YEAR END
Annette, Kristie, Leah and Jim all joined me for the last Meeting this year. I am scheduled for surgery on December 2nd, and they thought I should just take the rest of December to recuperate.
Annette read first, Chapter 19 from “A Taste Of Wormwood”. While waiting for her father to arrive, Alyssa tells John a bit about their family background. She’s thankful to see her father, but disconcerted that Mike is John’s brother. Mike can’t stop looking at Alyssa and she at him. Working as an undercover cop, he had been hired by her employer to kill her, but helped her to get away instead. John notices the two of them looking at each other and steps between them and puts his arm around Alyssa to assert his claim on her. We can sense there may be a conflict between the brothers coming up.
Kristi read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane had tried to kill the daisies with the weed killer her Grams had made, but it didn’t work. They have a lively discussion showing both their personalities. Jane has a nightmare about the daisies eating her Grams. There is good character development in this chapter.
From a Twitter prompt, Kristi wrote a brief piece that had to be under 500 characters but also include the words: sealed, newspaper, advert, rush and snap.
Leah read next, a short story from the point of view of a horse arriving at a farm thinking it will be where his life is ended for him. But through the day he meets a know-it-all cat, an anxious hen, an unhappy donkey and an angry ram who bashes things. He is well-treated, well-fed and at the end of the day content in knowing he has found sanctuary. It is a great little story showing the personalities of several animals in a farm setting.
Jim read Chapter 62 in “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Sara manages to get Joel out of the lab safely and they get back to the hideaway where Ji-Young was lying low. She moves both Joel and Ji-Young to a safer hiding spot and then sets out on her own to stalk the Umbra. She tackles them in small groups, sort of lassoing them with a band of energy each time and then throwing them into Drakko. At the end, all the ghosts were sucked into Drakko, including Sara, again.
I read another ‘Honey’ story called “Reluctant Mr. Fixit”. It tells of Honey dealing with a recent hot water tank failure, the oven door not unlocking after self-cleaning, and my wanting him to assemble a new cutting table I asked him to give me for Christmas. He then tells me I’ve reached my project limit of three for the month.
We had some discussion about the Website. Leah said she is ready to receive the links that members would like to see added as resources for writers. So please feel free to send along any that you like to use yourself, be they contest links, dictionaries, markets, prompt generators, inspirational quotes, or whatever you find useful. Let’s do this!
Annette is still working on her novel she must write during November, as well as coping with some recent health issues and chores on the farm. Jim has been dealing with his daughter and granddaughters staying with him at the same time his computer died and the toilet wasn’t co-operating. Lorelie has been dealing with health issues for both her Mom and herself. Jason missed the meeting as he had to stay home with his kids. We hope Wendy is doing okay. Leah has concerns over the health of her ex in Ontario as well as her own struggle to get her business up and running successfully. It doesn’t seem to have been an easy month for anyone. Time for a break.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, January 7th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season and gets to enjoy family and friends and find a renewed connection with The Muse. Am looking forward to seeing everyone in the New Year!
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
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Friday, November 7, 2014
THE REVIEW
INSPIRED WRITERS
There were seven of us here on Wednesday, some of us inspired writers and some of us looking for inspiration. Lorelei joined us again after about a year’s absence while she was sequestered, looking after her aging mother. Wendy also felt well enough to attend and we were so glad to see her as well. These two joined Jason, Annette, Kristi, Jim and me for a lively meeting.
Kristi read first, her second chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. It’s the morning after Jane has learned that the daisies devoured her parents, and when she agreed to bring them ‘fresh meat’ in exchange for her own freedom. She sees blue streaks in her hair, and when telling her Gran what had happened and crying, her nasal mucus is also blue. She tells Gran she wants a plan to kill the daisies. Since Gran was already brewing weed killer, they start planning what they will do. And Gran tells her that as a last resort, they can always call on the Dryad.
Annette read the next chapter in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. John arrives at the cabin where Alyssa is hiding out, and helps her talk to her family. She still tries to protect them by not telling them too much of what has happened, but at the same time wants their love and support. Later she gives John a USB flash drive with all the dirt on George West. She had made copies of everything when she worked for him, all his contacts and all the dirty cops on his payroll. We were all glad that she had been smart enough and courageous enough to risk doing that.
I read a first person account called “The Prompt”, which I wrote after reading prompts in “A Writer’s Book Of Days”. It has a writing prompt for each day of the year. The story tells of an encounter with a spiritual entity through a friend who acted as a channel for a spiritual guide.
Jim read his next chapter in “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Sarah and Joel are inside the compound and she is trying to keep Joel invisible from both the soldiers and the Umbra. Inside the lab, Abigail, the computer, tells Jason that someone had arrived there. Abigail starts shooting bolts of energy and Jason calls in the soldiers who start shooting bullets. Sarah is warding off both bullets and bolts of energy. Abigail is shot by a boomeranging bolt of energy and starts to shut down.
Margaret Moffatt had a short history of Burnaby published in the November issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. Kristi said she submitted her short story “Of The Moon” to the CBC literary contest. Annette said she is entered in the NaNoWriMo, which is the National Novel Writing Month, where during the month of November, you write a whole novel. She has a goal of so many words per day, and will meet weekly with other entrants. And Bob Jacoby phoned me to say his daughter-in-law had attended the Surrey International Writers’ Conference and achieved some success with her writing, and had two agents asking to represent her. Exactly what she entered and what she wrote, I’m not clear on, but good on her anyhow.
We spent the last part of the Meeting discussing plans for the website and looking at the mock-ups that Leah had dropped off. It was agreed that only Leah and myself should be the ones to enter the outgoing blurbs on the Twitter account, and we will use it as a news feed. It should work great whenever there is a contest notification or a call for submissions to post. We will not publish incoming responses to our Twitter account.
And all members are now asked to consider submitting things for two of our pages. One is the Resources page, where we will publish on our own website things like critique guidelines, or plot diagrams for short stories or novels, or any other material we put together that site visitors can download and print for themselves. The second page is for Links, where we will list writing links that we find helpful for writers in some way. You can submit things you’d like to see on these pages to Leah now.
Annette said she designed and built her own website and we asked her how she did that. She said she got all the instructions from www.w3schools.com . The rest of us were thinking that might be more than we want to tackle.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, November 19th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
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
There were seven of us here on Wednesday, some of us inspired writers and some of us looking for inspiration. Lorelei joined us again after about a year’s absence while she was sequestered, looking after her aging mother. Wendy also felt well enough to attend and we were so glad to see her as well. These two joined Jason, Annette, Kristi, Jim and me for a lively meeting.
Kristi read first, her second chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. It’s the morning after Jane has learned that the daisies devoured her parents, and when she agreed to bring them ‘fresh meat’ in exchange for her own freedom. She sees blue streaks in her hair, and when telling her Gran what had happened and crying, her nasal mucus is also blue. She tells Gran she wants a plan to kill the daisies. Since Gran was already brewing weed killer, they start planning what they will do. And Gran tells her that as a last resort, they can always call on the Dryad.
Annette read the next chapter in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. John arrives at the cabin where Alyssa is hiding out, and helps her talk to her family. She still tries to protect them by not telling them too much of what has happened, but at the same time wants their love and support. Later she gives John a USB flash drive with all the dirt on George West. She had made copies of everything when she worked for him, all his contacts and all the dirty cops on his payroll. We were all glad that she had been smart enough and courageous enough to risk doing that.
I read a first person account called “The Prompt”, which I wrote after reading prompts in “A Writer’s Book Of Days”. It has a writing prompt for each day of the year. The story tells of an encounter with a spiritual entity through a friend who acted as a channel for a spiritual guide.
Jim read his next chapter in “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Sarah and Joel are inside the compound and she is trying to keep Joel invisible from both the soldiers and the Umbra. Inside the lab, Abigail, the computer, tells Jason that someone had arrived there. Abigail starts shooting bolts of energy and Jason calls in the soldiers who start shooting bullets. Sarah is warding off both bullets and bolts of energy. Abigail is shot by a boomeranging bolt of energy and starts to shut down.
Margaret Moffatt had a short history of Burnaby published in the November issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. Kristi said she submitted her short story “Of The Moon” to the CBC literary contest. Annette said she is entered in the NaNoWriMo, which is the National Novel Writing Month, where during the month of November, you write a whole novel. She has a goal of so many words per day, and will meet weekly with other entrants. And Bob Jacoby phoned me to say his daughter-in-law had attended the Surrey International Writers’ Conference and achieved some success with her writing, and had two agents asking to represent her. Exactly what she entered and what she wrote, I’m not clear on, but good on her anyhow.
We spent the last part of the Meeting discussing plans for the website and looking at the mock-ups that Leah had dropped off. It was agreed that only Leah and myself should be the ones to enter the outgoing blurbs on the Twitter account, and we will use it as a news feed. It should work great whenever there is a contest notification or a call for submissions to post. We will not publish incoming responses to our Twitter account.
And all members are now asked to consider submitting things for two of our pages. One is the Resources page, where we will publish on our own website things like critique guidelines, or plot diagrams for short stories or novels, or any other material we put together that site visitors can download and print for themselves. The second page is for Links, where we will list writing links that we find helpful for writers in some way. You can submit things you’d like to see on these pages to Leah now.
Annette said she designed and built her own website and we asked her how she did that. She said she got all the instructions from www.w3schools.com . The rest of us were thinking that might be more than we want to tackle.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, November 19th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
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
Friday, October 17, 2014
THE REVIEW
TECH TALK
There were seven of us here Wednesday night in heavy discussion about making changes to our website at www.ramsheadwriters.ca Leah Murray has brought her expertise in web design to our group and had us answering questions about what we want for the site. We discussed such things as the purpose of the site, the members’ pages, archives for included published work, twitter feed for news such as calls for submissions, a page for writing resource links, compiling a mailing list from site visitors, contact info, what we want on the front page. It’s amazing what should be considered, and we’re not even an email retail site!
Leah didn’t read but did pass around her now available DVD, “Winter In The Rain Forest”, which is a photographic display with her poetry voiced over music that was composed with her nephew. Very impressive.
Margaret Florczak was able to join us, sneaking away from caretaking duties for an invalid husband. Her interest in the ‘Babes In The Woods’ mystery inspired her to write a reply to the article that was featured in the Sunday Province. We first had Jason read the article, and then Margaret read her response, which is a letter to the editor she sent in. After all her years of research into these unsolved murders, she is still furious at the lack of professional skill brought to bear in even identifying these children, never mind who killed them. I also read an account from Margaret Moffatt of having sighted a strange woman in a fur coat with two young boys on her own residential street in the mid 1940s, that may or may not be relevant to this case.
Annette read Chapter 17 in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. Mike is still having coffee with Alyssa’s father, who has asked if he’s the one hired to kill her. Mike tells him he was hired by her boss to ‘deal’with her, but because he was an undercover cop, he arranged for her to survive the supposed murder attempt and escape into hiding. Later, Alyssa’s mother tells him if he cares deeply for her daughter, he shouldn’t give up on trying to win her. But Mike is afraid Alyssa has fallen for his brother, John. We like how this is setting up future conflict between the two brothers over Alyssa’s affections.
Kristi read a rewrite of the chapter that introduces Jane, in “The Midnight Daisies”. She is now an older version of Jane, a teacher, and we see her dismiss her students early as a rainstorm approaches. On her own way home with her treasured poetry books wrapped in her shawl, she is accosted by Sean, a townie. But she is able to fight him off and run toward home in the hills clutching her soaking and muddy books. Kristi says every time she re-reads something she has written, she sees a need for revision. We told her to go ahead and write the story and then worry later about the re-writing to polish her treasured accounting of horror.
Jason read the next chapter in his book. Jody is helping Greg to leave the hospital after he healed the girl who had been burned. She’s afraid of people finding out they are only half human. A big man intervenes and steers them swiftly into a washroom where Greg vomits into the toilet. The stranger chastises them for the healing they had done, telling them it is too exhausting and can bring dangerous unwanted attention. He also tells them the girl’s suffering has now become their own. This was a riveting chapter, very exciting.
Monica Buchanan joined us Wednesday for the first time in a couple of years. She says she wants to get back into writing and hoped to absorb some inspiration. Jim was unable to join us as he was meeting with the editor that Jason had introduced him to.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, November 5th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then and don’t get lost with the ghouls and ghosts and goblins in the meantime!
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
There were seven of us here Wednesday night in heavy discussion about making changes to our website at www.ramsheadwriters.ca Leah Murray has brought her expertise in web design to our group and had us answering questions about what we want for the site. We discussed such things as the purpose of the site, the members’ pages, archives for included published work, twitter feed for news such as calls for submissions, a page for writing resource links, compiling a mailing list from site visitors, contact info, what we want on the front page. It’s amazing what should be considered, and we’re not even an email retail site!
Leah didn’t read but did pass around her now available DVD, “Winter In The Rain Forest”, which is a photographic display with her poetry voiced over music that was composed with her nephew. Very impressive.
