it to make it credible, every disaster movie or book has enough reality in it to be plausible, or almost plausible.

After reading the methane gas article, I felt discouraged about the state of things even though I thought the photos of the methane bubbles trapped in ice looked beautiful. My thought process led me to thinking about people who live and breathe mankind's problems. Do-gooders who are usually self-righteous and sanctimonious people who love the sound of their own voices. (Do I sound biased? Even worse, do I sound self-righteous and sanctimonious? ....Moving on.....) Why don't we listen to them? Because no one likes to talked down to and that's always how it sounds to me.

My advice to the sincere people, who are passionate about improving life on earth, is to approach people in a more positive manner. Don't try to scare the hell out of us because we'll just pull our heads inside of our shells. Sometimes just trying to pay the bills and take care of the family is challenge enough. Worrying about starvation, nuclear bombs, disappearing aquifers, air pollution, and methane gas can't be everyday topics for most of us or we'd go mad.

Which is what may have happened to some folks in Boulder at the last Boulder County commission meeting. Representatives from Encana Oil & Gas were there to discuss fracking. The anti-fracking crowd intimidated the Encana people from the time they entered the building and heckled Wendy Wiedenbeck when it was her turn to speak. (for her six minutes) They were screamed at, videotaped and called terrible names. Their car was blocked by an SUV when they tried to leave, then the car was pounded on. Police had to be brought in for their protection. I'm embarrassed that the "activists" in Boulder stooped to this barbaric behavior. They have hurt their cause. Who is going to want to enter into a conversation about fracking if they're going to be abused and have their physical well being put at risk? No one.  And no one, not even in Boulder, has the right to behave like a thug.