Fiddler’s Green was a great spot for Geof Benge’s Birthday Celebration.

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Geoff Benge celebrated his birthday with family and friends at Fiddler’s Green (544 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL). Geoff and his wife Janet, both from New Zealand,  are co-authors of 68 biographies of famous historical figures, with over 3 million copies sold worldwide. Their latest book, Triumph- the Extraordinary Life of Louis Zamparini, is timed perfectly to engage young readers prior to the Christmas Day release of Unbroken, a movie of his life directed by Angelina Jolie.

Before the party, I sketched the regular patrons at the bar. The heated discussion was all about soccer. Once Geoff and Janet arrived, I joined them in the back room. Guinness flowed and conversations turned to literature.  Friends got up to toast Geoff. He is apparently known for being able to hold his liquor. On a trip with friends he had a liquor bottle. The group went on an exhausting hike and Geoff kept sipping from his bottle to every one’s amazement. He not only kept up with all the other hikers, but he was sure footed the whole way. It wasn’t until later, around the camp fire that everyone learned that his bottle was actually full of water.

The only time I drink Guinness is when there is chocolate cake to go with it. The sweet chocolate is fantastic to wash down with the thick dark beer. I was in bliss.

Kerouac House Reading, Brooks Teevan

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On Saturday June 27th, Terry and I went to a reading by Brooks Teevan at the Kerouac House (1418 Clouser Ave, Orlando, FL 32804). The Kerouac House was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places and a small brass plaque next to the front door proudly displays this humble building’s new status. Brooks Teevan came to the Kerouac House for the Summer of 2013. Her work has appeared in The Little Patuxent Review. It has also won Northwestern University’s TriQuarterly Fiction Prize and the University of Chicago’s Writer’s Studio Student Prize. Brooks hails from San Francisco and more recently Chicago.

Brooks story was fun and quirky with some unexpected turns. One character wore a nautically themed dress which is ironically what Brooks wore for her reading. One of the guests at a dinner party turned out to be an alien, literally. Hmmm, that might be a spoiler alert. Back up a sentence and strike that from the record. Geoff Benge sat like “The Thinker” in the audience, leaning forward to soak in every word.

After the reading, there was wine and conversation. Steve McCall told me about an open forum called “Sundowning” he started for people who care for Alzheimer patients. Apparently a person with Alzheimers can function normally during the day, but at night, they get aggressive and are prone to wander. The term refers to a psychological state of
confusion and restlessness that begins at dusk and during evening hours
while the sun is setting. I thought “Sundowners” would be a good title of a horror film in which aging baby boomers would wander the city streets in the evenings causing havoc and mayhem. Granted it is tasteless but it could make for an amazing apocalyptic film. Wait, wouldn’t you know, I’m too late. A film titled, “Sundowning” has been made already. Just my luck.

Soft Exposure

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On February 27th, I went to Soft Exposure at Infusion Tea (1600 Edgewater Dr, Orlando, Florida).

Naomi Butterfield and Frankie Messina  hosted this monthly event that features the writing of local and visiting authors. Soft Exposure happens every 4th Wednesday. I ordered a delicious vanilla tea and a humus wrap and found a spot with a decent view of the podium. Terry arrives just before things got started, but she wasn’t feeling well so she relaxed on a sofa at the back of the room. Author Karen Price joined me at my table.

Janna Benge was the featured author. She and her husband Geoff run a monthly Silver Fern Writing Workshop out of their winter Park home. The couple hails from New Zealand. They became accidental authors and accidental immigrants to the United States. Janna has ghost written about 100 books; she and Geoff co-wrote two historical biography series which has 61 title, and three million copies in about 15 languages. She is now working on a fictionalized memoir of a Victorian murderess. She read an excerpt from that book. Written in the first person, the woman agonized over her need to confess what she had done. The murderess was based on true events that Janna researched and then fictionalized.

After Janna read, the mic was open for any author to share their work. There is something very rewarding going out and hearing fiction and poetry from local authors. Soft Exposure is Orlando’s kinder, gentler spoken word night. Much of that comes from Naomi’s quiet inspiring words and Frankie’s bear hug of artistic inclusiveness.

