THE RAM’S HEAD TRIO
Jim and Kristy joined me last night for our Meeting. Annette and Chelsey emailed to say they weren’t well and wouldn’t be attending. And Heather, a prospective new member, was also not well and couldn’t attend. Didn’t hear from anyone else and was wondering if the last Review coming out so late might have caused some confusion? I didn’t get around to sending out another reminder about the Meeting. Sorry to all if that was the problem.
Kristy read the prologue to her re-written children’s story, still untitled. It is written in first person from the point of view of the puppy who is kidnapped while his young owner is inside the store buying an ice cream cone. This will definitely pull on the heartstrings of young children.
Jim read Chapters 66 and 67 of “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Sara, the kitten ghost, is still trying to get Joel and Ji-Young to their submarine without being caught by the Honywuan military or by the Umbra ghosts, who were working together. Fighting breaks out at the beach where two Zodiaks come to take them to the sub. Sara was feeling overwhelmed fighting both the Umbra and the military, but suddenly receives help from Mei-Xiu, the ghost who haunts the ocean. But a Lieutenant from the SEAL squad is shot and Sara goes inside his body to close the tear to his aorta. He still needs medical help though, so she tells the Doc on the submarine what attention the patient needs before he even arrives in the medical space onboard. Lots of action in these two chapters which keeps readers on their toes.
Jim told us he’s getting a lot done with his Book I in the Coventry series being edited professionally. She is giving him story suggestions as well as doing the line editing, which is mostly about the use or non-use of commas, in Jim’s case.
Kristy did read to us the second half of her story “A Fairytale Ending” but plans to read it again when more members are present, so I won’t tell you anything about it here. Ha! Ha!
I just received the rest of my payment from Summit Studios for my short story “The Blob At Green Lake” that was in their anthology “Never Light A Match In The Outhouse”. Matt, the publisher/editor wrote they have updated their website with a list of potential anthologies for the future and invited me to contribute if I have anything that might fit. If the list is on their website, I’m sure anyone can contribute, so take a look and see if you’re interested at www.summitstudios.biz
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, February 4th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then, all healthy and eager to pursue the written word!
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, January 22, 2015
Saturday, January 17, 2015
THE REVIEW
NEW YEAR REUNION
It was wonderful to see everyone again after our hiatus during December due to my surgery and the demands of the holidays. Wendy, Kristi, Annette, Jim and Jason all joined me on the 7th for our first meeting of 2015. Also present that evening was a new face, Chelsey Bleker. She said she has made many notes for a story, but hasn’t started writing it yet. Her chosen genres are fantasy, young adult, and children’s lit. She did say she is looking for a group that might offer more workshops, so if anyone knows where that is happening, please let her know.
Jim read first, Chapters 64 and 65 in Coventry Ghosts, Book II. We see the kitten, Sara, in Drakko where she decides to take the ghost of King George IV back to ghostdom with her, while leaving about 30 bad Umbra ghosts in Drakko. Once back in ghostdom, she is still tasked with returning two living people, Joel and Ji-Young, to the submarine, but radio signals are blocked. She uses telepathy to contact Launi and make arrangements.
Kristi read a short story called “A Fairy Tale Ending” about a young girl living with her deeply depressed father after her mother had committed suicide. The story details the horror of this young girl watching her father lose connection with reality and the people in the world, and emphasizes her desperate loneliness.
Annette read Chapter 1 in her “Untitled Christmas Story”. It shows us Cadence, a 3rd grade teacher with a fascination for names and what they convey about character. Her mother is staying with her after surgery, and a caretaker comes in to look after the mother. One evening the caretaker’s handsome son arrives for dinner, unbeknown to Cadence, and she slams the door in his face. This felt like the perfect beginning to a romance to those who were listening.
Jason read the next chapter in his book. We are taken through a terrible, terrible dream of Gregg’s where he is running from a decaying angel and awful zombies and is trapped between them and the lava flow that takes victims to the shore of the dragon’s domain. He awakes to Jody crying over him. There was lots of suspense here as Gregg and thus the reader don’t know this is just a dream.
Margaret Moffatt was pleased to see her book “Blow Up The Castle” with a good review at http://cosybooks.blogspot.ca
Leah Murray was scheduled to give a talk at the White Rock Library Jan. 16th and 17th, on the use of technology and digital photography to showcase nature. We hope it went well.
