Members of the Moorhead Friends Writing Group display its three anthologies: (from left) Sadie Mendenhall-Cariveau, Barbara Bustamente, Chris Stenson, Dan McKay, and Sarah Nour. (Photo/Nancy Hanson.)

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

Members of the Moorhead Friends Writing Group are as different as night and day. They range in age from 20 to 80, from full-time professionals who write at night to retirees with the luxury of time, from poets and journalists to erstwhile novelists immersed in fantasy and horror. Some have long lists of publications to their credit. Others are novices just finding their way.
What the 40-some men and women do have in common, in every case, is a passion for words and the dream of sharing their words with readers.
And their collective dream has come true again. On Saturday, the writing group gathers at Words To Live By, the used book store at 819 Main Ave., to celebrate the latest landmark on their pathway to print – the third published anthology of members’ writing, “Tales from the Water’s Edge.” Released in May, the softcover volume features short stories and poetry exploring lives at the intersection of land and water. Many of the members whose work is featured will be on hand to sign copies from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Then the writing team of Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi, authors of the “Stoker’s Wilde” trilogy, join them from 3 to 6 p.m. to autograph copies of their own books featuring Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde and a cast of supernatural creatures. The couple, who live in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, have also written two screenplays and other works.
Chris Stenson founded and leads the Moorhead Friends Writing Group. A lifelong lover of reading and creative writing, he was asked by Moorhead Public Library director Megan Krueger eight years ago to launch a group for the area’s creative writers. “She knew I was a writer,” he explains, “but starting a group was new to me.
“I googled ‘writers groups’ to find a really good structure as a place to start. Five people showed up for our first meeting in 2017, and it grew from there.” He adds, “Some of those who joined over the first six months are still with us.”
Today, the writing friends number more than 40. Most live in Moorhead and Fargo, but others join their biweekly meetings from 13 states and Canada – from Washington to South Carolina, Arizona to Florida. That’s possible because of a fortunate innovation forced on them by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moorhead Friends was forced to evolve from meeting in one room in the library basement into the online universe via Zoom. That opened the door to all kinds of good things, from members who log in from distant points to monthly visits with published authors. Chris leads the twice-monthly meetings from his home on his computer, while Dan McKay shepherds the in-person contingent at the library and handles the tech side.
Chris describes their gatherings as welcoming and respectful, a place where writers of all skill levels can craft their creations. They showcase their work among friends and share gentle critiques to hone them. Too, they delve into the workings of the publishing industry, based on the experience of their colleagues, who have built a roster of 36 published titles.
One of the group’s two monthly meetings always features a published author, well-reviewed by critics and readers alike. More than 70 have told their stories to the Moorhead group since the first, Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, author of “Dracula.” Other presenters include Alma Katsu, Keith Donohue, Richard Chizmar, North Dakota’s Larry Watson and the Twin Cities’ David Housewright.
Not only does the Moorhead Friends group guide writers in their quest to break into print – it makes it happen. The group published its first collection of members’ work in 2021. “Tales from the Frozen North” emerged that year thanks in large part to a $1,000 grant from the Awesome Foundation, a band of local “angels” who award funds to help worthy projects get off the ground. That inaugural volume included the work of 20 writers in a wide variety of formats: short fiction (often with the tang of horror), nonfiction and poetry.
“Tales of the Frozen North” was followed in 2023 by “Welcome to Effham Falls.” The group’s second anthology was a more intricate and closely coordinated project, based entirely on tales set in a fictionalized version of a rather familiar Minnesota town. (Pronounce “Effham” out loud, and you’ll recognize it.)
From the description on the book’s cover: “These stories … traverse a terrain which includes both the literary and the supernatural. No matter the genre, the characters here face hard choices. How can a woman dispose of the ashes of a man she hasn’t seen in ten years? What mystery lies behind the discovery of a ring with a finger still attached? What mission brings a stranger from distant St. Paul? Demons and doppelgangers and antique dolls capable of possession await in these pages. Both books and bookstores may become doorways to magic. How far will the characters go to find fortune, even if it means resorting to robbery, cheating, or braving a curse? The only thing certain in Effham Falls is that nothing will quite be the same again.”
The group worked together to flesh out the stories’ setting. They developed a cast of characters, businesses and the city’s own idiosyncracies, going so far as to develop a tongue-in-cheek travel and tour guide to purported places of interest. People, names and places were shared among the writers on a common web page. From there, they borrowed characters and did with them as they wished.
No one knew what the others were creating until they submitted finished work. Most of the stories fell into the genres of fantasy and horror. “We had no idea what it would be when it was done,” member Barbara Bustamente reports.
What it was, was something of a hit with readers. “Effham Falls” has been the group’s best seller to date. They plan to return to the scene in a second volume scheduled for publication later this year.
And they’re also putting together a third collection, this one even heavier on horror. It will draw from a broader network of authors found on the internet. “We’re not sure where we’ll end up with it,” Chris confides, “but we hope to publish it by Halloween.”
Since the Awesome grant that propelled its first book, the Moorhead Friends Writing Group has financed the cost of publishing its anthologies entirely by selling books – its own, and its members’ – at regional festivals and events. Its titles are also sold through commercial outlets, beginning with the Words To Live By bookshop, whose owner Jill Johnson has collaborated closely with them. Titles are also sold at Barnes and Noble near West Acres, the NDSU Book Store, independent book stores and gift shops around the area, and of course on Amazon. Of the latter, the leader says, “It’s a necessary evil.”
Most of the Moorhead Friends earn their livings far from the publishing world. Chris works by day as a senior cost analyst at Sanford Health. Others’ backgrounds include everything from food service and education to health care and the military.
Their love of crafting well-told tales is the common ground that brings them together. “Writing is lonely,” Chris observes, pointing toward the fellowship that accompanies the professional development at Moorhead Friends Writing Group meetings. “We sit in our corner in the dark, pounding away on our keyboards – just you and the words and your keyboard.
“Sometimes the scariest thing in the world is a blank computer screen.”
New members are always welcome to join the Moorhead Friends Writing Group. To learn more about its mission, its meetings and its members, go to https://moorheadfriendswritinggroup.com. Or check out its page on Facebook.