Political fundraiser for Martha O. Haynie

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My wife, Terry, suggested I come out to sketch a political fundraiser for Orange County Comptroller Martha O. Haynie at the Abbey, (100 South Eola Drive.) The scene didn’t look that much different than sketching in any bar except folks were dressed in business attire and they all had name tags. Martha was very cordial and introduced herself to me. She immediately found common ground with me when she said that she missed former United Arts CEO Margot Knight.

Terry arrived and waved to me. She moved around the room from one conversation to the next, meeting everyone as I sketched. Janet and Geoff Benge, who lead the Silver Fern Writing workshops sat down at a central table. Terry started attending these workshops after one of my sketchbooks was used as a writer’s prompt. She sat with Janet and Geoff and the laughter grew louder.

As Comptroller, Martha keeps an eye on Orange County finances and she makes sure that money spent is accountable. This doesn’t stop politicians from miss spending money, but it does mean their actions are accountable come election time. Marthe joked that it might not be wise to check the finances of the sheriff’s department since they carry guns. She checked their books anyway. There is someone running against Martha in the upcoming elections so she has to be diligent in letting people know she is doing a good job. Her address to the gathered crowd was short sweet and to the point.

Terry was hungry, so she went down the block to Mucho’s to get some takeout tacos. She returned with two boxes of tacos and we shared with Janet and Geoff. By this time, my sketch was done and most everyone else had left. Martha stopped over and she had a taco with us as well.

Foil Muse Receptor Caps

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The Silver Fern Writing Workshop held the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month is approaching its second anniversary. To help celebrate this milestone, Janna and Geoff Benge decided to mix it up and have some fun by having the authors create their own thinking caps, which they would then wear to tune in to their creative muse. My wife Terry planned to attend and I decided this was a sketch opportunity which could not be missed. When I arrived Janna started telling me that she had just gotten a text from a friend who was in Roswell and he wanted to know if she knew where to find the aliens. This was rather fortuitous, a sign.

Muse cap supplies were scattered about on the dining room table. There was plenty of tin foil, tin pie pans, buttons, rubber bands, straws, soda cup tops, tape and a glue gun. The first author to arrive, already had his tin foil cap made. It had two large handles and a large satellite disk. He explained that tin foil is usually used to deflect the forces of mind control. The disk however was a conduit for pure creative inspiration. Rachel Kapitan designed an elegant Victorian looking bonnet that resembled a peacock when it spread open, fan like, perched on her head. Karen Price used a pie plate cap with a central antenna with a disk and button to catch her signal. Another author used a simple foil cap with foil flames flowing out behind his head. He claimed the design was based on the classic mullet hair style. One author crafted a very accurate Mickey Mouse aluminum skull cap with two buttons that made it look eerily life like. I made some very simple viking horns for my baseball cap to assist in my sketching.

Soon everybody put on their caps and got down to the serious business of writing. The room grew quiet and the pencils, pens and keyboards clicked and scratched out the messages caught by the twitching antennae capturing inspiration from the ether. Twenty minutes flew by as I sketched furiously trying to capture the quirky moment.

Everyone was then asked to share their musings. As Rachel read her story, I became infatuated with the way the potted Mother in Law tongue plant flamed up beside her. I enjoyed Geoff’s story about an author’s dependence on his foil cap. He claimed the cap allowed him to go where no mind had gone before. He experienced such a high from the creativity generated by the cap, that he started wearing it to sleep and in the shower. It slowly became clear that this man’s addiction to creativity bordered on insanity.

Terry managed to press the wrong button on her computer and she lost everything she wrote. Several authors helped her search the hard drive with no luck. This is another advantage of analog over digital, things don’t just disappear. After everyone had read their stories, the serious business began of drinking Funky Llama White Wine and enjoying the conversations about art and literature in the internet age. The stories and laughter lasted late into the night. Rachel gave Terry pointers on how to incorporate more dialogue in her stories. As I was walking to my truck outside, I glanced back through a window and noticed the warmth of the light as the remaining authors talked around the dining room table. One author was on the front lawn using his cell phone, the foil cap still on his head.