DRENCHED IN WORDS?
Wednesday’s Meeting of the Rams was fun and interesting for the six of us who were here, in spite of the constant rain in the forecast. That would be good writing weather, right?
Wendy read first, a poem she had recently rewritten, entitled “Whale Song”. It was a poetic song to recognize the voice of the whales as they lament the loss of sea life and the sanctity of their environment to the depravity of mankind. This was a very powerful piece that validated the song of the whales.
Lorelie read us a letter she had written to a CBC reporter chronicling the true story of having their home built by an unscrupulous contractor and the ensuing legal and insurance and renovation nightmare that resulted. We all encouraged her to write this in story form, complete with characters, shady and heroic, and pivotal scenes with dialogue. And we also want to know the human impact on her and her husband and their marriage from this horror story.
Margaret F. read a poem entitled “Inquest Regarding the Death Of Ross Allen”. It was a long poem, over 1400 words that detailed events and showed how incapable healthcare, police and social services professionals were of preventing the suicide in hospital of a young man who had complained of being depressed. And it shows the horror the mother witnessed of all those people doing so very little to assist her son. It is sad to say that probably very little in the system has changed.
In further discussion with Margaret about her work on “Babes In The Wood”, she informed us she had hired two individuals to sort through all the research she had done through the years and put it all in chronological order for her. Then the rest of us suggested she make the story her own personal one and write it from first person so she could give us the emotion that compelled her to do the research and would allow her to include her own thoughts on what happened.
Jason read Chapter 24, “Destroyer”. We see Ligeia in her tent next to where Jody is captive, and she is perusing a book written by her ancestors in another language, trying to find out what Jody was. We learn Ligeia had murdered her own mother, as was the custom with the syrenes. She eventually learns that by her ancestors, a jivita was called a Destroyer. This was another good chapter of character development and gives us another piece of the puzzle.
I read last, a personal piece entitled “A Thousand Words” telling the background for a man’s picture, in a thousand words, that could not be discerned from the picture. It told of meeting and having an affair with a trucker who was later charged and convicted of sexual assault on his step-daughter, and my honestly not knowing the truth of the matter.
Jim didn’t get to read, because it was 9:00 all too soon. But he will read first at the next meeting.
I have uploaded an ebook manuscript entitled “Love Found” to Kobo and it should be available for purchase in the next week sometime. It is just a small collection of three short stories for $1.99. I did this as a trial run for other ebooks I want to publish with Kobo, just to figure out how to design and format one, and how their process works. I think Kobo is one of the best ebook publishing sites that has happened to Canadian authors who want to self-publish. They are a Canadian company, situated in Ontario. Royalties are 70% and you can stipulate payment in Canadian funds that are deposited directly into your own bank account. If there are any legal issues down the road, everything defaults to Ontario and Canadian law. Their uploading process is very simple and easy to follow. However, I do recommend the Smashwords Style Guide for instructions on inserting a table of contents and internal hyperlinks in your manuscript.
Julie told me she still had a bad cold she couldn’t shake. Amanda had to work late and said she should be at the next Meeting. Ellie said she had bursitis in one shoulder and had injured her upper back. And I haven’t heard from anyone else.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, November 7th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. Happy Halloween and don’t eat too much candy!
Lisa
Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
THE REVIEW
THANKS TO THE MUSE!
Thanks to Jason, Margaret F., Wendy and Jim who joined me for a Meeting last night. We enjoyed some good discussions.
Jason brought up our first topic which was professional editing. He said he thought he was ready for an editor to look at his manuscript and give a professional opinion on content, and not proofreading it. He said he felt too close to it to be objective about it after so many years and so many rewrites. Several names of local editors were suggested and pricing was discussed. It was thought he would be better off hiring someone locally rather than over the internet, especially if a local editor would give him a personal appointment to discuss his novel in person. We hope he finds what he’s looking for.
Then Jason read Chapter 23, “Plunder” from his novel. After the fire, Damianos still hears the voice telling him to get the crate with the singed book out of the fireplace. He starts a fight with Gregg and then grabs Gregg’s great grandmother and uses her to knock Gregg over to prevent him morphing into his inhuman self. Then he throws the great-grandmother and pushes the bookcase over on her, grabs the crate and runs off with it. This was a short, tight chapter full of action, and well written, though we did give Jason a rough time over one sentence.
Margaret read a paper she wrote several years ago about the skeletons of two young children found in Stanly Park. It was an academic paper and used a lot of repetition and some quotes of experts to validate opinions. Wendy asked who her intended audience would be for the book she is writing on this topic. If the audience is academic, then inclusion of this piece as is would be fine. But if she wants her audience to be the general public, then some simplification of the writing would give more clarity to it.
Jim read Ch. 18 from the second book of “Coventry Ghosts”. Here we see Jason, the antagonist who captures essences of the dead in his computer, trying to communicate with his dead parents. He has been broken out of jail in Mexico and is now transported by sub to an Asian nation that wants his expertise. He is given a lab and staff and a room full of young, live, men and women chosen to sacrifice their brains for his experiments. They are lawbreakers sentenced to death, but only the brightest ones. I did ask Jim what would happen if the essence of someone with dementia was captured by mistake. He laughed.
