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Recognitions

Joan McNulty Pulver

Welcome to Recognitions, a column designed to celebrate the writing successes of Writers' Village University members!

James (Jim) Hall, freelance writer and poet, wrote a chap book titled A Gallery of Projections, which is being published by Brentwood Press, 4418 39th Street, Brentwood, MD, 20722. The book contains 23 poems, mostly unpublished, some of which had their origin at Writers’ Village University in various poetry triggers classes.

“I understand the publisher has a retail price of $9.50 for the book, based on his contention that people should pay at least that much for the privilege of reading a superior group of poems. I applaud his position but have some trepidation about his judgment.”

Jim writes as the spirit moves him—poetry, fiction, non-fiction, plays and scripts. Most of his poetry, fiction and essays have appeared in literary journals and anthologies, but in 2000, he published a book of short fiction, A Balcony in Brooklyn, that contains material from novels in progress. To find out more about Jim, visit his website at jhall.

“I approach a novel by writing two kinds of document. I assume the persona of a character and write his diary. This often suggests episodes, and I write and often sell them as short stories. So far, I have not taken the final step of integrating those shorts into a novel, but I have that in mind. My recent encounter with cancer has moved that integration high on my list of things to do.”

A high school teacher for thirteen years, he moved on to design, develop and implement software for the Federal Judicial Center before joining the corporate world. He then said goodbye to all this, becoming a police reporter for a small daily newspaper, finally settling on working as a freelance writer with two published books to his credit. Jim moved to Pueblo in 1993, and shortly after that, he joined WVU. “That turned out go be one of my better decisions.” There he facilitates P103 Poetry Workshop at least twice each year. He enjoys writing lyric poetry, haiku and related forms.

P. June Diehl wrote The Magic and the Mundane: A Guide for the Writer’s Journey and submitted it to ePress-online. It hit cyberspace in January 2006. With this book you will journey with your host and guide, Esumera, muse extraordinaire, and her feline companion, Mystique, as they inspire you to explore the magic of writing and elevate the mundane.

“When I found out my book was accepted for publication, I felt joy, shock, and relief! Joy and shock that they wanted the book, and relief that I didn’t have to send out the nonfiction book proposal again.”

June has been writing, off and on, since the age of nine. “After reading A Wrinkle in Time (still one of my all-time favorites), I strongly identified with Meg and knew that I could be anything I set my mind to do. I can’t imagine my life without writing. Even with being away from home during the week about twelve and a half hours a day, I still work between 30 and 40 hours a week on writing-related things. And, no, I don’t have children. If I did, I probably wouldn’t be able to devote this amount of time to my writing.”

June joined WVU on November 12, 1999 and currently is a member of the Artistic License group. A couple years ago, she became a lifetime member of WVU. When she first joined, June wrote short stories, nonfiction, and poetry.

“When I first joined WVU, I took fiction and nonfiction classes. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve taken any poetry classes. I also took the F2K class twice. I joined a story group, now called Artistic License, and the women in that group have made all the difference in my writing life. With the group’s encouragement, I started writing fiction series and now novels. AL provides me the space and encouragement to move my writing to a different level. The members of AL are a special group of women: supportive, motivating, and honest. I would not be the writer I am today without these wonderful writers who encourage me to do more with my writing.”

June’s day job for the past 20+ years has been in the computer field, mostly doing software development and testing, which involves a lot of technical writing. With a BS and a Masters degree in Education, she continues to use this knowledge in her work as editor, writing coach, and to teach writing classes. “I live with five cats who love when I’m home working on the computer or sitting and writing.” To find out more about June visit her website, I Write for You.

Congratulations, Jim and June. We wish you continued success in all of your writing endeavors and thank you for sharing your information with us.

We look forward to reading about your writing accomplishments in this column. If you or someone you know received recognition for writing, please send the information to recognitions@wvu.org. Let us know!


About the Author
Joan McNulty Pulver, mother of five and grandmother of five, works as an Administrative Secretary for the State of Florida but considers her writing and editing to be her vocation. She is a columnist for T-Zero: The Writer’s E-Zine, a course developer and facilitator at Writers’ Village University and the Personnel Coordinator/Editor for ePress-online. Joan has had two short stories published and is currently working on a non-fiction book and a fantasy novel.