THE REVIEW

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