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