THE REVIEW

FIRST DAY OF FALL


Our Meeting on Wednesday was the last one of the summer and today is the first day of fall. Wasn’t all that sunshine absolutely glorious for so many days?

Amber Lyndon joined Jason, Margaret F., Wendy, Jim and me here on Wednesday for her first time with the Rams. Welcome to Amber.

I had received notification from Polar Expressions that my short fiction piece “The End” was accepted for inclusion in their anthology “Setting The Scene”. Final winners of that contest have yet to be determined.

I read first and started with my next chapter in “Nigel Wingate Is Dead” in which I have Deirdre’s mother as witness as Deirdre and Nigel get married by a Justice Of The Peace in 100 Mile. But when I finished reading Margaret F. told me, based on her own experience in the 1960s, that the couple would have had to wait three days after obtaining the marriage licence before getting married. So now I guess I have to re-write that chapter. Details like that are important because you don’t want to turn readers off by getting facts wrong even though you are writing fiction.

Next I read a short piece called “The Memory Of White Wine” remembering an evening getting drunk on white wine when asking my former husband for a divorce. Because I wrote this piece by hand, the words were sparse and I think gave a greater impact to this short story.

Margaret F. also had two readings. The first was her next chapter in “Babes In The Wood” where she documents a newspaper article that was very misleading and also that the coroner said the corpses were one male child and one female child when all the clothing found with them were those only worn by boys at that time. So of course a search for a missing boy and girl would not have turned up information about two missing boys, would it?

Then Margaret read a poem “Sisters” that she had written to her own sister telling her not to give up on her dreams because they are so fragile and can be lost forever if not made manifest by the dreamer. Good warning to all of us.

Jason read Chapter 22 “Mothers” from his novel “Provoked”. In this chapter Gregg is questioning how he could only be part human. His great grandma explains to him that his now deceased Aunt Samantha was his real mother, not Laura, and that Samantha had been raped by some very strange male character named Lucy, who then disappeared. After Laura adopted him, her husband left her and she eventually ended up with Dave’s father. Gregg is trying to come to terms with who and what he may be, when Damianos returns to the room. There’s lots of good background material in this chapter and the story is unfolding nicely.

Amber read the first chapter in her historical novel “The Black Apple” which is set in the lower mainland during the 1800s. It is told from the point of view of the youngest daughter of six, who is eleven years old and blind. She relates the early morning hours one day when her mother woke her and they all left the house silently and secretly until they were far enough away that the mother could explain to her that she had to leave them to right some wrong, and that the child would be taken care of by her sisters. The child was frantic with the feeling of abandonment. We were all keen to know the secrets to be revealed in this story.

Jim read Chapter 19 in the second book of “Coventry Ghosts”. This shows us the ghosts with their first catering contract at a posh home north of Vancouver. Cheri is very nervous about how the ghosts will perform. Cars were lifted and parked by ghost valets, trays of food and drink were carried around by unseen waiters, and live people were dancing with the unseen dead who became translucent phantoms at midnight. But the party was a success. It was so much fun hearing this chapter and envisioning what was happening.

Wendy didn’t read, but had good things to say about all that was read by others. Ellie was unable to attend since she was entertaining guests from Australia. Gemma is still overwhelmed in caring for both her husband and her brother, but said to say hi to everyone and let them know she was thinking of the Rams. Anne Berrie said since her son received his driver’s N, she seldom has use of her car in the evenings. Lorelie had a prior commitment, but said she will attend the next meeting. Margaret Moffatt receives many email notes from people who have read her pieces of history being published in Today’s Senior Newsmagazine, which she assures me she wouldn’t receive if she didn’t include her email address with her byline. I had raised privacy concerns about doing that, but I guess I was wrong. The contact received has all been positive.

Next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 3rd at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Look forward to seeing you then. Happy Writing!!!

Lisa

THE REVIEW

SEPTEMBER SUNSHINE


In spite of the lure of lingering summer sunshine, five of us did have a Meeting on Wednesday. Jason, Wendy and Margaret F. joined me in welcoming Lorelie Quiding to the Ram’s Head. She joined in discussions but wasn’t prepared to read anything to us yet.

Margaret F. read her Prologue and Chapter 1 from “Babes In The Wood”. There is a lot of detail here about the beginnings of the case and how disorganized police were in gathering evidence and keeping track of it. This opens many, many questions as to what really might have happened, and when, and by whom, and to whom. Since the slain children still have not been identified, we all want to know as much as possible so look forward to further chapters of Margaret’s.

Wendy read a very dynamic poem entitled “White Wine” that she recently wrote about someone seriously considering suicide through a long night and then deciding to go on living as the sun rises. Her wordage was exquisite and magnified everyday detail in a traumatic instance.

I read Chapter 11 in “Nigel Wingate Is Dead”. It shows Constable Reznick watching in the parking lot of the Lone Butte Hotel when Nigel and Deirdre come out, collect his belongings from his Firebird, and are then accosted by the departing bartender who assumed he had a late night date with Deirdre. When things could turn ugly, Reznick gets out of his cruiser and intervenes. As he learns Nigel and Deirdre are getting married, he wants to know why so soon after the funeral of Deirdre’s daughter. He strongly suspects their marriage will prevent police from learning anything more about the unusual death of the child, but will still contact Vancouver RCMP to see what they know about Nigel.

Jason read two chapters from his novel. In Chapter 20, “Composure”, Damianos is outside the house of Gregg’s great grandmother, looking in the window and seeing the book of secret spells he has been looking for. He is also listening to a commanding voice in his head.

In Chapter 21, “Showdown”, Damianos battles with Gregg over the book, and Gregg throws the crate holding it, into the fireplace. Following the commanding voice, Damianos tries to retrieve the crate but his sleeves catch on fire, and then the home catches fire. He soaks himself in the shower while Gregg and his great grandmother use fire extinguishers to put out the flames. Damianos is still haunted by the voice commanding him to get the book. During this scene, Damianos has called Gregg a jivita, and Gregg wants to know what that is.

Margaret Moffatt has two articles in the September issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. One is “The Hollow Cedar Tree”, about the one in Stanley Park. And the other is about Prince George.
Also in that issue is an article, “Profile Of A Dancer – Charlie Thompson” about a former member of The Ram’s Head, who attended back in 2006 when he was writing his memoirs. He was born in 1919, so it’s good to hear Charlie is still going strong.

Jim wasn’t able to attend as he was busy picking plums at his home. It is harvest time again. We hope to see Jim sometime soon.

Ellie said she was unable to make the meeting, and I haven’t heard from anyone else about attending, or not, lately.

Michael says he needs more time to prepare his presentation on story structure, so nothing will be happening on that front in September. Stay tuned.

The next Meeting will be Wednesday, September 19th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.

Lisa