Margaret Florczak was able to join us, sneaking away from caretaking duties for an invalid husband. Her interest in the ‘Babes In The Woods’ mystery inspired her to write a reply to the article that was featured in the Sunday Province. We first had Jason read the article, and then Margaret read her response, which is a letter to the editor she sent in. After all her years of research into these unsolved murders, she is still furious at the lack of professional skill brought to bear in even identifying these children, never mind who killed them. I also read an account from Margaret Moffatt of having sighted a strange woman in a fur coat with two young boys on her own residential street in the mid 1940s, that may or may not be relevant to this case.
Annette read Chapter 17 in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. Mike is still having coffee with Alyssa’s father, who has asked if he’s the one hired to kill her. Mike tells him he was hired by her boss to ‘deal’with her, but because he was an undercover cop, he arranged for her to survive the supposed murder attempt and escape into hiding. Later, Alyssa’s mother tells him if he cares deeply for her daughter, he shouldn’t give up on trying to win her. But Mike is afraid Alyssa has fallen for his brother, John. We like how this is setting up future conflict between the two brothers over Alyssa’s affections.
Kristi read a rewrite of the chapter that introduces Jane, in “The Midnight Daisies”. She is now an older version of Jane, a teacher, and we see her dismiss her students early as a rainstorm approaches. On her own way home with her treasured poetry books wrapped in her shawl, she is accosted by Sean, a townie. But she is able to fight him off and run toward home in the hills clutching her soaking and muddy books. Kristi says every time she re-reads something she has written, she sees a need for revision. We told her to go ahead and write the story and then worry later about the re-writing to polish her treasured accounting of horror.
Jason read the next chapter in his book. Jody is helping Greg to leave the hospital after he healed the girl who had been burned. She’s afraid of people finding out they are only half human. A big man intervenes and steers them swiftly into a washroom where Greg vomits into the toilet. The stranger chastises them for the healing they had done, telling them it is too exhausting and can bring dangerous unwanted attention. He also tells them the girl’s suffering has now become their own. This was a riveting chapter, very exciting.
Monica Buchanan joined us Wednesday for the first time in a couple of years. She says she wants to get back into writing and hoped to absorb some inspiration. Jim was unable to join us as he was meeting with the editor that Jason had introduced him to.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, November 5th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then and don’t get lost with the ghouls and ghosts and goblins in the meantime!
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
Saturday, October 4, 2014
THE REVIEW
AUTUMN SCRIBES
Wednesday’s Meeting was lively and fun and full of laughter as six of us were here to worship the Muse. I had found and re-activated our ‘talking stick’, complete with a blue rubber ram’s head on top of a brass vase. The ram’s head is actually a phallic prosthesis glued to the top of the vase. (This was thanks to Nathaniel Poole for his donation of said item in the earlier days of this writers’ group.) Kristi thought it was a hookah pipe when she first saw it. We did use it as a ‘talking stick’ and it was passed around the room to give each speaker authority to command attention. So now you know the origins of the name “Ram’s Head Writers’ Group”. Too funny!
Kristi was eager to read a new short story she wrote, “Of The Moon”. It told of a wandering soul that was in an acorn and then a wolf, a fish, a man, a tree, a sparrow, a hawk, and then the sky, and a moonbeam, where it returns to the moon. This story was very haunting and evocative of animal and spirit. We hope she can find somewhere to have it published and showcased.
Annette read her next two chapters in “A Touch of Wormwood”. We see Mike approaching Alyssa’s parents and trying to move them and their other two daughters to safety. He spends the night collecting Mr. and Mrs. Jorgen at their home, their daughter Eva at church, and their daughter Benny at a motel with a co-ed crowd, and then driving them all some distance to a motel he checks them into. Mike and Mr. Jorgen go out to collect some breakfast for all of them, but also to discuss the situation. After explaining that Alyssa and her whole family were in danger, that an assassin had been hired previously to kill Alyssa, Mr. Jorgen wants to know if Mike was that hired assassin. His question was the end of the chapter, and that was a great hook to keep readers turning the pages.
Jim read Chapter 59 in Book II of “Coventry Ghosts”. Sara and Joel are trying to avoid both the Umbra and the guards at the compound where they think Jason is, so Sara tries teaching Joel mental telepathy so they can communicate without being heard. However, Joel is annoyed and keeps telling her to get out of his head. He eventually catches on and suggests they walk, while Sara shields him and keeps him invisible.
Jim said he had contacted the editor that Jason had recommended to him and was waiting to hear from her after sending samples of his work.
Jason read another chapter from his book. Here we see a Hindu mother in hospital praying fervently for the life of her badly burned ten year old daughter. Through the night there is a miraculous healing and the mother witnesses energy flowing from Gregg into her daughter, as he’s holding her hand. Jason put a lot of research into this chapter about burns and their treatment, but also about Hindu prayer. There was good tension here, and it added much more depth to the story.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Surrey in the October issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
Wendy and I didn’t read anything, but I did bring up a discussion about our website and future possibilities. I did say I don’t want the site to lose any current content if it is updated, and that I also don’t want the site used specifically for sales. However, I have no objection to it containing links to members’ own websites where they want to sell their own work. Members at the meeting were all in agreement they would like to see many more links to writers’ resource websites and will start collecting ones they think would be beneficial to the writing community.
Recently Margaret Moffatt received an email from someone who read her article about her father that is included on our website. And the blog received a comment from a writer in Toronto who also had a story accepted by Polar Expressions. It’s good to know Ram’s Head members are not the only ones who read the website or the blog for The Review.
Copies of the anthology “Don’t Light A Match In The Outhouse” by Summit Studios were available and my thanks to the four who bought copies. The book includes my short story “The Blob At Green Lake”. The editor said the book should be available in stores by November.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 15th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then and may the Muse inspire you in the meantime.
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
Wednesday’s Meeting was lively and fun and full of laughter as six of us were here to worship the Muse. I had found and re-activated our ‘talking stick’, complete with a blue rubber ram’s head on top of a brass vase. The ram’s head is actually a phallic prosthesis glued to the top of the vase. (This was thanks to Nathaniel Poole for his donation of said item in the earlier days of this writers’ group.) Kristi thought it was a hookah pipe when she first saw it. We did use it as a ‘talking stick’ and it was passed around the room to give each speaker authority to command attention. So now you know the origins of the name “Ram’s Head Writers’ Group”. Too funny!
Kristi was eager to read a new short story she wrote, “Of The Moon”. It told of a wandering soul that was in an acorn and then a wolf, a fish, a man, a tree, a sparrow, a hawk, and then the sky, and a moonbeam, where it returns to the moon. This story was very haunting and evocative of animal and spirit. We hope she can find somewhere to have it published and showcased.
Annette read her next two chapters in “A Touch of Wormwood”. We see Mike approaching Alyssa’s parents and trying to move them and their other two daughters to safety. He spends the night collecting Mr. and Mrs. Jorgen at their home, their daughter Eva at church, and their daughter Benny at a motel with a co-ed crowd, and then driving them all some distance to a motel he checks them into. Mike and Mr. Jorgen go out to collect some breakfast for all of them, but also to discuss the situation. After explaining that Alyssa and her whole family were in danger, that an assassin had been hired previously to kill Alyssa, Mr. Jorgen wants to know if Mike was that hired assassin. His question was the end of the chapter, and that was a great hook to keep readers turning the pages.
Jim read Chapter 59 in Book II of “Coventry Ghosts”. Sara and Joel are trying to avoid both the Umbra and the guards at the compound where they think Jason is, so Sara tries teaching Joel mental telepathy so they can communicate without being heard. However, Joel is annoyed and keeps telling her to get out of his head. He eventually catches on and suggests they walk, while Sara shields him and keeps him invisible.
Jim said he had contacted the editor that Jason had recommended to him and was waiting to hear from her after sending samples of his work.
Jason read another chapter from his book. Here we see a Hindu mother in hospital praying fervently for the life of her badly burned ten year old daughter. Through the night there is a miraculous healing and the mother witnesses energy flowing from Gregg into her daughter, as he’s holding her hand. Jason put a lot of research into this chapter about burns and their treatment, but also about Hindu prayer. There was good tension here, and it added much more depth to the story.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Surrey in the October issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
Wendy and I didn’t read anything, but I did bring up a discussion about our website and future possibilities. I did say I don’t want the site to lose any current content if it is updated, and that I also don’t want the site used specifically for sales. However, I have no objection to it containing links to members’ own websites where they want to sell their own work. Members at the meeting were all in agreement they would like to see many more links to writers’ resource websites and will start collecting ones they think would be beneficial to the writing community.
Recently Margaret Moffatt received an email from someone who read her article about her father that is included on our website. And the blog received a comment from a writer in Toronto who also had a story accepted by Polar Expressions. It’s good to know Ram’s Head members are not the only ones who read the website or the blog for The Review.
Copies of the anthology “Don’t Light A Match In The Outhouse” by Summit Studios were available and my thanks to the four who bought copies. The book includes my short story “The Blob At Green Lake”. The editor said the book should be available in stores by November.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 15th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then and may the Muse inspire you in the meantime.
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
Friday, September 19, 2014
THE REVIEW
WE’LL BE FAMOUS!
On Wednesday Jim, Jason, Annette, Leah and Kristie all joined me for an awesome meeting. The big news is that Annette, Kristie and I will all have short stories published in Polar Expression’s anthology of “That Golden Summer”. And Kristie and Leah will also have poems published in their poetry anthology “The Warbler’s Song”. That is awesome news for Ram’s Head writers!
In addition, I’ve also had my article about Sonny, “The Making Of A Soldier, A Mother’s Perspective” published in the Petawawa Post on September 11th. It coincided with his taking command of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Petawawa. Also, my short story “The Blob At Green Lake”, a ‘Honey’ story, will be in the anthology “Never Light A Match In The Outhouse”. This will be published by Summit Studios in Ontario and will be in bookstores late October or early November. I did notice that most of my success seems to be with pieces of mine that are non-fiction. Does that forebode will for my collection of ‘Honey’ stories, which qualify as non- fiction?
We were so pleased to see Jim again, glad that he is recovering his health. He shared with us a rejection letter for “The Coventry Ghosts” which gave specifics for the rejection. They said it had to do with his use of language and suggested he have a reader or editor look at it who could be objective. Jim says he will look for an editor.
Leah will be presenting her completed “Winter In The Rain Forest” DVD at the Lit Café in Crescent Beach on Tuesday, Sept. 30th from 7-9 p.m. The Lit Café is at Alexandra Neighbourhood House, 2916 McBride Ave., in Crescent Beach. Suggested donation for admission is $5.00, but none will be turned away for lack of funds. Congratulations, Leah!
Annette read first, Chapters 13 and 14 of “A Taste Of Wormwood”, and we see Alyssa staying alone in the house while John and Carrie are still away. The doorbell rings and she sees that George West and his cronies are at the door. She hides in the safe room and watches them on the monitors. As they gain access to the house, she calls John for help. She wants him to save her family, too. He insists she give him their address so he can do that. John also sends Carl to rescue Allyssa and take her to a secure cabin. She has to talk on the phone to her parents, who thought she was dead, in order to convince them to go with Mike, John’s brother, for safety. There was a lot of tension in these two chapters and we were all concerned for Alyssa’s safety.
Jim read Chapter 58 of “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Jason enters his lab where his computers are, to be greeted by the main computer who has developed a personality of her own, and who now wants to be named Abigail, and she calls the other, smaller computers her daughters. Jason sweet talks to her and she agrees to keep his secret with him. So now we’re wondering if Abigail is going to turn on Jason at some point? Hmmm….
Kristie read her re-write of Chapter 1 of “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane’s parents, Meg and Gordon, sneak out late at night for a lover’s tryst. They head to Miller’s Hill, where the Captain’s house stands ghostly and abandoned. As they turn to lovemaking, they are attacked by the apple tree, which entwines it’s leaves and branches inside their bodies and then turns them over to the midnight daisies to be devoured. Satiated, the daisies glow bright red momentarily, before turning to midnight blue again. There was a lot of detailed description in this chapter, that leant to its horror.
Jason read the next chapter in his book. We see Dave being driven home and unceremoniously dropped off by Leah. He was frustrated there was no sex between them on their camping trip. He finds Gregg and Jody in his bedroom and they are playing with language translations on the computer. Apparently Jody can understand anything said to her in any language. Dave doesn’t understand their closeness, and asks Jody why she likes Gregg more than him. Jody tells him he usually thinks only of himself, but says it nicely. Dave feels hurt and embarrassed anyhow. Maybe Dave is going to grow up?
Unfortunately, due to health issues, Wendy and Lorelei were unable to attend but both hope to be at the next Meeting. And Margaret Florczak said she had to forego the Meeting this time and hopes to attend again sometime in the future. Margaret Moffatt is still sending in historical pieces to Today’s Senior Newsmagazine, which publishes them each month.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 1st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then!
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
On Wednesday Jim, Jason, Annette, Leah and Kristie all joined me for an awesome meeting. The big news is that Annette, Kristie and I will all have short stories published in Polar Expression’s anthology of “That Golden Summer”. And Kristie and Leah will also have poems published in their poetry anthology “The Warbler’s Song”. That is awesome news for Ram’s Head writers!
