Tom Thorstensen
President, Shawano Area Writers
Tom was elected president of Shawano Area Writers in May 2022. He is also a member of the Green Bay Area Writer’s Guild.
Vice President [Position is Open as of November 2023]
John J. Mutter Jr.
Treasurer, Shawano Area Writers
John Mutter, Jr., was born in Racine, Wisconsin during the only year our country minted a steel penny. His parents moved to a rural Shawano, Wisconsin tavern and grocery store when he was five years old. After John’s father converted a spare room that had been used to store beer and soda cases, along with emptied beer barrels, he moved in a U. S. Army bunk bed for John Jr. and his brother William to sleep on.
After graduating from Shawano High School in 1961, John served three years in the U. S. Navy as a Personnelman. Following his Navy time he worked at two dozen different jobs, including five years in the Merchant Marines as a Coal Passer, Fireman or Oiler. During his sailing days he sailed on four of the five Great Lakes and four of our world’s oceans. In his eight years of traveling the world he has set foot on 14 different countries and Antarctica. He also visited eight islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
In 1980, John attended the Rhinelander School of Arts for one week, taking a creative writing class and was tutored by Tere Rios Versace (Tere wrote the original story, “The Flying Nun”). Since then he has collected 153 writing credits, ten writing awards and has self-published four books; To Slay a Giant, The Fight to Protect the Wolf River From the Proposed Crandon Copper Mine; Out in the Country, 33 short stories about Nature and Rural Living; No Time to Count, The Life of a Small-Town Writer (John’s Autobiography) and The Oddball, The Years of George Putz, Jr.
John is available for speaking engagements in private homes, libraries, or business venues and will talk about his life as a Freelance Writer/Author to interested people, young and old.
If you would like to purchase one or more of the above books please contact him. He would also be able to send any of his books out to a friend or relative of yours—anywhere in the United States.
John can be reached at 715-524-4520, or jjmutter@athenet.net.
Barb King
Secretary, Shawano Area Writers
After 42 years of teaching, Barb King is finally retired and can devote time to her love of writing. She had a short story entitled “Fluffy” published in Cats magazine. It’s about a stray cat that shows up when a little girl is going through cancer treatments and then leaves when she passes.
Barb’s second published short story was in Country Woman. It takes place during the Depression Era, and a farm wife spends her family’s last dollar on the chance to win $100.
Barb also had a short story published in Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas Treasury for Kids. It was entitled “The Strange Package,” and tells Barb’s story of receiving a soiled envelope with her Christmas present at our Christmas program.
Barb doesn’t have a particular genre she likes to work with. She is editing a picture book and a preteen book she’s written, plus she is working on a caregiver’s guide to traumatic brain injury based on her experiences. Barb says she just needs to write.
Lee Pulaski
Living in the real world was never a long-term plan for Lee Pulaski. He spent many a day imagining bold adventures and playing them out in the quiet countryside of Chino Valley, Arizona. Still, he never could have imagined at the time that the dreams and worlds created in his mind would someday be in print form.
Having learned how to read at age 3 1/2, Lee also loves to read as often as possible, enjoying mysteries mostly, although he’ll read any good story. He took a particular interest in fantasy adventures, which might explain why he liked writing about adventures with the Easter Bunny when he was in the first grade. That eventually led to him writing a number of plays in middle and high school involving mysteries, another genre Lee enjoyed in his youth. One of his plays was produced by his high school during his junior year.
Lee first got published in high school, but it was for a very different type of writing. He found a talent for writing about the news and telling compelling feature stories about people, and his talent for photography has helped to bring those stories to look. Lee’s still a working journalist today.
Despite seeing his name highlighting stories several times a week, Lee still yearned to see his name on the cover of a book. He was inspired to write his first novel in 2006 after he spent a vacation camping with family during a particularly breathtaking autumn, where the reds, oranges and yellows were on full display. It turned into a beautiful romantic story called The Colors of Love and Autumn, which Lee published through Torquere Press in 2008 as an e-book. However, that wasn’t enough for him, as he still wanted to see his book in print, so he made the plunge two years later to self-publish.
Since then, Lee has written a sequel to The Colors of Love and Autumn, a mystery series set in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, other fantasies and other romance novels. His novels are available in paperback and e-book formats, and his first hardcover novel came out in 2019. Now twenty books in, Lee is still writing—and still in the pursuit of new worlds and new dreams.
Lee joined the Shawano Area Writers in 2011. Joining not only gave Lee a chance to test out his works in progress, but provided an opportunity to work with other writers who are striving to see their work in print.
Lee self-publishes his work mostly through Kindle Direct Publishing. He has recently produced his first audiobook through Audible.
