REDWOOD WRITER SPOTLIGHT

It was a pleasure to be recognized by California's Redwood Writers Organization as the April Spotlighted member. There are over 250 in the group and many, many fine writers. To be spotlighted was a real honor.

MEMBER IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Meta Strauss

  BY STEPHEN BAKALYAR   

What are Texans like? Well, according to Meta Strauss, they’re fun. That’s right. Texans are fun! She knows of what she speaks. Reared in Houston, she has a large extended family spread all over the Lone Star State, and from them, along with the state’s unique culture, she gets much of her inspiration to write.

One thing for sure, Meta is fun. It’s clear from reading her book, Saving El Chico, published in 2015. Infused with Texana dialect, it tells of a fictitious small Texas town’s tribulations during a drought and the interactions of its lively politicians, businessmen, clergy, Native Americans, and especially the town’s women, the customers of Lulu Belle’s Be Lovely Boutique. The tale is packed with chicanery, romance, and humor. She is now writing a sequel, Thriving in El Chico, and rewriting some of her earlier work, using new skills and insights.

Meta says she didn’t write a single creative phrase until she moved to Sonoma in 2005. Now she tries to write every day. She believes she has benefited from her membership in Redwood Writers, attending workshops and classes. She is a member of two writing groups. I have been in these groups, have enjoyed listening to her read her short stories, and have watched her grow as a writer. I think Meta has a healthy perspective; she said she gets a big ego boost when she gets positive feedback from others but realizes that she is, most importantly, writing for herself, and any time she gets words onto paper, it is a success. She is hesitant to give tips to other writers, being relatively new to the craft, but she encourages those who enquire to “write something—write anything—that shares your life and personality with others.”

After her grandmother died, when Meta was four, a stack of her handwritten poems and short stories dating back to the late 1800’s was found in an old trunk. These remain treasures, glimpses into a life she never would have known otherwise. Realizing the importance of preserving personal stories for future generations, Meta wrote Stories for Emma, a family memoir, when she had grandchildren.

A life-long lover of Texas history, she enjoys reading about Texas, the western United States, and especially Native Americans. She told me, “If I believed in past lives, I would swear that I lived among The People who owned this land eons before outsiders arrived.”

While living in Houston, Meta was an active board member of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children) and a board member of Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse. She has worked more than 30 years in the staffing industry, was Vice President of a supplemental staffing firm, then a partner in a retained executive search firm. She also owned an art gallery/framing business.

Meta’s short stories appear in the Fine Arts section of the Sonoma Sun newspaper, in the recently published anthology of the Sonoma Writers Alliance, and in Cry of the Nightbird, an anthology published by the YWCA. She will tour Texas this spring, promoting Saving El Chico. She is on Facebook. Read about her at Metawatch.blogspot.com.

OH BEAUTY!

Let’s all agree that some females arrive on earth looking better than others. When perky pointed noses and wide oval eyes were being handed out, some of us got in another line where the bigger, rounded buttocks and larger sized ears were being circulated. I don’t think the intention was for us not to be worthy of love, adoration and attention, but that God just wanted some variety. Simply observe the rest of creation where there are big mountains, little hills, great oceans, tiny ponds, roses and cacti.

Fellow women of the world unite! Starting today let’s stop competing with the movie stars, celebrities, models, and perceived-beauties of the world. The reality is, those of us who attempt to make ourselves look as good as those famous people won’t ever really catch up. No matter what we do to enhance our appearances, these fashionable icons will be a step ahead in the beauty game. Every time I think I’ve reached a fairly equal-look with my peer group, there is another product, service or process on the market.

I give up! They win! I say, get rid of the hair dye and Botox! Let’s throw our lash lengthening mascara wands high into the air in surrender and celebration of a new freedom. Together we can boycott the face-lifting, boob-implanting plastic surgeon’s offices and refuse to change lipstick colors each season. Let’s exercise to stay healthy and feel good, not to become hard-body muscular robots. I, for one, am willing to put away the multitude of uplifting face creams, eyebrow enhancers, and lip plumpers.

Even you earth mothers can join the movement. Oh, I know you have a cache of lavender and rose hip scented shampoos and conditioners. I’ve seen you pinch your cheeks a hundred times to get the rosy blush effect and then apply lightly tented lip gloss. Yes, ladies, throw those wooden handled, natural bristle hairbrushes in the recycled trash can and support this worthy cause.

Reminiscent of the bra-burning events of the 1960’s, we can hold community bon fire sessions to destroy lipsticks and facial masques. What a blaze these petrochemicals will make! Events could be held in conjunction with holidays so they can serve a dual function. We can have receptacles placed in strategic public locations for blushes and eye shadows, which can be recycled for school art department projects. At airports, in addition to having bins for dangerous sharp objects, there can be receptacles for collecting compact powders and eyelash curlers.

I accept that none of this will actually happen. Sadly, I will keep participating in the styling, coloring, skin-smoothing, body-changing rituals so I won’t scare myself when looking in mirrors.

However, I stand by my opinion that exchanging the same effort, time, and money it takes to “get gorgeous” in trade for something worthwhile, like feeding needy children or saving whales, seems like a grand idea and I suspect the Creator thinks the same.