After Margaret had told me of the three day delay required after obtaining a marriage licence before a wedding could be performed, I inserted another chapter in front of the actual wedding. This one is in Nigel’s point of view when he and Dee go into 100 Mile House to get the marriage licence and learn of the required 3 day wait. To prevent Dee from going back to work at the Lone Butte Hotel, he agrees to buy her a new dress to marry in and goes shopping with her, noticing they are being watched by the RCMP. It was suggested I add to this chapter and develop Dee’s personality further, showing her darker side.
I also read my re-write of the following chapter, which is the one I had read last time. It shows Edna realizing she will always be wondering if she is being watched by the police for the rest of her life.
Gemma is still dealing with health issues, her own and those of her husband and brother. Margaret Moffatt has been ill, and so has Julie. We wish all three a speedy recovery and good health. Amber said she had to work late yesterday, and Lorelie said she was unable to attend. Hope everyone else is fine and still talking to their Muse. For those who don’t attend because they haven’t written anything lately, please know that isn’t a requirement for your presence at a Meeting. I’m sorry if I made people think that because I’ve said to bring something to read, either your own writing or something about writing. It is also important for the group to function if we have interested parties willing to listen and give feedback to those who do read. We need that interaction to become better readers and writers consciously aware of the intricacies of the written word.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 17th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place and please know you are welcome and wanted whether you have written anything or not. Hope to see you on the 17th, and have a very Happy Thanksgiving in the meantime!
Lisa
Thanks to Jason, Margaret F., Wendy and Jim who joined me for a Meeting last night. We enjoyed some good discussions.
Jason brought up our first topic which was professional editing. He said he thought he was ready for an editor to look at his manuscript and give a professional opinion on content, and not proofreading it. He said he felt too close to it to be objective about it after so many years and so many rewrites. Several names of local editors were suggested and pricing was discussed. It was thought he would be better off hiring someone locally rather than over the internet, especially if a local editor would give him a personal appointment to discuss his novel in person. We hope he finds what he’s looking for.
Then Jason read Chapter 23, “Plunder” from his novel. After the fire, Damianos still hears the voice telling him to get the crate with the singed book out of the fireplace. He starts a fight with Gregg and then grabs Gregg’s great grandmother and uses her to knock Gregg over to prevent him morphing into his inhuman self. Then he throws the great-grandmother and pushes the bookcase over on her, grabs the crate and runs off with it. This was a short, tight chapter full of action, and well written, though we did give Jason a rough time over one sentence.
Margaret read a paper she wrote several years ago about the skeletons of two young children found in Stanly Park. It was an academic paper and used a lot of repetition and some quotes of experts to validate opinions. Wendy asked who her intended audience would be for the book she is writing on this topic. If the audience is academic, then inclusion of this piece as is would be fine. But if she wants her audience to be the general public, then some simplification of the writing would give more clarity to it.
Jim read Ch. 18 from the second book of “Coventry Ghosts”. Here we see Jason, the antagonist who captures essences of the dead in his computer, trying to communicate with his dead parents. He has been broken out of jail in Mexico and is now transported by sub to an Asian nation that wants his expertise. He is given a lab and staff and a room full of young, live, men and women chosen to sacrifice their brains for his experiments. They are lawbreakers sentenced to death, but only the brightest ones. I did ask Jim what would happen if the essence of someone with dementia was captured by mistake. He laughed.
After Margaret had told me of the three day delay required after obtaining a marriage licence before a wedding could be performed, I inserted another chapter in front of the actual wedding. This one is in Nigel’s point of view when he and Dee go into 100 Mile House to get the marriage licence and learn of the required 3 day wait. To prevent Dee from going back to work at the Lone Butte Hotel, he agrees to buy her a new dress to marry in and goes shopping with her, noticing they are being watched by the RCMP. It was suggested I add to this chapter and develop Dee’s personality further, showing her darker side.
I also read my re-write of the following chapter, which is the one I had read last time. It shows Edna realizing she will always be wondering if she is being watched by the police for the rest of her life.
Gemma is still dealing with health issues, her own and those of her husband and brother. Margaret Moffatt has been ill, and so has Julie. We wish all three a speedy recovery and good health. Amber said she had to work late yesterday, and Lorelie said she was unable to attend. Hope everyone else is fine and still talking to their Muse. For those who don’t attend because they haven’t written anything lately, please know that isn’t a requirement for your presence at a Meeting. I’m sorry if I made people think that because I’ve said to bring something to read, either your own writing or something about writing. It is also important for the group to function if we have interested parties willing to listen and give feedback to those who do read. We need that interaction to become better readers and writers consciously aware of the intricacies of the written word.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 17th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place and please know you are welcome and wanted whether you have written anything or not. Hope to see you on the 17th, and have a very Happy Thanksgiving in the meantime!
Lisa
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