SUMMER TALES
Wednesday’s meeting saw seven of us gather to shoot the breeze, spin the yarn, and frolic in the fiction. An awesome good time!
Jason Vance was a new face. He’s writing a fantasy series based on the theme that because heaven is boring, individuals are allowed to experience the drama they crave by incarnating in physical existence where they are challenged by the illusion of so-called reality. The story includes characters and a dragon, entities lost on the astral plane, a murder, and an out-of-body experience. The first book is called “A Rude Awakening”, and is complete. Jason is looking to start submissions.
I read my Synopsis for “Fire”, and also my query letter to an agent (who rejected my ms.), as Jason said he would like to hear how I had written these two items.
Jim rewrote his first chapter 5 times after the last meeting, and read his revised beginning, with the focus now mostly on Joseph, through his own point of view, and also through that of his housekeeper. It more clearly stresses his mental illness, which is what catches the reader. Jim said he had also written a short story, and we hope to hear it sometime.
Margaret read her second to last chapter from “Blow Up The Castle!”, where nobody knows for sure if the Bishop is coming to visit, or where he is staying. Mr. Lamb, the sheep farmer who now has no still, brews up a new concoction he calls the 'Bishop', and puts up a sign inviting everyone to meet the 'Bishop' at his place. Marie thinks the real Bishop is going to stay with Mr. Lamb. Of course, Reverend Peabody is relieved that the Bishop is staying elsewhere, as he does not want to give in to Marie's demands the manse be updated and prettied up.
Bob is still watching baseball. He came all dressed up and looking spiffy, on his way back from a memorial service in Chilliwack.
Gemma has finished doing her re-writing of “Heidi Knows”, and says that’s it. No more. She’s tired of working on that story and will now turn her attention to other writing.
Lynette attended on Wednesday, and we were so pleased to see her after such a long time. She said she’s finally doing some writing again. She recently saw a play about Salome, and was struck that all the works about this Biblical character have been written by men. She really wants to write something that will give a needed comment from the female perspective.
We had some discussion about what constitutes the criteria for a Young Adult novel. I remember Susan researching this when she was here, and the main rule is that the protagonist must be in the age group of 13-18, and navigating the transition from childhood to adulthood. It is usually first or third person point of view. Average length is 40,000 to 75,000 words. It does not contain erotica, and any profanity must be used sparingly. And it is wise not to beat the readers over the head with moralizing. Teenagers are pretty savvy and they can slam a book shut as well as they can slam the door.
Next meeting will be here at my place on Wednesday, August 5th at 7:00 p.m. and I hope to see you then. And in the meantime, don’t melt in the heat wave.
Lisa
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
THE REVIEW
BACK IN PRODUCTION
Wednesday’s meeting was exciting, with five of us here, and after a month without a meeting. Gemma has decided to come back to our meetings after taking a long break to recover from injuries sustained in a car accident. And we have a new member, Jim Williams, who attended Wednesday as well. Jim has written an exceptionally long novel he is turning into a trilogy, and wants some serious feedback on his endeavors. Welcome, Jim, to the fold.
I shared some pictures and a note received from our dear Susan out in Newfoundland. There was an awesome picture of her and Chris with their five offspring, and a cute one of Declan with a hockey stick, standing by the net. As soon as school was out, they were all heading to Lancashire, England to visit Chris’s birthplace.
Sylvia Taylor attended a recent meeting of the Murrayville Library Writers’ Group, and talked about the publishing industry, the function of editors, and the basics of acceptable prose. She said the U.S. publishing industry has been in free fall since last year and the economic downturn, and that American agents and publishers are NOT accepting any new writers. But the Canadian publishing industry has still been plugging along, the same as always, as Canadians are wont to do, not huge or mega-successful, but still viable. Unfortunately, that means American agents and writers now have their eyes on getting published up here. Where is Canada Customs when you need them?
On the subject of what editors or contest judges look for, these are the points she stressed, in order of importance:
- Formatting of manuscripts!!! (double spaced, 12 point font, acceptable margins all around, pages numbered top right, title & author name & date top left every page, except for blind contest entries)
- Punctuation
- Language
- Point of view (only one per scene if using multiple points of view)
- Tenses
- Descriptions
- Dialogue
- Character development
- Show, don’t tell
- Story arc
- Weaving of plot and sub-plots
- Showing character remembering, or thinking, or use of flashbacks.
