Chapter 20 Venn Diagram
Venn Diagram
THE DARLINGS
FEEDBACK FORM
Attendee Name (if you prefer to remain anonymous, please leave blank):
Cyndi Pietorowski
Email (if you prefer not to be added to our mailing list/newsletter, please leave blank):
cyndipwrites@
Date/location attended (if more than one meeting, please list most recent):
Portsmouth, NH, July
Your Darlings Experience
How did you hear about us?
Article in The Boston Sun :D
On a scale of 1—10, with 1 being least helpful and 10 most, how was your experience?
9! But only because I was too shy to talk to anyone :D
On a scale of 1—10, with 1 being least helpful and 10 most, how likely are you to return?
10!
On a scale of 1—10, with 1 being least helpful and 10 most, how likely are you to recommend The Darlings to a friend?
I don’t have a lot of writer friends, in fact I don’t have any :( which is why I came to the group, but if I did, 10!
If you are already involved with a writers’ community, what does The Darlings offer you that the other group doesn’t? (Not
trying to puff ourselves up; we genuinely want to make sure we’re satisfying your literary needs!)
I’ve never been to a writer meeting, but now I’m so glad I did!
Did you connect with other writers at the meeting? Why or why not?
Not this time, see above :(
Additional comments/thoughts/suggestions:
I honestly can’t think of anything you could do better. Next time I will try to share! William is amazing! THANK YOU for starting
and hosting this group!
Yourself
Approximate age group (if you choose to share! We aspire to serve writers of all ages, and we know beliefs and methods often
vary by decade):
20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80+
Do you identify as male, female, nonbinary?
female
Please describe your current writing project:
I’m writing a novel (eeeee, I can’t even believe I’m saying that!) about my great-x-9-grandmother, Margaret Scott, who was
one of the accused at the Salem Witch Trials . . . No. 16 to be condemned and executed :(
Please describe your position related to the publishing industry. Are you:
1. a writer
2. an aspiring writer??
3. a published writer (please feel free to list your works here!)
4. affiliated with the industry in some other way (Editor, agent, literary magazine, educator, etc.)
5. N/A
Please tell us a little about your writing history (if you are just starting out, that’s fine! Welcome! :) )
Thank you! I’m a total newbie. I left my corporate job last year to start writing about Margaret Scott (see above), my ancestress.
I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m obsessed!
What genre would you place your work in? (If multiple, please feel free to list)
Oh my, genre! :) I feel so official. Fiction novel, and since it’s set in the 1600s, I guess historical?
What are your aspirations for your current project?
Again, I’m blushing! But I would LOVE to see my novel on the shelf. (Eeee!) I want the world to know Margaret’s story! So
I guess to get it published, by the big New York publishers or or self-publishing? As long as Margaret gets to readers.
What are your aspirations for your writing career?
Eeeee! Even MORE than publishing Margaret’s story? I never even thought about it! Maybe I would keep right on going with the
other Salem women’s stories? Crazy to even think about it! :)
Please describe how The Darlings can help you:
You are already helping me just by existing and making me fill out this questionnaire! (Well, not making me. You know what
I mean.) I feel more like a writer now just because I have been to this group. You are giving me hope! Thank you!!!!
I would in future meetings LOVE to learn more about how to get published. I looked up other programs online, and they can
help me finish my book, so maybe I should do that first? Listening to the other writers in this group talk about how they
write has been so, so helpful. But no other group will tell you how to ACTUALLY get published. So that would help!
Thank you for attending! It is our honor to support you and your writing.
Cyndi Pietorowski, social media profile
ABOUT
Pronouns: She / her
Work: Writer at Self, 1 year
Work: Paralegal, Frohling Salem, MA
Friends: 112
Birthplace: Salem, MA
Relationship status: Single
Birthday: November 10, 1980
Bio: direct descendent of Margaret Scott, No. 16 “witch” hanged at the Salem Witch Trials. Consultant on Sarah Jessica Parker’s
episode of NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are,” exploring SJP’s Salem ancestry. Native Salemite. Former attorney and newbie book
writer. Practicing Wiccan. Proud Mom to 19 cats.
Social Media Direct Messenger
William Corwyn
Sept. 20, 8:32 a.m.
Dear Cyndi—if I may—
Hello! Permit me to introduce myself (although obviously this mode of communication gives it away up front): I’m William Corwyn,
the founder of the Darlings writers’ support group you attended this summer. Please forgive me for not having responded sooner.
I’ve been on book tour, which has an adverse effect on being a human being. I’m mortified that I’ve left a fellow scribe hanging
for so long.
I read your feedback form with great interest. Kudos on coming to the meeting! That takes considerable bravery, especially
when you don’t think of yourself as a writer yet. (May I whisper a secret? If you’re writing, you’re a writer.) I’m glad you
joined us and found it helpful.
I’ll also confess to an ulterior motive, my dear.
I am fascinated by the fact that you’re writing historical fiction, which I have never attempted to do (who is the neophyte now?), and that you are the direct descendent of Margaret Scott.
