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Welcome to another issue of The Bahamas Writer (TBW) - "a source of inspiration for writers worldwide". Sorry, there was no publication in September, due to your Bahamas Writer catching up with backlog of work after summer vacation!

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His delightful poem confirms one of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism’s slogans: “It’s better in the Bahamas!”

Web site: www.DennisDames.com

Email Dennis at dpoetry2002@yahoo.com

‘My island is truly a nature's paradise” by Dennis Dames

Sitting on a balcony overlooking the ocean...
Waves pass softly over the reef
Light choppy sea looks alive...
Boats, yachts and ships pass by
No sounds around...
Natural sites abound
The absence of noise is joyously welcome...
The scenery speaks and shouts for itself
Dancing palms, sea grapes and more...
An artlessly perfect day for sure 
Sun tanners asleep quietly on the sand...
Hope they have enough lotion on 
Drivers and riders looking around and around...
Captivated by the immense beauty at hand
My island is truly a nature's paradise...
A place on earth, so candidly nice
Nature is alive and well
Every day is simply swell

Copyright ©2002 Dennis Arthur Dames

Note: You may distribute this Newsletter. Feel free to post it to your website or BBS if you like. However no part of this Newsletter may be reproduced in whole, or in part, without keeping the links within this newsletter active.

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You can visit The Writer at Work™ website at www.TheWriterAtWork.com. 

E-mail Richard at: TheWriterAtWork@aol.com.

“The Writer at Work” By Richard Krzemien

Last year I finished a play I’d started writing 20-years ago right after my father passed away. Finishing that project was a huge personal triumph.  It was hard to believe an idea I’d had for so long—before the existence of my dog, my son, my marriage, or even my career—had finally become a reality.

Soon actors were reading it on stage. Lines I had written I’d hoped were funny were being laughed at by people who weren’t even my friends.  Life was good.  But a measly twenty-four hours after the play’s first staged reading everything changed.  As I sat at my computer trying to work on my next project, I felt a shudder and soon realized I was in big trouble. The source of that discomfort was my brain which had just sputtered to a stop.

No, it wasn’t a stroke.  It was the thought of starting another project that could take months, years, or even decades to finish.  Since I enjoy working quickly on most things, I wondered if I’d made an enormous mistake by becoming a writer.  Why in God’s name hadn’t I chosen a different profession, a contained one like music or poetry where a project can be finished in a day or an hour?  What a stupid, stupid, stupid choice I’d made.

I don’t remember how much time passed before I raised my head from the desk.  But I do recall that the first thing I focused on was “The Far Side” calendar hanging on the wall.  How envious I was of Gary Larson.  To write eight words, draw a few lines and be done.  Oh, to be a cartoonist.  My head plunged back down onto my notepad.  To be a writer.  This was pain.  This was agony.  This was… Wait.  This was an idea for a comic.  If I hadn’t been so completely overwhelmed by angst at that moment I might have laughed.  Instead, I grabbed a pen, drew a few lines, and created The Writer at Work™.  Then I laughed.

Now after putting out a weekly comic for eight months I’ve realized one thing: I’ve been working on the same project for eight months with no end in site.  Okay, so nothing ever changes.  Projects can take forever.  But if you like the project it doesn’t matter.  So as long as people keep stopping by and laughing, I’ll keep coming up with one-liners and locations for The Writer to rest his head and experience the things that we as writers confront.

©Copyright 2002 Richard Krzemien

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Hazel and her husband Mike are British expats living in Nassau, Bahamas.  Hazel has written and edited a number of newsletters for organisations she has been involved with, from the National Childbirth Trust in the UK to the monthly magazine published by the British Association in Singapore, for which she wrote a variety of articles, including travel pieces, fact sheets for newly-arrived expats and a few interviews with well-known British personalities appearing in Singapore.

Hazel says: “Since arriving in the Bahamas, the beauty of the Bahamian landscape has inspired me to write a few pieces of poetry.”  Her aim is to be published professionally.

Email Hazel at hazel@mcloughlin.uk.com

Breaking the Link – of the ‘chain mail’ by Hazel McCloughlin

I’m always suspicious of e-mails with ‘FW’ listed as the subject, but curiosity usually gets the better of me and I’ve had some wry smiles, not to mention a few real ‘belly laughs’ at some of the anecdotes that well-meaning friends have seen fit to ‘forward on’ to me. 

The latest came to me from a good friend, so I opened it happily, only to be outraged by what I read.  The first line alerted my suspicions immediately:

READ ALL OF IT – READ IT ALONE!

-         together with something that implied our continued friendship depended on it.

However, as I said, it came from a good friend, so I kept reading.

The poem which anchored the chain was hard to argue against: something about how important our friends and family are and how we should stop putting off making contact with them, or – and here came the crux – it might be too late.

The poem had already been prefaced by a number of case histories of people who had ignored this chain letter, only to lose loved ones soon after; or of people whose relationships had blossomed as soon as they had passed the ‘chain mail’ on to 10 friends, within 3 hours of reading it.

