Kansas or Missouri? Kansas City sprawls back and forth across the borders and covers a lot of real estate in both states.

The WOW 2006 Writers Conference will be held at the Best Western Inn and Conference Center which happens to be on the Kansas side of the city.

The hotel is downtown and is conveniently located near local attractions, shopping, and points of interest. Just minutes from the riverfront and casinos.

There'll be workshops and keynote speakers and all the rest. ALSO . . . "The Writer's Place" or the "River Market" is being considered as the site of our members' temporary bookstore. a place for sales and promotional materals to be handed out to the general public.

MORE ABOUT KANSAS CITY AND OUR UPCOMING CONFERENCE IN THE NEXT ISSUE!

A few weeks ago I was made aware that someone really wanted to become a member of W.O.W. but was just financially “maxed out”. That happens, doesn’t it? I wanted this person to be included, and knew that the person would be an asset to the organization. So I came up with the idea of sponsored memberships.

Now W.O.W. has created a fund that is available to a very limited number of people each year who apply for a sponsored membership due to financial hardship. Of course, we all could plead that cause for ourselves, but we really want to be fair about the way this is managed. The fund will be maintained by anonymous donations and separate from organization revenues. Any member, or prospective member, who feels they need assistance with annual dues, may apply to the Board of Directors. The request will be considered and put to a vote by the full Board. If you are interested in applying, or know someone who is, contact us - wizardsofwords@aol.com - requesting an application.

The number of sponsored memberships per year has not been determined, and a name for the actual program has not been decided. Romance Writers of America call their sponsored program “Scholarships”. A proper designation will be announced at a later date.

So, where are they? How do I contact them? How can I trust they'll do what they say? How do I know they're legit? Answers to these questions are in the hundreds. Everyone gives a different answer. Some even say you don't need an agent. But are you equipped to fill the shoes of an agent AND those of an author? It's a complex world out there in publishing-land. Find an agent, make your life easier.

Interesting enterprise, this WOW thing . . . So far we have more lookie-loo's than members, but the lookie- loo's keep coming, or coming back (while some don't know whether they're coming or going), so we must have something going on - even if in slow- motion.

The principals of WOW are certainly most confident about the group's ultimate prominence, because they have already booked the Los Angeles "Forum" for the 2007 WOW convention, for which Joan Rivers and daughter have instantly offered their televised participation as red carpet dress police/reporters.

Caryn Bruer is already in a tizzy, wondering what to wear, whereas Rebecca Buckley has dug Dior out of moth balls to personally design her garment, and our good friend 'Dave the Dazzler' has already sent his erstwhile cop uniform to the cleaners, having put himself on a strict diet in order to fit into it by '07.

Jeffery Miller, Esq., on the other hand, is having an exhibition statue sculptured of himself, in the posture of the see-not-hear-not-speak-not monkeys. Ashlee, naturally, plans to attend in her Alice-in-Wonderland garb, while Larry Evans (a much treasured messageboard-fly) will appear as Mickey Spillane during the day and Noel Coward in the P.M.

Claudia DiVANtastic, a much enjoyed, though merely mysterious, non-member messageboard "visitor," doesn't have a clue yet as to who she'll be -- other than, literally, some kind of VAN-derful (wink, wink, say no more), convinced she's showing up for a teenage beauty pageant. Doni is rumored to appear with her entire Florida writers’ group, bringing cake and cookies, and getting into her black leather gear at night, chains rattling and whips whooshing! Omnibus will hazily and only briefly manifest as a phantom spy.

Last not least, chances are good that Edd Voss will be filming a documentary of the entire event. But first, there is Kansas, of course -- the dress rehearsal. I'm not sure if my imagination is powerful enough to do justice by premonition-ing THAT event, so I won't even try.

