WE’LL BE FAMOUS!
On Wednesday Jim, Jason, Annette, Leah and Kristie all joined me for an awesome meeting. The big news is that Annette, Kristie and I will all have short stories published in Polar Expression’s anthology of “That Golden Summer”. And Kristie and Leah will also have poems published in their poetry anthology “The Warbler’s Song”. That is awesome news for Ram’s Head writers!
In addition, I’ve also had my article about Sonny, “The Making Of A Soldier, A Mother’s Perspective” published in the Petawawa Post on September 11th. It coincided with his taking command of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Petawawa. Also, my short story “The Blob At Green Lake”, a ‘Honey’ story, will be in the anthology “Never Light A Match In The Outhouse”. This will be published by Summit Studios in Ontario and will be in bookstores late October or early November. I did notice that most of my success seems to be with pieces of mine that are non-fiction. Does that forebode will for my collection of ‘Honey’ stories, which qualify as non- fiction?
We were so pleased to see Jim again, glad that he is recovering his health. He shared with us a rejection letter for “The Coventry Ghosts” which gave specifics for the rejection. They said it had to do with his use of language and suggested he have a reader or editor look at it who could be objective. Jim says he will look for an editor.
Leah will be presenting her completed “Winter In The Rain Forest” DVD at the Lit Café in Crescent Beach on Tuesday, Sept. 30th from 7-9 p.m. The Lit Café is at Alexandra Neighbourhood House, 2916 McBride Ave., in Crescent Beach. Suggested donation for admission is $5.00, but none will be turned away for lack of funds. Congratulations, Leah!
Annette read first, Chapters 13 and 14 of “A Taste Of Wormwood”, and we see Alyssa staying alone in the house while John and Carrie are still away. The doorbell rings and she sees that George West and his cronies are at the door. She hides in the safe room and watches them on the monitors. As they gain access to the house, she calls John for help. She wants him to save her family, too. He insists she give him their address so he can do that. John also sends Carl to rescue Allyssa and take her to a secure cabin. She has to talk on the phone to her parents, who thought she was dead, in order to convince them to go with Mike, John’s brother, for safety. There was a lot of tension in these two chapters and we were all concerned for Alyssa’s safety.
Jim read Chapter 58 of “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Jason enters his lab where his computers are, to be greeted by the main computer who has developed a personality of her own, and who now wants to be named Abigail, and she calls the other, smaller computers her daughters. Jason sweet talks to her and she agrees to keep his secret with him. So now we’re wondering if Abigail is going to turn on Jason at some point? Hmmm….
Kristie read her re-write of Chapter 1 of “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane’s parents, Meg and Gordon, sneak out late at night for a lover’s tryst. They head to Miller’s Hill, where the Captain’s house stands ghostly and abandoned. As they turn to lovemaking, they are attacked by the apple tree, which entwines it’s leaves and branches inside their bodies and then turns them over to the midnight daisies to be devoured. Satiated, the daisies glow bright red momentarily, before turning to midnight blue again. There was a lot of detailed description in this chapter, that leant to its horror.
Jason read the next chapter in his book. We see Dave being driven home and unceremoniously dropped off by Leah. He was frustrated there was no sex between them on their camping trip. He finds Gregg and Jody in his bedroom and they are playing with language translations on the computer. Apparently Jody can understand anything said to her in any language. Dave doesn’t understand their closeness, and asks Jody why she likes Gregg more than him. Jody tells him he usually thinks only of himself, but says it nicely. Dave feels hurt and embarrassed anyhow. Maybe Dave is going to grow up?
Unfortunately, due to health issues, Wendy and Lorelei were unable to attend but both hope to be at the next Meeting. And Margaret Florczak said she had to forego the Meeting this time and hopes to attend again sometime in the future. Margaret Moffatt is still sending in historical pieces to Today’s Senior Newsmagazine, which publishes them each month.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 1st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then!
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
Friday, September 19, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
THE REVIEW
FORGING AHEAD
Wendy, Jason and Leah joined me on Wednesday for our Meeting. Annette and Kristie were both busy with other commitments. Lorelei said she hopes to attend on September 17th after her mother is settled in assisted living and visiting relatives have left.