In addition, I’ve also had my article about Sonny, “The Making Of A Soldier, A Mother’s Perspective” published in the Petawawa Post on September 11th. It coincided with his taking command of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Petawawa. Also, my short story “The Blob At Green Lake”, a ‘Honey’ story, will be in the anthology “Never Light A Match In The Outhouse”. This will be published by Summit Studios in Ontario and will be in bookstores late October or early November. I did notice that most of my success seems to be with pieces of mine that are non-fiction. Does that forebode will for my collection of ‘Honey’ stories, which qualify as non- fiction?
We were so pleased to see Jim again, glad that he is recovering his health. He shared with us a rejection letter for “The Coventry Ghosts” which gave specifics for the rejection. They said it had to do with his use of language and suggested he have a reader or editor look at it who could be objective. Jim says he will look for an editor.
Leah will be presenting her completed “Winter In The Rain Forest” DVD at the Lit Café in Crescent Beach on Tuesday, Sept. 30th from 7-9 p.m. The Lit Café is at Alexandra Neighbourhood House, 2916 McBride Ave., in Crescent Beach. Suggested donation for admission is $5.00, but none will be turned away for lack of funds. Congratulations, Leah!
Annette read first, Chapters 13 and 14 of “A Taste Of Wormwood”, and we see Alyssa staying alone in the house while John and Carrie are still away. The doorbell rings and she sees that George West and his cronies are at the door. She hides in the safe room and watches them on the monitors. As they gain access to the house, she calls John for help. She wants him to save her family, too. He insists she give him their address so he can do that. John also sends Carl to rescue Allyssa and take her to a secure cabin. She has to talk on the phone to her parents, who thought she was dead, in order to convince them to go with Mike, John’s brother, for safety. There was a lot of tension in these two chapters and we were all concerned for Alyssa’s safety.
Jim read Chapter 58 of “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Jason enters his lab where his computers are, to be greeted by the main computer who has developed a personality of her own, and who now wants to be named Abigail, and she calls the other, smaller computers her daughters. Jason sweet talks to her and she agrees to keep his secret with him. So now we’re wondering if Abigail is going to turn on Jason at some point? Hmmm….
Kristie read her re-write of Chapter 1 of “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane’s parents, Meg and Gordon, sneak out late at night for a lover’s tryst. They head to Miller’s Hill, where the Captain’s house stands ghostly and abandoned. As they turn to lovemaking, they are attacked by the apple tree, which entwines it’s leaves and branches inside their bodies and then turns them over to the midnight daisies to be devoured. Satiated, the daisies glow bright red momentarily, before turning to midnight blue again. There was a lot of detailed description in this chapter, that leant to its horror.
Jason read the next chapter in his book. We see Dave being driven home and unceremoniously dropped off by Leah. He was frustrated there was no sex between them on their camping trip. He finds Gregg and Jody in his bedroom and they are playing with language translations on the computer. Apparently Jody can understand anything said to her in any language. Dave doesn’t understand their closeness, and asks Jody why she likes Gregg more than him. Jody tells him he usually thinks only of himself, but says it nicely. Dave feels hurt and embarrassed anyhow. Maybe Dave is going to grow up?
Unfortunately, due to health issues, Wendy and Lorelei were unable to attend but both hope to be at the next Meeting. And Margaret Florczak said she had to forego the Meeting this time and hopes to attend again sometime in the future. Margaret Moffatt is still sending in historical pieces to Today’s Senior Newsmagazine, which publishes them each month.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 1st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then!
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
Sunday, August 24, 2014
THE REVIEW
FORGING AHEAD
Wendy, Jason and Leah joined me on Wednesday for our Meeting. Annette and Kristie were both busy with other commitments. Lorelei said she hopes to attend on September 17th after her mother is settled in assisted living and visiting relatives have left.
I read first, a short piece called “Predator And Prey” about a woman calling to inquire about the writers’ group, and then criticising it and hanging up. After reading, I brought out the critiquing outline obtained at a workshop given by Lois Peterson. It mentions many technical aspects of writing fiction and provides a valuable guide at how to look at any story and evaluate it. Jason said he still likes the brainstorming we do on how to add to a story.
Jason read the next chapter, where Gregg and Jody are still on their picnic, and he’s telling her everything he has learned about the Nornir. She is not that interested, and keeps drinking the wine. She and Gregg are both overwhelmed by how much has happened and wonder what the future holds. The scene seemed a little tame, and we had previously suggested Jason ramp it up, but he said he wasn’t sure where to go with it. We suggested Jody seemed very depressed, perhaps he could have her do something explosive, totally out of character, and we suggested maybe she could run away and not show up the first day of school. (We were brainstorming. Jason took notes.)
Leah read us two of her poems. “Language Lessons” was rhyming verse, about trying to master the Welsh language. The second poem was “Affair With Frankie” and is a loving, sensuous ode to her tenor saxophone.
Leah shared some news with us. Her business development plan was accepted and she will be receiving a grant to start her business. And the photo artwork she submitted to the Cascadia competition on flora and fauna of Canada was juried in, and will be on display in the Surrey Art Gallery August 23rd to November 6th. She also told us about her harrowing search from here for her missing ex-husband in Ontario, and how she found him as a stroke patient at a hospital, and the immense difficulty of helping him from so far away. Now there is a heart-gripping story waiting for Leah’s fingers on the keyboard.
Wendy didn’t have anything to read, but did share the trouble she has had looking after her mother out in Chilliwack.
Maybe we should have one Meeting where we all share stories about taking care of someone else?
Jason asked about updating our website and making it more relevant to the current times. I explained that my son was the only one who could do that, and as a Lt. Colonel is usually too busy. Then Leah piped up that she could do it as she did computer programming and knows how to build websites. She said she could even get us started with a Twitter account, and explained that it is only short conversational snippets added to the website daily, but that we need at least three persons to contribute. That negated some of the fears Wendy and I had about anything new and onerous in the digital world. Leah then laughed and said this reminded her of the military, where if you open your mouth to suggest something, you have volunteered to do it. Too funny!
As far as typing and preparing manuscripts goes, my son asked me why I still use two spaces after a period, before the start of the next sentence. He sent me an article about that being the bane of printers, typesetters and typographers. I do it because that was the way I was taught on a manual typewriter, way back when. It had to do with the way a typewriter spaced the letters. Apparently, that isn’t necessary with computer fonts, except for perhaps Courier. But that habit is so ingrained, I don’t know if I can stop doing it. What are your thoughts?
Our next Meeting will be Wednesday, September 17th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place after I return from watching the Change of Command Ceremony where my son, Lt. Col. Sonny T. Hatton, takes command of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Petawawa, Ontario. (You can tell I’m the proud Mama, right?) Hope to see you September 17th!
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
Wendy, Jason and Leah joined me on Wednesday for our Meeting. Annette and Kristie were both busy with other commitments. Lorelei said she hopes to attend on September 17th after her mother is settled in assisted living and visiting relatives have left.
I read first, a short piece called “Predator And Prey” about a woman calling to inquire about the writers’ group, and then criticising it and hanging up. After reading, I brought out the critiquing outline obtained at a workshop given by Lois Peterson. It mentions many technical aspects of writing fiction and provides a valuable guide at how to look at any story and evaluate it. Jason said he still likes the brainstorming we do on how to add to a story.
Jason read the next chapter, where Gregg and Jody are still on their picnic, and he’s telling her everything he has learned about the Nornir. She is not that interested, and keeps drinking the wine. She and Gregg are both overwhelmed by how much has happened and wonder what the future holds. The scene seemed a little tame, and we had previously suggested Jason ramp it up, but he said he wasn’t sure where to go with it. We suggested Jody seemed very depressed, perhaps he could have her do something explosive, totally out of character, and we suggested maybe she could run away and not show up the first day of school. (We were brainstorming. Jason took notes.)
Leah read us two of her poems. “Language Lessons” was rhyming verse, about trying to master the Welsh language. The second poem was “Affair With Frankie” and is a loving, sensuous ode to her tenor saxophone.
Leah shared some news with us. Her business development plan was accepted and she will be receiving a grant to start her business. And the photo artwork she submitted to the Cascadia competition on flora and fauna of Canada was juried in, and will be on display in the Surrey Art Gallery August 23rd to November 6th. She also told us about her harrowing search from here for her missing ex-husband in Ontario, and how she found him as a stroke patient at a hospital, and the immense difficulty of helping him from so far away. Now there is a heart-gripping story waiting for Leah’s fingers on the keyboard.
Wendy didn’t have anything to read, but did share the trouble she has had looking after her mother out in Chilliwack.
Maybe we should have one Meeting where we all share stories about taking care of someone else?
Jason asked about updating our website and making it more relevant to the current times. I explained that my son was the only one who could do that, and as a Lt. Colonel is usually too busy. Then Leah piped up that she could do it as she did computer programming and knows how to build websites. She said she could even get us started with a Twitter account, and explained that it is only short conversational snippets added to the website daily, but that we need at least three persons to contribute. That negated some of the fears Wendy and I had about anything new and onerous in the digital world. Leah then laughed and said this reminded her of the military, where if you open your mouth to suggest something, you have volunteered to do it. Too funny!
As far as typing and preparing manuscripts goes, my son asked me why I still use two spaces after a period, before the start of the next sentence. He sent me an article about that being the bane of printers, typesetters and typographers. I do it because that was the way I was taught on a manual typewriter, way back when. It had to do with the way a typewriter spaced the letters. Apparently, that isn’t necessary with computer fonts, except for perhaps Courier. But that habit is so ingrained, I don’t know if I can stop doing it. What are your thoughts?
Our next Meeting will be Wednesday, September 17th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place after I return from watching the Change of Command Ceremony where my son, Lt. Col. Sonny T. Hatton, takes command of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Petawawa, Ontario. (You can tell I’m the proud Mama, right?) Hope to see you September 17th!
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
Thursday, August 7, 2014
THE REVIEW
FEARLESS FOURSOME
Kristi, Annette and Jason joined me for a Meeting of the Rams last night. Leah was going to another meeting elsewhere. Wendy is caring for her ailing mother. And still no word from Jim.
Margaret Moffatt has another article, this one about White Rock, in Today’s Senior Newsmagazine, August issue.
Kristi read a hot and heavy sex scene from “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. It shows the Captain on board his ship, feeling ill. To help fall asleep, he remembers and dreams about having made love with Ursula. But the dream turns nightmarish as he sees her falling into the water and drowning. Kristi said she researched how to write the scene, and also researched swear words and their usage for that time period. She wanted to verify that the Captain could have used the “F” word.
Annette said she hasn’t been writing lately as she recovers her health, and also because she is so busy with family. But she said she changed the last chapter she read to us and made John seem more aggressive in his proposal to Alysa. She then read to us the chapter where Alysa is at the house alone while John and Carrie are in Belize with their parents for Christmas. Alysa doesn’t think she feels any spark with John, but will probably marry him anyhow. Feeling lonely, she re-visits a shelter where she spent the previous Christmas. There she has an encounter with a young woman who is very judgemental of homeless people and the girl’s father tries coming onto Alysa. Disgusted with both of them, she finishes her volunteer stint at food preparation and then leaves.
Jason read to us a chapter from his Book II, that shows Gregg taking Jody on a picnic. He wants to take care of her and heal her, but she reacts negatively to everything he does. We discussed this chapter and Jason now thinks he will re-write it and put more conflict into the scene.
I read my first person story called “The Memory Of White Wine”, which was my submission to the Polar Expressions writing contest. It’s about a woman getting drunk on white wine as she tells her husband she wants a divorce.
Kristie said she also entered the contest and submitted her short story of the girl walking barefoot in the dust, trying to run away from abuse.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, August 20th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
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
Kristi, Annette and Jason joined me for a Meeting of the Rams last night. Leah was going to another meeting elsewhere. Wendy is caring for her ailing mother. And still no word from Jim.
Margaret Moffatt has another article, this one about White Rock, in Today’s Senior Newsmagazine, August issue.
Kristi read a hot and heavy sex scene from “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. It shows the Captain on board his ship, feeling ill. To help fall asleep, he remembers and dreams about having made love with Ursula. But the dream turns nightmarish as he sees her falling into the water and drowning. Kristi said she researched how to write the scene, and also researched swear words and their usage for that time period. She wanted to verify that the Captain could have used the “F” word.
Annette said she hasn’t been writing lately as she recovers her health, and also because she is so busy with family. But she said she changed the last chapter she read to us and made John seem more aggressive in his proposal to Alysa. She then read to us the chapter where Alysa is at the house alone while John and Carrie are in Belize with their parents for Christmas. Alysa doesn’t think she feels any spark with John, but will probably marry him anyhow. Feeling lonely, she re-visits a shelter where she spent the previous Christmas. There she has an encounter with a young woman who is very judgemental of homeless people and the girl’s father tries coming onto Alysa. Disgusted with both of them, she finishes her volunteer stint at food preparation and then leaves.
