THE REVIEW

GOOD NEWS REVIEW!

Wendy, Jim, Jason and Margaret F. joined me Wednesday for a Meeting. Lorelie had planned to attend but was again caring for her mother. Ellie was over at Tofino on the Island.

I read my latest ‘Honey’ story, “Mechanically Challenged”, about car trouble on one of our trips to the cabin and the saga about getting the car fixed.

Margaret read from her journal about probing the murder investigation of the “Babes In The Wood”. This was from her point of view and gave us an intimate look at what she was thinking and the questions she asked and all that were still unanswered. We agreed this was the voice to use for her whole book as it not only gave us the facts and/or lack of fact, but also engaged us far more than an academic analysis would do.

Wendy read a new poem she had written from the prompt “I dare you”. The poem tells of her younger self in the 1960s, giving in to peer pressure to try mescaline, an hallucinogenic drug used supposedly for greater self-awareness. The ‘trip’ was an induced high that was also very terrifying for her.

Jim read Chapter 29 from “Coventry Ghosts, Book II”. We see Olivia and her boyfriend, Shen, at Olivia’s with her mother, and the ghost kitten, Sara. They are talking about Jason, the villain stealing ghost essences, and how things are changing in Ghostdom. Shen says he wants to be a ghost too, but not very soon.

There is lots of writing news to report this time. My news was that my story “The Blob At Green Lake”, which I submitted to a contest in February 2012, was bought by Summit Studios for inclusion in their anthology “Never Light A Match In The Outhouse: Funny Stories From Cottage Country”. Instead of a rejection letter, I was able to pass around an acceptance letter and contract. Since this is one of my ‘Honey’ stories, I first made sure I would still own copyright so I can include it in my own collection. I’ve had a number of short stories published, but this is the first time I’ll be paid for one, other than something I’ve self-published.

Margaret F., after winning 1st place in the memoir category for “Unforgiving” in a contest she entered, was going to Bellingham this weekend to receive the award for it at the Chuckanut Writers’ Conference.

Jason has been slaving away to get his book “Provoked” self-published with Amazon. He said the eBook should have been available this week, and the print-on-demand would be available very soon. He found it a lot of work to do all the formatting for eBook publication, especially with all his diagrams for chapter headings. Our congratulations to him for persevering!

And Jim called me last night with some awesome news! A well-known New York literary agent has requested the whole manuscript for “Coventry Ghosts – Book I”, now that Jim has done a rewrite and re-classified the novel as mid-grade. He had previously queried the same agent two years earlier with the manuscript noted as young adult. Patience and perseverance pay off!

We had some discussion about self-promotion to sell our books but all of us are feeling out of our league. None of us are technical experts and have trouble knowing how to promote online. Selling in person is hard to do, especially if you don’t have hard copy to sell in the first place. We love to write, but the actual selling we find difficult.

Margaret and Jason were talking about volunteering this year at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference, rather than paying to attend.

The next Meeting will be Wednesday, July 3rd at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Write on, Fellow Rams, write on!!!

LISA A. HATTON
Author

Published eBooks available at Kobo Books:

FIRE: http://kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=9780991739615

LOVE FOUND: http://kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=9780991739608

THE REVIEW

SOLO PERFORMANCE

It was just me and my homemade banana bread here for a Ram’s Head Meeting on Wednesday. Three others had said they were coming, but alas, it was not to be. Even Honey went out for the evening in pursuit of Karaoke companions. I am writing a Review because it does have an audience worldwide that views the blog after the first and third Wednesdays of every month. I think it’s important to show the Ram’s Head Writer’s still exist.

Valiantly, I read my latest ‘Honey’ story to the banana bread, which responded with only a silent, fragrant aroma.

Margaret Moffatt has two articles in the June issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. One is “The Mirror”, telling the history of this item which started as a very valuable belonging and is now fairly commonplace. The other article is “Williams Lake, The Cariboo”, giving the history of that area.

Michael Hiebert and Margaret Florczak have both received recognition for their writing: Michael with good reviews of “Dream With Little Angels”, and Margaret with an award for her self-published teenaged autobiography “Unforgiven”. Congratulations to both!

Ellie said she’s been writing, but was going to the Orpheum Wednesday. Jason is still involved in his son’s ball hockey, but says he should be here at the next Meeting. Wendy was going to attend, but fell ill. Jim was going to attend, but thought it was still Tuesday. Lorelie was going to attend, but had to care for her mother. Those are the Rams I’ve heard from. Hope everyone is doing fine and still writing.

I am scheduling the next Meeting for Wednesday, June 19th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope you can attend and I’ll try to save some banana bread!

LISA A. HATTON
Author

Published eBooks available at Kobo Books:

FIRE: http://kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=9780991739615

LOVE FOUND: http://kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=9780991739608