I read first, a short piece called “Predator And Prey” about a woman calling to inquire about the writers’ group, and then criticising it and hanging up. After reading, I brought out the critiquing outline obtained at a workshop given by Lois Peterson. It mentions many technical aspects of writing fiction and provides a valuable guide at how to look at any story and evaluate it. Jason said he still likes the brainstorming we do on how to add to a story.
Jason read the next chapter, where Gregg and Jody are still on their picnic, and he’s telling her everything he has learned about the Nornir. She is not that interested, and keeps drinking the wine. She and Gregg are both overwhelmed by how much has happened and wonder what the future holds. The scene seemed a little tame, and we had previously suggested Jason ramp it up, but he said he wasn’t sure where to go with it. We suggested Jody seemed very depressed, perhaps he could have her do something explosive, totally out of character, and we suggested maybe she could run away and not show up the first day of school. (We were brainstorming. Jason took notes.)
Leah read us two of her poems. “Language Lessons” was rhyming verse, about trying to master the Welsh language. The second poem was “Affair With Frankie” and is a loving, sensuous ode to her tenor saxophone.
Leah shared some news with us. Her business development plan was accepted and she will be receiving a grant to start her business. And the photo artwork she submitted to the Cascadia competition on flora and fauna of Canada was juried in, and will be on display in the Surrey Art Gallery August 23rd to November 6th. She also told us about her harrowing search from here for her missing ex-husband in Ontario, and how she found him as a stroke patient at a hospital, and the immense difficulty of helping him from so far away. Now there is a heart-gripping story waiting for Leah’s fingers on the keyboard.
Wendy didn’t have anything to read, but did share the trouble she has had looking after her mother out in Chilliwack.
Maybe we should have one Meeting where we all share stories about taking care of someone else?
Jason asked about updating our website and making it more relevant to the current times. I explained that my son was the only one who could do that, and as a Lt. Colonel is usually too busy. Then Leah piped up that she could do it as she did computer programming and knows how to build websites. She said she could even get us started with a Twitter account, and explained that it is only short conversational snippets added to the website daily, but that we need at least three persons to contribute. That negated some of the fears Wendy and I had about anything new and onerous in the digital world. Leah then laughed and said this reminded her of the military, where if you open your mouth to suggest something, you have volunteered to do it. Too funny!
As far as typing and preparing manuscripts goes, my son asked me why I still use two spaces after a period, before the start of the next sentence. He sent me an article about that being the bane of printers, typesetters and typographers. I do it because that was the way I was taught on a manual typewriter, way back when. It had to do with the way a typewriter spaced the letters. Apparently, that isn’t necessary with computer fonts, except for perhaps Courier. But that habit is so ingrained, I don’t know if I can stop doing it. What are your thoughts?
Our next Meeting will be Wednesday, September 17th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place after I return from watching the Change of Command Ceremony where my son, Lt. Col. Sonny T. Hatton, takes command of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Petawawa, Ontario. (You can tell I’m the proud Mama, right?) Hope to see you September 17th!
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
Wendy, Jason and Leah joined me on Wednesday for our Meeting. Annette and Kristie were both busy with other commitments. Lorelei said she hopes to attend on September 17th after her mother is settled in assisted living and visiting relatives have left.
I read first, a short piece called “Predator And Prey” about a woman calling to inquire about the writers’ group, and then criticising it and hanging up. After reading, I brought out the critiquing outline obtained at a workshop given by Lois Peterson. It mentions many technical aspects of writing fiction and provides a valuable guide at how to look at any story and evaluate it. Jason said he still likes the brainstorming we do on how to add to a story.
Jason read the next chapter, where Gregg and Jody are still on their picnic, and he’s telling her everything he has learned about the Nornir. She is not that interested, and keeps drinking the wine. She and Gregg are both overwhelmed by how much has happened and wonder what the future holds. The scene seemed a little tame, and we had previously suggested Jason ramp it up, but he said he wasn’t sure where to go with it. We suggested Jody seemed very depressed, perhaps he could have her do something explosive, totally out of character, and we suggested maybe she could run away and not show up the first day of school. (We were brainstorming. Jason took notes.)