Jason read to us a chapter from his Book II, that shows Gregg taking Jody on a picnic. He wants to take care of her and heal her, but she reacts negatively to everything he does. We discussed this chapter and Jason now thinks he will re-write it and put more conflict into the scene.
I read my first person story called “The Memory Of White Wine”, which was my submission to the Polar Expressions writing contest. It’s about a woman getting drunk on white wine as she tells her husband she wants a divorce.
Kristie said she also entered the contest and submitted her short story of the girl walking barefoot in the dust, trying to run away from abuse.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, August 20th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
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
Saturday, July 19, 2014
THE REVIEW
STILL LEARNING
Leah, Annette and Jason joined me on Wednesday for our Meeting of The Rams. Kristie was unable to get a babysitter so she could attend. We were very happy to see Annette recovering from her recent heart attack. There’s been no word from Jim, and we are also wondering how he’s doing. And we do know Wendy is busy with family this month.
Annette read first, Chapter 11 in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. Ally is trying to avoid John, afraid that he’s becoming too fond of her and not wanting that kind of involvement. She is tempted to search his room, but he catches her there and puts his arms around her and then proposes marriage. We did suggest that John, as a police officer, needed to be made a more aggressive character and Annette said she would think on it, but that the proposal would stay as it’s part of the ongoing plot.
Jason read his next chapter that shows Leah and David entering the barn where he has hidden the sword she wants to see. There is an instant where he sees Leah’s face older and wrinkled in the glow of candlelight. As they are about to ascend the ladder to the hay loft, there is a noise and suddenly Granny appears and scares them. We anticipate a showdown between Leah and Granny at some point.
Jason was asking me for a book review on his first novel, but I have never written a book review and told him I didn’t think my opinion mattered that much as I wasn’t a journalist who did book reviews, and I wasn’t a well-known editor or publisher, either. He assured me book reviews these days have devolved to the masses, such as at Amazon or Goodreads. I’ll keep that in mind.
Our Leah shared a summary of a business plan she hopes to submit to the Small Business Development Bank hoping for support to start a consulting company. I said I found the first page too full of generalities, but Leah assured me that’s how a business plan summary is done. Personally, I thought it would be more effective with some concrete examples thrown in to better describe the type of business envisioned. But that is obviously the writer and journalist in me. However, I was very impressed with the questionnaire that accompanied it to ascertain the type of service that prospective clients would need. Writing abilities have numerous applications, with business endeavors also included among them.
I didn’t read anything, but did pass around a book I purchased recently, “The Canadian Writers’ Guide”. It was published in 2003, but still has a great deal of relevant information, from how to find writing topics or inspiration, to self-publishing ebooks, to manuscript formatting, to Canadian Literary Agents, to Canadian writing contests, to how much to charge for magazine articles. And there were several chapters by Lois Peterson, a local writing teacher I respect greatly for her practical suggestions on many writing topics.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, August 6th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then, and please stay healthy in the meantime!
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
Leah, Annette and Jason joined me on Wednesday for our Meeting of The Rams. Kristie was unable to get a babysitter so she could attend. We were very happy to see Annette recovering from her recent heart attack. There’s been no word from Jim, and we are also wondering how he’s doing. And we do know Wendy is busy with family this month.
Annette read first, Chapter 11 in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. Ally is trying to avoid John, afraid that he’s becoming too fond of her and not wanting that kind of involvement. She is tempted to search his room, but he catches her there and puts his arms around her and then proposes marriage. We did suggest that John, as a police officer, needed to be made a more aggressive character and Annette said she would think on it, but that the proposal would stay as it’s part of the ongoing plot.
Jason read his next chapter that shows Leah and David entering the barn where he has hidden the sword she wants to see. There is an instant where he sees Leah’s face older and wrinkled in the glow of candlelight. As they are about to ascend the ladder to the hay loft, there is a noise and suddenly Granny appears and scares them. We anticipate a showdown between Leah and Granny at some point.
Jason was asking me for a book review on his first novel, but I have never written a book review and told him I didn’t think my opinion mattered that much as I wasn’t a journalist who did book reviews, and I wasn’t a well-known editor or publisher, either. He assured me book reviews these days have devolved to the masses, such as at Amazon or Goodreads. I’ll keep that in mind.
Our Leah shared a summary of a business plan she hopes to submit to the Small Business Development Bank hoping for support to start a consulting company. I said I found the first page too full of generalities, but Leah assured me that’s how a business plan summary is done. Personally, I thought it would be more effective with some concrete examples thrown in to better describe the type of business envisioned. But that is obviously the writer and journalist in me. However, I was very impressed with the questionnaire that accompanied it to ascertain the type of service that prospective clients would need. Writing abilities have numerous applications, with business endeavors also included among them.
I didn’t read anything, but did pass around a book I purchased recently, “The Canadian Writers’ Guide”. It was published in 2003, but still has a great deal of relevant information, from how to find writing topics or inspiration, to self-publishing ebooks, to manuscript formatting, to Canadian Literary Agents, to Canadian writing contests, to how much to charge for magazine articles. And there were several chapters by Lois Peterson, a local writing teacher I respect greatly for her practical suggestions on many writing topics.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, August 6th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then, and please stay healthy in the meantime!
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
Friday, July 4, 2014
THE REVIEW
A CROWD OF THREE
Jason and Kristi joined me Wednesday for a meeting of three. There was lots of time to discuss writing and talk about our goals.
Kristie regaled us with tales of an author who cyber bullies participants in a twitter writing forum, and who was bullying her. Very bizarre. Then she tells us her computer crashed, and we wonder if the two are connected? She needs to write a horror tale about this.
I read first, another ‘Honey’ story called “Face To Face”, about my recent acquisition of a new cell phone so I could take pictures with it, and how I’m too busy playing with my new toy to actually communicate face to face with anyone, namely Honey. I don’t even answer when he calls me on it.
I now have 30,000 words in ‘Honey’ stories and feel that’s a good basis for a small book of humour. I’m still working on putting them all together in one manuscript and editing them so there isn’t a lot of repetition. I don’t yet know if I want to self-publish them as an ebook, or if I want to seek a book publisher.
Kristi read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane reaches home just before dawn after her terrifying encounter with the daisies. She desperately wants to sleep, but is disturbed by the hateful cat in her room. She tries to oust the cat, which evades her, and then it suddenly turns mellow and loving before finally leaving the room.
Kristie says she has reworked the story and has made Jane a schoolteacher in her twenties instead of a teenaged school girl. She thinks this will give her more options in plot development. And she finds the more she writes, the more she wants to re-write to make her story better.
Jason read the next Chapter in his second book. Dave and Leah have left the campfire and she is enticing him with sexual advances, but then stops Dave from going any further. She tells him she wants to see the sword he has hidden and, from his sexual frustration, Dave finally agrees. A lot of sexual tension in this Chapter.
Jason was saying he doesn’t know if he wants to continue writing one book with two plot-lines or if he should split it into two books, each with its own plot. He’s worried about what the reader wants. We discussed this and spoke of other books that have more than one plot and also many different character viewpoints. Whichever way he chooses is acceptable.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Penticton in the July issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
We are all hoping Annette is home again and safely recovering from her stay in hospital. Wendy is out of the loop for the month of July, busy with family engagements. Ellie is on the last stages of packing and moving and we wish her well in her new home on the Island. Leah should be at the next Meeting. And we haven’t heard anything from Jim.
I had suggested maybe cancelling Meetings for some or all of the summer, but Jason and Kristi were against this. They said as parents of young children, this is their only chance to get out and congregate with other writers without interruption. With that endorsement in mind, the next Meeting will be Wednesday, July 16th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
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
Jason and Kristi joined me Wednesday for a meeting of three. There was lots of time to discuss writing and talk about our goals.
Kristie regaled us with tales of an author who cyber bullies participants in a twitter writing forum, and who was bullying her. Very bizarre. Then she tells us her computer crashed, and we wonder if the two are connected? She needs to write a horror tale about this.
I read first, another ‘Honey’ story called “Face To Face”, about my recent acquisition of a new cell phone so I could take pictures with it, and how I’m too busy playing with my new toy to actually communicate face to face with anyone, namely Honey. I don’t even answer when he calls me on it.
I now have 30,000 words in ‘Honey’ stories and feel that’s a good basis for a small book of humour. I’m still working on putting them all together in one manuscript and editing them so there isn’t a lot of repetition. I don’t yet know if I want to self-publish them as an ebook, or if I want to seek a book publisher.
Kristi read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane reaches home just before dawn after her terrifying encounter with the daisies. She desperately wants to sleep, but is disturbed by the hateful cat in her room. She tries to oust the cat, which evades her, and then it suddenly turns mellow and loving before finally leaving the room.
Kristie says she has reworked the story and has made Jane a schoolteacher in her twenties instead of a teenaged school girl. She thinks this will give her more options in plot development. And she finds the more she writes, the more she wants to re-write to make her story better.
Jason read the next Chapter in his second book. Dave and Leah have left the campfire and she is enticing him with sexual advances, but then stops Dave from going any further. She tells him she wants to see the sword he has hidden and, from his sexual frustration, Dave finally agrees. A lot of sexual tension in this Chapter.
Jason was saying he doesn’t know if he wants to continue writing one book with two plot-lines or if he should split it into two books, each with its own plot. He’s worried about what the reader wants. We discussed this and spoke of other books that have more than one plot and also many different character viewpoints. Whichever way he chooses is acceptable.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Penticton in the July issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
We are all hoping Annette is home again and safely recovering from her stay in hospital. Wendy is out of the loop for the month of July, busy with family engagements. Ellie is on the last stages of packing and moving and we wish her well in her new home on the Island. Leah should be at the next Meeting. And we haven’t heard anything from Jim.
I had suggested maybe cancelling Meetings for some or all of the summer, but Jason and Kristi were against this. They said as parents of young children, this is their only chance to get out and congregate with other writers without interruption. With that endorsement in mind, the next Meeting will be Wednesday, July 16th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
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
Sunday, June 22, 2014
THE REVIEW
JUNE SCRIBES
Six of us Rams met on Wednesday to share our written musings, although Wendy and I didn’t have any writing of our own to read.
Kristi read to us the latest in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane awakes on the hill with the daisies, near dawn. To escape them, she has agreed to bring them humans to devour, but hopes to renege once she gets away. They tell her though, that they can control her in her mind and torment her with nightmares, but they will give her some time before she has to comply as they are not yet hungry. Scary damned flowers!
Kristi also read a short piece from a writing promtp that was “Dust And Dead Ends”. It’s about a girl walking on the road barefoot, trying to escape an abusive man she lives with, but he stops beside her in his pick-up truck, and she obediently gets in. This could be the beginning of a longer story.
Jason was just back from Germany on Tuesday and hadn’t done any writing, still suffering from jet lag. He read to us about Leigia in love, from his blog. It is a sensual bit of character development that was not included in the novel. Jason thought it too racy for young adults.
Leah’s art project is progressing, and there will be consecutive showing probably till this time next summer. And she also has volunteers to do voiceover on the video. Way to go, Leah!
She also read to us her first chapter from “Bonguetopia”. It introduces Tally and his grandfather who are reading some very dull history book about the Bard. We also found the history book a little too much, and asked to hear more about Tally, and why he’s desperate to know more about the Bard. Since this is only Leah’s first draft, we know there can be many changes yet to come.
Annette read the next chapter in “A Taste Of Wormwood”. Inside the secret room, Alyssa turns on all the monitors that show different parts of the house, and listens in on the exchange between John and the two policemen. John doesn’t let on she is in the house. After the cops leave Alyssa questions John about his brother Mike, and learns both he and John are police officers, that Mike was undercover with West’s crime organization but was compromised and is now hiding. He tells Alyssa she will be there alone for Christmas when he takes Carrie to visit their parents. And he tells her the only other cop he trusts is Carl Jackson. Yes, the plot thickens.
Annette also brought her laptop and showed us adorable pictures of her brand new grandson.
Jim had phoned to say he was knee deep in yard work and couldn’t make the meeting. We missed him.
The next Meeting of The Rams will be Wednesday, July 2nd at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. Happy Canada Day in the meantime!
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
Six of us Rams met on Wednesday to share our written musings, although Wendy and I didn’t have any writing of our own to read.
Kristi read to us the latest in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane awakes on the hill with the daisies, near dawn. To escape them, she has agreed to bring them humans to devour, but hopes to renege once she gets away. They tell her though, that they can control her in her mind and torment her with nightmares, but they will give her some time before she has to comply as they are not yet hungry. Scary damned flowers!
Kristi also read a short piece from a writing promtp that was “Dust And Dead Ends”. It’s about a girl walking on the road barefoot, trying to escape an abusive man she lives with, but he stops beside her in his pick-up truck, and she obediently gets in. This could be the beginning of a longer story.
Jason was just back from Germany on Tuesday and hadn’t done any writing, still suffering from jet lag. He read to us about Leigia in love, from his blog. It is a sensual bit of character development that was not included in the novel. Jason thought it too racy for young adults.