Sylvia also said that she is judging a novel writing contest back east this summer and with over a hundred novels to consider, there is a system judges tend to follow. They read the first page, the last page, and maybe every fortieth page in between to check for story arc.So there you have the latest info from somebody in the know
Jim was the first to read from his novel, “Power Tends To Corrupt”. Book One of his trilogy is “Joseph And Daniela”. In the first chapter we are introduced to Joseph, cutting back on his meds in order to fuel his obsession for writing. He wants control of the creative process, which he doesn’t have taking medication for a mental illness that is hinted at, but not clinically defined. Jim does a good job of showing Joseph’s teeter-tottering between reality and illusion, and how members of his household react. We look forward to meeting Daniela, the other protagonist in this story.
Margaret read another story from her Peabody collection we are now calling “Blow Up The Castle!”. The latest story is “Sheep Dip”, and tells of two detectives going to visit Mr. Lamb after his still blew up. He steadfastly maintains he was only brewing sheep dip, and that was what blew up. Margaret is almost at the end of the Peabody collection and is already planning another series of stories about a detective. Go, Margaret!
Gemma has done a lot of thinking and revising of her canine novel “What Heidi Knows”. She will use points of view of two different dogs, Heidi and Checkmate, and will title chapters/sections based on periods of history (ie: ‘Age of Innocence’).
Bob and I did not have anything of our own to read. I think Bob’s been watching baseball, and I’ve been very busy typing a manuscript for another writer.
Meetings this month are a little out of whack since the first Wednesday was a holiday. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, July 22nd at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then, and be sure to bring your Muse.
Lisa
Wednesday’s meeting was exciting, with five of us here, and after a month without a meeting. Gemma has decided to come back to our meetings after taking a long break to recover from injuries sustained in a car accident. And we have a new member, Jim Williams, who attended Wednesday as well. Jim has written an exceptionally long novel he is turning into a trilogy, and wants some serious feedback on his endeavors. Welcome, Jim, to the fold.
I shared some pictures and a note received from our dear Susan out in Newfoundland. There was an awesome picture of her and Chris with their five offspring, and a cute one of Declan with a hockey stick, standing by the net. As soon as school was out, they were all heading to Lancashire, England to visit Chris’s birthplace.
Sylvia Taylor attended a recent meeting of the Murrayville Library Writers’ Group, and talked about the publishing industry, the function of editors, and the basics of acceptable prose. She said the U.S. publishing industry has been in free fall since last year and the economic downturn, and that American agents and publishers are NOT accepting any new writers. But the Canadian publishing industry has still been plugging along, the same as always, as Canadians are wont to do, not huge or mega-successful, but still viable. Unfortunately, that means American agents and writers now have their eyes on getting published up here. Where is Canada Customs when you need them?
On the subject of what editors or contest judges look for, these are the points she stressed, in order of importance:
- Formatting of manuscripts!!! (double spaced, 12 point font, acceptable margins all around, pages numbered top right, title & author name & date top left every page, except for blind contest entries)
- Punctuation
- Language
- Point of view (only one per scene if using multiple points of view)
- Tenses
- Descriptions
- Dialogue
- Character development
- Show, don’t tell
- Story arc
- Weaving of plot and sub-plots
- Showing character remembering, or thinking, or use of flashbacks.
Sylvia also said that she is judging a novel writing contest back east this summer and with over a hundred novels to consider, there is a system judges tend to follow. They read the first page, the last page, and maybe every fortieth page in between to check for story arc.So there you have the latest info from somebody in the know
Jim was the first to read from his novel, “Power Tends To Corrupt”. Book One of his trilogy is “Joseph And Daniela”. In the first chapter we are introduced to Joseph, cutting back on his meds in order to fuel his obsession for writing. He wants control of the creative process, which he doesn’t have taking medication for a mental illness that is hinted at, but not clinically defined. Jim does a good job of showing Joseph’s teeter-tottering between reality and illusion, and how members of his household react. We look forward to meeting Daniela, the other protagonist in this story.
