THE REVIEW

IN BETWEEN SNOWSTORMS


We did have a Meeting on Thursday, when enough snow had melted for people to get around, and before the next snowfall comes on Tuesday. Bob and Margaret were here, and Cameron Dueck also attended for the first time. Cameron said he writes poetry, short stories and plays; a little bit of everything. We welcome him to the fold.

Bob started by reading an article from the Vancouver Historical Society detailing a visit to Vancouver on July 18, 1915 by Teddy Roosevelt and his wife.

Then Bob proudly told us he had written 2508 words on a topic other than the history of the jewellery business in B.C. He read to us his boyhood memories of local events and news received during WWII. Very interesting. We had told Bob that if writing about the jewellery business had become too onerous that he should consider writing on subjects that did grab his attention. It is true that if the writer is bored then he/she will probably bore their readers as well.

Margaret read another story from the Peabody collection , “Greetings From Marigold”. Reverend Peacock received a Christmas card and letter from Marigold. She told him she had married Jasper in Gretna Green in Scotland and that was where they were settling. Jasper’s aunt and uncle had disowned him because he married outside the Jewish faith, and her Catholic family were not communicating with them either. Therefore, she invited Rev. Peacock and his parrot, Joey, to visit and stay with them over Christmas. Margaret has said this story is nearing the end of the Peabody collection. We shall greatly miss hearing about these beloved characters she has brought to life for us.

Cameron read to us two of his poems. The first one, “If Totem Poles Could Talk They’d Probably Cry” detailed the dying tribal life and how the tribal voices are being stilled. It is a very moving poem. He said it had been published in an anthology, but we think he should do more with it. The next poem was “British Columbia” and it was a picture painted in words of all the beautiful vistas that B.C. has to offer. Both these poems were strong pieces of writing that spoke to the listener very clearly.

I received from Susan an envelope with several goodies. She sent two issues of the newsletter “Word” put out by the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. That organization is probably similar to the Federation of B.C. Writers. Also included in the parcel was the January/February issue of Atlantic Business magazine, in which there is an announcement of Susan and her husband, Chris, starting their own business in communications/consultancy called “48 Degrees Inc. We wish them good luck with this business venture.

I did attend a meeting on the 15th, at the Murrayville library, of a recently formed writers’ group. It was interesting and I was happy to see the whole time was spent discussing writing topics only. There was a printed agenda for the meeting which included a specified time slot for writers to define what writing goals they hoped to meet before the next meeting. I thought this was an excellent idea as it gives the incentive of having a deadline to meet. Also received at this meeting was a list of library resources for writers, which I will forward in a separate email..

After some discussion, it was decided that we will switch meeting nights from Thursdays to Wednesdays. Our meetings will now be the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Hopefully that could eliminate scheduling conflicts for some people. Our next meeting will be here at my place at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4th. Hope to see you then. Bring your Muse.

Lisa

THE RAM'S HEAD REVIEW

HAPPY NEW YEAR!


This winter’s weather has made it difficult to get together. Margaret was the only one who made it to the meeting here on Thursday. In her 80s, she puts the rest of us to shame.

Margaret read another story from her Peabody collection, “Wednesday Evening At The Theater”. The Reverends Peabody and Peacock had gone to the theater to see an historical play they were interested in, with a castle being part of the last scene. It was during that scene that a loud scream was heard and everybody rushed to evacuate the theater. Peacock had been sound asleep, so Peabody urgently led him out. When they arrived at a restaurant, it was learned the scream in the theater had been Peacock’s parrot Joey, hidden under his coat, who had screamed “Blow up the castle!”.

Margaret and I had a discussion on preparation of long manuscripts for submissions, and the wisdom of submitting to agents or publishers. I had purchased Writers’ Digest’s book on Literary Agents for 2009, which Margaret borrowed. She and I are both getting near the time to start sending out queries/synopses/outlines/sample chapters for our books.

January saw three Ram’s Head writers published in Today’s Senior Newsmagazine: Gemma, Carolann, and me.

Susan sent a note at Christmas with three tear sheets of articles she had written that were published in The Telegram in St. John’s. It’s good to see she’s keeping her hand to the keyboard since she moved back to the east coast.

I am just plugging away at the 2nd draft of my novel and the only writing I’ve done lately has been a series of letters to Sonny in Afghanistan via email. He says he really hasn’t received any news from anybody except for my letters. However, he has received many parcels, just no letters. Until the 23rd he is on leave, at home with his wife and son in Kingston. Then he returns to Kandahar until February 19th, when his deployment ends. Maybe when he’s home sometime in March we could ask him to update our website for us.

On January 13th, I’m going to check out the writing group that is starting up at the Murrayville branch of the Fraser Valley Regional Library. They will only meet once a month, the 3rd Thursday. I thought a little networking wouldn’t be a bad thing. If anyone else would like to show up that night, in their meeting room, you would also be welcome, 7:00 p.m. Coffee and decaf available. Maybe cookies. Just like home.

Next Meeting for The Ram’s Head here at my place on Thursday, Jan 22nd at 7:00 p.m. It would be wonderful to see you then.

Lisa