I was just notified by the BC/Yukon Command of The Royal Canadian Legion that they are going to post on their blog my article “The Making Of A Soldier, A Mother’s Perspective” and they also offered payment for the story. When I saw the call for submissions, I wasn’t aware of any payment being offered. Very nice surprise. Just goes to show we should keep submitting our writing anyhow.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, January 21st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
LISA A. HATTON
AuthorPublished eBooks available at Kobo Books:
FIRE: http://kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=9780991739615
LOVE FOUND: http://kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=9780991739608
It was wonderful to see everyone again after our hiatus during December due to my surgery and the demands of the holidays. Wendy, Kristi, Annette, Jim and Jason all joined me on the 7th for our first meeting of 2015. Also present that evening was a new face, Chelsey Bleker. She said she has made many notes for a story, but hasn’t started writing it yet. Her chosen genres are fantasy, young adult, and children’s lit. She did say she is looking for a group that might offer more workshops, so if anyone knows where that is happening, please let her know.
Jim read first, Chapters 64 and 65 in Coventry Ghosts, Book II. We see the kitten, Sara, in Drakko where she decides to take the ghost of King George IV back to ghostdom with her, while leaving about 30 bad Umbra ghosts in Drakko. Once back in ghostdom, she is still tasked with returning two living people, Joel and Ji-Young, to the submarine, but radio signals are blocked. She uses telepathy to contact Launi and make arrangements.
Kristi read a short story called “A Fairy Tale Ending” about a young girl living with her deeply depressed father after her mother had committed suicide. The story details the horror of this young girl watching her father lose connection with reality and the people in the world, and emphasizes her desperate loneliness.
Annette read Chapter 1 in her “Untitled Christmas Story”. It shows us Cadence, a 3rd grade teacher with a fascination for names and what they convey about character. Her mother is staying with her after surgery, and a caretaker comes in to look after the mother. One evening the caretaker’s handsome son arrives for dinner, unbeknown to Cadence, and she slams the door in his face. This felt like the perfect beginning to a romance to those who were listening.
Jason read the next chapter in his book. We are taken through a terrible, terrible dream of Gregg’s where he is running from a decaying angel and awful zombies and is trapped between them and the lava flow that takes victims to the shore of the dragon’s domain. He awakes to Jody crying over him. There was lots of suspense here as Gregg and thus the reader don’t know this is just a dream.
Margaret Moffatt was pleased to see her book “Blow Up The Castle” with a good review at http://cosybooks.blogspot.ca
Leah Murray was scheduled to give a talk at the White Rock Library Jan. 16th and 17th, on the use of technology and digital photography to showcase nature. We hope it went well.
I was just notified by the BC/Yukon Command of The Royal Canadian Legion that they are going to post on their blog my article “The Making Of A Soldier, A Mother’s Perspective” and they also offered payment for the story. When I saw the call for submissions, I wasn’t aware of any payment being offered. Very nice surprise. Just goes to show we should keep submitting our writing anyhow.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, January 21st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
LISA A. HATTON
AuthorPublished 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, November 22, 2014
THE REVIEW
YEAR END
Annette, Kristie, Leah and Jim all joined me for the last Meeting this year. I am scheduled for surgery on December 2nd, and they thought I should just take the rest of December to recuperate.
Annette read first, Chapter 19 from “A Taste Of Wormwood”. While waiting for her father to arrive, Alyssa tells John a bit about their family background. She’s thankful to see her father, but disconcerted that Mike is John’s brother. Mike can’t stop looking at Alyssa and she at him. Working as an undercover cop, he had been hired by her employer to kill her, but helped her to get away instead. John notices the two of them looking at each other and steps between them and puts his arm around Alyssa to assert his claim on her. We can sense there may be a conflict between the brothers coming up.
Kristi read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane had tried to kill the daisies with the weed killer her Grams had made, but it didn’t work. They have a lively discussion showing both their personalities. Jane has a nightmare about the daisies eating her Grams. There is good character development in this chapter.
From a Twitter prompt, Kristi wrote a brief piece that had to be under 500 characters but also include the words: sealed, newspaper, advert, rush and snap.
Leah read next, a short story from the point of view of a horse arriving at a farm thinking it will be where his life is ended for him. But through the day he meets a know-it-all cat, an anxious hen, an unhappy donkey and an angry ram who bashes things. He is well-treated, well-fed and at the end of the day content in knowing he has found sanctuary. It is a great little story showing the personalities of several animals in a farm setting.