Margaret read another story from her Peabody collection we are now calling “Blow Up The Castle!”. The latest story is “Sheep Dip”, and tells of two detectives going to visit Mr. Lamb after his still blew up. He steadfastly maintains he was only brewing sheep dip, and that was what blew up. Margaret is almost at the end of the Peabody collection and is already planning another series of stories about a detective. Go, Margaret!
Gemma has done a lot of thinking and revising of her canine novel “What Heidi Knows”. She will use points of view of two different dogs, Heidi and Checkmate, and will title chapters/sections based on periods of history (ie: ‘Age of Innocence’).
Bob and I did not have anything of our own to read. I think Bob’s been watching baseball, and I’ve been very busy typing a manuscript for another writer.
Meetings this month are a little out of whack since the first Wednesday was a holiday. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, July 22nd at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then, and be sure to bring your Muse.
Lisa
Sunday, June 7, 2009
THE REVIEW
HEAT WAVE
Wednesday’s meeting was in the middle of the heat wave, but there were four of us here enjoying my air conditioning anyhow. Gemma arrived first, bringing a gorgeous orchid plant in apology for her long absence. We were thrilled to see her. And our faithful cohorts, Bob and Margaret, also attended.
Gemma wants to enter two contests, one at Polar Express and one at the Poetry Institute of Canada. She plans on sending one poem and one short story to each. With her short story “Out Of Order”, Gemma had to cut back the word count, and read to us her revision. If anything, it sounded even more powerful recounting a child choosing death rather than an upbringing in a convent when her own mother doesn’t want her. Gemma also read to us her short story “The Chase”, a humourous account of an escaped white pet mouse taking refuge in a mother’s purse. Because her boys are so upset at losing the mouse, she goes shopping for another one, but at the pet store the original mouse appears and is finally apprehended by the Mom. Gemma and I also exchanged finished novels for each other to read.
Margaret had her article “Gibsons” published in the June edition of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. It tells of how friends she met while vacationing there during the summer later introduced Margaret to the man she married.
Margaret read a prologue she had written for her Peabody collection. It tells of the three reverends meeting at Cambridge University and becoming fast friends. They went their separate ways after graduating, but later all came together while officiating at three different churches in Wickerton. After some discussion, the title “Blow Up The Castle!” was chosen for Margaret’s collection of stories. That was the command often repeated by Joey, the parrot.
The next chapter “New Year’s Eve” was read by Margaret. Mr. Lamb, the sheep farmer, was bottling his distilled whiskey for their dinner guests up at the house, the three reverends. Mr. Lamb was sampling as he bottled. Mrs. Lamb wanted her guests to use noisemakers at midnight, when the church bell was supposed to ring. But there was a very loud explosion instead when the still blew up.
I read a revised story of mine called “His Rant”, which had been written when we took subject matter from ‘the bucket’. This is the story I entered in the contest at Polar Express. I did receive a rejection from the first agent I queried about my novel. Have to look for others to approach. The latest issue of “Writers’ Digest” suggests sending multiple submissions to agents, rather than one at a time.
Bob said he hadn’t done any writing as he’s been so busy, and of course, it’s baseball season, too.
As Margaret’s going on vacation, and the first Wednesday in July is a holiday, our next meeting isn’t scheduled until Wednesday, July 8th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Would love to see you then.
Happy Writing!
Lisa
Wednesday’s meeting was in the middle of the heat wave, but there were four of us here enjoying my air conditioning anyhow. Gemma arrived first, bringing a gorgeous orchid plant in apology for her long absence. We were thrilled to see her. And our faithful cohorts, Bob and Margaret, also attended.
Gemma wants to enter two contests, one at Polar Express and one at the Poetry Institute of Canada. She plans on sending one poem and one short story to each. With her short story “Out Of Order”, Gemma had to cut back the word count, and read to us her revision. If anything, it sounded even more powerful recounting a child choosing death rather than an upbringing in a convent when her own mother doesn’t want her. Gemma also read to us her short story “The Chase”, a humourous account of an escaped white pet mouse taking refuge in a mother’s purse. Because her boys are so upset at losing the mouse, she goes shopping for another one, but at the pet store the original mouse appears and is finally apprehended by the Mom. Gemma and I also exchanged finished novels for each other to read.
