I enjoyed reading all the entries. The subjects and writing showed a wide and deep range. The essays brought light to a gray January. Here are the three finalists, in order:

First Place,  “Queen of Birthdays”
This one moved me so much. A story of a mother with cancer, the essay pulls us through the impending tragedy with such fine figurative writing. Besides using the symbolism of birthdays as a motif, the writer also casts fine metaphors that broke through the scudding clouds of tragedy. I especially admired the short paragraphs, as they reflect the mood of a writer almost breathless from getting down every searing detail, struggling as her mother struggles. On a sentence-level, the writing is bright and sharp, lovely and heart-breaking.

Second Place, “The Spots are Runn’n’”

I loved going back in time with this writer to when he was a child, fishing with his father. The tone is light, which helps the piece avoid sentimentality so that it can plunge into the deeper bonds that tie generations of families together. The details are so specific and well-chosen that even if you’d never picked up a fishing rod, you’d understand this world. A great sense of wonder at the natural world also courses through the piece.

Third Place, “Loss of Contact”

This writer captures our loss of friends in an intriguing and novel way—through the symbol of address books. How do we deal with the passing of time, as friends—and ourselves—move away and indeed, move on? This essay gives us a subtle, witty, and poignant answer. And this writer knows how to take care of her reader: she will pause to address us directly, as our friends do in real life.

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Lori Johnson, 3rd place winner reads from her entry Loss of Contact.

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Charles Canaday, 2nd place winner was not present to read from his entry The Spots ar Runn'n.

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Nikki Campo, 1st place winner reads from her entry Queen of Birthdays.

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Landis Wade, Co-Program Chair introduce speaker Tim Reinhardt.

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Tim Reinhardt spoke to the members about the difference between a novel and a screen play.  He showed the elements of a screenplay which usually has about 100 pages.  He said, 'Pages are precious' referring to showing more than telling a story.  The first 5 - 10 pages should include the 'hook' to get the audience interested.  The beginning is 15-20 pages, the middle is 50 pages, and ending is 20-30 pages. 

A screenplay should be action oriented with dialogue and no interreflection.  It is a cross between a play and a novel.  A screenplay is a 'visual art'.  Internal dialogue doesn't fit the format.  You have to make sure you don't lose your audience.

Writing screenplays changed Tim as a writer.  He writes a screenplay first before writing the novel to get a feel for his characters and where they are headed.

There are the enhanced skills Tim learned by writing screenplays:

• Drafting a story line
• Creating a story arc
• Writing dialogue
• Writing imagery
• Connection with an audience.

Check out his website: Tim Reinhardt