When I read this, I sat straight up as if struck by the proverbial thunderbolt and thought: My God.
I must meet this woman. Because I have been intrigued since boyhood by the Salem Witch Trials.
I know many people have, they speak directly to our sense of history and injustice, but although so much has been written about them, it has all been so .
. . dusty (a la The Crucible) or fatuous and academic, and too often by men.
(Who did Arthur Miller think he was, anyway, appropriating such a story?)
Although it is nearing its conclusion, my tour brings me near Salem next week. I’m wondering if you might be free Wednesday
for a walk or a coffee (or an alternate beverage of your choice)? I’d love to hear more about what you’re working on. And,
of course, to offer assistance any way I can.
Either way, please know you have my respect, and I hope to see you back at the Darlings soon.
Ever your admirer,
William
Cyndi Pietorowski
Sept. 20, 8:51 a.m.
OMG!!!!!! Hi!!!!! Of course I know who you are, Mr. Corwyn!!!!!!! Not only have I read everything you’ve ever written, I am
so grateful to you for starting The Darlings. It’s the first time I ever felt like a real writer. This is the second, although
hearing from you feels more like a dream!!!!!!
I would love to meet you, again, and I’m happy to share about Margaret and what I’m writing. Except are you sure?!? You are
so important, and I can’t imagine you would want to waste your time with a total newbie like me.
William Corwyn
Sept. 20, 9:10 a.m.
It would be my pleasure to meet with you, my dear. You would be doing me the favor. If you’ll indulge me, I’ll spin a little
yarn that explains why.
When I was a young man (more years ago than I care to confess), I was laboring away in my undergraduate creative writing workshop when one of my colleagues bet me $5 that I didn’t have the .
. . well, the courage to submit my novel-in-progress to a New York City publisher.
I took that bet. I used my laundry quarters to photocopy the manuscript in the student union (that alone tells you how old I am), popped it in a box (ditto), and spent the rest of my monthly student loan stipend to send it to an editor whose name I chose from Publishers Marketplace in the library (which back in those olden days was an actual book, the size of an encyclopedia and twice as heavy).
I promptly forgot about it and went back about my business, which was writing and drinking beer, so you can imagine my surprise
when a week later, the phone in the closet at the end of my hall rang (more horse-and-carriage-era tales) and an editor, Jayne
Wetzel, asked if I was the author of The Girl on the Mountain and, if so, would I be able to come to New York? She would send me bus fare.
That bet was the best $5 I ever spent.
Ever since that day, which marked the start of my extraordinarily fortunate career, I swore that if there were anything I
could ever do to help an up-and-coming writer, especially one with such a passion as yours, I would do it. Please, allow me
to walk with you.
But I do have one condition: You must call me William.
Cyndi Pietorowski
Sept. 20, 9:15 a.m.
Oh, Mr. Corwyn! Sorry. William! (Eeeek!!!!!) I am sitting here with tears in my eyes. What a beautiful story! Thank you so
much for sharing it with me. And for reaching out to me. Of course, I would be honored to meet with you. Thank you!!!!!!
William Corwyn
Sept. 20, 9:27 a.m.
Tremendous. I’m looking forward to learning more (I won’t say “pick your brains”; do you loathe that phrase as much as I do?)
about you and your ancestress Margaret. My free window is Wednesday; I have a reading in the evening, but I could swing by
Salem in early afternoon; would that suit? Where would you like to meet?
Cyndi Pietorowski
Sept. 20, 9:28 a.m.
That works great! Do you know the Blue Trees? Say around 1 p.m.?
PS, I still can’t believe you are writing to me! Eeeeee!!!!
PPS, “pick your brains” is gross!
William Corwyn
Sept. 20, 9:29 a.m.
Great (unpicked) minds. I don’t know the Blue Trees, but how poetic. Rest assured I shall find them on Wednesday and be very
happy to do so. Thank you. Thank you.
Sam Vetiver
Sept. 20, 9:30 a.m.
Hi, William. I don’t know the Blue Trees either. That does sound poetic, but I have no idea where they are . . . or is it
a bookstore?
William Corwyn
Sept. 20, 9:31 a.m.
. . .
Cindy Pietorowski
Sept. 20, 9:35 a.m.
I’m so excited!!!! Thank you again. See you at 1:30 on Wednesday. Eeeeeee!
??????????
William Corwyn
Sept. 20, 9:35 a.m.
. . .
Sam Vetiver
Sept. 20, 9:40 a.m.
William? Are you there?
Sam Vetiver
Sept. 20, 9:43 a.m.
Okay, I’m going to guess that last message wasn’t to me. Whatever the Blue Trees turn out to be, I hope you do find them and
they indeed make you very happy.
Also, are we ever going to talk? Get together? I miss you terribly, and I’m so confused about where we are. I’m having a hard
time being left hanging. Are we done? As in done-done? I pray we aren’t. After everything we talked about—your house, the
future perfect? Can we please have a conversation?
William Corwyn is offline