Jim read Chapter 62 in “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Sara manages to get Joel out of the lab safely and they get back to the hideaway where Ji-Young was lying low. She moves both Joel and Ji-Young to a safer hiding spot and then sets out on her own to stalk the Umbra. She tackles them in small groups, sort of lassoing them with a band of energy each time and then throwing them into Drakko. At the end, all the ghosts were sucked into Drakko, including Sara, again.
I read another ‘Honey’ story called “Reluctant Mr. Fixit”. It tells of Honey dealing with a recent hot water tank failure, the oven door not unlocking after self-cleaning, and my wanting him to assemble a new cutting table I asked him to give me for Christmas. He then tells me I’ve reached my project limit of three for the month.
We had some discussion about the Website. Leah said she is ready to receive the links that members would like to see added as resources for writers. So please feel free to send along any that you like to use yourself, be they contest links, dictionaries, markets, prompt generators, inspirational quotes, or whatever you find useful. Let’s do this!
Annette is still working on her novel she must write during November, as well as coping with some recent health issues and chores on the farm. Jim has been dealing with his daughter and granddaughters staying with him at the same time his computer died and the toilet wasn’t co-operating. Lorelie has been dealing with health issues for both her Mom and herself. Jason missed the meeting as he had to stay home with his kids. We hope Wendy is doing okay. Leah has concerns over the health of her ex in Ontario as well as her own struggle to get her business up and running successfully. It doesn’t seem to have been an easy month for anyone. Time for a break.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, January 7th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season and gets to enjoy family and friends and find a renewed connection with The Muse. Am looking forward to seeing everyone in the New Year!
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
Annette, Kristie, Leah and Jim all joined me for the last Meeting this year. I am scheduled for surgery on December 2nd, and they thought I should just take the rest of December to recuperate.
Annette read first, Chapter 19 from “A Taste Of Wormwood”. While waiting for her father to arrive, Alyssa tells John a bit about their family background. She’s thankful to see her father, but disconcerted that Mike is John’s brother. Mike can’t stop looking at Alyssa and she at him. Working as an undercover cop, he had been hired by her employer to kill her, but helped her to get away instead. John notices the two of them looking at each other and steps between them and puts his arm around Alyssa to assert his claim on her. We can sense there may be a conflict between the brothers coming up.
Kristi read the next chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. Jane had tried to kill the daisies with the weed killer her Grams had made, but it didn’t work. They have a lively discussion showing both their personalities. Jane has a nightmare about the daisies eating her Grams. There is good character development in this chapter.
From a Twitter prompt, Kristi wrote a brief piece that had to be under 500 characters but also include the words: sealed, newspaper, advert, rush and snap.
Leah read next, a short story from the point of view of a horse arriving at a farm thinking it will be where his life is ended for him. But through the day he meets a know-it-all cat, an anxious hen, an unhappy donkey and an angry ram who bashes things. He is well-treated, well-fed and at the end of the day content in knowing he has found sanctuary. It is a great little story showing the personalities of several animals in a farm setting.
Jim read Chapter 62 in “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Sara manages to get Joel out of the lab safely and they get back to the hideaway where Ji-Young was lying low. She moves both Joel and Ji-Young to a safer hiding spot and then sets out on her own to stalk the Umbra. She tackles them in small groups, sort of lassoing them with a band of energy each time and then throwing them into Drakko. At the end, all the ghosts were sucked into Drakko, including Sara, again.
I read another ‘Honey’ story called “Reluctant Mr. Fixit”. It tells of Honey dealing with a recent hot water tank failure, the oven door not unlocking after self-cleaning, and my wanting him to assemble a new cutting table I asked him to give me for Christmas. He then tells me I’ve reached my project limit of three for the month.
We had some discussion about the Website. Leah said she is ready to receive the links that members would like to see added as resources for writers. So please feel free to send along any that you like to use yourself, be they contest links, dictionaries, markets, prompt generators, inspirational quotes, or whatever you find useful. Let’s do this!
