FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The monthly Pensters writing group meeting will be held on Saturday, March 12, and will feature a workshop on publishing today.

T.K. Thorne, a Birmingham writer and author of “Noah’s Wife,” will speak to the group about her experience.

President P.T. Paul said she carefully chose Thorne to speak to the group. Thorne has even been asked to speak to a group in Turkey, she said.

“One of my favorite ways to choose potential speakers is to ask the Pensters’ membership if they have a writer, agent, publisher, educator or editor that they would like to invite,” Paul said. “One such speaker is T.K. Thorne, who was not only suggested to me by a member, but has a connection to the group through that member who put her in touch with me.

“I am grateful to that member for making it possible for the group to hear a Book of the Year award winner.”

Paul said she appreciates Thorne’s work.

“Normally, I don’t read historical fiction, but “Noah’s Wife” is one of those books that brings history to life, and T.K.’s treatment of the story is highly imaginative, yet completely grounded,” she said. “Before I knew it, I was in complete sympathy with her main character, and found myself transported through space and time to the birthplace of the Christian religion, feeling as if I were a witness to that sea change in the human belief system.

“Throughout history, there have been individuals whose abilities are inexplicable to others, individuals who see, hear, and know things beyond the comprehension of the average person, and T.K.’s character, Na’amah, who is afflicted with Asperger Syndrome, is one of those individuals.

“It is rare to find a writer who can go beyond the accepted assumptions of society and ferret out unexpected explanations that allow us to see history in a scientifically valid manner.

“T.K. replaces ignorance with insight and myth with medicine to illuminate not only what we believe happened, but to show us how it might have happened.”

Thorne will speak to the group about changes in the publishing world.

“We are living in a time when the world of publishing is turning on its head, Thorne said. “It's scary and, at the same time, it creates opportunities that were undreamed of a short time ago.

“Through telling the story of my journey as writer, I hope to inspire and share what I've learned.”

She said that being in a writing group doesn’t make one a writer but does lend support to the process.

“The actual act of putting pen to page — or fingers to keyboard — is by nature a solitary activity, but it is the end result of an amazing and seemingly chaotic process of input and processing, even if it comes out in a magical flow or like pulling a sitting mule uphill, she said. “Writers’ groups help provide input and focus the process.”

“Basically, they help a writer learn in a supportive environment what works and what doesn’t — that is priceless.”

Jennie Tudor, a member, agreed.

“ I have only been a member of the Pensters for one year — someone in the Baldwin Writers Group told me about it,” she said. “I appreciate the challenge options that are afforded us as creative choices at each meeting.

“I am a reader as well as a want to be writer, I am writing a fictionalized memoir.”

Paul said the group has helped her in many ways.

“In the over 10 years I have been a member of the Pensters’ writing group, I have seen our membership grow and change, and feel that we are on the brink of redefining ourselves again,” she said. “It is exciting to belong to an organization that is considering how best to serve its members and the community at large, one that wants to make a difference in the lives of the others.

“We have many plans on the table at the moment, and I look forward to seeing them come to fruition.”

The group has helped her personal writing, she said.

“As a poet and prose writer, I have thoroughly enjoyed being in the company of such a diverse group as the Pensters, whose members include poets, novelists, technical writers, fiction and non-fiction writers, and even non-writers whose reading tastes encompass every genre, and who provide an audience and sounding board for the writers in the group,” she said. “We like to say that our meetings are more like a meeting in the middle of a party, because we believe in the fellowship of like-minded individuals, and encourage interaction between persons of similar interests.

“Apparently, our speakers enjoy it, also, as I have received thank-you cards and e-mails from speakers telling me how much they enjoyed their visit with the group — it is an honor and a pleasure to be the president of such a dynamic and vital group.”

The group will meet from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 12, at Dahlgren Hall on the Fairhope campus of Faulkner State Community College.