Octogenarians, Talladega Writers Guild publish second book
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Octogenarians Joan Fobbs, left, and Carol Boyer Stober recently published their stories in the Talladega Writers Guild’s second book, “Stories & Expressions of the Heart: Volume Two.” Photo submitted
By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
While many people in their 80s may enjoy various activities or living at a more relaxed pace, two octogenarians in Talladega are continuing to write and publish their stories about 80-plus years of living.
The Talladega Writers Guild recently had its second book, “Stories & Expressions of the Heart: Volume Two,” published. In it, octogenarian writers Joan Fobbs and Carol Boyer Stober share their adventures and life experiences, some whimsical and some wise.
While the Writers Guild is based in Talladega, Coosa County residents and others are also welcome and encouraged to join the guild, which previously even included writers from out of state. Fobbs and Stober hope to grow the guild to include more writers and those interested in the craft, and it is open to all who are interested in participating.
Fobbs grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and moved to Talladega in 1991, while Stober grew up in Iowa. Both traveled extensively over their lives before making Talladega their home.
While the guild’s first book, “Stories & Expressions of the Heart,” was compiled with a larger group and had seven authors, the second volume only has Fobbs and Stober, the remaining members of the guild currently. Other members left the guild for various reasons, such as traveling, changes in jobs, taking care of family members, and more.
“So that left Carol and me, so we continue on,” Fobbs said. “We love to write, so we decided we would continue to write.”
While the Talladega Writers Guild once met at Heritage Hall and then the library, the COVID-19 pandemic changed things. The guild began meeting monthly by Zoom, with Fobbs and Stober continuing to work on their monthly storytelling with each other.
The writers start with a prompt and then decide how they want to build their stories based on that prompt. They would sometimes select the same prompt, but their approach to how they wrote about it was different, which Fobbs said made it interesting and exciting.
“You’ll see some of that in book two more than in book one,” she said.
As she and Stober continued to write, they realized they were the only two octogenarians in the guild, so much of what they wrote was a reflection of more years of living and their experiences worldwide, which Fobbs said moved them into another direction.
“That in itself brings about a slightly different style of writing, as well,” she said. “So that may be the shared contrast between the two [books].”
In addition to writing, Stober’s life experiences include being a musician and traveling with her family as she, her daughter and granddaughters traveled throughout the Midwest performing as “The Girl Band.” Photos of them are included in the recent book.
“It’s really exciting to read those stories, too, about Carol and her family, and each of them played a different string instrument, the bass instrument, the guitar, violin, and Carol plays the autoharp,” Fobbs said.
Additionally, Stober is a songwriter, and some of the stories in “Stories & Expressions of the Heart: Volume Two” are actually songs that she wrote and published.
Another of her featured stories was written in the vernacular of the person telling about a storm. When including it in the book, the two decided they would not correct any of the English or way it was presented, and instead present it just like the man was speaking to Stober.
“So you’ll find a different bit of writing and some grammatical differences there about that story,” Fobbs said.
She said that Stober’s stories of growing up in Iowa and those experiences will also “really take [readers] back to pioneer days.”
As for Fobbs, she has many stories included in the book that are short stories, or vignettes, of experiences she’s had in different states and places she has lived that inspired her responses to various prompts they were using.
Both books are currently available for purchase on Amazon, where readers can also leave reviews. The book is also available at some libraries locally.
The writers had outside editors critique the book, as well as what Fobbs calls “grandma readers.”
“They love you enough to tell you the truth, but not to hurt you,” she said. “So we had a couple people that were kind enough to do that for us. When someone else reads your writing, they can pick up on little nuances that you don’t see because you’re in the middle of writing and trying to correct everything yourself. So when someone offered to read for us, we welcomed any feedback they can provide.”
While the Talladega Writers Guild has decreased in size, the goal of being supportive of each other and not wishing to write anything negative about anyone or any subject has remained the same through the years. Fobbs said rather than write anything negative, the stories in the book are “positive reflections on life experiences.”
“It’s supposed to be a fun-loving book, one where you can really smile,” she said. “Sometimes some of the stories will bring tears to your eyes, but more importantly, just to provide that whimsy.”
While there are no events currently scheduled, Fobbs said that if anyone would like for them to do a book signing or similar event to present their book, they are happy to do that and try to work something out.
“If someone is interested I’d be happy to, because I love the storytelling aspect,” she said. “I do love writing those stories and sharing them with people.”
Stober and Fobbs continue to meet by phone via Zoom the first Thursday of every month for about an hour or two, “depending on how verbal we are that particular day,” Fobbs said. Through the Writers Guild meetings they update each other on what is going on in the world of writing, provide help for one another as needed, read their stories to each other, answer questions, work on improving, and discuss how to get their book out there more, as they think some of the experiences are universal and things that people can identify with.
The writing duo have found that meeting by phone works better for them. Stober turned 90 shortly after the second book was published, and Fobbs said they wanted to make the monthly meetings more convenient.
However, if the guild increases in number, then Fobbs said they can look into going back to meeting at the library if members want to do that, but that Zoom is convenient right now.
Other writers who are interested in joining the monthly meetings are always welcome. Fobbs said they are looking for new writers who want to share their stories and do it through the Writers Guild, adding that they would like to have more people join the guild and meetings.
“The important thing is just to write,” Fobbs said. “Write and do it on a regular basis. Someone once told me that if you really want to write, you don’t have to journal or anything, but just every day write one or two paragraphs of something that you want to tell a story about. If you do that, after 365 days, you have enough information to put together in a book.”
To schedule a book signing, join the guild, or for more information, contact Fobbs at 256-404-4029 or email TalladegaWriters@gmail.com.
