The Washington Avenue Writer’s Group is back meeting on Washington Avenue.

The group, which was started about eight years ago by Albert Lea resident Dustin Petersen, took its name from a former longtime meeting place: the home of member Love Cruikshank on South Washington Avenue. After her death, the group meetings were moved to the Albert Lea Art Center. Last month, the group began meeting at Christ Episcopal Church at the corner of Washington Avenue and Fountain Street.

The Washington Avenue Writer’s Group meets at 7 p.m. each Tuesday. Its purpose is to get its members to write something every week, said member Rachelle Fliehman.

“We’re real casual,” Fliehman said.

Members are welcome to share anything they’ve written — poems, stories about recent and past experiences, chapters for books they’re writing, articles written for newspapers or magazines and even e-mails.

There are no dues, but if a member hasn’t brought something to the meeting to read, he or she is asked to put a quarter in the “kitty.” The pot is occasionally donated to an organization or has even treated members to a pizza party.

There are about 12 members who attend meetings on a regular basis. They come from Albert Lea, Alden, Wells, Conger, Hollandale and Emmons. They also come from a variety of backgrounds.

Fliehman said she originally saw a poster for the group. “I was interested in writing my childhood memoirs and wanted to be a better writer,” she said. “I learn a lot from other people’s writing.”

Bill King has been coming to meetings for a couple of years. “I’ve always been interested in writing and I read a lot,” he said, adding he enjoys listening to what the others read.

“Every week I learn something,” he said. “And I get a chance to express myself.”

King is working on the United Way’s children’s book for 2011.

Kaye Klukow writes non-rhyming poetry. She’s been published in Bemidji State University’s “Dust and Fire” poetry anthology.

Because she didn’t have any formal training in writing, she finds attending writer’s group meetings helps keep her on task.

“It’s support for a habit,” Klukow said. “I’d definitely miss this if we didn’t have it.”

Another member who has been published is Georgia Whitmore, who writes under the pen name of Claudia Ryan-Smith. She’s written two self-published novels, “Coyote Moon” and “Tomorrow’s Promise.”

“I enjoy a good story, a tale of ‘daring do’ with romance, mystery and raw emotion,” Whitmore wrote. “If I write the story myself, I can capture all the feelings first hand. I control the suspense and dialogue with a stroke of a computer key. I know the end of my story but I don’t know how my characters will arrive there. Sometimes, they are ruthless and wicked and may have to die and other times they have a fore gleam of their life if they persist on the road they are traveling. As a writer, I have the power to redeem them.”

Whitmore said she began writing because she was tired of skipping pages in books she was reading because she had no desire to read the “smutty” parts of an otherwise entertaining novel. “I admit I had to set my story in the 1880s to pull it off, but it works. People are people no matter which era you write about. There is immorality, hatred, romance, jealousy, love and betrayal throughout history. The trick is to write it without using the easy way out. I give credit to the reader to get the picture.

“A writer opens the window for the reader to see what is going on,” Whitmore wrote.

“Imagination either draws the curtains or leaves the light on.”

She said the real world dishes out enough sadness, harshness and brutality for me so she writes about people who beat the odds.

Sara Aeikens said she doesn’t believe she would have continued writing if it wasn’t for the Washington Avenue Writer’s Group. She has an occasional column in the Tribune titled “Creative Connections.”

“The emotional support as well as the critiquing is important,” Aeikens said.

She added that the sustainability of the group is good, too. “People can float in and out and come back,” she said.

Alyce Jacobsen said she has been coming to meetings for about six years and still finds she needs to have an inspiration to write. “Usually it’s whatever is going on in our household,” she said.

Betsy Hermanson is a former editor of the Wells Mirror said she came to the group with then-fellow newspaper woman, Carolyn Smith, who owned the Alden Advance.

“I learn so much from everyone here,” Hermanson said. “They’ve all become good friends.”

Lynne Andersen of Hollandale said she learned about the group through the newspaper. She writes about real-life events. “My goal is to write my life story,” she said.

Attending the weekly meetings is enjoyable, she said. “I like sharing what I write and getting feedback and hearing what other people write.”

Maren Ring is a charter member of the writer’s group, but she was talked into attending meetings by a friend. “I didn’t write anything for weeks,” she admitted.

She said once she did start writing, she wrote about anything that happened and poetry about skunks or fish. “It gets easier,” she admitted.

And she does enjoy hearing what other people write, she said.

On one recent Tuesday evening, members heard a variety of different types of writing: poems, rhymes, short stories, a letter to the editor and notes about the group itself.

“I feel like I should applaud,” Jacobsen said at one point.

The group is open to anyone who is interested and welcomes new members, Fliehman said. Anyone with questions can call her at 383-4363.