Margaret had her article “Gibsons” published in the June edition of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. It tells of how friends she met while vacationing there during the summer later introduced Margaret to the man she married.
Margaret read a prologue she had written for her Peabody collection. It tells of the three reverends meeting at Cambridge University and becoming fast friends. They went their separate ways after graduating, but later all came together while officiating at three different churches in Wickerton. After some discussion, the title “Blow Up The Castle!” was chosen for Margaret’s collection of stories. That was the command often repeated by Joey, the parrot.
The next chapter “New Year’s Eve” was read by Margaret. Mr. Lamb, the sheep farmer, was bottling his distilled whiskey for their dinner guests up at the house, the three reverends. Mr. Lamb was sampling as he bottled. Mrs. Lamb wanted her guests to use noisemakers at midnight, when the church bell was supposed to ring. But there was a very loud explosion instead when the still blew up.
I read a revised story of mine called “His Rant”, which had been written when we took subject matter from ‘the bucket’. This is the story I entered in the contest at Polar Express. I did receive a rejection from the first agent I queried about my novel. Have to look for others to approach. The latest issue of “Writers’ Digest” suggests sending multiple submissions to agents, rather than one at a time.
Bob said he hadn’t done any writing as he’s been so busy, and of course, it’s baseball season, too.
As Margaret’s going on vacation, and the first Wednesday in July is a holiday, our next meeting isn’t scheduled until Wednesday, July 8th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Would love to see you then.
Happy Writing!
Lisa
Sunday, May 24, 2009
RAM'S HEAD REVIEW
SPRING IS SPRUNG
Wednesday’s meeting saw the faithful trio of Bob, Margaret and myself here to share our writing pursuits.
Bob is going to submit his story “Going Downtown” to the short story contest at the Poetry Institute of Canada. He brought it along and asked for help in re-writing it for submission. So we read the story aloud and verbally edited every paragraph and ended up with a version that satisfied the three of us. Great fun. But that only worked because Bob had brought a hard copy for each of us to look at. Smart man.
Margaret read two chapters from the Peabody collection. Peacock is interviewing applicant number five for the position of his housekeeper. Her name is Mrs. Mousley, but she was scared off when Joey started crying like a cat, a habit he picked up while visiting Marigold. Mrs. Mousley was afraid of cats. But she had suspiciously reminded Peacock of Goldie, as in Goldie and Sylvester, who had bombed the Inn on Guy Fawkes Day. Then Rev. Peasley visits and strongly advises Peacock not to hire applicant number six, as she is Miss Dye, who had talked to the town about the resident ghosts of the area. Peacock doesn’t believe in ghosts. But Miss Dye likes Joey, his parrot, so he hires her. She then asks him to call her by her first name, which just happens to be “Marigold”.
I read a short story by a writer at the Murrayville Library Writers’ Group, about a young girl growing up in Jamaica and staying at a boarding school. The girl and her sister and a friend had to take their dirty clothes and linens each Saturday to the on-site laundry, where they were terrified by the mechanic who looked after the boilers and equipment. This was an actual memoir and very interesting to read.
Last week I sent off a short story submission to Polar Express. Am also organizing things for the next novel I will write, putting together a binder with sections for character development, plot outline, chapter outline, research, and the actual writing I will do. This is something I learned I need while doing the first novel. It certainly simplifies the work process and is a great aid when I can’t remember how I spelled somebody’s name or in which chapter something specific happened. No problem with a short story, but by the time I had over a hundred pages in my novel, it was a real nuisance trying to find something. The chapter outline I did after writing each one became invaluable to me when I did the rewriting.
Hope everybody is enjoying the gorgeous spring weather that has finally arrived. It was sure a long time coming this year. Now we can take our notebooks outside to write!
Next meeting here at my place on Wednesday, June 3rd at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you then. Happy Writing!
Lisa
Wednesday’s meeting saw the faithful trio of Bob, Margaret and myself here to share our writing pursuits.
Bob is going to submit his story “Going Downtown” to the short story contest at the Poetry Institute of Canada. He brought it along and asked for help in re-writing it for submission. So we read the story aloud and verbally edited every paragraph and ended up with a version that satisfied the three of us. Great fun. But that only worked because Bob had brought a hard copy for each of us to look at. Smart man.
