Point Pleasant Writers Guild Continues the Story

Members of the Point Pleasant Writers Guild shared their stories that began with the writing prompt, “The night I set fire to Mr. Wallace’s barn, there was no moon at all…” It was interesting how different plots developed with those words. [The Guild wishes to reassure the readers that this assignment was randomly selected on March 1 and has no connection to the fire that recently took place north of town.] Carol Newberry’s main character, an artist, had chosen the barn as the subject for a painting. Unfortunately, a storm came up and the owner’s Blue Heeler caused hernto lose her balance and she knocked over a kerosene lantern she had been using for light. In Marilyn Clarke’s story, entitled “Immature Reasoning,” Mr. Wallace used to beat his son in the barn, so in revenge, the son’s friend burned it down. Also using revenge as a plot, Will Jeffers wrote that a boy, who had been in love with Mr. Wallace’s niece, set fire to the barn after learning that Mr. Wallace had murdered her. According to Phil Heck, revenge was also the reason for burning Mr. Wallace’s barn by two fellows whom he had run off his property. Their attempts failed due to a heavy rain putting out the fire. In running away, with no light to help them see in the dark, both boys had the misfortune of falling into a deep hole on the property and were never seen again. The plot used by April Pyles to tell the story: The old barn was being used for criminal activity by one of the farm employees. When this was discovered by Mr. Wallace’s twelve-year-old daughter and a friend of hers, they feared that Mr. and Mrs. Wallace would be arrested. In their young minds, the only thing to do would be to get rid of the barn, so one of them set it afire on a moonless night. The employee was said to have left for another job the following day. Sue Underwood read her story on “The Unwanted Barn,” about an old barn overlooking the Ohio River Valley. Over the years vandals had stolen or destroyed most of its contents. She imagined that Civil War soldiers had used it for shelter and that secret rendezvous had taken place within its walls. When the owner asked for help in taking it down, all it took was a match and some loose hay. After all, what are friends for? Gary Grain wrote a bit of science fiction about how the moon had been removed by an alien force. His story related ways of what might happen after such an event. Grain also read “At the Beach” in which he described an annual holiday devoted to painting a lighthouse he knew about. He finds researching for his stories entertaining. Patrecia Gray shared an old article on the origins of the Point Pleasant Writers Guild, probably written around 2004, in which several names for the group had been considered, one of which stuck: The Wannabe Writers. After several years, John Patrick Grace, a guest author, suggested changing their name because by that time, books containing the writings of most of the members had been published, and they were “wannabe writers” no longer. Kris Moore wrote a brief history of her grandfather, who was stationed in France during World War One. She shared a picture of him as a young man. Woody Moore wrote on Stephen King’s “It.” Jeffers has had five new books published: “Sturgeon XI,” “Rectenwald,” a sequel to “Tuttle,” “Possession of Jane Doe,” “Realms of Gavenstein,” and “Finding Esque,” a Christian novel. More information on books written by Jeffers can be found on www.facebook.com/jeffersarchives and his blog, jeffersarchivefoundry.blogspot.com.