Annette is still working on her novel she must write during November, as well as coping with some recent health issues and chores on the farm. Jim has been dealing with his daughter and granddaughters staying with him at the same time his computer died and the toilet wasn’t co-operating. Lorelie has been dealing with health issues for both her Mom and herself. Jason missed the meeting as he had to stay home with his kids. We hope Wendy is doing okay. Leah has concerns over the health of her ex in Ontario as well as her own struggle to get her business up and running successfully. It doesn’t seem to have been an easy month for anyone. Time for a break.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, January 7th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season and gets to enjoy family and friends and find a renewed connection with The Muse. Am looking forward to seeing everyone in the New Year!
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, November 7, 2014
THE REVIEW
INSPIRED WRITERS
There were seven of us here on Wednesday, some of us inspired writers and some of us looking for inspiration. Lorelei joined us again after about a year’s absence while she was sequestered, looking after her aging mother. Wendy also felt well enough to attend and we were so glad to see her as well. These two joined Jason, Annette, Kristi, Jim and me for a lively meeting.
Kristi read first, her second chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. It’s the morning after Jane has learned that the daisies devoured her parents, and when she agreed to bring them ‘fresh meat’ in exchange for her own freedom. She sees blue streaks in her hair, and when telling her Gran what had happened and crying, her nasal mucus is also blue. She tells Gran she wants a plan to kill the daisies. Since Gran was already brewing weed killer, they start planning what they will do. And Gran tells her that as a last resort, they can always call on the Dryad.
Annette read the next chapter in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. John arrives at the cabin where Alyssa is hiding out, and helps her talk to her family. She still tries to protect them by not telling them too much of what has happened, but at the same time wants their love and support. Later she gives John a USB flash drive with all the dirt on George West. She had made copies of everything when she worked for him, all his contacts and all the dirty cops on his payroll. We were all glad that she had been smart enough and courageous enough to risk doing that.
I read a first person account called “The Prompt”, which I wrote after reading prompts in “A Writer’s Book Of Days”. It has a writing prompt for each day of the year. The story tells of an encounter with a spiritual entity through a friend who acted as a channel for a spiritual guide.
Jim read his next chapter in “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Sarah and Joel are inside the compound and she is trying to keep Joel invisible from both the soldiers and the Umbra. Inside the lab, Abigail, the computer, tells Jason that someone had arrived there. Abigail starts shooting bolts of energy and Jason calls in the soldiers who start shooting bullets. Sarah is warding off both bullets and bolts of energy. Abigail is shot by a boomeranging bolt of energy and starts to shut down.
Margaret Moffatt had a short history of Burnaby published in the November issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. Kristi said she submitted her short story “Of The Moon” to the CBC literary contest. Annette said she is entered in the NaNoWriMo, which is the National Novel Writing Month, where during the month of November, you write a whole novel. She has a goal of so many words per day, and will meet weekly with other entrants. And Bob Jacoby phoned me to say his daughter-in-law had attended the Surrey International Writers’ Conference and achieved some success with her writing, and had two agents asking to represent her. Exactly what she entered and what she wrote, I’m not clear on, but good on her anyhow.
We spent the last part of the Meeting discussing plans for the website and looking at the mock-ups that Leah had dropped off. It was agreed that only Leah and myself should be the ones to enter the outgoing blurbs on the Twitter account, and we will use it as a news feed. It should work great whenever there is a contest notification or a call for submissions to post. We will not publish incoming responses to our Twitter account.
And all members are now asked to consider submitting things for two of our pages. One is the Resources page, where we will publish on our own website things like critique guidelines, or plot diagrams for short stories or novels, or any other material we put together that site visitors can download and print for themselves. The second page is for Links, where we will list writing links that we find helpful for writers in some way. You can submit things you’d like to see on these pages to Leah now.
Annette said she designed and built her own website and we asked her how she did that. She said she got all the instructions from www.w3schools.com . The rest of us were thinking that might be more than we want to tackle.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, November 19th 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
There were seven of us here on Wednesday, some of us inspired writers and some of us looking for inspiration. Lorelei joined us again after about a year’s absence while she was sequestered, looking after her aging mother. Wendy also felt well enough to attend and we were so glad to see her as well. These two joined Jason, Annette, Kristi, Jim and me for a lively meeting.