Leah’s art project is progressing, and there will be consecutive showing probably till this time next summer. And she also has volunteers to do voiceover on the video. Way to go, Leah!
She also read to us her first chapter from “Bonguetopia”. It introduces Tally and his grandfather who are reading some very dull history book about the Bard. We also found the history book a little too much, and asked to hear more about Tally, and why he’s desperate to know more about the Bard. Since this is only Leah’s first draft, we know there can be many changes yet to come.
Annette read the next chapter in “A Taste Of Wormwood”. Inside the secret room, Alyssa turns on all the monitors that show different parts of the house, and listens in on the exchange between John and the two policemen. John doesn’t let on she is in the house. After the cops leave Alyssa questions John about his brother Mike, and learns both he and John are police officers, that Mike was undercover with West’s crime organization but was compromised and is now hiding. He tells Alyssa she will be there alone for Christmas when he takes Carrie to visit their parents. And he tells her the only other cop he trusts is Carl Jackson. Yes, the plot thickens.
Annette also brought her laptop and showed us adorable pictures of her brand new grandson.
Jim had phoned to say he was knee deep in yard work and couldn’t make the meeting. We missed him.
The next Meeting of The Rams will be Wednesday, July 2nd at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. Happy Canada Day in the meantime!
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
Friday, June 6, 2014
THE REVIEW
HEALING CIRCLE
Five of us were here Wednesday night, though some were suffering. Leah had fallen down some stairs and was hurting. Jim was still recovering from first the flu, and then from being knocked off his bike by a car hitting him. And Wendy wasn’t able to attend as she wasn’t feeling well. Jason was away, on holidays in Germany. Ellie has sold her house and is moving to Nanoose Bay on the Island by August, and is very busy with that endeavor. We will miss her greatly. Stay well, Dear Rams.
Annette read first, Chapter 10 from “A Touch Of Wormwood”. We are kept in suspense waiting for Ali’s diagnosis. Then she and John and Carrie share a sad Thanksgiving dinner with Marc not there to be with Carrie. Later the police who were watching Ali at the clinic knock on the door, and John hides her in a secret room.
Kristie has become the queen of macabre. She added a prologue to her prologue for “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”, which shows the gruesome side of Talbot, the magician, when he murders Ursula, a barmaid, because she helped the ship captain beat him at cards.
Then Kristie read the latest chapter, which has Jane being accused by the daisies of murdering their sister. They also tell her she is blue, just like them, and offer to let her live if she will bring them food (humans) to eat. Lying, she agrees.
Leah brought a video we watched showing the pictures and poetry from “Winter In The Rain Forest” that was set to music. The pictures were gorgeous in digital format on the screen. Then, regarding the historical fantasy she is writing, Leah shared 4 Haiku, a Hybrid, and 5 Senryu; all poems by the Bard of Bonquetopia about a ruined city. He will be a major character in the story.
Regarding story structure, Leah also gave us each a copy of a printout which itemizes the steps in the mythical story structure, further to what Marcela had spoken of at the last meeting.
Jim read Chapters 56 and 57 from “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. In 56, we see Sara and Joel scouting around the outside of the compound where Jason has his laboratory. In 57, we see Jason experimenting with more brains added to his server, in his quest to take control from the ghosts that he wants to use in the search for his parents’ essences. He has a single minded determination to own total power over all.
I read another ‘Honey’ story, “The Virtue Of Vice”. This tells of meeting a repairman at the pub who offered to replace my worn kitchen arborite, since Honey doesn’t do more than the minimum in home maintenance.
Kristie then read to us her own version of Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings”. It was a moving vision of a song going forth in freedom.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Hope, B.C. in the June issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, June 18th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. Stay safe and healthy, everyone.
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
Five of us were here Wednesday night, though some were suffering. Leah had fallen down some stairs and was hurting. Jim was still recovering from first the flu, and then from being knocked off his bike by a car hitting him. And Wendy wasn’t able to attend as she wasn’t feeling well. Jason was away, on holidays in Germany. Ellie has sold her house and is moving to Nanoose Bay on the Island by August, and is very busy with that endeavor. We will miss her greatly. Stay well, Dear Rams.
Annette read first, Chapter 10 from “A Touch Of Wormwood”. We are kept in suspense waiting for Ali’s diagnosis. Then she and John and Carrie share a sad Thanksgiving dinner with Marc not there to be with Carrie. Later the police who were watching Ali at the clinic knock on the door, and John hides her in a secret room.
Kristie has become the queen of macabre. She added a prologue to her prologue for “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”, which shows the gruesome side of Talbot, the magician, when he murders Ursula, a barmaid, because she helped the ship captain beat him at cards.
Then Kristie read the latest chapter, which has Jane being accused by the daisies of murdering their sister. They also tell her she is blue, just like them, and offer to let her live if she will bring them food (humans) to eat. Lying, she agrees.
Leah brought a video we watched showing the pictures and poetry from “Winter In The Rain Forest” that was set to music. The pictures were gorgeous in digital format on the screen. Then, regarding the historical fantasy she is writing, Leah shared 4 Haiku, a Hybrid, and 5 Senryu; all poems by the Bard of Bonquetopia about a ruined city. He will be a major character in the story.
Regarding story structure, Leah also gave us each a copy of a printout which itemizes the steps in the mythical story structure, further to what Marcela had spoken of at the last meeting.
Jim read Chapters 56 and 57 from “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. In 56, we see Sara and Joel scouting around the outside of the compound where Jason has his laboratory. In 57, we see Jason experimenting with more brains added to his server, in his quest to take control from the ghosts that he wants to use in the search for his parents’ essences. He has a single minded determination to own total power over all.
I read another ‘Honey’ story, “The Virtue Of Vice”. This tells of meeting a repairman at the pub who offered to replace my worn kitchen arborite, since Honey doesn’t do more than the minimum in home maintenance.
Kristie then read to us her own version of Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings”. It was a moving vision of a song going forth in freedom.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Hope, B.C. in the June issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, June 18th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. Stay safe and healthy, everyone.
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
Friday, May 23, 2014
THE REVIEW
SPRING POSIES
Annette, Leah, Wendy, Jason and Ellie all joined me Wednesday to honour The Muse. Kristi was unable to join us as she couldn’t find a babysitter. We missed her tales of horror. And there’s been no word from Jim for weeks now. We all hope he’s doing fine. If anyone hears from him, let the rest of us know. Margaret F. had said she wanted to attend, but then emailed she would be away on a cruise. There was no word from Marcela or Mary.
Annette shared with us a cover she had drawn up for a novel of hers called “Chocolate Curls and Dragons. She intends to self-publish in hard copy, and says she has many online writers asking for copies of it. And Leah handed out printed invitations to an Exhibit of her photography and poetry.
First to read, Annette gave us Chapter 9 of “A Taste Of Wormwood”. Ali is fearful and plans to leave but John calms her down and she confides in him about the previous rape and her visits to the health clinic where she spotted George’s men who were looking for her. John takes her to a different doctor for the vaccine she needs. She turns to him like an older brother but John might feel differently about her. This reads like a burgeoning romance, but Annette assures us it will turn into something very different.
Leah shared with us a map and world fact book entry about a country she is fabricating on another planet to become the platform for an historical fantasy novel she plans to write. This pre-fab setting is extremely detailed and we were all amazed at the work she has put into this.
Jason read his next chapter about Dave and his friends camping beside the whispering woods. Grammy uncorks her bottle of wine and asks for a glass. But there are only plastic cups, which she disdains and then proceeds to drink straight from the bottle. She then reminisces about her father and his penchant for drinking wine. Leah gets Dave to go for a walk with her, and after they leave, Grammy says she’s trouble. This was a good depiction of both the young people and a very experienced elder.
I had found two ‘Honey’ stories I had misplaced in my computer files for several years, so I read one entitled “Rodeo Of Fabrics”. It’s about Honey wanting me to make a cowboy shirt for him and the prolonged search for the right combination of fabrics and colours for it.
Ellie read a poem called “Bee In My Bonnet” about a honey bee telling her off for trying to swat it away. Very amusing.
Wendy didn’t read as she has been so busy selling her mother’s house and moving her Mom into a retirement home and helping her to settle in. It’s a lot of work to tend to an aging parent’s needs. We hope at some point she’ll be able to write about the experience.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, June 4th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. In the meantime I hope your writing blossoms forth in tune with Spring.
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
Annette, Leah, Wendy, Jason and Ellie all joined me Wednesday to honour The Muse. Kristi was unable to join us as she couldn’t find a babysitter. We missed her tales of horror. And there’s been no word from Jim for weeks now. We all hope he’s doing fine. If anyone hears from him, let the rest of us know. Margaret F. had said she wanted to attend, but then emailed she would be away on a cruise. There was no word from Marcela or Mary.
Annette shared with us a cover she had drawn up for a novel of hers called “Chocolate Curls and Dragons. She intends to self-publish in hard copy, and says she has many online writers asking for copies of it. And Leah handed out printed invitations to an Exhibit of her photography and poetry.
First to read, Annette gave us Chapter 9 of “A Taste Of Wormwood”. Ali is fearful and plans to leave but John calms her down and she confides in him about the previous rape and her visits to the health clinic where she spotted George’s men who were looking for her. John takes her to a different doctor for the vaccine she needs. She turns to him like an older brother but John might feel differently about her. This reads like a burgeoning romance, but Annette assures us it will turn into something very different.
Leah shared with us a map and world fact book entry about a country she is fabricating on another planet to become the platform for an historical fantasy novel she plans to write. This pre-fab setting is extremely detailed and we were all amazed at the work she has put into this.
Jason read his next chapter about Dave and his friends camping beside the whispering woods. Grammy uncorks her bottle of wine and asks for a glass. But there are only plastic cups, which she disdains and then proceeds to drink straight from the bottle. She then reminisces about her father and his penchant for drinking wine. Leah gets Dave to go for a walk with her, and after they leave, Grammy says she’s trouble. This was a good depiction of both the young people and a very experienced elder.
I had found two ‘Honey’ stories I had misplaced in my computer files for several years, so I read one entitled “Rodeo Of Fabrics”. It’s about Honey wanting me to make a cowboy shirt for him and the prolonged search for the right combination of fabrics and colours for it.
Ellie read a poem called “Bee In My Bonnet” about a honey bee telling her off for trying to swat it away. Very amusing.
Wendy didn’t read as she has been so busy selling her mother’s house and moving her Mom into a retirement home and helping her to settle in. It’s a lot of work to tend to an aging parent’s needs. We hope at some point she’ll be able to write about the experience.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, June 4th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. In the meantime I hope your writing blossoms forth in tune with Spring.
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
Friday, May 9, 2014
THE REVIEW
FAME AND FORTUNE
Jason, Annette, Kristi, Marcela, Mary, and Ellie all joined me here Wednesday for another great meeting of the famous Rams! We congratulated Ellie on her win in the Shuswap ‘Word On The Lake Festival’ writing contest. She won first prize in non-fiction with her story “Beware” about the cougar encounter. The prize included $150.00 cash, admission to the 2014 Shuswap writers’ conference, and publication in an anthology. Congratulations, Ellie!
Jason read first, from book two of his “Roots Of Creation” series. Dave and his friends are still at their campsite by the whispering woods when his Grammy arrives. She chides the teens for camping so often on her property. She and Dave’s girlfriend, Leah, size each other up. Then Grammy finds a corkscrew in someone’s backpack and is delighted she can finally open her bottle of wine. She sits down to join the party. There was humour in this chapter and the characters were very realistic.
Kristi read her next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. It’s nighttime, and Jane is dreaming of the cat purring while being held by a ghost whose skin is peeling away. Then Jane awakes and looks out her window and sees a red glow on Miller’s Hill. She goes to investigate and finds glowing red flowers under a glowing apple tree. She picks one of the flowers, which turns black, then hears the others crying she killed their sister. This chapter was written with a lot of gory detail. True horror.
I read my latest Honey story, “Honey’s Next Degree”. It’s about Honey putting up with all my medical appointments over the past two years because of four surgeries I’ve had. He’s finally getting the hang of being a caregiver, in spite of his reluctance.
Annette read chapters 7 and 8 from “A Taste Of Wormwood”. We see Alyssa going to a medical clinic for follow-up treatment after a previous rape that she never reported from fear of being found by George West. But we hear the nurse report to someone the Alyssa was at the clinic and saying she would come back for the test results. When she does return, she spots one of George West’s men watching the clinic and she manages to leave without being seen. But she tells John she can no longer stay and look after Carrie.
From a writing prompt that required 50 words about the worst thing you did, Annette read her four sentences about drowning a worm. Very funny.
Marcela read to us Joseph Campbell’s steps in the hero’s journey, which is basically a plot outline for most storytelling. She said her sixteen year old daughter analysed these steps in “Crime And Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It’s very brave of a teenager to take that on.
Mary read to us what she hopes to be an introduction to her own personal story. The words were eloquent and flowed well but only hinted at what the story could entail. We hope she finds the courage to write it all down for herself, whether she shares it with the rest of us or not.