Margaret read two chapters from the Peabody collection. Peacock is interviewing applicant number five for the position of his housekeeper. Her name is Mrs. Mousley, but she was scared off when Joey started crying like a cat, a habit he picked up while visiting Marigold. Mrs. Mousley was afraid of cats. But she had suspiciously reminded Peacock of Goldie, as in Goldie and Sylvester, who had bombed the Inn on Guy Fawkes Day. Then Rev. Peasley visits and strongly advises Peacock not to hire applicant number six, as she is Miss Dye, who had talked to the town about the resident ghosts of the area. Peacock doesn’t believe in ghosts. But Miss Dye likes Joey, his parrot, so he hires her. She then asks him to call her by her first name, which just happens to be “Marigold”.
I read a short story by a writer at the Murrayville Library Writers’ Group, about a young girl growing up in Jamaica and staying at a boarding school. The girl and her sister and a friend had to take their dirty clothes and linens each Saturday to the on-site laundry, where they were terrified by the mechanic who looked after the boilers and equipment. This was an actual memoir and very interesting to read.
Last week I sent off a short story submission to Polar Express. Am also organizing things for the next novel I will write, putting together a binder with sections for character development, plot outline, chapter outline, research, and the actual writing I will do. This is something I learned I need while doing the first novel. It certainly simplifies the work process and is a great aid when I can’t remember how I spelled somebody’s name or in which chapter something specific happened. No problem with a short story, but by the time I had over a hundred pages in my novel, it was a real nuisance trying to find something. The chapter outline I did after writing each one became invaluable to me when I did the rewriting.
Hope everybody is enjoying the gorgeous spring weather that has finally arrived. It was sure a long time coming this year. Now we can take our notebooks outside to write!
Next meeting here at my place on Wednesday, June 3rd at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you then. Happy Writing!
Lisa
Sunday, May 10, 2009
THE REVIEW
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Since I didn’t write a Review after our meeting in April, I will have to include news from two meetings this time.
On April 1st, Bob and Margaret joined me and Margaret was the only one who read. From the Peabody collection, she read “The Intruder”, which sees Marie come back to the smelly manse after staying overnight at the Inn. She opens the doors and windows to air the place out, then goes to get eggs at a farm. Meanwhile, Peabody gets up to a cold house and calls police to say there’s been an intruder, and the policeman tells Marie, who thinks it’s bad luck because the Xmas tree was removed before New Year’s. Peabody tells her he feels guilty for removing the tree, so then she feels sorry for him and puts the kettle on.
In Seniors Today, there was an article called “Just for Laughs” by Laszlo Tamas, Gemma’s husband.
On May 6th, Bob and Margaret again joined me for another meeting. Margaret brought pictures showing a brass plaque that’s on a pole in Vancouver. The plaque has Margaret’s story “Dinner At Love’s Café” on it. Isn’t that a great way of preserving an author’s work?
Bob read from his jewellery history, about the hub of the business being in the area of Hastings St. and Cordova. There was a very large diamond robbery on 1906, with $8500.00 in rings stolen, and a shot fired at a clerk pursuing the thieves. One thief was caught with 9 diamonds in the butt of a revolver. Bob also read an account of this episode from the Vancouver archives.
Margaret read about Reverend Peacock’s Christmas at Marigold’s in Gretna Green. Unfortunately, he fell out of the hole in the wall bed and Marigold called a vet to attend to his injuries. The vet was more interested in Joey, the squawking parrot. On his return home, he started interviewing for a new housekeeper. He kept praying for another Marigold.
While Sonny and Chantal and baby Grayson stayed with me in April, I asked Chantal to read my novel “Fire”, which she did. She said it was a good read and she really wanted to learn the identity of the arsonist. She also said there weren’t any parts in the book that she felt she had to slog through. This was all very pleasing for me to hear. Chantal is well educated and an avid reader of fiction, so I highly respect her opinion as a reader. After that good news, I sent off my first submission to an agent, which included cover letter, synopsis, and first two chapters.