Surely this is moral blackmail of the worst kind!  Ignore this chain mail and loved ones are likely to suffer.  With my most cherished loved-ones each in a different part of the world at that moment, did I dare take the risk?  I felt my keenest sensibilities were being preyed on.

But what of those I might send it on to?  Was I going to subject them to the same moral blackmail?  Contrary to the central theme of the chain mail, how could I ever expect them to remain friends with me if I did?

All this time my finger was hovering over the ‘delete’ button.  How to resolve the dilemma?  Protect my loved ones or risk losing my friends?  I sought to keep my grip on rationality.  Is this honestly the way our futures are determined?  Are the fates of our loved-ones really in the hands of such pranksters?  I think not.  I prefer to believe that we are each the custodian of our own fate.

I pressed the delete button.

If I come to regret it, I’ll let you know!

© Hazel McLoughlin 2002

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Before your Bahamas Writer went on vacation, my friend Nikki Fowler, Editor in Chief of Globe Magazine, stopped by with a complimentary copy of the Spring/summer issue of this fabulous publication.  With her was Globe’s Fashion Director, Apryl Weech.  These talented young women, Nikki and Apryl, have featured in my “Woman in Action” (Punch newspaper) articles (see Published Articles http://www.bahamaswriter.com/publishedarticles.htm).

Globe Magazine, published quarterly by Liquid Multimedia, Port Atlantic Shores, North Andros, Bahamas, is available on newsstands in the Bahamas, U.S., Germany, U.K., France and Italy, or subscribe on Globe’s website – http://www.globemagazine.co.uk

I took the copy of Globe with me on my flight to the U.K. and read it from cover to cover.  Among the features of this trendy new magazine are celebrity interviews, the latest fashions, well-written articles and photography that’s out of this world!

           
(Images Copyright 2002 Liquid Multimedia. All Rights Reserved)

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Art’s wife Joanne Hoople, also a writer, who handles Art’s marketing, kindly sent your Bahamas Writer a “review copy” of Art’s collection of short stories, “Love in the Shade”.

TBW is privileged to give the following review:

Much travelled himself, in “Love in the Shade and Other Stories” Art Montague takes us from Central America to North American suburbia, river country and dust driven farmland.

New and not so new writers can learn a lot from studying Art Montague’s crisp, succinct writing.  Throughout his work, Art uses expressive methods of “showing not telling”, such as stating “mud sucked at his gumboots” instead of “his gumboots sank into the mud”.

In “Love in the Shade”, after a zesty opening, Art quickly takes us to another level with “for their love was true and total.  That was the way it had been – the way it was before their separation.”

Art’s long and extensive experience in diverse community development work shines through in his theme of conflict in the Central American coffee growing industry.  And he uses “voice” techniques, cleverly indicating his characters’ native language is not English.

“Birthday Party” opens with a question mark in the reader’s mind.  How could that father do that?!  The story is again highly descriptive, with Art’s appealing characterization.

The fishing and logging background of “Blueberries and Wild Mushrooms” sets the scene.  It’s a poignant story, reminding us that in life there aren’t always happy endings.

And in “Selling the Farm”, Art portrays the difficulties of letting go.

Throughout his stories, Art offers a smorgasbord of well-researched background, ingenious plot and outstanding characterization, as well as a depth of descriptive prose and clever use of metaphors.  Providing his reader with a satisfactory outcome, Art not only uses irony at the end of his stories, but also a form of denouement.

These cleverly crafted tales, “Love in the Shade and Other Stories” by Art Montague, are not only an enjoyable read, they’re also a great resource for anyone studying the short story form.

Get “Love in the Shade & Other Stories”
By Art MontaguePublished by Short Stuff

 Books http://shortstuffbooks.tripod.com/fiction/id3.html

Art’s Web site: http://artmontague.com
Email Art at arts-place@rogers.com

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My Mum to the left. Jan centre, seated.

Your Bahamas Writer was delighted to be invited to a special writers' lunch while on vacation in the U.K. during August. It was the highlight of my trip. Our hostess was my mentor from the eighties, Jan Valpy

Jan started her writing career early, contributing to the school parish magazine. Later she wrote for magazines, wrote plays and worked as a copywriter, editor, crossword and quiz compiler. She wrote pamphlets and recorded tapes for the British National Health Service, and wrote a book called "Anything to Earn an Honest Penny".

Jan was once an adult education tutor in Exeter, Devon, and also a tutor for the International School of Correspondence. She had a special affection for the Short Story and at one time won The European (a newspaper) Short Story contest.

Jan has always had a genuine interest in helping her students realise their potential as writers. She has been a great influence on her Creative Writing students and best friend to them all.

We had great food, wine, tea and cake at Jan's house, as well as sharing some of our work by reading aloud to the group. I'd printed out several copies of TBW home page and the July/August issue of TBW newsletter ("Hurricane Special"!), to give out at the lunch. I also chatted a bit about how BahamasWriter.com came about and where the website is going.