Leah read us two of her poems. “Language Lessons” was rhyming verse, about trying to master the Welsh language. The second poem was “Affair With Frankie” and is a loving, sensuous ode to her tenor saxophone.
Leah shared some news with us. Her business development plan was accepted and she will be receiving a grant to start her business. And the photo artwork she submitted to the Cascadia competition on flora and fauna of Canada was juried in, and will be on display in the Surrey Art Gallery August 23rd to November 6th. She also told us about her harrowing search from here for her missing ex-husband in Ontario, and how she found him as a stroke patient at a hospital, and the immense difficulty of helping him from so far away. Now there is a heart-gripping story waiting for Leah’s fingers on the keyboard.
Wendy didn’t have anything to read, but did share the trouble she has had looking after her mother out in Chilliwack.
Maybe we should have one Meeting where we all share stories about taking care of someone else?
Jason asked about updating our website and making it more relevant to the current times. I explained that my son was the only one who could do that, and as a Lt. Colonel is usually too busy. Then Leah piped up that she could do it as she did computer programming and knows how to build websites. She said she could even get us started with a Twitter account, and explained that it is only short conversational snippets added to the website daily, but that we need at least three persons to contribute. That negated some of the fears Wendy and I had about anything new and onerous in the digital world. Leah then laughed and said this reminded her of the military, where if you open your mouth to suggest something, you have volunteered to do it. Too funny!
As far as typing and preparing manuscripts goes, my son asked me why I still use two spaces after a period, before the start of the next sentence. He sent me an article about that being the bane of printers, typesetters and typographers. I do it because that was the way I was taught on a manual typewriter, way back when. It had to do with the way a typewriter spaced the letters. Apparently, that isn’t necessary with computer fonts, except for perhaps Courier. But that habit is so ingrained, I don’t know if I can stop doing it. What are your thoughts?
Our next Meeting will be Wednesday, September 17th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place after I return from watching the Change of Command Ceremony where my son, Lt. Col. Sonny T. Hatton, takes command of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Petawawa, Ontario. (You can tell I’m the proud Mama, right?) Hope to see you September 17th!
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
Thursday, August 7, 2014
THE REVIEW
FEARLESS FOURSOME
Kristi, Annette and Jason joined me for a Meeting of the Rams last night. Leah was going to another meeting elsewhere. Wendy is caring for her ailing mother. And still no word from Jim.
Margaret Moffatt has another article, this one about White Rock, in Today’s Senior Newsmagazine, August issue.
Kristi read a hot and heavy sex scene from “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. It shows the Captain on board his ship, feeling ill. To help fall asleep, he remembers and dreams about having made love with Ursula. But the dream turns nightmarish as he sees her falling into the water and drowning. Kristi said she researched how to write the scene, and also researched swear words and their usage for that time period. She wanted to verify that the Captain could have used the “F” word.
Annette said she hasn’t been writing lately as she recovers her health, and also because she is so busy with family. But she said she changed the last chapter she read to us and made John seem more aggressive in his proposal to Alysa. She then read to us the chapter where Alysa is at the house alone while John and Carrie are in Belize with their parents for Christmas. Alysa doesn’t think she feels any spark with John, but will probably marry him anyhow. Feeling lonely, she re-visits a shelter where she spent the previous Christmas. There she has an encounter with a young woman who is very judgemental of homeless people and the girl’s father tries coming onto Alysa. Disgusted with both of them, she finishes her volunteer stint at food preparation and then leaves.
Jason read to us a chapter from his Book II, that shows Gregg taking Jody on a picnic. He wants to take care of her and heal her, but she reacts negatively to everything he does. We discussed this chapter and Jason now thinks he will re-write it and put more conflict into the scene.
I read my first person story called “The Memory Of White Wine”, which was my submission to the Polar Expressions writing contest. It’s about a woman getting drunk on white wine as she tells her husband she wants a divorce.
Kristie said she also entered the contest and submitted her short story of the girl walking barefoot in the dust, trying to run away from abuse.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, August 20th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
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
Kristi, Annette and Jason joined me for a Meeting of the Rams last night. Leah was going to another meeting elsewhere. Wendy is caring for her ailing mother. And still no word from Jim.