Kristi read first, her second chapter in “Jane And The Midnight Daisies”. It’s the morning after Jane has learned that the daisies devoured her parents, and when she agreed to bring them ‘fresh meat’ in exchange for her own freedom. She sees blue streaks in her hair, and when telling her Gran what had happened and crying, her nasal mucus is also blue. She tells Gran she wants a plan to kill the daisies. Since Gran was already brewing weed killer, they start planning what they will do. And Gran tells her that as a last resort, they can always call on the Dryad.
Annette read the next chapter in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. John arrives at the cabin where Alyssa is hiding out, and helps her talk to her family. She still tries to protect them by not telling them too much of what has happened, but at the same time wants their love and support. Later she gives John a USB flash drive with all the dirt on George West. She had made copies of everything when she worked for him, all his contacts and all the dirty cops on his payroll. We were all glad that she had been smart enough and courageous enough to risk doing that.
I read a first person account called “The Prompt”, which I wrote after reading prompts in “A Writer’s Book Of Days”. It has a writing prompt for each day of the year. The story tells of an encounter with a spiritual entity through a friend who acted as a channel for a spiritual guide.
Jim read his next chapter in “Coventry Ghosts – Book II”. Sarah and Joel are inside the compound and she is trying to keep Joel invisible from both the soldiers and the Umbra. Inside the lab, Abigail, the computer, tells Jason that someone had arrived there. Abigail starts shooting bolts of energy and Jason calls in the soldiers who start shooting bullets. Sarah is warding off both bullets and bolts of energy. Abigail is shot by a boomeranging bolt of energy and starts to shut down.
Margaret Moffatt had a short history of Burnaby published in the November issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine. Kristi said she submitted her short story “Of The Moon” to the CBC literary contest. Annette said she is entered in the NaNoWriMo, which is the National Novel Writing Month, where during the month of November, you write a whole novel. She has a goal of so many words per day, and will meet weekly with other entrants. And Bob Jacoby phoned me to say his daughter-in-law had attended the Surrey International Writers’ Conference and achieved some success with her writing, and had two agents asking to represent her. Exactly what she entered and what she wrote, I’m not clear on, but good on her anyhow.
We spent the last part of the Meeting discussing plans for the website and looking at the mock-ups that Leah had dropped off. It was agreed that only Leah and myself should be the ones to enter the outgoing blurbs on the Twitter account, and we will use it as a news feed. It should work great whenever there is a contest notification or a call for submissions to post. We will not publish incoming responses to our Twitter account.
And all members are now asked to consider submitting things for two of our pages. One is the Resources page, where we will publish on our own website things like critique guidelines, or plot diagrams for short stories or novels, or any other material we put together that site visitors can download and print for themselves. The second page is for Links, where we will list writing links that we find helpful for writers in some way. You can submit things you’d like to see on these pages to Leah now.
Annette said she designed and built her own website and we asked her how she did that. She said she got all the instructions from www.w3schools.com . The rest of us were thinking that might be more than we want to tackle.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, November 19th 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, October 17, 2014
THE REVIEW
TECH TALK
There were seven of us here Wednesday night in heavy discussion about making changes to our website at www.ramsheadwriters.ca Leah Murray has brought her expertise in web design to our group and had us answering questions about what we want for the site. We discussed such things as the purpose of the site, the members’ pages, archives for included published work, twitter feed for news such as calls for submissions, a page for writing resource links, compiling a mailing list from site visitors, contact info, what we want on the front page. It’s amazing what should be considered, and we’re not even an email retail site!
Leah didn’t read but did pass around her now available DVD, “Winter In The Rain Forest”, which is a photographic display with her poetry voiced over music that was composed with her nephew. Very impressive.
Margaret Florczak was able to join us, sneaking away from caretaking duties for an invalid husband. Her interest in the ‘Babes In The Woods’ mystery inspired her to write a reply to the article that was featured in the Sunday Province. We first had Jason read the article, and then Margaret read her response, which is a letter to the editor she sent in. After all her years of research into these unsolved murders, she is still furious at the lack of professional skill brought to bear in even identifying these children, never mind who killed them. I also read an account from Margaret Moffatt of having sighted a strange woman in a fur coat with two young boys on her own residential street in the mid 1940s, that may or may not be relevant to this case.
Annette read Chapter 17 in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. Mike is still having coffee with Alyssa’s father, who has asked if he’s the one hired to kill her. Mike tells him he was hired by her boss to ‘deal’with her, but because he was an undercover cop, he arranged for her to survive the supposed murder attempt and escape into hiding. Later, Alyssa’s mother tells him if he cares deeply for her daughter, he shouldn’t give up on trying to win her. But Mike is afraid Alyssa has fallen for his brother, John. We like how this is setting up future conflict between the two brothers over Alyssa’s affections.