Now I am getting organized to start another novel. I plan to continue with the same characters in the same setting, but this will be a murder mystery.
Ann is currently taking a course in the History of Africa at Kwantlen, and plans to take a creative writing course in the fall. Her community hosted a talk by Doris Reidwig about having her first novel published.
In yesterday’s Langley Times there was a call for submissions of poetry or short stories to a contest where a lot of submissions will be included in an anthology. You might want to take a look.
Next meeting here at my place on Wednesday, May 20th at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you then, even if you haven’t written anything.
Lisa
Since I didn’t write a Review after our meeting in April, I will have to include news from two meetings this time.
On April 1st, Bob and Margaret joined me and Margaret was the only one who read. From the Peabody collection, she read “The Intruder”, which sees Marie come back to the smelly manse after staying overnight at the Inn. She opens the doors and windows to air the place out, then goes to get eggs at a farm. Meanwhile, Peabody gets up to a cold house and calls police to say there’s been an intruder, and the policeman tells Marie, who thinks it’s bad luck because the Xmas tree was removed before New Year’s. Peabody tells her he feels guilty for removing the tree, so then she feels sorry for him and puts the kettle on.
In Seniors Today, there was an article called “Just for Laughs” by Laszlo Tamas, Gemma’s husband.
On May 6th, Bob and Margaret again joined me for another meeting. Margaret brought pictures showing a brass plaque that’s on a pole in Vancouver. The plaque has Margaret’s story “Dinner At Love’s Café” on it. Isn’t that a great way of preserving an author’s work?
Bob read from his jewellery history, about the hub of the business being in the area of Hastings St. and Cordova. There was a very large diamond robbery on 1906, with $8500.00 in rings stolen, and a shot fired at a clerk pursuing the thieves. One thief was caught with 9 diamonds in the butt of a revolver. Bob also read an account of this episode from the Vancouver archives.
Margaret read about Reverend Peacock’s Christmas at Marigold’s in Gretna Green. Unfortunately, he fell out of the hole in the wall bed and Marigold called a vet to attend to his injuries. The vet was more interested in Joey, the squawking parrot. On his return home, he started interviewing for a new housekeeper. He kept praying for another Marigold.
While Sonny and Chantal and baby Grayson stayed with me in April, I asked Chantal to read my novel “Fire”, which she did. She said it was a good read and she really wanted to learn the identity of the arsonist. She also said there weren’t any parts in the book that she felt she had to slog through. This was all very pleasing for me to hear. Chantal is well educated and an avid reader of fiction, so I highly respect her opinion as a reader. After that good news, I sent off my first submission to an agent, which included cover letter, synopsis, and first two chapters.
Now I am getting organized to start another novel. I plan to continue with the same characters in the same setting, but this will be a murder mystery.
Ann is currently taking a course in the History of Africa at Kwantlen, and plans to take a creative writing course in the fall. Her community hosted a talk by Doris Reidwig about having her first novel published.
In yesterday’s Langley Times there was a call for submissions of poetry or short stories to a contest where a lot of submissions will be included in an anthology. You might want to take a look.
Next meeting here at my place on Wednesday, May 20th at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you then, even if you haven’t written anything.
Lisa
Sunday, March 22, 2009
THE REVIEW
SPRING AHEAD
Wednesday’s meeting was just ahead of the first day of spring. We were a group of four; Robin, Bob, Margaret and I. It was great to see Robin again.
Bob had been doing some more research regarding his memoirs of the WWII years. He went looking for the ship that transported Canadian soldiers to Hong Kong. He found a picture of the HMT Awatea on which the soldiers traveled. Bob thinks it was a New Zealand ship. They were brought home later on the CN ship Prince Robert.
Trying to decide how to write his novel, Bob is taking inspiration from Marcia Muller’s collection of short stories, “Somewhere In The City”. He says he wants to write a series of short stories that include the same main characters, in different vignettes. But Bob feels he must first complete his history of the jewellery business in B.C. and consequently brought an excerpt on Zuker and Company to read to us.
