“One of the best take-aways from the MFA program was that we were able to build a community of writers, with a variety of different talents in fiction, poetry, screenwriting, memoir, and publishing. The fact that we’re still meeting in person, over online chats, and emailing each other to workshop, is a testament to the teamwork habits we formed during our residencies and classes. It feels wonderful to still be collaborating on team projects together after nearly ten years,” says Jen Shutt ’13, MFA ’15

Last summer, the group worked on a unique writing prompt to write a flash fiction piece that contained the statement, “It could be anyone’s leg.”

“We ended up with a great collection of stories – ranging from humor to horror – and we decided to put them together in a book. We acted as editors for the stories, getting together to read through and discuss the collection. We were able to use many of the techniques our professors taught us in the MFA program,” says Amanda Symes ’09, MFA ’15.

The group queried a few publishers and quickly received interest from Crystal Lake Publishing.

“This has really been a fun romp through the writing, editing, and publishing process. It was sort of magical to see the writing prompt come to life in so many different stories. Going deeper into each one through editing them with Amanda and Jen [Shutt] drew on the workshopping skills we learned in the MFA program, and—confession—it may have been my favorite part. The group enjoyed the writing and publishing process so much that we are already discussing plans for our next writing prompt and publishing options,” says Jayne Carlson MFA ’16.

Knowing their professors would be excited to hear about the upcoming publication, the group also reached out to Professor Emerita Cass Dalglish – the MFA program’s founder – and asked her to review the collection. Professor Dalglish has this to say about their book:

“It Could Be Anyone’s Leg” is an anthology of eerie tales – flash reactions by a flight of writers after each has discovered bones lying so very near their writing desks. Did the bones belong to a human? A neighbor? A friend? A beastie of the insect species? Or some other creature who has become only a fraction of itself? These authors call themselves the Dead Birds Writing Group. Is it any wonder that we call a pack of crows a murder?”

The eBook is available for !

Alumni included in the collection are:

Amanda Symes ’09, MFA ’15

Jayne Carlson MFA ’16

Jen Shutt ’13, MFA ’15

Judy Niemi Johnson MFA ’16

Jesse Lawrence MFA ’16

Kate Tremaine MFA ’16

Patricia Fox MFA ’17

Jen Kaine MFA ’17

Andrew Marks ’21

The post Nine Augsburg University Alumni Publish a Book Together with Crystal Lake Publishing appeared first on Alumni, Parents, and Friends.

For 12 years, David Raether ’78 wrote for TV comedy sitcoms, including 111 episodes of Roseanne. He absolutely loved it. It was invigorating being in “the Room” with other writers, brutally and honestly dissecting each other’s work to make sure the script was as good as it could be. Did it work? Did it follow what set it up? Did it push the story forward? Was it funny? You could write a completely brilliant draft of a script, he says—one that everyone agrees reads great—and then see it completely rewritten by the group over the week of production. If you find that upsetting or galling, says Raether, don’t go into comedy writing!

As much as he loved the work, however, the time commitment was enormous, and his family life suffered. Many nights, he would work till 3 a.m., which meant that he rarely enjoyed any family time beyond weekends. Something had to give, so he took a couple of years off to help pull the family back together—an effort that met with some success. Then, when he tried to return to TV work in 2007, he found a different landscape. Many sitcoms had been replaced by reality shows, and he had trouble finding a job, even though he had expanded his search beyond writing and editing.

Thus began what Raether calls an “incredible experience” that has shaped him in many ways. He sold off cars and other valuables to make ends meet, but sending out 2,541 resumes and applications was to no avail. Eventually, he found himself homeless. He lost his house, his career ended, his savings vanished, and his family (wife and eight kids) broke apart. The fall was tremendous. In a recent , Raether talked about what it felt like not knowing where (or when) he would find the next meal, or where he would sleep that night. But in the process, he says, he discovered that he was far more resourceful and resilient than he had ever dreamed. He also learned that it is not shameful to be poor. Devastating, vulnerable, difficult, and painful, yes—but not shameful.

Now, Raether does contract work as a web content writer for various companies in the Bay Area, enough to “keep the wolf from the door.” He continues to stay in touch with Tom Arnold, who first invited him to write for the Roseanne show, and who has been incredibly “helpful, warm, loyal and true.” Raether says that people are always shocked when he says he thinks Arnold is brilliant.

Raether takes special pleasure in having worked with actors who could really deliver a joke, such as Roseanne, John Goodman, and the others on the Roseanne cast. It takes special skill and a special sense of yourself, he says. He also has become a great admirer of Betty White, with whom he worked for a season on a late 90s sitcom, Ladies Man. Amazing, he says of her. She just knew how to read a line and get a laugh from an audience.

When asked about how his Augsburg experience influenced his career decisions, he says that he is grateful for the tremendous education he got at Augsburg, and for the huge number of great books he read and the professors he had. But seeing Alan King perform on The Ed Sullivan Show as a five-year-old was what really set him on a track to enter the magical field of comedy. He was spellbound by the idea of a man standing alone on a stage, talking and making a roomful of people laugh. Though his mother cautioned him about a career in comedy, he was hooked. He also loved reading joke books like Mad and National Lampoon.

Recently, Raether wrote a book about his recent experiences, . With every news story about his TED Talk or book, a new wave of seems to appear. Among his favorites is one from a woman in Ireland who described her family difficulties and said that she and her husband had started reading the book aloud to each other. As the husband began reading the final chapter, he started crying and couldn’t read it, so she finished reading it out loud. She read it, they held hands and talked, and then fell asleep. Raether says that was the best review he ever got.

By Cheryl Crockett ‘89

The post Life Can Be Funny appeared first on Alumni, Parents, and Friends.