Margaret Moffatt has another article, this one about White Rock, in Today’s Senior Newsmagazine, August issue.
Kristi read a hot and heavy sex scene from “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. It shows the Captain on board his ship, feeling ill. To help fall asleep, he remembers and dreams about having made love with Ursula. But the dream turns nightmarish as he sees her falling into the water and drowning. Kristi said she researched how to write the scene, and also researched swear words and their usage for that time period. She wanted to verify that the Captain could have used the “F” word.
Annette said she hasn’t been writing lately as she recovers her health, and also because she is so busy with family. But she said she changed the last chapter she read to us and made John seem more aggressive in his proposal to Alysa. She then read to us the chapter where Alysa is at the house alone while John and Carrie are in Belize with their parents for Christmas. Alysa doesn’t think she feels any spark with John, but will probably marry him anyhow. Feeling lonely, she re-visits a shelter where she spent the previous Christmas. There she has an encounter with a young woman who is very judgemental of homeless people and the girl’s father tries coming onto Alysa. Disgusted with both of them, she finishes her volunteer stint at food preparation and then leaves.
Jason read to us a chapter from his Book II, that shows Gregg taking Jody on a picnic. He wants to take care of her and heal her, but she reacts negatively to everything he does. We discussed this chapter and Jason now thinks he will re-write it and put more conflict into the scene.
I read my first person story called “The Memory Of White Wine”, which was my submission to the Polar Expressions writing contest. It’s about a woman getting drunk on white wine as she tells her husband she wants a divorce.
Kristie said she also entered the contest and submitted her short story of the girl walking barefoot in the dust, trying to run away from abuse.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, August 20th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
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
Saturday, July 19, 2014
THE REVIEW
STILL LEARNING
Leah, Annette and Jason joined me on Wednesday for our Meeting of The Rams. Kristie was unable to get a babysitter so she could attend. We were very happy to see Annette recovering from her recent heart attack. There’s been no word from Jim, and we are also wondering how he’s doing. And we do know Wendy is busy with family this month.
Annette read first, Chapter 11 in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. Ally is trying to avoid John, afraid that he’s becoming too fond of her and not wanting that kind of involvement. She is tempted to search his room, but he catches her there and puts his arms around her and then proposes marriage. We did suggest that John, as a police officer, needed to be made a more aggressive character and Annette said she would think on it, but that the proposal would stay as it’s part of the ongoing plot.
Jason read his next chapter that shows Leah and David entering the barn where he has hidden the sword she wants to see. There is an instant where he sees Leah’s face older and wrinkled in the glow of candlelight. As they are about to ascend the ladder to the hay loft, there is a noise and suddenly Granny appears and scares them. We anticipate a showdown between Leah and Granny at some point.
Jason was asking me for a book review on his first novel, but I have never written a book review and told him I didn’t think my opinion mattered that much as I wasn’t a journalist who did book reviews, and I wasn’t a well-known editor or publisher, either. He assured me book reviews these days have devolved to the masses, such as at Amazon or Goodreads. I’ll keep that in mind.
Our Leah shared a summary of a business plan she hopes to submit to the Small Business Development Bank hoping for support to start a consulting company. I said I found the first page too full of generalities, but Leah assured me that’s how a business plan summary is done. Personally, I thought it would be more effective with some concrete examples thrown in to better describe the type of business envisioned. But that is obviously the writer and journalist in me. However, I was very impressed with the questionnaire that accompanied it to ascertain the type of service that prospective clients would need. Writing abilities have numerous applications, with business endeavors also included among them.
I didn’t read anything, but did pass around a book I purchased recently, “The Canadian Writers’ Guide”. It was published in 2003, but still has a great deal of relevant information, from how to find writing topics or inspiration, to self-publishing ebooks, to manuscript formatting, to Canadian Literary Agents, to Canadian writing contests, to how much to charge for magazine articles. And there were several chapters by Lois Peterson, a local writing teacher I respect greatly for her practical suggestions on many writing topics.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, August 6th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then, and please stay healthy 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
Leah, Annette and Jason joined me on Wednesday for our Meeting of The Rams. Kristie was unable to get a babysitter so she could attend. We were very happy to see Annette recovering from her recent heart attack. There’s been no word from Jim, and we are also wondering how he’s doing. And we do know Wendy is busy with family this month.