Robin’s had time to work on some songs while he’s been recovering from his knee replacement surgery. He brought along the typed lyrics to “Little Glass House By The Sea”, a rousing ballad about a young man in love with the women down on the beach. Then Robin gave us the CD to play, with the recorded song on it. Very interesting. And as well, Robin turned on my electric keyboard and played a bit for us. Another song Robin has been working on for years is “No Someone”. It is a very sad song about a man not having someone to ask “Do you love me?” anymore.
Margaret read another story from her Peabody collection. Rev. Peasly and his dog, Barker, go to visit Rev. Peabody, who confides that Marie has called him an old fogey. Peasly tells him it’s a type of compliment. Barker sniffs at the Christmas tree, which is the one stolen from Peasly’s yard and then sold to Peacock, who gave it to Peabody. But Barker was happy to recognize it and lifted his leg against it in greeting. Peasly and Peabody try to clean up and get rid of the smell of urine by turfing the tree out in the yard. Marie comes home and is disgusted by the smell of urine and goes to stay at the Inn.
Time had flown and I didn’t read any Chapters from my novel, but I am working on the Chapter Outline, which I could use for a longer synopsis by simply removing chapter headings from the document. Will see how this works out.
Next Meeting Wednesday, April 1st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
Lisa
Wednesday’s meeting was just ahead of the first day of spring. We were a group of four; Robin, Bob, Margaret and I. It was great to see Robin again.
Bob had been doing some more research regarding his memoirs of the WWII years. He went looking for the ship that transported Canadian soldiers to Hong Kong. He found a picture of the HMT Awatea on which the soldiers traveled. Bob thinks it was a New Zealand ship. They were brought home later on the CN ship Prince Robert.
Trying to decide how to write his novel, Bob is taking inspiration from Marcia Muller’s collection of short stories, “Somewhere In The City”. He says he wants to write a series of short stories that include the same main characters, in different vignettes. But Bob feels he must first complete his history of the jewellery business in B.C. and consequently brought an excerpt on Zuker and Company to read to us.
Robin’s had time to work on some songs while he’s been recovering from his knee replacement surgery. He brought along the typed lyrics to “Little Glass House By The Sea”, a rousing ballad about a young man in love with the women down on the beach. Then Robin gave us the CD to play, with the recorded song on it. Very interesting. And as well, Robin turned on my electric keyboard and played a bit for us. Another song Robin has been working on for years is “No Someone”. It is a very sad song about a man not having someone to ask “Do you love me?” anymore.
Margaret read another story from her Peabody collection. Rev. Peasly and his dog, Barker, go to visit Rev. Peabody, who confides that Marie has called him an old fogey. Peasly tells him it’s a type of compliment. Barker sniffs at the Christmas tree, which is the one stolen from Peasly’s yard and then sold to Peacock, who gave it to Peabody. But Barker was happy to recognize it and lifted his leg against it in greeting. Peasly and Peabody try to clean up and get rid of the smell of urine by turfing the tree out in the yard. Marie comes home and is disgusted by the smell of urine and goes to stay at the Inn.
Time had flown and I didn’t read any Chapters from my novel, but I am working on the Chapter Outline, which I could use for a longer synopsis by simply removing chapter headings from the document. Will see how this works out.
Next Meeting Wednesday, April 1st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
Lisa
Sunday, March 8, 2009
THE REVIEW
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
It was great to hear Susan’s voice again when I listened to her on CBC Radio on February 26th. She was a guest commentator on The Point and along with Kevin Paterson, offered her opinions on the federal government’s increased sentences for violence in public places, on the validity of zoos in today’s world, on giving things up for Lent, and on stem cell research. It was an hour long program and a lot was discussed. And it was mentioned several times that Susan was a writer and a mother of five. The latter seemed to be the bigger claim to fame on the show. Hoorah for Motherhood!
The expected opening of a new book store in Chilliwack by a lady keen to support and promote local authors is generating excitement, especially since she asked I forward the notice of same to our members. Bryon and I hope to go out to visit when it opens, and Gemma has asked to go with us as she has a book she would like to take out to put in the store on consignment.
Bob started writing his first fiction novel, “The Consultant”. He said it was really difficult and knowing you are supposed to catch the reader with the first paragraph he wrote four versions of same and was still stumped. Margaret and I went through a process of elimination on the four, and picked what we thought was the best one to use as it started directly with some action, rather than background information. We did tell Bob not to worry about perfection to begin with, just to write. It can all be improved later for a better read, but you should first get the story down on paper.
