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