Ellie didn’t read, but was supportive of everyone else. We really missed Jim. I later learned he has been unwell and I’m sure we all wish him a speedy recovery. Wendy was visiting her mother in Chilliwack. And Leah had another commitment on Wednesday.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, May 21st, at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Look forward to seeing you then.
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
Jason, Annette, Kristi, Marcela, Mary, and Ellie all joined me here Wednesday for another great meeting of the famous Rams! We congratulated Ellie on her win in the Shuswap ‘Word On The Lake Festival’ writing contest. She won first prize in non-fiction with her story “Beware” about the cougar encounter. The prize included $150.00 cash, admission to the 2014 Shuswap writers’ conference, and publication in an anthology. Congratulations, Ellie!
Jason read first, from book two of his “Roots Of Creation” series. Dave and his friends are still at their campsite by the whispering woods when his Grammy arrives. She chides the teens for camping so often on her property. She and Dave’s girlfriend, Leah, size each other up. Then Grammy finds a corkscrew in someone’s backpack and is delighted she can finally open her bottle of wine. She sits down to join the party. There was humour in this chapter and the characters were very realistic.
Kristi read her next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. It’s nighttime, and Jane is dreaming of the cat purring while being held by a ghost whose skin is peeling away. Then Jane awakes and looks out her window and sees a red glow on Miller’s Hill. She goes to investigate and finds glowing red flowers under a glowing apple tree. She picks one of the flowers, which turns black, then hears the others crying she killed their sister. This chapter was written with a lot of gory detail. True horror.
I read my latest Honey story, “Honey’s Next Degree”. It’s about Honey putting up with all my medical appointments over the past two years because of four surgeries I’ve had. He’s finally getting the hang of being a caregiver, in spite of his reluctance.
Annette read chapters 7 and 8 from “A Taste Of Wormwood”. We see Alyssa going to a medical clinic for follow-up treatment after a previous rape that she never reported from fear of being found by George West. But we hear the nurse report to someone the Alyssa was at the clinic and saying she would come back for the test results. When she does return, she spots one of George West’s men watching the clinic and she manages to leave without being seen. But she tells John she can no longer stay and look after Carrie.
From a writing prompt that required 50 words about the worst thing you did, Annette read her four sentences about drowning a worm. Very funny.
Marcela read to us Joseph Campbell’s steps in the hero’s journey, which is basically a plot outline for most storytelling. She said her sixteen year old daughter analysed these steps in “Crime And Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It’s very brave of a teenager to take that on.
Mary read to us what she hopes to be an introduction to her own personal story. The words were eloquent and flowed well but only hinted at what the story could entail. We hope she finds the courage to write it all down for herself, whether she shares it with the rest of us or not.
Ellie didn’t read, but was supportive of everyone else. We really missed Jim. I later learned he has been unwell and I’m sure we all wish him a speedy recovery. Wendy was visiting her mother in Chilliwack. And Leah had another commitment on Wednesday.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, May 21st, at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Look forward to seeing you then.
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
Friday, April 18, 2014
THE REVIEW
SEEING RED
Wednesday’s Meeting was another great time, with Jim, Wendy, Leah, Annette, Jason, and Kristie joining me. And the red they were looking at was the new colour of my hair. I wasn’t used to it yet, but everyone said it looked great, even though Honey calls me “Glow In The Dark”.
I was able to tell Jason that Bryon had finished reading his book “Provoked” and quite enjoyed it. He’s now reading “The Orenda” by Joseph Boyden and says it’s full of violence and religion. He preferred Jason’s book, which he said was violence and sex. This from the engineer who never reads fiction? Don’t ever give him a Harlequin to read.
I read first, a short personal piece called “Eternal”. It was a tribute to a former lover whose love seemed to span more than one lifetime.
Jim had edited his Book II of “Coventry Ghosts” and shortened many chapters. He read us the next chapter after the one he read last week, but it is now Chapter 55. This shows Jason with his new collector for his computer, that now has more power to gather ghost essences and squeeze them into submission. He also has a shield that keeps him and his computer invisible to the ghost realm. He is starting to think he should capture Leanne of Coventry, so she can’t use her super powers to hurt him again. This is a great set-up for more evil doings.
Kristie read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane has slept peacefully, after the day of bullying from the townies. Her schoolbooks have dried overnight, and she’s happy to greet her grandmother in the kitchen. She goes outside in the sunshine and is writing a poem when Davy shows up and startles her. She wants to ride on her swing, which is her escape. Davy offers to push her and he can see she’s ‘flying’, overlooking the valley below. This chapter is the calm before another storm.
Leah said she had three pieces of writing to read and gave us the chance to pick two. We asked for the two poems. The first was her reworking of “Winter In The Rainforest”, which will be a limited edition chapbook. The poem had been cut down into nine Haiku verses, accompanying seven photos. The second poem was “Making Love With Your Boots On” which tells of a dream of making love, and the lover ties her cement boots. This poem was done in two versions and Leah asked us to choose which one we preferred. She also asked for more critiquing of her poetry, but we all feel poetry is too subjective for us to be much help. And I don’t think any of us felt qualified to comment on Haiku, either. So if anyone out there would like to help Leah with this, please contact her and offer your help.
Annette read Chapter 6 of “A Taste Of Wormwood”. After sleeping peacefully, Alyssa spends the day watching Carrie work out with Marc and sees that Carrie is shy, but still wants Marc’s attention, and that Marc cares for Carrie, or he wouldn’t be spending his free time with her. He takes them shopping. While shopping, someone asks Carrie if Ali is short for Eliana. At the end of the chapter George West wants to learn more about Ali, and tells his underling to find Wormwood and kill him. The on-going danger is ever present.
Jason read another chapter from the second book in his “Roots Of Creation” series. Dave and his friends are still at the campsite, and are talking about things experienced at school. Dave’s girlfriend, Leah, gets annoyed at Kirk and Grace pawing each other sexually, and pulls away from Dave. She downs some vodka, and gets mad at Dave because nothing spooky is happening. Dave doesn’t understand and she goes on to say she needs him to grow up and accept who he really is and what his future is meant to be. Now we all want to know what Leah knows.
Wendy didn’t read as she is still overwhelmed with moving her mother and selling her home. However, she does offer some good feedback when the rest of us read, and that’s something we need in the group as well.
Marcela has been unable to attend due to her work schedule, but will come to a Meeting as soon as possible. We look forward to seeing her again.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, May 7th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then with your written treasures. In the meantime, Happy Easter to all!
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
Wednesday’s Meeting was another great time, with Jim, Wendy, Leah, Annette, Jason, and Kristie joining me. And the red they were looking at was the new colour of my hair. I wasn’t used to it yet, but everyone said it looked great, even though Honey calls me “Glow In The Dark”.
I was able to tell Jason that Bryon had finished reading his book “Provoked” and quite enjoyed it. He’s now reading “The Orenda” by Joseph Boyden and says it’s full of violence and religion. He preferred Jason’s book, which he said was violence and sex. This from the engineer who never reads fiction? Don’t ever give him a Harlequin to read.
I read first, a short personal piece called “Eternal”. It was a tribute to a former lover whose love seemed to span more than one lifetime.
Jim had edited his Book II of “Coventry Ghosts” and shortened many chapters. He read us the next chapter after the one he read last week, but it is now Chapter 55. This shows Jason with his new collector for his computer, that now has more power to gather ghost essences and squeeze them into submission. He also has a shield that keeps him and his computer invisible to the ghost realm. He is starting to think he should capture Leanne of Coventry, so she can’t use her super powers to hurt him again. This is a great set-up for more evil doings.
Kristie read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane has slept peacefully, after the day of bullying from the townies. Her schoolbooks have dried overnight, and she’s happy to greet her grandmother in the kitchen. She goes outside in the sunshine and is writing a poem when Davy shows up and startles her. She wants to ride on her swing, which is her escape. Davy offers to push her and he can see she’s ‘flying’, overlooking the valley below. This chapter is the calm before another storm.
Leah said she had three pieces of writing to read and gave us the chance to pick two. We asked for the two poems. The first was her reworking of “Winter In The Rainforest”, which will be a limited edition chapbook. The poem had been cut down into nine Haiku verses, accompanying seven photos. The second poem was “Making Love With Your Boots On” which tells of a dream of making love, and the lover ties her cement boots. This poem was done in two versions and Leah asked us to choose which one we preferred. She also asked for more critiquing of her poetry, but we all feel poetry is too subjective for us to be much help. And I don’t think any of us felt qualified to comment on Haiku, either. So if anyone out there would like to help Leah with this, please contact her and offer your help.
Annette read Chapter 6 of “A Taste Of Wormwood”. After sleeping peacefully, Alyssa spends the day watching Carrie work out with Marc and sees that Carrie is shy, but still wants Marc’s attention, and that Marc cares for Carrie, or he wouldn’t be spending his free time with her. He takes them shopping. While shopping, someone asks Carrie if Ali is short for Eliana. At the end of the chapter George West wants to learn more about Ali, and tells his underling to find Wormwood and kill him. The on-going danger is ever present.
Jason read another chapter from the second book in his “Roots Of Creation” series. Dave and his friends are still at the campsite, and are talking about things experienced at school. Dave’s girlfriend, Leah, gets annoyed at Kirk and Grace pawing each other sexually, and pulls away from Dave. She downs some vodka, and gets mad at Dave because nothing spooky is happening. Dave doesn’t understand and she goes on to say she needs him to grow up and accept who he really is and what his future is meant to be. Now we all want to know what Leah knows.
Wendy didn’t read as she is still overwhelmed with moving her mother and selling her home. However, she does offer some good feedback when the rest of us read, and that’s something we need in the group as well.
Marcela has been unable to attend due to her work schedule, but will come to a Meeting as soon as possible. We look forward to seeing her again.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, May 7th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then with your written treasures. In the meantime, Happy Easter to all!
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
Sunday, April 6, 2014
THE REVIEW
REUNION OF THE RAMS
The Meeting Wednesday night was the long awaited reunion of The Rams after everyone waited patiently while I recovered from surgery. Seven others joined me Wednesday to usher in a new spring for our writing. Wendy and I didn’t read, but everyone else did.
I started by sharing some news. Bob Jacoby had dropped by one afternoon and gave me a stack of tear sheets of Susan Flanagan’s weekly column. Bob and Susan are both email members of the group. Bob lives in Langley, but no longer writes. And Susan moved back to St. John’s, Newfoundland, with her husband and family. Her column is called “The Kids Are Alright” and appears in The Telegram on the front page of the second section every Tuesday. She starts her columns with some personal comment, usually to do with family, and then moves on to offer a lot of information that is related to outdoor activities, geography, history, or community interests or concerns. I read and enjoyed most of the tear sheets and at the Meeting offered them to other members. They were all gone at the end of the Meeting.
With regard to Jason’s book, “Provoked”, I explained I had trouble reading fantasy but that since Honey had only ever read three books of fiction, one of them fantasy, I had given him Jason’s book to read. He was reading it almost non-stop and commented that he really liked the short chapters and he thought the characters were interesting and well-developed. But he did say he thought there was too much sex, probably so it would sell to more women than men. Just proves male engineers are sexist, or would that be non-sexist?
I also said I had bought the 19th edition of The Canadian Writers’ Market and was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few more Canadian literary agents listed. I pointed out to Jim there were a number of both agents and publishers looking for children’s and YA books, thinking of his “Coventry Ghosts” series.
Jim read first and gave us Chapter 42 of “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. We see Joel going to a pharmacy to get antibiotics for Ji-Young, while Sara watches over both of them from the Aeris. At night, Sarah and Joel go to scout out an army base. Sara is learning to use more of her ghostly powers but wishes she and Joel could communicate with telepathy. This chapter further develops the mystery.
Jason read a chapter from his second book that shows David with his young friends just after graduation from high school. They are at an evening campfire close to the woods, and are flirting and teasing among themselves. Some are heterosexual and some are homosexual, so the teasing indicates they are all comfortable with each other’s sexual preferences. It was very well written to convey their youth and fascination with sex and also their open-mindedness.
Annette read her Chapter 5 of “A Taste Of Wormwood”. Alyssa explains to John what had happened to her, and that she had worked for a man with criminal connections who wanted more from her. She had refused and he then hired a hit man to kill her because she knew too much. The hit man wooed her and she fell in love with him. Luckily the feeling was mutual so he devised a plan to fake her death and she had been hiding ever since. John confides his parents are in Belize because his Mom is sick and can’t take care of Carrie. Meanwhile, George West is still looking for Alyssa and Wormwood. This chapter develops the plot and adds to the suspense.
Kristie wrote a short story called “Red Light Realization” which shows a male driver having a panic attack while stopped at a red light. The attack continues as the light turns green, other drivers honk and try to get him out of his car. He gets out and falls and hits his head and then wakes up back in this world, realizing he can’t go home yet since he told his wife he was working late. The story is written in a dark tone and we are always expecting some dire outcome. Kristie is very good at writing horror.