Annette read first, Chapter 11 in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. Ally is trying to avoid John, afraid that he’s becoming too fond of her and not wanting that kind of involvement. She is tempted to search his room, but he catches her there and puts his arms around her and then proposes marriage. We did suggest that John, as a police officer, needed to be made a more aggressive character and Annette said she would think on it, but that the proposal would stay as it’s part of the ongoing plot.
Jason read his next chapter that shows Leah and David entering the barn where he has hidden the sword she wants to see. There is an instant where he sees Leah’s face older and wrinkled in the glow of candlelight. As they are about to ascend the ladder to the hay loft, there is a noise and suddenly Granny appears and scares them. We anticipate a showdown between Leah and Granny at some point.
Jason was asking me for a book review on his first novel, but I have never written a book review and told him I didn’t think my opinion mattered that much as I wasn’t a journalist who did book reviews, and I wasn’t a well-known editor or publisher, either. He assured me book reviews these days have devolved to the masses, such as at Amazon or Goodreads. I’ll keep that in mind.
Our Leah shared a summary of a business plan she hopes to submit to the Small Business Development Bank hoping for support to start a consulting company. I said I found the first page too full of generalities, but Leah assured me that’s how a business plan summary is done. Personally, I thought it would be more effective with some concrete examples thrown in to better describe the type of business envisioned. But that is obviously the writer and journalist in me. However, I was very impressed with the questionnaire that accompanied it to ascertain the type of service that prospective clients would need. Writing abilities have numerous applications, with business endeavors also included among them.
I didn’t read anything, but did pass around a book I purchased recently, “The Canadian Writers’ Guide”. It was published in 2003, but still has a great deal of relevant information, from how to find writing topics or inspiration, to self-publishing ebooks, to manuscript formatting, to Canadian Literary Agents, to Canadian writing contests, to how much to charge for magazine articles. And there were several chapters by Lois Peterson, a local writing teacher I respect greatly for her practical suggestions on many writing topics.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, August 6th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then, and please stay healthy 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
Friday, July 4, 2014
THE REVIEW
A CROWD OF THREE
Jason and Kristi joined me Wednesday for a meeting of three. There was lots of time to discuss writing and talk about our goals.
Kristie regaled us with tales of an author who cyber bullies participants in a twitter writing forum, and who was bullying her. Very bizarre. Then she tells us her computer crashed, and we wonder if the two are connected? She needs to write a horror tale about this.
I read first, another ‘Honey’ story called “Face To Face”, about my recent acquisition of a new cell phone so I could take pictures with it, and how I’m too busy playing with my new toy to actually communicate face to face with anyone, namely Honey. I don’t even answer when he calls me on it.
I now have 30,000 words in ‘Honey’ stories and feel that’s a good basis for a small book of humour. I’m still working on putting them all together in one manuscript and editing them so there isn’t a lot of repetition. I don’t yet know if I want to self-publish them as an ebook, or if I want to seek a book publisher.
Kristi read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane reaches home just before dawn after her terrifying encounter with the daisies. She desperately wants to sleep, but is disturbed by the hateful cat in her room. She tries to oust the cat, which evades her, and then it suddenly turns mellow and loving before finally leaving the room.
Kristie says she has reworked the story and has made Jane a schoolteacher in her twenties instead of a teenaged school girl. She thinks this will give her more options in plot development. And she finds the more she writes, the more she wants to re-write to make her story better.
Jason read the next Chapter in his second book. Dave and Leah have left the campfire and she is enticing him with sexual advances, but then stops Dave from going any further. She tells him she wants to see the sword he has hidden and, from his sexual frustration, Dave finally agrees. A lot of sexual tension in this Chapter.
