AUGUST BREAK
Jason, Luke, Kay and Margaret F. joined me Wednesday to honour our Muse. Charity said her husband was working and she was unable to attend. And Annette said she would still be away.
After voting, it was discovered we had two winners from readings done at the previous Meeting. Both Luke and Margaret had equal votes, so I suggested they both take something from the prize box.
Margaret brought a copy of Geist Magazine, which is provided to members of the Federation of B.C. Writers. She said they are a great organization for writers, and provide a number of excellent workshops that members can attend.
Luke read first, from his novel “Debt Of Blood”. Akoni finds the warrior she was hunting, but it is another woman. Akoni beheads her and then dons the warriors armour in order to take it as proof of her kill. She feels at home in it, as it fits her well, but then she starts hearing the voice of the woman she just killed. Very spooky.
Kay read next, again from her unedited memoir. She tells of police arriving but not believing she was a victim of assault, but the paramedics believed her because of her injuries. Then it sounds as if her parents told the police she was suicidal. The police refuse to arrest her parents. Instead they search Kay’s purse for a weapon, and since they drive her home, she thinks they also searched her car. The whole scene is very disturbing.
Jason said he wouldn’t be reading as he is striving this summer to complete what he wants to showcase and/or submit at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference in October. He wants to move ahead with his book, and not go back and read what was written before. But he did say that now his kids are older, that he is able to steal some creative time without interruptions, during the day, even though the kids are out of school for the summer. That sounds positive. Go, Jason!
Margaret read Ch. 11 from “Babes In The Wood”. This chapter shows her going through the police file on the case. She is temporarily stymied to find the file in reverse chronological order, most recent entries at the beginning. Then she’s horrified to learn that Honeybourn had the bodily remains cremated and scattered in False Creek. Refusing to be sidetracked, she is determined she will read the file and learn as much as she can. I enjoyed this chapter, with Margaret’s own personal reactions to what she reads in the file.
I read last, two ‘Honey’ stories. The first was “Stop The Sunset”, about Honey draining his car battery testing an electrical camping cooler that he plugged into the lighter without turning on the car. Then he tried recharging the battery with a small solar charger as he needed the car to go buy cigarettes, but the sun was setting. The second story was “Next Sunday”, about Honey wanting to buy a used guitar for $100.00 at Value Village, but also wanting a 30% discount he would get with fifteen happy face stamps on his customer card. However, he only had eight stamps, and had to spend $35.00 more to achieve a $30.00 saving. This is Sunday shopping with Honey.
As I am taking the month of August off, the next scheduled Meeting of The Rams will be Wednesday, September 7th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. I hope the rest of summer is wonderful for everyone, and I will look forward to seeing you again in September! Write on!
Lisa A. Hatton
Author
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Friday, July 8, 2016
THE REVIEW
DEDICATED SUMMER WRITERS
Luke, Kay, Jason and Margaret joined me Wednesday for the latest Meeting of The Rams. Charity said she was going away camping.
Our votes were cast and Margaret won for the best piece of writing read at the last Meeting. She said if it wasn’t for this writers’ group, she wouldn’t be pushing herself to write her book. That’s probably true of most of us. We like to share our writing with each other.
Jason said he had re-written the last chapter he had read to us, and now some of those elements are mentioned in the chapter he was reading this time. This chapter shows Kwen alone after Damianos is taken and shackled out in the open elements. In flashback, she is going over the previous encounter with the Nobella and Tiber, where she was unable to persuade them to let Damianos lead them to Isen and Haligern. This was a chapter of introspection, but we mentioned we would like more detail of conversations and actions that were being recounted, rather than generalities. And Margaret and I both miss the dynamics of Damianos’s personality in the story. We have come to look at him as the hero we are rooting for.
Margaret read a chapter from “Babes In The Wood” that was about Vancouver in 1953. This chapter is written in story form, with Detective MacKay the main character. He interacts with a policeman by the name of Lyndsay who is taking him to the bones discovered in Stanley Park. It isn’t till the very end of the chapter that Lyndsay tells him the bones are those of children. Luke thought the chapter would make a wonderful prologue to the book. I asked if Margaret was confident that all she wrote was true to fact and she assured me everything came from personal interviews she had done herself. The chapter was very explicit at detailing the aspects of Vancouver at that period in time.
Kay read the beginning of a personal memoir she is writing called “3 White Knights”. The first chapter is called “Mayday” and introduces the people in a very dysfunctional family and the heartbreaking revelation of family violence, incest and pedophilia. Kay said she is writing the story to enlighten people about the horrors of these crimes and that very seldom is a pedophile charged or held criminally responsible in Canada at the present time. She also said the situation is exacerbated when the family or victims are non-white and/or immigrants. Law enforcement told her as much, that they are very loath to intervene. We admire Kay’s courage to write this story.
