YESTERDAY, I TALKED TO THE ECLECTIC BOOK REVIEW CLUB at the Field Club in Omaha, NE, 69 women, 1 man in attendance. Topic: my novel POWERBALL 33. I was asked to speak for 40 minutes. A writer's dream, right? But when I timed out my talk beforehand, the inspiration, themes, characters, locations, solutions of POWERBALL, I clocked in at 20 minutes. Of course, I could say more about the book, but then elements of the adventure, romance, and mystery that made up the plot would be revealed. Not a good idea. So I opened with the circuitous path I'd taken as both a business and a literary writer. Hurrah, the two separate chapters of my writing life took 40 minutes. They were a gracious audience and we laughed together at some of my life foibles. I left happy and sold several books. As I said yesterday, each writer travels on a different voyage and tells a different story.

ANOTHER WINTER STORM

BUT writers are a hardy lot. Yesterday (Sunday) during the big weather alert storm in Omaha, several writers (me included) gathered at the Main Branch Omaha Library to read their work published in this year's "Celebrate", a special University of Omaha publication. I called in the morning to see if the book release was cancelled, but no, they decided to soldier on, testing the stamina of the selected w...riters. Snow swept down from the skies, visitbility was poor, streets were slick, but many of the writers showed up, with mufflers and boots in place. I confess my husband drove, but I took my place at the mike and read my poem "Recycling", then also read a piece by a friend of mine, Marty Pierson, who died unexpectedly in January. Then we struggled home on slippery lanes, past stalled cars to our home, sweet home.