THE REVIEW

APRIL SHOWERS


In spite of heavy rain, seven of us did meet on Wednesday to invoke The Muse. Unfortunately, Michael and Gemma weren’t able to join us due to ill health. Hope they are both feeling better.

Margaret brought a sample book published by the same company publishing her “Blow Up The Castle”. She’s still uneasy about the final form her own book will take.

From “Coffin and Dye”, Margaret read of the two men going to pick up the Rolls after it had been repaired. Dye insisted they wear kilts to blend with the ghosts from the Battle of Culloden. They rented the kilts and then went to the moor where the battle had been. It was cold and a fog rolled in. Coffin got lost, but finally managed to catch a ride to a nearby pub with a Scotsman going to celebrate Robbie Burns Day. We all love Margaret’s wry humour.

Danny read two chapters from his autobiography. The first was “So Where Am I?” where he tries to equate the forensic psychiatric hospital where he is held to a vacation resort. He describes the place, which had been a previous army facility and he shows the fear experienced by those inside what feels like a secretive enclosure, and the resultant suicidal thoughts. In “Waiting For N34”, Danny tells how Saturday is Bingo day for those invited, where winners take in $5.00. He is hoping for N34 to be drawn so he can win, which causes a deep realization of how low he has sunk. This is where he turns to a higher power and asks for help to redeem his life. The first chapter Danny read so exemplified the anxious, veering thoughts of someone who is bipolar and not coping. It was very realistic. And the second chapter he read finally shows a glimmer of hope.

Jim read Ch. 4 of “Coventry Ghost”. Tammy witnesses the death of a kitten she would have adopted. When the kitten passes over, she is adopted on the other side by Leanne and the two become ghostly partners. Later, Olivia invites Tammy to come to the coffee shop at night when she and her Mom are cleaning, so Tammy can meet the ghost. Tammy gets to meet both Leanne and Sara, the ghostly kitten. Finally, Leanne and her family learn from Tammy that the other woman who tried to help her was Cheri, the owner of the coffee shop. They decide to invite Cheri to attend one night after midnight. Jim’s story is progressing nicely and he has some wonderful descriptions of the ghostly appearances and antics, and the end of the chapter leaves the reader wondering ‘what next?’ I can see young girls being enthralled with this story.

Jason read Ch. 8, where we see Greg and Dave at the edge of the forest listening and cringing at the screams they hear. The trees are jumping and there is a weird moving light. Dave backs away but Greg goes into the forest and is assaulted with a foul odor and sees smoke. Bruce sneaks up on him and covers his mouth so he can’t scream. He tells Greg the Shadows can feel the power of the pendant he carries. Bruce is following the Shadows to keep them from harming Jodie, the Akomadron. There is a lot of suspense and mystery in this chapter which would definitely be a page turner for any reader.

Anne said she and her son often walk the Huston Trail in Fort Langley and had seen some abandoned trucks there. The trucks sparked an idea for writing a novel, and she has renamed Fort Langley as Fort Hendy. The book’s title is “Ankle Bone”. Anne read us the prologue where we meet Sy and Squid, two young male friends sparring verbally with each other. The story sounds very promising and with Anne’s background in criminology, I’m sure she can put together a story we’d all want to read.

We did point out that she needs to decide beforehand what point(s) of view she will use to help the reader understand more clearly whose head she is in when telling the story. And we also mentioned past tense and present tense should be considered beforehand as well. The most immediate connection of reader to character is with first person, present tense. The most often used is third person, past tense. Nowadays there are many books that use multiple persons, past tense. In this case it’s best if each character has their own chapter. Next best is if they have their own scene, or section in a chapter. With a few stories characters only have their own paragraph. But never, ever, ever put two characters’ points of view in the same paragraph or the same sentence. If you have a main character you want the reader to care about, then stay with that character’s point of view. With omniscient point of view, the narrator has an overview of his/her own as well as the narrower view of every character. In this instance, the reader is further removed from the characters and doesn’t relate to them as easily, but if writing an historical epic, this can allow for a lot of background information to be given to the reader. Lots to think about, that’s for sure. It bears doing some research of novels you liked before you start.

Neither Bob nor I did any reading. Bob said he is still trying to write his electronics saga. I’ve been toying with some ideas and making notes, but nothing finished on the printed page yet.

Next Meeting will be Wednesday, April 21st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.

Lisa