Kristi read a rewrite of the chapter that introduces Jane, in “The Midnight Daisies”. She is now an older version of Jane, a teacher, and we see her dismiss her students early as a rainstorm approaches. On her own way home with her treasured poetry books wrapped in her shawl, she is accosted by Sean, a townie. But she is able to fight him off and run toward home in the hills clutching her soaking and muddy books. Kristi says every time she re-reads something she has written, she sees a need for revision. We told her to go ahead and write the story and then worry later about the re-writing to polish her treasured accounting of horror.
Jason read the next chapter in his book. Jody is helping Greg to leave the hospital after he healed the girl who had been burned. She’s afraid of people finding out they are only half human. A big man intervenes and steers them swiftly into a washroom where Greg vomits into the toilet. The stranger chastises them for the healing they had done, telling them it is too exhausting and can bring dangerous unwanted attention. He also tells them the girl’s suffering has now become their own. This was a riveting chapter, very exciting.
Monica Buchanan joined us Wednesday for the first time in a couple of years. She says she wants to get back into writing and hoped to absorb some inspiration. Jim was unable to join us as he was meeting with the editor that Jason had introduced him to.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, November 5th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then and don’t get lost with the ghouls and ghosts and goblins 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
There were seven of us here Wednesday night in heavy discussion about making changes to our website at www.ramsheadwriters.ca Leah Murray has brought her expertise in web design to our group and had us answering questions about what we want for the site. We discussed such things as the purpose of the site, the members’ pages, archives for included published work, twitter feed for news such as calls for submissions, a page for writing resource links, compiling a mailing list from site visitors, contact info, what we want on the front page. It’s amazing what should be considered, and we’re not even an email retail site!
Leah didn’t read but did pass around her now available DVD, “Winter In The Rain Forest”, which is a photographic display with her poetry voiced over music that was composed with her nephew. Very impressive.
Margaret Florczak was able to join us, sneaking away from caretaking duties for an invalid husband. Her interest in the ‘Babes In The Woods’ mystery inspired her to write a reply to the article that was featured in the Sunday Province. We first had Jason read the article, and then Margaret read her response, which is a letter to the editor she sent in. After all her years of research into these unsolved murders, she is still furious at the lack of professional skill brought to bear in even identifying these children, never mind who killed them. I also read an account from Margaret Moffatt of having sighted a strange woman in a fur coat with two young boys on her own residential street in the mid 1940s, that may or may not be relevant to this case.
Annette read Chapter 17 in “A Touch Of Wormwood”. Mike is still having coffee with Alyssa’s father, who has asked if he’s the one hired to kill her. Mike tells him he was hired by her boss to ‘deal’with her, but because he was an undercover cop, he arranged for her to survive the supposed murder attempt and escape into hiding. Later, Alyssa’s mother tells him if he cares deeply for her daughter, he shouldn’t give up on trying to win her. But Mike is afraid Alyssa has fallen for his brother, John. We like how this is setting up future conflict between the two brothers over Alyssa’s affections.
Kristi read a rewrite of the chapter that introduces Jane, in “The Midnight Daisies”. She is now an older version of Jane, a teacher, and we see her dismiss her students early as a rainstorm approaches. On her own way home with her treasured poetry books wrapped in her shawl, she is accosted by Sean, a townie. But she is able to fight him off and run toward home in the hills clutching her soaking and muddy books. Kristi says every time she re-reads something she has written, she sees a need for revision. We told her to go ahead and write the story and then worry later about the re-writing to polish her treasured accounting of horror.
Jason read the next chapter in his book. Jody is helping Greg to leave the hospital after he healed the girl who had been burned. She’s afraid of people finding out they are only half human. A big man intervenes and steers them swiftly into a washroom where Greg vomits into the toilet. The stranger chastises them for the healing they had done, telling them it is too exhausting and can bring dangerous unwanted attention. He also tells them the girl’s suffering has now become their own. This was a riveting chapter, very exciting.
Monica Buchanan joined us Wednesday for the first time in a couple of years. She says she wants to get back into writing and hoped to absorb some inspiration. Jim was unable to join us as he was meeting with the editor that Jason had introduced him to.