Ellie read her story “Beware” about driving her convertible one day and flirting with another driver who was younger and asks if she is a cougar. Shortly after that, she is walking her dog on a woodsy trail and they both encounter a cougar. Ellie keeps her bicycle between the cougar and her and her dog, and slowly manages to put the leash on her dog. Staying calm and talking softly to her dog, while the cat watches, the standoff finally ends when the cougar takes off through the woods. This was an interesting exploration of the meaning of “cougar”.
Leah showed us a previous chapbook she had published called “Shield Memories”. It included poetry and photos of the Algonquin Park, near where she had lived. Now she is putting together another chapbook called “Winter In The Rainforest” with a poem showing her move to the west coast, and which includes photos taken in Campbell Valley Park. The photos are beautiful in both chapbooks and the poetry rich in description of nature.
Next Meeting of The Ram’s Head Writers’ Group will be Wednesday, April 16th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope your garden of writing grows in the meantime and I look forward to seeing you on the 16th!
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 Meeting Wednesday night was the long awaited reunion of The Rams after everyone waited patiently while I recovered from surgery. Seven others joined me Wednesday to usher in a new spring for our writing. Wendy and I didn’t read, but everyone else did.
I started by sharing some news. Bob Jacoby had dropped by one afternoon and gave me a stack of tear sheets of Susan Flanagan’s weekly column. Bob and Susan are both email members of the group. Bob lives in Langley, but no longer writes. And Susan moved back to St. John’s, Newfoundland, with her husband and family. Her column is called “The Kids Are Alright” and appears in The Telegram on the front page of the second section every Tuesday. She starts her columns with some personal comment, usually to do with family, and then moves on to offer a lot of information that is related to outdoor activities, geography, history, or community interests or concerns. I read and enjoyed most of the tear sheets and at the Meeting offered them to other members. They were all gone at the end of the Meeting.
With regard to Jason’s book, “Provoked”, I explained I had trouble reading fantasy but that since Honey had only ever read three books of fiction, one of them fantasy, I had given him Jason’s book to read. He was reading it almost non-stop and commented that he really liked the short chapters and he thought the characters were interesting and well-developed. But he did say he thought there was too much sex, probably so it would sell to more women than men. Just proves male engineers are sexist, or would that be non-sexist?
I also said I had bought the 19th edition of The Canadian Writers’ Market and was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few more Canadian literary agents listed. I pointed out to Jim there were a number of both agents and publishers looking for children’s and YA books, thinking of his “Coventry Ghosts” series.
Jim read first and gave us Chapter 42 of “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. We see Joel going to a pharmacy to get antibiotics for Ji-Young, while Sara watches over both of them from the Aeris. At night, Sarah and Joel go to scout out an army base. Sara is learning to use more of her ghostly powers but wishes she and Joel could communicate with telepathy. This chapter further develops the mystery.
Jason read a chapter from his second book that shows David with his young friends just after graduation from high school. They are at an evening campfire close to the woods, and are flirting and teasing among themselves. Some are heterosexual and some are homosexual, so the teasing indicates they are all comfortable with each other’s sexual preferences. It was very well written to convey their youth and fascination with sex and also their open-mindedness.
Annette read her Chapter 5 of “A Taste Of Wormwood”. Alyssa explains to John what had happened to her, and that she had worked for a man with criminal connections who wanted more from her. She had refused and he then hired a hit man to kill her because she knew too much. The hit man wooed her and she fell in love with him. Luckily the feeling was mutual so he devised a plan to fake her death and she had been hiding ever since. John confides his parents are in Belize because his Mom is sick and can’t take care of Carrie. Meanwhile, George West is still looking for Alyssa and Wormwood. This chapter develops the plot and adds to the suspense.
Kristie wrote a short story called “Red Light Realization” which shows a male driver having a panic attack while stopped at a red light. The attack continues as the light turns green, other drivers honk and try to get him out of his car. He gets out and falls and hits his head and then wakes up back in this world, realizing he can’t go home yet since he told his wife he was working late. The story is written in a dark tone and we are always expecting some dire outcome. Kristie is very good at writing horror.
Ellie read her story “Beware” about driving her convertible one day and flirting with another driver who was younger and asks if she is a cougar. Shortly after that, she is walking her dog on a woodsy trail and they both encounter a cougar. Ellie keeps her bicycle between the cougar and her and her dog, and slowly manages to put the leash on her dog. Staying calm and talking softly to her dog, while the cat watches, the standoff finally ends when the cougar takes off through the woods. This was an interesting exploration of the meaning of “cougar”.
Leah showed us a previous chapbook she had published called “Shield Memories”. It included poetry and photos of the Algonquin Park, near where she had lived. Now she is putting together another chapbook called “Winter In The Rainforest” with a poem showing her move to the west coast, and which includes photos taken in Campbell Valley Park. The photos are beautiful in both chapbooks and the poetry rich in description of nature.
Next Meeting of The Ram’s Head Writers’ Group will be Wednesday, April 16th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope your garden of writing grows in the meantime and I look forward to seeing you on the 16th!
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
Thursday, February 6, 2014
THE REVIEW
PITCH PERFECT
Wendy, Jim, Kristi, Jason, Ellie and Annette all joined me last night in spite of the arctic chill outside. Marcela said she had to work last night and Leah was going to attend another writing group.
Margaret Moffatt had an article on the history of Kaslo published in the February issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. Bryon had enjoyed reading it as he had worked there for B.C. Hydro when he first finished school.
There was a notice I read in the Langley Times about an open mic starting on Tuesday, Feb. 18th at Frosting Cupcakery at 20411 Fraser Hwy. from 6:00 till 8:00 p.m. It will happen every second Tuesday afterwards and musicians, artists and writers are invited to perform. Great opportunity for writers to practise public readings.
Jasaon read first as he really wanted help with a pitch he’s trying to write for his novel “Provoked”. He gave us all a copy and of it and we went through it line by line, giving our suggestions to clarify and condense it, as there is a strict word limit. I did ask Jason for a copy of the final version he decides to use, as this was already the fourth one I had seen.
Annette read next, her Chapter 4 in the story she’s writing about Alyssa. In this chapter she returns to John and Carrie’s home, having decided she would accept their offer to live with them and care for Carrie. On arrival, she meets Carrie’s trainer, whom she distrusts. Upon seeing Carrie alone in the pool, Alyssa has her own panic attack over being in water and almost faints. She is rescued by John, whom she informs that Carrie has a serious crush on her trainer. She also tells him if she is going to stay, she has some conditions and she needs to tell him everything. Good build-up of the story here with lots of potential for further drama.
I read my latest ‘Honey’ story, “Don’t Rock The Boat”, about an adventure at Kelowna on a houseboat when the barbecue caught fire and the police boat approached and those smoking marijuana had to dispose of same rather quickly. Thus ended the party to watch Canada Day fireworks from the houseboat.
Kristi read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. After being bullied by Sean, she is returning home in the pouring rain and getting soaked. Mr. Jackson and his son, Davy, stop as they pass her and Davy wraps his large coat around her and hugs her. He has also been bullied by the townspeople as he seldom speaks. When Jane arrives home she doesn’t tell her Grandmother what happened. Nice introduction of new characters.
Ellie read two poems. The first was “The Pheasant” and describes how the bird sneaks and hides to avoid the pointer. It is a game between hunter and prey. The second poem was “The Black Lab Pup”, a rhyming story about picking a pup from a litter and knowing it will be the pick of the litter eventually.
Jim read Chapter 41 of “Coventy Ghosts – Book II”. Sara tries to stop the bleeding in the shoulder of the woman she and Joel had rescued. She minimizes herself and travels inside the woman’s body to stop the bleeding by repairing the torn artery. Then the woman needs water so Sara appears to a shopkeeper as a deity, and he willingly supplies her with all the water she needs. Then the woman they saved need antibiotics, and Joel goes to get them, but Sara feels the need to both watch the woman and protect Joel, so she enters the Aeris. I love learning about all the fascinating abilities that the kitten ghost Sara has.
As I’m having surgery soon, the next Meeting probably won’t be until the beginning of April, depending on my rate of recovery. I will definitely email everyone when I can host a Meeting again. Until then, be sure to do lots of writing as I will be so eager to hear everyone’s efforts. In the meantime, Happy Family Day, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and Happy Daylight Savings Time!
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
Wendy, Jim, Kristi, Jason, Ellie and Annette all joined me last night in spite of the arctic chill outside. Marcela said she had to work last night and Leah was going to attend another writing group.
Margaret Moffatt had an article on the history of Kaslo published in the February issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. Bryon had enjoyed reading it as he had worked there for B.C. Hydro when he first finished school.
There was a notice I read in the Langley Times about an open mic starting on Tuesday, Feb. 18th at Frosting Cupcakery at 20411 Fraser Hwy. from 6:00 till 8:00 p.m. It will happen every second Tuesday afterwards and musicians, artists and writers are invited to perform. Great opportunity for writers to practise public readings.
Jasaon read first as he really wanted help with a pitch he’s trying to write for his novel “Provoked”. He gave us all a copy and of it and we went through it line by line, giving our suggestions to clarify and condense it, as there is a strict word limit. I did ask Jason for a copy of the final version he decides to use, as this was already the fourth one I had seen.
Annette read next, her Chapter 4 in the story she’s writing about Alyssa. In this chapter she returns to John and Carrie’s home, having decided she would accept their offer to live with them and care for Carrie. On arrival, she meets Carrie’s trainer, whom she distrusts. Upon seeing Carrie alone in the pool, Alyssa has her own panic attack over being in water and almost faints. She is rescued by John, whom she informs that Carrie has a serious crush on her trainer. She also tells him if she is going to stay, she has some conditions and she needs to tell him everything. Good build-up of the story here with lots of potential for further drama.
I read my latest ‘Honey’ story, “Don’t Rock The Boat”, about an adventure at Kelowna on a houseboat when the barbecue caught fire and the police boat approached and those smoking marijuana had to dispose of same rather quickly. Thus ended the party to watch Canada Day fireworks from the houseboat.
Kristi read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. After being bullied by Sean, she is returning home in the pouring rain and getting soaked. Mr. Jackson and his son, Davy, stop as they pass her and Davy wraps his large coat around her and hugs her. He has also been bullied by the townspeople as he seldom speaks. When Jane arrives home she doesn’t tell her Grandmother what happened. Nice introduction of new characters.
Ellie read two poems. The first was “The Pheasant” and describes how the bird sneaks and hides to avoid the pointer. It is a game between hunter and prey. The second poem was “The Black Lab Pup”, a rhyming story about picking a pup from a litter and knowing it will be the pick of the litter eventually.
Jim read Chapter 41 of “Coventy Ghosts – Book II”. Sara tries to stop the bleeding in the shoulder of the woman she and Joel had rescued. She minimizes herself and travels inside the woman’s body to stop the bleeding by repairing the torn artery. Then the woman needs water so Sara appears to a shopkeeper as a deity, and he willingly supplies her with all the water she needs. Then the woman they saved need antibiotics, and Joel goes to get them, but Sara feels the need to both watch the woman and protect Joel, so she enters the Aeris. I love learning about all the fascinating abilities that the kitten ghost Sara has.
As I’m having surgery soon, the next Meeting probably won’t be until the beginning of April, depending on my rate of recovery. I will definitely email everyone when I can host a Meeting again. Until then, be sure to do lots of writing as I will be so eager to hear everyone’s efforts. In the meantime, Happy Family Day, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and Happy Daylight Savings Time!
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
Thursday, January 23, 2014
THE REVIEW
NEW FACES
Two new people joined The Rams last night. Marcella came and brought her friend, Mary, and they were brave enough to share some writing with us. Jim, Jason, Kristi and Leah also attended, so we were a party of seven. Ellie was getting ready for a trip to Vancouver Island, and Wendy and Annette weren’t well.
Jason returned my book “Road To Afghanistan”, saying his son, Tristan, read it and enjoyed the story and the illustrations, but didn’t connect at all with there being a real war in Afghanistan and that Canada had real soldiers who died or were injured. Leah, a former Master Corporal in our Army, said she thought the book was pure military propaganda. Anyhow, I personally don’t agree with a work of fiction being purported to be a true autobiography and then presented to children as such.
Jason read first, Chapter 7 from his “Provoked” series. This chapter shows us Iris, Gregg and David’s grandmother, on her property where her house had burned down. She was remembering the past and feeling depressed at how long re-construction was taking, and that she didn’t have anywhere acceptable to stay. She felt she needed a drink, and went looking for a case of wine she had stashed in the barn. When she found a bottle, she then realized she also had to find a corkscrew. At the edge of the field, she saw two tents that shouldn’t be there and went to roust the intruders.
Kristi read her next chapter from “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Here Jane has grown to be 16, still living with her grandmother, dreaming of finding love and escaping. Leaving school one day, she is teased and bullied and accosted by Sean and his gang, who follow her home, pelting her with rocks and mud. This is a detailed scene of unwarranted cruelty and bullying and makes us all fearful for her safety.
Mary is hoping to write an autobiography, creative non-fiction, but is still looking for the best approach to take for writing it. She read us two paragraphs that hint at a story to be told, but didn’t yet give us any details. We hope she can find a way to open up and put herself on the page.