Jason was saying he doesn’t know if he wants to continue writing one book with two plot-lines or if he should split it into two books, each with its own plot. He’s worried about what the reader wants. We discussed this and spoke of other books that have more than one plot and also many different character viewpoints. Whichever way he chooses is acceptable.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Penticton in the July issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
We are all hoping Annette is home again and safely recovering from her stay in hospital. Wendy is out of the loop for the month of July, busy with family engagements. Ellie is on the last stages of packing and moving and we wish her well in her new home on the Island. Leah should be at the next Meeting. And we haven’t heard anything from Jim.
I had suggested maybe cancelling Meetings for some or all of the summer, but Jason and Kristi were against this. They said as parents of young children, this is their only chance to get out and congregate with other writers without interruption. With that endorsement in mind, the next Meeting will be Wednesday, July 16th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
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
Jason and Kristi joined me Wednesday for a meeting of three. There was lots of time to discuss writing and talk about our goals.
Kristie regaled us with tales of an author who cyber bullies participants in a twitter writing forum, and who was bullying her. Very bizarre. Then she tells us her computer crashed, and we wonder if the two are connected? She needs to write a horror tale about this.
I read first, another ‘Honey’ story called “Face To Face”, about my recent acquisition of a new cell phone so I could take pictures with it, and how I’m too busy playing with my new toy to actually communicate face to face with anyone, namely Honey. I don’t even answer when he calls me on it.
I now have 30,000 words in ‘Honey’ stories and feel that’s a good basis for a small book of humour. I’m still working on putting them all together in one manuscript and editing them so there isn’t a lot of repetition. I don’t yet know if I want to self-publish them as an ebook, or if I want to seek a book publisher.
Kristi read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane reaches home just before dawn after her terrifying encounter with the daisies. She desperately wants to sleep, but is disturbed by the hateful cat in her room. She tries to oust the cat, which evades her, and then it suddenly turns mellow and loving before finally leaving the room.
Kristie says she has reworked the story and has made Jane a schoolteacher in her twenties instead of a teenaged school girl. She thinks this will give her more options in plot development. And she finds the more she writes, the more she wants to re-write to make her story better.
Jason read the next Chapter in his second book. Dave and Leah have left the campfire and she is enticing him with sexual advances, but then stops Dave from going any further. She tells him she wants to see the sword he has hidden and, from his sexual frustration, Dave finally agrees. A lot of sexual tension in this Chapter.
Jason was saying he doesn’t know if he wants to continue writing one book with two plot-lines or if he should split it into two books, each with its own plot. He’s worried about what the reader wants. We discussed this and spoke of other books that have more than one plot and also many different character viewpoints. Whichever way he chooses is acceptable.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Penticton in the July issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
We are all hoping Annette is home again and safely recovering from her stay in hospital. Wendy is out of the loop for the month of July, busy with family engagements. Ellie is on the last stages of packing and moving and we wish her well in her new home on the Island. Leah should be at the next Meeting. And we haven’t heard anything from Jim.
I had suggested maybe cancelling Meetings for some or all of the summer, but Jason and Kristi were against this. They said as parents of young children, this is their only chance to get out and congregate with other writers without interruption. With that endorsement in mind, the next Meeting will be Wednesday, July 16th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
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
Sunday, June 22, 2014
THE REVIEW
JUNE SCRIBES
Six of us Rams met on Wednesday to share our written musings, although Wendy and I didn’t have any writing of our own to read.
Kristi read to us the latest in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane awakes on the hill with the daisies, near dawn. To escape them, she has agreed to bring them humans to devour, but hopes to renege once she gets away. They tell her though, that they can control her in her mind and torment her with nightmares, but they will give her some time before she has to comply as they are not yet hungry. Scary damned flowers!
Kristi also read a short piece from a writing promtp that was “Dust And Dead Ends”. It’s about a girl walking on the road barefoot, trying to escape an abusive man she lives with, but he stops beside her in his pick-up truck, and she obediently gets in. This could be the beginning of a longer story.
Jason was just back from Germany on Tuesday and hadn’t done any writing, still suffering from jet lag. He read to us about Leigia in love, from his blog. It is a sensual bit of character development that was not included in the novel. Jason thought it too racy for young adults.
