Writers of the Round Table

Image courtesy of Authority.pub

I was recently invited by Rachel Gray, Director of the Van Horn Public Library in Pine Island, to participate in a panel of local authors as part of the One Town, One Title program through the library.  

On February 5, four other authors and myself spoke to a small audience in the high school forum room.  For Pine Island old-timers such as Captain, this has previously been referred to as The Box, The Square Gym, or The Small Gym.  Currently, it's a very nice, intimate auditorium arrangement with comfortable tables and chairs.  

One of the questions we were asked, as authors, was what our writing process was.  It was interesting to listen to all of the different approaches each author took. 

Image courtesy of katelaack.com

Kate Laack, a young English teacher at Pine Island High School, who has a novel, In The Shade of Olive Trees, that has been published through the traditional method of getting an agent and then a publisher and on down the line to being on the shelves at Barnes & Noble.  While not truly a structure process, there was a method to how she approached it.

Image courtesy of ginnygraham.com

Ginny Graham, a retired widow, wrote her novel, Wisteria, to help other women deal with grief and the loss of a partner or spouse.  Ginny and her husband owned and operated the Wanamingo Meats and Catering business for decades, and she brought the experiences she'd had running that business to her main character, who runs a flower shop.  Again, not completely structured but not loosey-goosey either. 

Image courtesy of rochesterfranciscan.org

Catherine Eayrs, a retired PIHS English teacher, told how she spent years meticulously researching her non-fiction book The Berne Church:  Rooted and Grounded In Love is an in-depth look at the impact of Swiss immigrants to the the rural farming community west of Pine Island and the rich heritage that they brought with them and continue to honor.  Because she had so many historical facts that needed to be arranged chronologically, she followed an outline for her writing in order to keep it organized and logical.  

Image courtesy of Jude Brogan

Cheryl Finnegan's book, Everyday Heroes:  Stories of Pine Island, is a collection of interviews she conducted during her many years as a reporter for the News-Record.  The interviews themselves had been researched and fact-checked, obviously, and putting them together in the book required reaching out to the newspaper for permission to print them, as the copyrights of the original articles belonged to the publication instead of Cheryl.  

Then there is me.  I have no writing process.  Mostly, I just wait until Captain or I have something blog-worthy happen and then put it out there.  Whatever is in my head comes out my fingers with very little conscious thought about it.  It's like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks.  However, that was my intent when I started this blog.  I very much wanted it to feel like two friends having a nice conversation over coffee, wine, or the beverage of choice.  Every so often, I pull 40 of the blog posts together, toss them into one big document, slap a family picture on the front and call it good.  Since I'm not in it for the money, this process works well for me.  

I know how much I have appreciate the support that I have gotten from friends, neighbors, and coworkers.  I would like to ask you to kindly show these fellow authors some love and support too.  I purchased a copy of Cheryl Finnegan's book at the event Monday night, and I have orders in for the other three books and am looking forward to some very enjoyable reading in the weeks ahead!