What started 10 years ago in the meeting room of a Bruno's Supermarket has become a monthly meeting of eating, drinking, laughing, remembering and occasional writing for the women of the Mystic Order of East Alabama Fiction Writers.
There are no crystal balls, tarot cards or magic carpets here, just a group of women who share the same passion for creation and expression.
The group, referred to as the Mystics, consists of six female writers and artists: Marian Carcache, Judith Nunn, Mary Dansak, Joanne Camp, Margee Bright-Ragland and Gail Langley, and together they will be holding a writing workshop at the Auburn Public Library Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.
Topics for the free, one-hour seminar will include the intricacies of dialogue, illustrations, finding one's voice and the importance of detail and rewriting, among other things.
The group aims to educate the community about the nuances of fiction writing while remaining entertaining.
"(The nuances of fiction) sound so boring," said Langley, consensus queen of the Mystics and an estate sale antique dealer. "I'm going to be talking about sex."
The group will also provide food and read excerpts from its new book, which is currently untitled and scheduled to be released in May. It consists of fictional stories with accompanying fictionalized recipes.
"We're telling anecdotes, most based on some degree of truth and fictionalized a bit, followed by a recipe that connects tangentially to the story," said Carcache, English instructor at Auburn.
Two notable recipes are the velociraptor medallions and the four-and-twenty blackbird pie.
"Some of the selections we're serving are from our book in May," Langley said. "Not the velociraptor medallions, but some of the others."
The Mystics said their rise to local fame was the product of perseverance and exposure.
The group's first book, "Be the Flame," is a collection of short stories and poems from all the women.
The book is divided by author with each of the women's chapters preceded by a representation of their "mystic self" drawn by illustrator Bright-Ragland, the "Mystic Illuminator."
The illustrations are meant to capture the essence of each member in a caricature-esque portrait.
Langley, for instance, the founder of the group, was crowned the "Queen Mystic" while Camp, a defense attorney, was ruled the "Defender Mystic."
A group of characters as engaging as those in their books, the Mystics are proud of their perspective and writers-by-committee approach that has developed a local following.
"People started saying things like, 'Can we get on your email address list so we can come to your next reading?'" Carcache said.
Numerous fans have requested to be the seventh member of the Order, Carcache said.
"We just kept writing," Carcache said. "We started having public readings, and people actually came to them and ... we started getting a big head."
Their first readings were held in the Rattling Gourd Gallery in Loachapoka. Now, the Mystics travel the South and have been asked to make appearances as far away as Tennessee.
The Mystics said the love of expression is the reason for the group's activities.
"We do these readings for free," Langley said. "As a matter of fact they've probably cost us money."
Many local authors are taking interest in the workshop.
"I'm interested in writing children's books, and honing one's skills is what it's all about," said Judy Lechner, a retired children's literature professor at Auburn.
The Mystics said they want to expand the Auburn writing community.
"Everyone knows Auburn for their football team," Bright-Ragland said. "We would like to be recognized as a town for the fine arts."
To Langley, writers and artists in Auburn should be as lauded as the athletes whose stars line the streets downtown.
"We want to be on the Tiger Walk," she said. "We want a star downtown in front of Toomer's."
For now, the Mystics will settle for helping fellow writers.
"Everyone has a story ... and if you can work with what makes it interesting then it makes your story very readable," Langley said.
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