Leah’s art project is progressing, and there will be consecutive showing probably till this time next summer. And she also has volunteers to do voiceover on the video. Way to go, Leah!
She also read to us her first chapter from “Bonguetopia”. It introduces Tally and his grandfather who are reading some very dull history book about the Bard. We also found the history book a little too much, and asked to hear more about Tally, and why he’s desperate to know more about the Bard. Since this is only Leah’s first draft, we know there can be many changes yet to come.
Annette read the next chapter in “A Taste Of Wormwood”. Inside the secret room, Alyssa turns on all the monitors that show different parts of the house, and listens in on the exchange between John and the two policemen. John doesn’t let on she is in the house. After the cops leave Alyssa questions John about his brother Mike, and learns both he and John are police officers, that Mike was undercover with West’s crime organization but was compromised and is now hiding. He tells Alyssa she will be there alone for Christmas when he takes Carrie to visit their parents. And he tells her the only other cop he trusts is Carl Jackson. Yes, the plot thickens.
Annette also brought her laptop and showed us adorable pictures of her brand new grandson.
Jim had phoned to say he was knee deep in yard work and couldn’t make the meeting. We missed him.
The next Meeting of The Rams will be Wednesday, July 2nd at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. Happy Canada Day 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
Six of us Rams met on Wednesday to share our written musings, although Wendy and I didn’t have any writing of our own to read.
Kristi read to us the latest in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane awakes on the hill with the daisies, near dawn. To escape them, she has agreed to bring them humans to devour, but hopes to renege once she gets away. They tell her though, that they can control her in her mind and torment her with nightmares, but they will give her some time before she has to comply as they are not yet hungry. Scary damned flowers!
Kristi also read a short piece from a writing promtp that was “Dust And Dead Ends”. It’s about a girl walking on the road barefoot, trying to escape an abusive man she lives with, but he stops beside her in his pick-up truck, and she obediently gets in. This could be the beginning of a longer story.
Jason was just back from Germany on Tuesday and hadn’t done any writing, still suffering from jet lag. He read to us about Leigia in love, from his blog. It is a sensual bit of character development that was not included in the novel. Jason thought it too racy for young adults.
Leah’s art project is progressing, and there will be consecutive showing probably till this time next summer. And she also has volunteers to do voiceover on the video. Way to go, Leah!
She also read to us her first chapter from “Bonguetopia”. It introduces Tally and his grandfather who are reading some very dull history book about the Bard. We also found the history book a little too much, and asked to hear more about Tally, and why he’s desperate to know more about the Bard. Since this is only Leah’s first draft, we know there can be many changes yet to come.
Annette read the next chapter in “A Taste Of Wormwood”. Inside the secret room, Alyssa turns on all the monitors that show different parts of the house, and listens in on the exchange between John and the two policemen. John doesn’t let on she is in the house. After the cops leave Alyssa questions John about his brother Mike, and learns both he and John are police officers, that Mike was undercover with West’s crime organization but was compromised and is now hiding. He tells Alyssa she will be there alone for Christmas when he takes Carrie to visit their parents. And he tells her the only other cop he trusts is Carl Jackson. Yes, the plot thickens.
Annette also brought her laptop and showed us adorable pictures of her brand new grandson.
Jim had phoned to say he was knee deep in yard work and couldn’t make the meeting. We missed him.
The next Meeting of The Rams will be Wednesday, July 2nd at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. Happy Canada Day 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
Friday, June 6, 2014
THE REVIEW
HEALING CIRCLE
Five of us were here Wednesday night, though some were suffering. Leah had fallen down some stairs and was hurting. Jim was still recovering from first the flu, and then from being knocked off his bike by a car hitting him. And Wendy wasn’t able to attend as she wasn’t feeling well. Jason was away, on holidays in Germany. Ellie has sold her house and is moving to Nanoose Bay on the Island by August, and is very busy with that endeavor. We will miss her greatly. Stay well, Dear Rams.
Annette read first, Chapter 10 from “A Touch Of Wormwood”. We are kept in suspense waiting for Ali’s diagnosis. Then she and John and Carrie share a sad Thanksgiving dinner with Marc not there to be with Carrie. Later the police who were watching Ali at the clinic knock on the door, and John hides her in a secret room.
