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