Writers’ Mill Minutes, September 18, 2022
Cedar Mill Library, Beaverton and online Zoom—First Hybrid Meeting!
Eleven participants attended online, and seven were present in the library meeting room, for a total of 18. Jim Elstad led the meeting in Sheila Deeth’s absence. Angela Mollet managed the technology from the library, with assistance from Matthew McAyeal and Robin Layne.
Jean Harkin announced prize winners for the September “Non-human POV” contest:
- 1st prize to Sheila for “The Worst Thing About. . .”
- 2nd prize to Gary Romans for “Sad Sax”
- and 3rd prize a tie for Zita Podany’s “Dear Mrs. K.,” and Jessie Collins for her poem, “Happy Kitty.”
Other Entries were:
- Being a Dragon -by- Robin Layne
- Here We Go Again -by- Karin Krafft
- Stitches -by- Judy Beaston
- The Last Word From Lexicon Land -by- Lyndsay Docherty
- Ups and Downs -by- Peter Letts
And non-voting entries:
- Hemlock Bound by Sheila Deeth
- Valley of the Dolls by Jean Harkin
Entries can still be viewed online at: https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/contests/sept-2022-contest-page/sept-2022-entries-voting-page/
Next month’s contest theme is “Imagination” hosted by Von Pelot. Deadline for entries is Sunday, Oct. 2 (https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/contests/october-2022-contest-page/) . Any genre, under 1200 words. November’s contest theme is Gratitude, December’s is 100 years from now, and January’s is yet to be chosen (https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/contests/upcoming-contests/). (Sheila, as winner of September’s contest, will be asked to choose January’s theme.)
Jim asked each attendee to briefly introduce themselves and reminded the library participants to speak clearly and directly to the microphone. Two new members were welcomed: Mike Quinn (?), newly arrived from Seattle, and April Flores. Both were present in the meeting room.
Jim introduced our speaker, Dr. Natalie Dale, a former neurologist and author of a two-volume book series, A Writer’s Guide to Medicine. Natalie presented her talk from the library meeting room and screen-shared her presentation for library and Zoom participants. Natalie’s notes can be found online by clicking here: https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Code-Blue-Handout.pdf
Natalie’s purpose for the program was to enable writers, in any genre, to accurately depict medicine, from symptoms to effects, to emergency treatment and hospital care, and results of various injuries and illnesses. She addressed medical basics, beginning with signs of airway occlusion and breathing difficulties. She proceeded to provide information on circulation and bleeding, both external and internal signs. She discussed medications, means of application, and speed of effectiveness. (These would apply to poisonings, too, in cases of murder mysteries!) Consciousness and various types of amnesia were discussed, as well as comas.
Natalie warned writers that stories can influence reality, so accuracy in writing is important. She mentioned cliches in medical stories, such as what often appear in TV series. Among her “pet peeves” are CPR patients returning to functionality too quickly and the easy appearance of giving CPR. According to Natalie, giving CPR is exhausting and bones are broken if given correctly. Symptoms of blood loss—at 40% a victim passes out, at 50% they die.
Other cliches: Medication injected into the neck is not credible; instead use intra-muscular or intravenous. When a person is knocked unconscious, brief unconsciousness is tenable. After several hours, treatment is needed. There are various types of amnesia. Lay people can refer to a “medically induced coma” but medical professionals call it “therapeutic coma.” The recovery from brain-injury coma is gradual, if at all. She stressed that people do not quickly “wake up” from a coma, even though these miracles are portrayed in TV series.
Natalie provided a list of resources for medical information, including the two books in her series. And she provided a handout of her presentation to Sheila. (See this handout following the conclusion of these Minutes.) Natalie’s email address is Nataliedaleauthor@gmail.com, and you can find more information on her website at www.nataliedaleauthor.com. She offers a newsletter to those who sign up there.
Robin reported on the progress of our 2022 anthology, noting that volunteers are now working on their committee assignments due for completion, October 10. The anthology will be uploaded and published at our November meeting. Sheila asked for volunteers to “push buttons” at the meeting.
Robin announced next month’s speaker (October 16) will be Jared Kuritz, managing director of Mimbres Press in New Mexico, who will update us on conditions in the world of publishing.
Sheila, on Zoom from dog sitting in Colorado, asked for the group’s feedback on this first attempt at a hybrid Writers’ Mill meeting. There was an issue with the people on Zoom not being able to clearly hear the library participants when they spoke. 1) They did not speak up clearly and face the microphone, 2) When speaking among themselves, the online participants couldn’t easily access the conversations. Angela and Matthew experimented with microphone settings and found an improvement!
Robin introduced a writing exercise based on next month’s contest theme—Imagination. The group was asked to think about a possibly delusional character who imagined wild things. Talk about the motivation, background, and possible conflicts. The group then spent five to seven minutes on their writing.
The meeting concluded promptly at 3 pm. with special thanks to Angela, Jim, and Natalie… and to Jean, Robin, and Matthew. Great job everyone!
Submitted by Jean Harkin, with additions from Judy Beaston and Sheila Deeth