THE REVIEW

SUMMER SLUMP?


Wednesday’s meeting was sadly lacking in attendees. Where is everybody? Well, Gemma was saying goodbye to her beloved but ailing dog, Heidi. Ellie was overwhelmed with looking after a distant and ailing aunt and her aunt’s aging poodle. Jason just disappeared. Bob phoned to say he wasn’t well. Anne Berrie emailed to say she was involved in helping her sister.

But Jim showed up recovered from his fall, and Sharon Robinson joined us for the first time. Sharon owns Today’s Senior Newsmagazine and wants to do more of her own writing. Welcome to the Ram’s Head Writers’ Group, Sharon.

Jim read Chapter 3 in the second novel of the Coventry Ghosts series. He called the second novel “Search For Jason” and it is from the point of view of Sara, the ghost kitten. The 3rd chapter tells how Sarah died when she was chased by a dog and then hit by a car. It was a sad chapter.

Recently Jim submitted a romance novel to Harlequin and they sent him acknowledgement of same, and said response could be anywhere up to 24 weeks. He is also a judge in a published book contest in White Rock and has admitted he personally dislikes some of the entries. I won’t say which ones.

Margaret had some interesting news. Her publisher wants to set up an interview for her with the paper in Quesnel, because the bookstore owner wants her to have some notoriety before she does a book-signing there. Also, Margaret’s article, “Happy Birthday Vancouver!” is in the July issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. Margaret had sent me three more chapters in “Coffin And Dye”, but I only read the first one which was “To Wagnal Manor”. This is where Coffin proceeds to the manor and is compelled by Mr. Sours to dress in the clothes of the murdered Madam Wagnal in an attempt to rid the manor of her ghost. After losing his patience waiting for Mr. Sours to return, he wanders the halls in female attire, looking for Mr. Sours and proceeds to terrify all who see him, including Tootsie who was there meeting the Commissioners about her dog, Arthur. When she was driving home, Coffin passed her at great speed in the Rolls.

I had spent some time re-writing for the 3rd time the beginning of “Nigel Wingate Is Dead” and read that. I had gone back in time and using 3rd person, wrote about the death of a child in 1969 that starts the mystery rolling. I started with the point of view of the child’s grandmother, but there will be a number of points of view used in this novel. Jim and Sharon said they both wanted the story to continue and are eager to hear what happens next. So I guess that’s a good start for a mystery.

Sharon read us a published personal story from when she took her children, younger then, to Halloween night at Potter’s Nursery. It’s called “Potter’s Haunted Potty” and tells of the predicament when her young son needed a bathroom but absolutely refused to use the haunted outhouse that night. Hilarious. Sharon was also trying to write some serious personal things that were full of emotion for her and we encouraged her to do so. And we sincerely hope Sharon will return to many more meetings with the Rams.

Since the last time I wrote a Review, I have played some more with my eReader. After many frustrating attempts I was finally able yesterday to transfer correctly to my eReader an ebook I downloaded onto my PC from the Digital Library that the Fraser Valley Regional Library belongs to. By ‘correctly’, I mean in such a way that I was actually able to have the eReader open it so I could read it. No small feat this, and I only have about 10 days left to actually read this novel as the lending period was only for 21 days. I assume it will self-annihilate when the time elapses. Can’t have that with hard copy now, can we? And I won’t have to drive the digital file back to the Library.

Next Meeting will be Wednesday, August 3rd at 7:00 p.m. at my place. Hope to see you then.

Lisa