Kristie has become the queen of macabre. She added a prologue to her prologue for “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”, which shows the gruesome side of Talbot, the magician, when he murders Ursula, a barmaid, because she helped the ship captain beat him at cards.
Then Kristie read the latest chapter, which has Jane being accused by the daisies of murdering their sister. They also tell her she is blue, just like them, and offer to let her live if she will bring them food (humans) to eat. Lying, she agrees.
Leah brought a video we watched showing the pictures and poetry from “Winter In The Rain Forest” that was set to music. The pictures were gorgeous in digital format on the screen. Then, regarding the historical fantasy she is writing, Leah shared 4 Haiku, a Hybrid, and 5 Senryu; all poems by the Bard of Bonquetopia about a ruined city. He will be a major character in the story.
Regarding story structure, Leah also gave us each a copy of a printout which itemizes the steps in the mythical story structure, further to what Marcela had spoken of at the last meeting.
Jim read Chapters 56 and 57 from “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. In 56, we see Sara and Joel scouting around the outside of the compound where Jason has his laboratory. In 57, we see Jason experimenting with more brains added to his server, in his quest to take control from the ghosts that he wants to use in the search for his parents’ essences. He has a single minded determination to own total power over all.
I read another ‘Honey’ story, “The Virtue Of Vice”. This tells of meeting a repairman at the pub who offered to replace my worn kitchen arborite, since Honey doesn’t do more than the minimum in home maintenance.
Kristie then read to us her own version of Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings”. It was a moving vision of a song going forth in freedom.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Hope, B.C. in the June issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, June 18th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. Stay safe and healthy, everyone.
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
Five of us were here Wednesday night, though some were suffering. Leah had fallen down some stairs and was hurting. Jim was still recovering from first the flu, and then from being knocked off his bike by a car hitting him. And Wendy wasn’t able to attend as she wasn’t feeling well. Jason was away, on holidays in Germany. Ellie has sold her house and is moving to Nanoose Bay on the Island by August, and is very busy with that endeavor. We will miss her greatly. Stay well, Dear Rams.
Annette read first, Chapter 10 from “A Touch Of Wormwood”. We are kept in suspense waiting for Ali’s diagnosis. Then she and John and Carrie share a sad Thanksgiving dinner with Marc not there to be with Carrie. Later the police who were watching Ali at the clinic knock on the door, and John hides her in a secret room.
Kristie has become the queen of macabre. She added a prologue to her prologue for “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”, which shows the gruesome side of Talbot, the magician, when he murders Ursula, a barmaid, because she helped the ship captain beat him at cards.
Then Kristie read the latest chapter, which has Jane being accused by the daisies of murdering their sister. They also tell her she is blue, just like them, and offer to let her live if she will bring them food (humans) to eat. Lying, she agrees.
Leah brought a video we watched showing the pictures and poetry from “Winter In The Rain Forest” that was set to music. The pictures were gorgeous in digital format on the screen. Then, regarding the historical fantasy she is writing, Leah shared 4 Haiku, a Hybrid, and 5 Senryu; all poems by the Bard of Bonquetopia about a ruined city. He will be a major character in the story.
Regarding story structure, Leah also gave us each a copy of a printout which itemizes the steps in the mythical story structure, further to what Marcela had spoken of at the last meeting.
Jim read Chapters 56 and 57 from “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. In 56, we see Sara and Joel scouting around the outside of the compound where Jason has his laboratory. In 57, we see Jason experimenting with more brains added to his server, in his quest to take control from the ghosts that he wants to use in the search for his parents’ essences. He has a single minded determination to own total power over all.
I read another ‘Honey’ story, “The Virtue Of Vice”. This tells of meeting a repairman at the pub who offered to replace my worn kitchen arborite, since Honey doesn’t do more than the minimum in home maintenance.
Kristie then read to us her own version of Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings”. It was a moving vision of a song going forth in freedom.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Hope, B.C. in the June issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, June 18th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. Stay safe and healthy, everyone.
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
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