Story on Stage V

Quarterly, the Ludington Visiting Writers present an evening of short story readings interspersed with musical interludes. This past Friday evening, two short stories and a one-act play were read.

Three of the four authors were present. Pictured are John Mauk, Deborah Ann Percy and Arnold Johnston. Typically, the readings are given by local members of various theater groups.

The first story read was "And the Waters Prevailed" by Keith Taylor, read by Sean Gilbert. The story reveals the realization of the lifetime ambition of a man who sees the world differently from most people. Gilbert is involved in drama at the Ramsdell Theater in Manistee.



Next up was "The Earthbound" by John Mauk, read by Kathy Hansen. "The Earthbound" tells about a girl with an unusual gift, so unusual in fact that her neighbors find it hard to believe. Kathy Hansen is a retired English teacher from Mason County Central School, who is now active with the Bohemian Theater Group of Ludington.



For the first time, a one-act play was read. This was "A Pet of Temperance" by Arnold Johnston and Deborah Ann Percy. The parts were read by Michelle Kiessel and Josh Thomas (with stage directions read by Terry Murphy). This play is both humorous and thought provoking. A young couple is having an argument and the wife is insisting that they use rules to "fight fair." The husband would rather just fight and then make up. Kiessel is currently directing "Almost, Maine" by the Lakeside Civic Players, and Thomas holds a degree in Theater and Communications from Saginaw Valley State College.



All the pieces were in the literary genre. I say this every time we have one of these events. This is not my favorite genre, but I suppose it's good to think outside my box.

Stories on Stage and Nothing More to Tell

Friday night was the fourth edition of the quarterly event in Ludington called Story on Stage. These are hosted by the Ludington Visiting Writers and Ludington Area Center for the Arts.

Three short stories were read, with musical numbers by local artists in between.

The stories were "The Day Before Easter" by Liesel Litzenburger, "Gar Fishing," by Sarah Jane Smith, and "My Urologist, My Psychologist," by George Dila.

The last one was of great interest to the West Side Gang (our local writer support group), because George is a regular member and one of our facilitators. His story is from his recently published anthology, called Nothing More to Tell. As you can see, the theme of the refreshments carried out the celebration of George's publication. The book is published by Mayapple Press. That's George in the picture, with his book and his cake, which was exceedingly yummy!

We were all really happy to see one of our own be published. It's his second collection of short stories, The End of the World was published by Pure Heart Press in 2008.

How do I feel about Story on Stage? The readers do an excellent job, and it's fun being part of something live such as this. This time, in fact, two of the readers, Natalie Ross and Phil Gigante, are "Earphone" award-winning readers who are probably familiar to audiobook listeners.

The stories were well-written, with lots of great imagery and taking us inside the narrator-character.

However, I wish the story selection was more diverse. So far, all ten stories I've heard at these events are of the "life is a sad enigma" genre. I get plenty of that in real life, and long for some variety in the presentations. I'm not sure I can take many more of this style without a break.

George Dila website

Story on Stage

Elliot Plummer reads "My First Cake Was a Failure" by Andy Mozina

As I'm trying to get more involved with the local writing group; this is the second installment of "Story on Stage" that I've attended. The idea is that there are three stories selected by Michigan writers. Those stories are then read by local thespians. In between the stories are songs performed by local artists.

This is the third such event presented by Ludington Visiting Writers. The stories were "My First Cake Was a Failure" by Andy Mozina, and read by Elliot Plummer; "Beach Glass" by Deborah Ann Percy, and read by Lisa Enos; and "What We Don't Know" by Phillip Sterling, read by Chris Plummer.

There was quite a good turnout, which is encouraging for the arts in Ludington. I have mixed feelings about the event. I've now heard six stories in this venue, and they are all the same tone, which is not my favorite. They were all depressing and open-ended; the "life is a sad enigma" sort of story. I'm not sure if that's the only kind of stories that do well right now, or if the selections are a function of the fact that the person who chooses them likes this kind best.

So, I'm caught between wanting to be involved and not really enjoying the stories all that much.

But, all three authors were there, and there was an open question and answer session at the end. They all said that they really enjoyed hearing someone else interpret their stories. I would have posted that picture, but it wasn't in focus. Bummer.

Story on Stage

In the evening, I went to a local event of the Ludington Arts Council called Story on Stage. Local writers whose stories were selected had their short stories read by local actors. Ellen urged me to go (she was there too), so I did. My reactions are mixed. Part of the problem is that audio input is my weakest sensory pathway. I have to work really hard to take in stories being read out loud. I also have to confess that I didn't care for three of the stories. They were all well-written... it wasn't that it was a low-quality "hick" production. They just weren't the kind of thing that appeals to me. One was a bleak tale of a failing marriage, one was about a guy who wants to kill himself, and one was the moment-by-moment angst of a mother waiting for the birth of her second baby- and her first one had died at birth.

I've agreed to start going with Ellen to the local writer's support group and see how I like it. We'll see... I don't think I write the visceral kinds of stories that are considered sophisticated. Tonight didn't really encourage me. But, it's good to stretch.

In other writing news, Accentuate Writers has finally announced the winners of the last three contests of 2010. Contests are being temporarily suspended in 2011 so they can get caught up with getting the books published. The three themes were Hope, Faith, and Gratitude. For the first time in the history of my entering these contests one of my stories didn't even make a "Digital Download." I can't complain... my overall track record is too good to be a sourpuss about that. Just for the record, the story that didn't win anything is on the Hope theme, and is called "Doru's Birthday Prayer."

My Faith story is called "Ebeneezer," and it will be offered as a Digital Download. It takes a pretty traditional development of the Faith theme, but I kind of like it. My Gratitude story is called "Thank You," and it won a place in the anthology book "Expressions of Grace." This publishing all takes a LOT of time. The first of my stories that won anything was in November 2009, and that book may be actually available in February... at the earliest.

So, now I have one "leftover" story. It probably needs a couple of friends, and to be made into an ebook. If you want to see the list of all my published and "accepted for publication" works go to Books Leaving Footprints