Luke read from the next chapter in “Debt Of Blood” about Akoni as she finishes climbing the stairs and then enters the cooler interior of an unused temple in her pursuit of the warrior she wants to capture. This chapter tells of her personal struggle growing up to prove herself worthy of becoming a Paladin. Even though she beat her brother at swordplay, her father was disappointed and said she should be pursuing feminine accomplishments instead. She had applied to become a Paladin once before, but was denied due to her gender. But if she captures the warrior, she thinks she will win acceptance.
I read another ‘Honey’ story, this one “Mr. Sticky”, about running into a product promotion at Sears one day. After bringing home the product, Honey and I tried out its various uses.
Jason and Kay were talking about attending the Surrey International Writers’ Conference in the fall. Jason said most networking is accomplished after the workshops, in the bar. He and Kay were planning to meet in the bar. So I asked why pay for the workshops, why not just go to the bar each evening? And Jason responded that you had to have something current from the workshops to open conversations with. Unfortunately, I’m not very experienced at attending bars and starting conversations.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, July 20th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Please bring your vote for best piece of writing read at the last Meeting. Looking forward to seeing you then.
Lisa A. Hatton
Author
Luke, Kay, Jason and Margaret joined me Wednesday for the latest Meeting of The Rams. Charity said she was going away camping.
Our votes were cast and Margaret won for the best piece of writing read at the last Meeting. She said if it wasn’t for this writers’ group, she wouldn’t be pushing herself to write her book. That’s probably true of most of us. We like to share our writing with each other.
Jason said he had re-written the last chapter he had read to us, and now some of those elements are mentioned in the chapter he was reading this time. This chapter shows Kwen alone after Damianos is taken and shackled out in the open elements. In flashback, she is going over the previous encounter with the Nobella and Tiber, where she was unable to persuade them to let Damianos lead them to Isen and Haligern. This was a chapter of introspection, but we mentioned we would like more detail of conversations and actions that were being recounted, rather than generalities. And Margaret and I both miss the dynamics of Damianos’s personality in the story. We have come to look at him as the hero we are rooting for.
Margaret read a chapter from “Babes In The Wood” that was about Vancouver in 1953. This chapter is written in story form, with Detective MacKay the main character. He interacts with a policeman by the name of Lyndsay who is taking him to the bones discovered in Stanley Park. It isn’t till the very end of the chapter that Lyndsay tells him the bones are those of children. Luke thought the chapter would make a wonderful prologue to the book. I asked if Margaret was confident that all she wrote was true to fact and she assured me everything came from personal interviews she had done herself. The chapter was very explicit at detailing the aspects of Vancouver at that period in time.
Kay read the beginning of a personal memoir she is writing called “3 White Knights”. The first chapter is called “Mayday” and introduces the people in a very dysfunctional family and the heartbreaking revelation of family violence, incest and pedophilia. Kay said she is writing the story to enlighten people about the horrors of these crimes and that very seldom is a pedophile charged or held criminally responsible in Canada at the present time. She also said the situation is exacerbated when the family or victims are non-white and/or immigrants. Law enforcement told her as much, that they are very loath to intervene. We admire Kay’s courage to write this story.
Luke read from the next chapter in “Debt Of Blood” about Akoni as she finishes climbing the stairs and then enters the cooler interior of an unused temple in her pursuit of the warrior she wants to capture. This chapter tells of her personal struggle growing up to prove herself worthy of becoming a Paladin. Even though she beat her brother at swordplay, her father was disappointed and said she should be pursuing feminine accomplishments instead. She had applied to become a Paladin once before, but was denied due to her gender. But if she captures the warrior, she thinks she will win acceptance.
I read another ‘Honey’ story, this one “Mr. Sticky”, about running into a product promotion at Sears one day. After bringing home the product, Honey and I tried out its various uses.
Jason and Kay were talking about attending the Surrey International Writers’ Conference in the fall. Jason said most networking is accomplished after the workshops, in the bar. He and Kay were planning to meet in the bar. So I asked why pay for the workshops, why not just go to the bar each evening? And Jason responded that you had to have something current from the workshops to open conversations with. Unfortunately, I’m not very experienced at attending bars and starting conversations.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, July 20th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Please bring your vote for best piece of writing read at the last Meeting. Looking forward to seeing you then.
Lisa A. Hatton
Author
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