I'd attended Jan's writers' lunches on previous trips to the U.K. and very sadly, one of the writers who had attended in the past, died from cancer after I returned to the Bahamas. Her name was Christina Waugh. I am including a separate tribute to Christina in TBW this month.

My mother, Jo Johanson of "Little Rhymes for Bedtimes fame" (http://www.grannyjo.com) was also invited. I had read her nursery rhymes and children's story "Scampi Grows Up" to the group at a previous lunch and updated them on the difficult process of marketing ebooks.

Despite failing sight and debilitating arthritis, Jan was as regal as ever and a great inspiration to all of us with her "spot on" advice and comments. I look forward to meeting her and her group again next year.

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Christina Waugh

Christina was born in Nottingham, moved to London in the swinging sixties, and then she married and came to the Westcountry.  She had one son, and was divorced some years ago.

She made a new life for herself; she was a woman of many talents and could make a success of any job she took on.

Christina attended a Creative Writing course, and soon had success with fiction and feature articles.  She then became a Creative Writing tutor herself for the WEA and the Local Education Authority, also branching out into different fields of writing.

She co-authored a successful book on Relaxation for Health and Success, and, with her friend, ran relaxation seminars on similar lines.

She had a terrific personality and was a great organiser, always on the go, as was shown only last year when she arranged 'The Word on the Street' in Exeter, a festival attended by many famous authors.

Even with her recent illness, she kept going right to the end and amazed everyone with her cheerfulness and positive outlook.

She was loved by all who knew her, and will be greatly missed.

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I’m now hungry for more and I’m delighted to see Mr. Coben has another thriller out - “Gone for Good”.  He has also won many awards for his “Myron Bolitar Novels”.

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Congratulations to Eleutheran author George Major on the publication of his books "Romance, Kalik and Conch Salad" and "Turtle Soup Theory: Bahamian Out Island Poetry". These books are now available from www.1stbooks.com. They are the first of four books and George says: "I'm so excited!" 

Web site: www.tarpumbay.com
Email George at gmajor.1@netzero.net 

Linda Adams (U.S.A.)

Photo by Sears-Roebuck

Check out the September/October issue of The Writer's Journal and read "The Art of Profanity," an article by Emory Hackman and TBW member Linda Adams. Linda says: "Find out how you can use profanity effectively in your stories!" 

Linda and Emory are also currently co-writing a women's adventure thriller set during the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley. The Confederates must join forces with the Union to fight a common enemy--evil. 

Web site: www.hackman-adams.com 
Email Linda at garridon@att.net

Art Montague (Canada)

Assigned feature article about the "Canadian Horse" for "Canter", a new literary magazine focusing on the cultural and historical aspects of horses worldwide. The "little iron horse", which played a key role in Canada's settlement, was declared the "National Horse of Canada" by Royal Assent in April 2002.

Art has feature articles upcoming in "Youth Today" and "Law and Order".

New fiction by Art, all with links on his website (www.artmontague.com/Fiction.html): 
Donkey Serenade (Novel) Mediaworld 
The Family Planck (Novella) Judas_ezine
"Mission: Safe House" HandHeld Crime 
"Golden Years" Nefarious: Tales of Mystery
(The contract with MediaWorld for a paperback version of Donkey Serenade includes promotion and worldwide distribution with Gardner Books (UK). Art has decided to retain film rights). 

Another "KC" story, "The Faraway Park", is on www.ceauthors.com in the "Grins and Tonic" section. 

Art's website: http://www.artmontague.com
Email: arts-place@rogers.com 

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Australian writer and TBW forum member HOWARD SPICER (WritersDisplay.com) has launched a writing competition - "AN ESSAY OF SIGNIFICANCE". Prize (one only) - U.S.$1,000.

Competition details:

* A competition aimed at stimulating thought and discussion on any significant issue, situation or event in today's world.

* The essay must be at least 1500 words and no more than 2500 words in length. 

* Essays that do not carry the writer's copyright will not be accepted. 

*The competition closes on Oct 31, 2002.

*An international panel of judges will determine the best essay and submit their vote to the Moderator in Australia. That essay which accumulates the most votes will be declared the winner. All entrants will be advised of the result by email on 1st November.

*All essays submitted will be displayed on the site www.writersdisplay.com
Publishers of journals and newspapers will be invited to contact writers directly if they wish to publish any essay. 

Howard says: "My motives in choosing the theme for this competition are genuine. I am concerned at where we, as individuals, communities or nations are heading (or being led). Rather than structure a short-story competition or something similar, I am hoping that the competition will generate essays that will make people stop and think. 

"I will also be working to ensure that magazines, newspapers and the like take an interest and will be encouraging them to publish and pay writers a fee for doing so."

There's a small entry fee. Howard explains: "To keep things simple I've kept the price the same for both submissions to the site and for entry to the competition, namely, AUD$11.00. (ie.US$7.00, € 8.00 or £5.00) - although the cost, in effect, is much cheaper given that the essays will be on display right up to November 1st whereas submissions are $11.00 per month."

For further details contact hspicer@bigpond.net.au
Howard's web site: www.writersdisplay.com

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