Margaret was doing some research on Gretna Green. When she Googled it, all she got was one sentence. When she pulled out her own very old encyclopedia she found a whole page of information. She feels sorry for today’s researchers relying on the internet and feels they are being shortchanged on historical facts.
In her Peabody collection, Margaret read that Rev. Peabody was remembering his experience of Christmas with so many houseguests. He had not felt obligated to conduct a funeral service for the dead spider. And he did not admit finding the cat with the rat’s remains. Hamish did tell him he should take a wife to prevent himself from becoming an old fogey. Peabody tells Marie he has an important question to ask her. She thinks he’s going to propose. But he only asks if he’s on old fogey.
I read the next chapter from “Fire”, where Cam is at work at the bowling alley Saturday morning, with all the little hooligans. Lucy’s brother, Rick, arrives and threatens to hurt Cam’s Mom if she doesn’t stay away from the Detective.
Last week I finished the rewrite of my novel, so am now looking at starting to send it out. I have a one-page synopsis, but still need to write a longer one. Am currently typing up my chapter outline, which I may be able to use for the longer synopsis. It’s annoying that different agents and publishers want it in different lengths.
I explained to Bryon that I had a one-page synopsis, but needed to do a twenty-page synopsis, and maybe one in-between. Being an engineer, he came up with the most practical, time saving solution. “Just change the font,” he said.
Next meeting here at my place Wednesday, March 18th at 7:00 p.m. Would love to see you then.
Lisa
It was great to hear Susan’s voice again when I listened to her on CBC Radio on February 26th. She was a guest commentator on The Point and along with Kevin Paterson, offered her opinions on the federal government’s increased sentences for violence in public places, on the validity of zoos in today’s world, on giving things up for Lent, and on stem cell research. It was an hour long program and a lot was discussed. And it was mentioned several times that Susan was a writer and a mother of five. The latter seemed to be the bigger claim to fame on the show. Hoorah for Motherhood!
The expected opening of a new book store in Chilliwack by a lady keen to support and promote local authors is generating excitement, especially since she asked I forward the notice of same to our members. Bryon and I hope to go out to visit when it opens, and Gemma has asked to go with us as she has a book she would like to take out to put in the store on consignment.
Bob started writing his first fiction novel, “The Consultant”. He said it was really difficult and knowing you are supposed to catch the reader with the first paragraph he wrote four versions of same and was still stumped. Margaret and I went through a process of elimination on the four, and picked what we thought was the best one to use as it started directly with some action, rather than background information. We did tell Bob not to worry about perfection to begin with, just to write. It can all be improved later for a better read, but you should first get the story down on paper.
Margaret was doing some research on Gretna Green. When she Googled it, all she got was one sentence. When she pulled out her own very old encyclopedia she found a whole page of information. She feels sorry for today’s researchers relying on the internet and feels they are being shortchanged on historical facts.
In her Peabody collection, Margaret read that Rev. Peabody was remembering his experience of Christmas with so many houseguests. He had not felt obligated to conduct a funeral service for the dead spider. And he did not admit finding the cat with the rat’s remains. Hamish did tell him he should take a wife to prevent himself from becoming an old fogey. Peabody tells Marie he has an important question to ask her. She thinks he’s going to propose. But he only asks if he’s on old fogey.
I read the next chapter from “Fire”, where Cam is at work at the bowling alley Saturday morning, with all the little hooligans. Lucy’s brother, Rick, arrives and threatens to hurt Cam’s Mom if she doesn’t stay away from the Detective.
Last week I finished the rewrite of my novel, so am now looking at starting to send it out. I have a one-page synopsis, but still need to write a longer one. Am currently typing up my chapter outline, which I may be able to use for the longer synopsis. It’s annoying that different agents and publishers want it in different lengths.
I explained to Bryon that I had a one-page synopsis, but needed to do a twenty-page synopsis, and maybe one in-between. Being an engineer, he came up with the most practical, time saving solution. “Just change the font,” he said.
Next meeting here at my place Wednesday, March 18th at 7:00 p.m. Would love to see you then.
Lisa
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