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