When, at the eleventh hour (five minutes before press time), I was asked to write a byline for this newsletter by Rebecca Buckley (Doesn't that sound like a name typically sported by nobility? Or even like the title of a classic romance novel . . . like, "Lady Buckley's Lovers"? God knows, Becca would qualify as a model for the latter, given her colorful, multi-multi- spousal history that causes even Mormons to blush), I wondered what on earth I could write about that isn't already addressed on the WOWMB. So, in desperation and plagued by writer's block, I decided to write about absolutely nothing at all, which, I believe, I have hereby accomplished quite admirably.

Happy writing, Y'all! Keep your smile wide, your heart open and your knees together!

I pulled a book from a shelf in my husband’s library today – a side note: a library that has books dating back to the beginning of time as does he, a library that I’ve named the dungeon because of its darkness and dustiness and unkempt condition, but that’s the way he likes it – entitled “Scarlet Sister Mary.” It was written by Julia Peterkin and was the 1929 winner of the Pulitzer Prize. It was copyrighted in 1923 by the Bobbs Merrill Co. and was also published by Triangle Publishing in 1940 (the year I was born). This particular copy is part of the 15th printing in 1944. Ms. Peterkin’s stories were “full of the earth’s richness and the sun’s warmth; stories that go far behind the polite screen of civilization to life’s naked elements of birth and growth and death.” * Her stories were of African American life on the plantations of the South in this country.

After reading the first chapter of the book and not wanting to put it down to write this article, once more I’m reminded of the unique caliber of books that win Pulitzer prizes. The simplistic, honesty with which these novels are written makes me once more sit back and take a better look at my own writing. Ms. Peterkin’s books aren’t full of planted adjectives and adverbs and words one needs the dictionary to explain. Even in Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winner “Tales of the South Pacific” the clarity of story and its people is such an easy read. Most of the Pulitzer books are easy reads and are usually dealing with the plight and personal stories of common folks. “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck is another. “Alice Adams” by Booth Tarkington. Another by Tarkington - “The Magnificent Ambersons.” “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck” and “Gone With the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell – two other well-known winners of many years past.

Today’s winners still deal with the human dilemma, although in more contemporary times. “Empire Falls”, a novel written by Richard Russo and a 2002 Pulitzer Prize winner was adapted to film and received a Golden Globe award for best television movie (HBO) just last week. “The Hours” by Michael Cunningham received a Pulitzer in 1999 and went on to vie for several prizes at the Academy Awards. All are books about real people.

But what exactly is a Pulitzer Prize? It all began with Hungarian born Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911) who was the embodiment of American journalism in the 19th Century. He became a “passionate crusader against dishonest government, a fierce, hawk-like competitor who did not shrink from sensationalism in circulation struggles, and a visionary who richly endowed his profession.” ** It was at his insistence that curriculum in universities included classes on journalism. In his will of 1904 he “made the provision for the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes as an incentive to excellence.” *** The very first Pulitzer for a novel was awarded to Ernest Poole for “His Family” in 1918 (the year my mother was born) and has been awarded every year up to the 2005 winner - “Gilead” by Marilynne Robinson. The awards are made in April of each year by the president of Columbia University on behalf of the Pulitzer Prize board.

The deadline for entries in the year of first being published in the U.S. is October 15. All entries must be available for purchase by the general public in either hardcover or bound paperback book form (trade paperbacks). In the fiction, biography and general non-fiction including poetry, authors must be American citizens. Anyone (including the author) may submit a book that is eligible.

So, my fellow authors, we must hone our skills, read more books by Pulitzer winners, and take to heart what some of our fellow contributing authors have to say on the subject of writing in this issue. Any number of us could be Pulitzer Prize winners in the years to come. Till next time . . .

* from the jacket of “Scarlet Sister Mary.” ** from www.pulitzer.org *** from www.pulitzer.org

My wife Rebecca Buckley’s current interest in the Pulitzer Prize prompts me to share an interesting bit of information about that esteemed award with which I happened to be concerned during this past holiday season.