Lee’s published books:
The Colors of Love and Autumn (September 2008)
A Cure For Hunger (October 2009)
The Second Season (April 2010)
Songs of Seduction (November 2010)
A Cure For Hunger II: Howl of the Wendigo (September 2011)
A Cure For Hunger III: Darkling in Abeyance (October 2011)
An Eagle River Christmas (October 2012)
As American as Apple Pie (November 2013)
Death by Order of the Queen (August 2014)
Murder at the Teddy Bears Picnic (May 2015)
Bittersweet in the Shadows (August 2015)
When Beef Jerky Met Cherries Jubilee (February 2016)
Sleigh Bells and Slain Belles (October 2016)
Creampuff of the County (July 2017)
A Murder Shatters Peaceful Valley (March 2018)
Murder at the Frybread Contest (December 2018)
Hex of the Dragon Fruit (March 2019)
Quoth the Raven (November 2019)
Dine Out and Die! (October 2020)
White Christmas in the Desert (October 2021)
Rural Roots and American Rainbows (October 2021)
Night of the Hodag (April 2022)
Full details on Lee’s published works can be found at www.leepulaski.com. His blog can be found at leepulaski.wordpress.com.
Terry C. Misfeldt
Author | Writer | Editor | Consultant
Terry served as editor and publisher of Future magazine for the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (U.S. Jaycees), later serving as director of publications. Prior to joining Future in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Terry was a photojournalist with his hometown newspaper in Wisconsin and currently writes a weekly column for that paper, The Thorp Courier.
As owner of Brand Irons (www.brandirons.com), a strategic marketing consulting firm in Green Bay, Terry offers entrepreneurs feasibility studies and marketing strategies. He has published The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Marketing.
Terry published his first novel, Shevivor, in April 2020. He edited and compiled the Shawano Area Writers 50th Anniversary Anthology still available through Amazon. An article about his mother and kindergarten teacher was published in Threshing Rings and Chalkboard Lessons. He keeps a daily journal and is working on his memoir, Just Me, T.C.
Terry served as developmental editor for Tom Girolamo’s landscaping book, Your Eco-Friendly Yard, and provided background historical research for fiction author Jeff Shaara’s book on World War II, No Less Than Victory. He has written more than 50 business and marketing-related articles for numerous magazines and online sources including blogs. He was a contributing author for Dr. Ivan Misner’s book on networking, Masters of Success. He is also a member of the Green Bay Area Writer’s Guild.
He is the father of three and grandfather of six. He and his wife have lived in Green Bay since 1990 and you can reach him at coach@brandirons.com.
Wendy Goerl
Wendy Goerl keeps several science fiction works of various lengths in progress at any given time; designs in crochet, knitting, and small-loom weaving; and has recently developed an interest in Great Lakes history, especially maritime disasters.
In addition to compositions of words, she also composes images in pencil, charcoal, acrylic paint and photography, some of which find their way into her written works. she maintains a blog at wendygoerl.wordpress.com
Written:
30 Ways to Weave a Potholder: Color Patterns in Plain Weave for the Potholder Loom (craft instruction)
Fantasms of Freedom (poetry)
Making a Mosaic of Your County Fair: or How to Put Your Entire Portfolio in a Single Picture (photography instruction)
Five Theories on the Fitz: And What They Reveal About the Politics of Disaster (sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald)
The Boat That Saved an Industry (Christopher Columbus and the Eastland disaster)
Edited:
On to a New Beginning: Book One by Catlin Cox (travel novel set between Depression and World War II)
On to a New Beginning: Book Two by Catlin Cox (travel novel set between Depression and World War II)
Terra L. Fletcher
Terra L. Fletcher is an author, consultant, and award-winning entrepreneur. She is the founder of Fletcher Consulting and author of “Flex Your Communication: 47 Tips for Every Day Success at Work” and “Flex the Freelance: An Unconventional Guide to Quit Your Day Job.” Terra has been a business builder since 2007 and today works as a Fractional CMO. Her strategies benefit individuals, nonprofits, and public and private companies. Terra has spoken to the International Spa Association, Smart Customer Service 2018, the National Association of Broadcasters, and Associated Bank. Terra can write a letter that will make you cry, design social media graphics in under five minutes, confidently speak to a crowd, and spot typos from a mile away.
Terra’s published books (paperback and ebooks) are available on Amazon.
Twilla Beyer
Twilla Beyer retired from factory work after 25 years. Twilla attended Clintonville High School. Twilla has lived near New London, WI since she married. Twilla enjoys writing poetry and has entered poetry in the Wisconsin Poetry Calendar. She also enjoys being a part of the Shawano Area Writers group.
Nick Wudtke
A Shawano native and S.A.W. member for years, Nicholas Wudtke writes what he knows. He knows about submerging himself amongst the intrigue that is the national forest, enveloped by the endless secrets that lie within. He knows about wild, fantastical thoughts, powerful imaginations that invoke mystery and fascination. Being a runner, he knows about traveling great distances by foot, and being a fighter at heart, he knows about wielding a myriad of hand-held weapons. So intrinsically, knowing these things, Nicholas Wudtke can’t help but write epic fantasy. Having written much of this in his lifetime, his published works remain his passion. These include the ongoing fantasy series entitled Black-needle, encompassing the novels: Parabolic, Magnetic Key; Blunt but Imminently Fatal Projectile; and Deserved, Contorted Relics. A further published work is The Swords, Friendships, and Winds of Far-off Places. He’s currently writing the fourth installment of Black-needle, in the middle of probably having lost himself somewhere in the forest.
He can be contacted at rush.nlw.2112@gmail.com and his author webpage is Nicholaswudtke.com.