I read a short piece I wrote to capture a moment. Called “Hunger” it tells of people in a diner, all wanting to be fed, but also tells of me and my husband sitting across from each other at a booth, lost in our own thoughts until I smile. Right away, Bryon notices and wants to know why, still wanting to be part of it, as I want to be part of what makes him smile, too.
Leah read a short story of hers that had been previously published. It was called “Vegetative States”. It shows a middle aged couple living in a rural setting where they have very divergent interests and the underlying conflict has an ironic outcome.
Marcella read a short piece called “Hair Cut”. It is a sensual recollection of a haircut she had. It took a very long time for the hairdresser to create his masterpiece, and she loved the results, but was sorry it would only be perfect for a few short hours after all the trouble he went to.
Jim read Ch. 40 of “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Sara, the ghost kitten, has to go into Yanjing and look for the safe house. She finds the house, but it is strangely quiet, and then she is attacked by several Umbra. After defeating them, she rejoins Joel and they both return to Yanjing to meet with someone who has information for them. Sara has to keep Joel invisible, and then has to keep the amateur agent shielded, too. Sara keeps the shield hardened so no one else can enter it, but then a soldier bounces off it unknowingly and hits his comrades and one of the rifles fires and Joel’s arm is injured. But he manages to hang onto the agent.
The next Meeting of The Rams will be Wednesday, February 5th here at my place at 7:00 p.m. Since I am scheduled for further surgery the week after that, I’m afraid Meetings will be postponed from then until perhaps the beginning of April. But that gives everyone lots of time to write some wonderful tales. Right? I look forward to seeing you February 5th.
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
Two new people joined The Rams last night. Marcella came and brought her friend, Mary, and they were brave enough to share some writing with us. Jim, Jason, Kristi and Leah also attended, so we were a party of seven. Ellie was getting ready for a trip to Vancouver Island, and Wendy and Annette weren’t well.
Jason returned my book “Road To Afghanistan”, saying his son, Tristan, read it and enjoyed the story and the illustrations, but didn’t connect at all with there being a real war in Afghanistan and that Canada had real soldiers who died or were injured. Leah, a former Master Corporal in our Army, said she thought the book was pure military propaganda. Anyhow, I personally don’t agree with a work of fiction being purported to be a true autobiography and then presented to children as such.
Jason read first, Chapter 7 from his “Provoked” series. This chapter shows us Iris, Gregg and David’s grandmother, on her property where her house had burned down. She was remembering the past and feeling depressed at how long re-construction was taking, and that she didn’t have anywhere acceptable to stay. She felt she needed a drink, and went looking for a case of wine she had stashed in the barn. When she found a bottle, she then realized she also had to find a corkscrew. At the edge of the field, she saw two tents that shouldn’t be there and went to roust the intruders.
Kristi read her next chapter from “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Here Jane has grown to be 16, still living with her grandmother, dreaming of finding love and escaping. Leaving school one day, she is teased and bullied and accosted by Sean and his gang, who follow her home, pelting her with rocks and mud. This is a detailed scene of unwarranted cruelty and bullying and makes us all fearful for her safety.
Mary is hoping to write an autobiography, creative non-fiction, but is still looking for the best approach to take for writing it. She read us two paragraphs that hint at a story to be told, but didn’t yet give us any details. We hope she can find a way to open up and put herself on the page.
I read a short piece I wrote to capture a moment. Called “Hunger” it tells of people in a diner, all wanting to be fed, but also tells of me and my husband sitting across from each other at a booth, lost in our own thoughts until I smile. Right away, Bryon notices and wants to know why, still wanting to be part of it, as I want to be part of what makes him smile, too.
Leah read a short story of hers that had been previously published. It was called “Vegetative States”. It shows a middle aged couple living in a rural setting where they have very divergent interests and the underlying conflict has an ironic outcome.
Marcella read a short piece called “Hair Cut”. It is a sensual recollection of a haircut she had. It took a very long time for the hairdresser to create his masterpiece, and she loved the results, but was sorry it would only be perfect for a few short hours after all the trouble he went to.
Jim read Ch. 40 of “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Sara, the ghost kitten, has to go into Yanjing and look for the safe house. She finds the house, but it is strangely quiet, and then she is attacked by several Umbra. After defeating them, she rejoins Joel and they both return to Yanjing to meet with someone who has information for them. Sara has to keep Joel invisible, and then has to keep the amateur agent shielded, too. Sara keeps the shield hardened so no one else can enter it, but then a soldier bounces off it unknowingly and hits his comrades and one of the rifles fires and Joel’s arm is injured. But he manages to hang onto the agent.
The next Meeting of The Rams will be Wednesday, February 5th here at my place at 7:00 p.m. Since I am scheduled for further surgery the week after that, I’m afraid Meetings will be postponed from then until perhaps the beginning of April. But that gives everyone lots of time to write some wonderful tales. Right? I look forward to seeing you February 5th.
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
Thursday, January 9, 2014
THE REVIEW
NEW YEAR START
Six of us writers managed to get together to start the New Year last night. Jim, Annette, Kristi, Jason and Ellie joined me and it was great to see them all. Wendy emailed she wasn’t well, and Leah had phoned to say she had to work late yesterday. Hope to see them both next time.
I did not read any of my own work, but did discuss a book my son had given me for Christmas. He sent it to me because he was mentioned in the Acknowledgements and he knows the author and she had signed it. The book is for school children and is about a Canadian soldier who was wounded in Afghanistan. Although the book touches on war injuries and deaths and PTSD and the hardships faced by the people of Afghanistan as well as international soldiers, I took exception to it being written as a factual autobiography when it was really a work of fiction. The story ends with an illustration of the female narrator in uniform and missing her right arm. But the author was not a soldier, had never been to Afghanistan and still had both arms. The only place in the entire book that admits it is fiction is in the cataloguing info on the copyright page, in small print, and which very few people ever read. I asked the group what they thought of how this was done and Jim agreed it was misleading as he would have thought it was a true story as well. Jason has taken the book home with him to see what his son Tristan has to say about it. He’s our star reviewer of all things mid-grade anyhow. I look forward to hearing what he thinks.
Jim read Chapter 39 in the Coventry Ghosts, Book II. Sara the kitten travels overnight with Joel, and they then take refuge in a barn. As Joel sleeps, Sara goes back and forth between the barn and the coffee shop. On returning to the barn one time, she sees a farm girl enter the barn and stop in total surprise when she sees Joel who is still sleeping. So Sara enfolds the girl with an empty space so she doesn’t see him anymore, and then lifts Joel and carries him out of the barn, while she is trying to be in two places at the same time. I can see Sara probably getting into trouble here.
Ellie read a re-write of Kid Sister, a story about when she was thirteen and sexually molested by a 24 year old friend of her older brother. It ends with a stunning line that sums up devastatingly how the incident affected her relationships with men for the rest of her life. Ellie is entering this in the CBC Creative Non-Fiction contest. It’s a powerful story that needs to be told.
Kristi read the first chapter in The Midnight Daisies. We see the young married couple Dianna and Gordon sneak out late at night, leaving the grandmother and their young daughter, Jane, still sleeping. Dianna and Gordon playfully run up the next hill to the Captain’s house. It has been sitting empty for a long time, and is starting to fall apart. But as young lovers, they fall to the ground under the apple tree, which has no apples, and start to make love. The apple tree comes to life and attacks them. Then the midnight daisies spring teeth and eat them until there is nothing left of them. This is gothic horror at its best.
Annette read the next two chapters about Alyssa, the young woman hiding from the former boyfriend who hired someone to kill her. She wants to befriend Carrie, but doesn’t want to live with her and her brother, John. John offers to protect her, even though he only suspects she’s running from a jealous boyfriend. Alyssa promises to think about his offer, and then leaves and rents a room in a run-down hotel on the seamy side of town. Because the sheets and mattress are so filthy, she sleeps in a chair. The next day, before returning to Carrie and John, she stops at a thrift store to buy something pretty to wear. Even though there are intimations of romance between Alyssa and John, there is still plenty of threatening suspense in these pages.
Jason read another chapter in the second book of his Provoked series. This one is about Dave, Gregg’s older half-brother. It tells us Dave’s Mom became addicted to prescription pain killers after a back injury and then surgery. He feels guilty that she’s gone because the injury was caused when she slipped in bathwater he had splashed on the floor as a young child. He only feels strong and capable when he holds an ancient sword he has hidden in the barn at his grandmother’s place. He’s obsessed with it. I’m eager to find out why his mother is gone. Did she just run away? Did she die? Is she incarcerated somewhere? Tell me what happened, please.
I entered “The Making Of A Soldier” in the CBC Creative Non-Fiction contest. That’s about as creative as I was with my writing over the holidays. Does anybody want to offer Honey a paying job outside of the home?
And today, January 9th, is Margaret Moffatt’s 90th birthday. So here’s a very hearty Happy Birthday from all the Rams, Margaret! You are still writing and still being published and a true inspiration to all the rest of us!
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, January 22nd at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. I hope to see you then.
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
Six of us writers managed to get together to start the New Year last night. Jim, Annette, Kristi, Jason and Ellie joined me and it was great to see them all. Wendy emailed she wasn’t well, and Leah had phoned to say she had to work late yesterday. Hope to see them both next time.
I did not read any of my own work, but did discuss a book my son had given me for Christmas. He sent it to me because he was mentioned in the Acknowledgements and he knows the author and she had signed it. The book is for school children and is about a Canadian soldier who was wounded in Afghanistan. Although the book touches on war injuries and deaths and PTSD and the hardships faced by the people of Afghanistan as well as international soldiers, I took exception to it being written as a factual autobiography when it was really a work of fiction. The story ends with an illustration of the female narrator in uniform and missing her right arm. But the author was not a soldier, had never been to Afghanistan and still had both arms. The only place in the entire book that admits it is fiction is in the cataloguing info on the copyright page, in small print, and which very few people ever read. I asked the group what they thought of how this was done and Jim agreed it was misleading as he would have thought it was a true story as well. Jason has taken the book home with him to see what his son Tristan has to say about it. He’s our star reviewer of all things mid-grade anyhow. I look forward to hearing what he thinks.
Jim read Chapter 39 in the Coventry Ghosts, Book II. Sara the kitten travels overnight with Joel, and they then take refuge in a barn. As Joel sleeps, Sara goes back and forth between the barn and the coffee shop. On returning to the barn one time, she sees a farm girl enter the barn and stop in total surprise when she sees Joel who is still sleeping. So Sara enfolds the girl with an empty space so she doesn’t see him anymore, and then lifts Joel and carries him out of the barn, while she is trying to be in two places at the same time. I can see Sara probably getting into trouble here.
Ellie read a re-write of Kid Sister, a story about when she was thirteen and sexually molested by a 24 year old friend of her older brother. It ends with a stunning line that sums up devastatingly how the incident affected her relationships with men for the rest of her life. Ellie is entering this in the CBC Creative Non-Fiction contest. It’s a powerful story that needs to be told.
Kristi read the first chapter in The Midnight Daisies. We see the young married couple Dianna and Gordon sneak out late at night, leaving the grandmother and their young daughter, Jane, still sleeping. Dianna and Gordon playfully run up the next hill to the Captain’s house. It has been sitting empty for a long time, and is starting to fall apart. But as young lovers, they fall to the ground under the apple tree, which has no apples, and start to make love. The apple tree comes to life and attacks them. Then the midnight daisies spring teeth and eat them until there is nothing left of them. This is gothic horror at its best.
Annette read the next two chapters about Alyssa, the young woman hiding from the former boyfriend who hired someone to kill her. She wants to befriend Carrie, but doesn’t want to live with her and her brother, John. John offers to protect her, even though he only suspects she’s running from a jealous boyfriend. Alyssa promises to think about his offer, and then leaves and rents a room in a run-down hotel on the seamy side of town. Because the sheets and mattress are so filthy, she sleeps in a chair. The next day, before returning to Carrie and John, she stops at a thrift store to buy something pretty to wear. Even though there are intimations of romance between Alyssa and John, there is still plenty of threatening suspense in these pages.
Jason read another chapter in the second book of his Provoked series. This one is about Dave, Gregg’s older half-brother. It tells us Dave’s Mom became addicted to prescription pain killers after a back injury and then surgery. He feels guilty that she’s gone because the injury was caused when she slipped in bathwater he had splashed on the floor as a young child. He only feels strong and capable when he holds an ancient sword he has hidden in the barn at his grandmother’s place. He’s obsessed with it. I’m eager to find out why his mother is gone. Did she just run away? Did she die? Is she incarcerated somewhere? Tell me what happened, please.
I entered “The Making Of A Soldier” in the CBC Creative Non-Fiction contest. That’s about as creative as I was with my writing over the holidays. Does anybody want to offer Honey a paying job outside of the home?
And today, January 9th, is Margaret Moffatt’s 90th birthday. So here’s a very hearty Happy Birthday from all the Rams, Margaret! You are still writing and still being published and a true inspiration to all the rest of us!
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, January 22nd at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. I hope to see you then.
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
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