While researching and writing the libretto for an original Gershwin musical comedy I dared to call “’S Wonderful!” produced at our community theatre, The Pewter Plough Playhouse, I discovered some interesting information.

Historically, the Pulitzer was awarded only to authors of literature and consistent with that rule the famous musical “Of Thee I Sing” by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Rylkind (1931) is the first musical ever to have been awarded the Pulitzer . . . but not for its music, for its writing, its libretto. However, they made up for having ignored the Gershwins by awarding George the Pulitzer on his 100th birthday in 1998, obviously for his music. Curiously, although his brother Ira had always been lauded for writing the lyrics to George’s tunes, Ira was not included in either Pulitzer Prize, despite his creativity having been a vital part of the popular success of “Of Thee I Sing.”

Deana Rosenberg, in her very unique book, “Fascinating Rhythms; The Collaboration of George & Ira Gershwin,” does some amusing analysis: “Ira’s placement of the semi-sacred phrase Of Thee I Sing next to the irreverent baby is a gentle send-up both of campaign-song lyrics (the story concerns a presidential election) and of the overused baby talk of Tin Pan Alley. It also epitomizes the two levels on which both the song and the show work. Baby is satiric – but at the same time it makes the song and the show more colloquial, intimate, and affecting.

Of Thee I sing . . . baby
Summer, autumn, winter, spring . . . baby
You’re my silver lining,
You’re my sky of blue;
There’s a lovelight shining
Just because of you.

Of thee I sing . . . baby
You have got that certain thing . . . baby
Shining star and inspiration,
Worth of a mighty nation
Of Thee I sing.

I just thought that all you fellow WOWs out there would find this wordplay rather titivating.

JB

Author of:
“The Silent Knight” (soon to be published)
A non-fiction - “The Drama of Display” (Pellegrini & Cudahy - New York)

Playwright, producer, director, actor

This will be a continuous offering, so all of you wonderful Wizards are encouraged to submit your real-life short stories for our upcoming issues to be published in MAY, AUGUST, NOVEMBER 2006.

Here are 3 wonderful, heartwarming stories by Anne Lebrecht, Patricia A. Barnhart, and Woodrow W. Walker.

Lack of Technical Knowledge - Learn the rules

Lack of Editing - Get unbiased opinions. Reread it. Rewrite it! Hone it. Sharpen it. No work is too good for improvement.

Poor Dialogue Skills - Use dialog to provide essential information. But allow your character to speak. Make it natural.

Dull Writing - Fiction must interest, intrigue, entertain and involve the reader. Make the reader want to turn the page!

No Attention to Language - Use interesting words that stimulate the imagination of the reader.

Too Much Irrelevant Detail - Always include only detailed information that furthers the plot, adds to the characterization or enhances the scene.

Reliance on Clichés - Similes and metaphors can be overworked. Lips as cold as ice. Eyes as black as coal. Be careful not to overuse clichés.

No Sense of Place - Show your readers where the characters in your story are. Paint the picture with your words.

No Shape or Structure - Pace your story to keep the reader interested. Tease them, tempt them, but don’t give them all the details too soon. Write a “page- turner”.

Put it aside. Let it rest. Now rewrite it.

Congratulations to Ina Goodling. Her first collection of poems, EMOCEANS, does just what the title implies, blending a word pool of rhyme and verse with a range of powerful emotions. Her poetry covers a wide spectrum, from whimsical and humorous to poignant and provocative. From worldly visions to deeply introspective prose, Goodling paints a vibrant picture on every page of this book.

Her book was one of three works randomly selected to be read by the panel of authors as a contender for Book of The Month. All panel was impressed with her writing ability. All three works submitted this time were given very good ratings, and it was a very close race to the finish line. The other two books will be put back into the running.

Our first three judging panelists will be on that seat for three months, and then we'll need three volunteers for the next panel. It takes some time to read and review three works, and we certainly appreciate the panelists who have given up their time to help us recognize the published works of our membership.