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