THE REVIEW

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER?


With temperatures in the 30s last night, there were only four of us here to celebrate the Muse, or lack thereof, whichever applied. Jason, Margaret F. and Ellie joined me in a relaxed evening where we all had something to read. Wendy and Jim were both unable to attend, and I never heard from anyone else.

Margaret F. read first, an entry from Wednesday, August 15th, 2012 in her Journal. It was a long explanation about why she isn’t finding time to write her “Babes In The Woods” book. Her life is very busy with family, friends, part-time work and all the incidents that make her life a very enjoyable one, indeed. So of course there’s no time to write. She’d have to give up something else. She’s convinced herself the best sacrifice would be that of sleep, and that she should rise at 2:00 a.m. to write for several hours before her day begins with another few hours of housework, and morning breakfast with hubby. However, we think maybe the block has been what she perceives is the overwhelming scope of what she wants to write, that it’s hard to imagine ever having enough time for it. The best antidote to that is to quit thinking about the “whole” project and just break it down into small steps that are easy to accomplish, one at a time, in small increments.

Jason read next, Chapter 19 “Pressed”. Gregg and his Great Grandma return to her home and she shows him the Book of the Nornir. Gregg tries to open it but can’t, and the dragon’s head on it moves and tries to bite him. Then Great Grandma tells Gregg that Jody’s father felt responsible for the death of Gregg’s aunt, Sam, and afterward became abusive of those around him. He was the one who injured Jody and caused all the scars on her back when she was a baby. Great Grandma says she has something else to give him, but before she can there is a phone call to say Jody’s Mom has been murdered and at the same time her car comes up the drive, but it’s the man in black who gets out of it. There was lots of explanation of relationship and background in this chapter that starts to make sense of the story and the tension of things still unknown was definitely building.

Ellie read an erotic poem about finding and sleeping with a white bedspread and then its experience during a cycle in the washing machine. Jason couldn’t fathom feeling that way about a cozy cover, but Ellie, Margaret and I all concurred that erotic sensations at our age have different connotations than one might expect.

I read next. First reading was of “The End” a short story I submitted to the Polar Expressions contest. It’s about an exchange of souls in one body, and how the purpose of that has been met and the entity has reached the end of that incarnation.

My second reading was of Chapter 10 in “Nigel Wingate Is Dead”. Nigel arrives at the Lone Butte Hotel looking for Dee. He sits where she can serve him and when she appears at his table he blurts that the cops are still investigating Susie’s death. He says he needs to talk to her. She agrees to meet him in an hour, on her break, and in the meantime he drinks 3 pints of beer. Outside, she asks him why he’s there and he blurts out that she has to marry him so he won’t have to testify against her. Not wanting to go to jail, she agrees. He says he’ll take a room there and they can talk more when she gets off work.

Margaret Moffatt has two articles in the August issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. She is enjoying her new residence in Quesnel and is in touch with a writing group that wants her to come to their next meeting.

Michael Hiebert has asked if he could give a detailed presentation on story structure to a meeting of the Rams as practice for doing it for other groups eventually. This is a topic he has extensive knowledge about. Jason, Ellie and Margaret F. thought that a separately scheduled meeting for that in September would be best as they don’t want to lose any of their reading time from regular meetings. After looking at the calendar, I’ve suggested to Michael either September 12th or 26th as possible dates. So keep those dates in mind until further notice to verify what’s happening.

The next regularly scheduled Meeting will be Wednesday, Sept 5th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.

Lisa

P.S.

Further to Margaret’s dilemma about finding writing time in her busy life, here is a poem I wrote during a busy time in my life.

MISSING IN ACTION

Round and round
I’ve lost myself
With people here and people there
I love them all
But who am I?

And where am I
And when am I
And how am I
And what am I?

I’ve gathered so much life around
I swamped myself
And can’t be found.

By Lisa A. Hatton