Next Meeting will be Wednesday, November 5th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then and don’t get lost with the ghouls and ghosts and goblins 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
Saturday, October 4, 2014
THE REVIEW
AUTUMN SCRIBES
Wednesday’s Meeting was lively and fun and full of laughter as six of us were here to worship the Muse. I had found and re-activated our ‘talking stick’, complete with a blue rubber ram’s head on top of a brass vase. The ram’s head is actually a phallic prosthesis glued to the top of the vase. (This was thanks to Nathaniel Poole for his donation of said item in the earlier days of this writers’ group.) Kristi thought it was a hookah pipe when she first saw it. We did use it as a ‘talking stick’ and it was passed around the room to give each speaker authority to command attention. So now you know the origins of the name “Ram’s Head Writers’ Group”. Too funny!
Kristi was eager to read a new short story she wrote, “Of The Moon”. It told of a wandering soul that was in an acorn and then a wolf, a fish, a man, a tree, a sparrow, a hawk, and then the sky, and a moonbeam, where it returns to the moon. This story was very haunting and evocative of animal and spirit. We hope she can find somewhere to have it published and showcased.
Annette read her next two chapters in “A Touch of Wormwood”. We see Mike approaching Alyssa’s parents and trying to move them and their other two daughters to safety. He spends the night collecting Mr. and Mrs. Jorgen at their home, their daughter Eva at church, and their daughter Benny at a motel with a co-ed crowd, and then driving them all some distance to a motel he checks them into. Mike and Mr. Jorgen go out to collect some breakfast for all of them, but also to discuss the situation. After explaining that Alyssa and her whole family were in danger, that an assassin had been hired previously to kill Alyssa, Mr. Jorgen wants to know if Mike was that hired assassin. His question was the end of the chapter, and that was a great hook to keep readers turning the pages.
Jim read Chapter 59 in Book II of “Coventry Ghosts”. Sara and Joel are trying to avoid both the Umbra and the guards at the compound where they think Jason is, so Sara tries teaching Joel mental telepathy so they can communicate without being heard. However, Joel is annoyed and keeps telling her to get out of his head. He eventually catches on and suggests they walk, while Sara shields him and keeps him invisible.
Jim said he had contacted the editor that Jason had recommended to him and was waiting to hear from her after sending samples of his work.
Jason read another chapter from his book. Here we see a Hindu mother in hospital praying fervently for the life of her badly burned ten year old daughter. Through the night there is a miraculous healing and the mother witnesses energy flowing from Gregg into her daughter, as he’s holding her hand. Jason put a lot of research into this chapter about burns and their treatment, but also about Hindu prayer. There was good tension here, and it added much more depth to the story.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Surrey in the October issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
Wendy and I didn’t read anything, but I did bring up a discussion about our website and future possibilities. I did say I don’t want the site to lose any current content if it is updated, and that I also don’t want the site used specifically for sales. However, I have no objection to it containing links to members’ own websites where they want to sell their own work. Members at the meeting were all in agreement they would like to see many more links to writers’ resource websites and will start collecting ones they think would be beneficial to the writing community.
Recently Margaret Moffatt received an email from someone who read her article about her father that is included on our website. And the blog received a comment from a writer in Toronto who also had a story accepted by Polar Expressions. It’s good to know Ram’s Head members are not the only ones who read the website or the blog for The Review.
Copies of the anthology “Don’t Light A Match In The Outhouse” by Summit Studios were available and my thanks to the four who bought copies. The book includes my short story “The Blob At Green Lake”. The editor said the book should be available in stores by November.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 15th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then and may the Muse inspire you 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
Wednesday’s Meeting was lively and fun and full of laughter as six of us were here to worship the Muse. I had found and re-activated our ‘talking stick’, complete with a blue rubber ram’s head on top of a brass vase. The ram’s head is actually a phallic prosthesis glued to the top of the vase. (This was thanks to Nathaniel Poole for his donation of said item in the earlier days of this writers’ group.) Kristi thought it was a hookah pipe when she first saw it. We did use it as a ‘talking stick’ and it was passed around the room to give each speaker authority to command attention. So now you know the origins of the name “Ram’s Head Writers’ Group”. Too funny!
Kristi was eager to read a new short story she wrote, “Of The Moon”. It told of a wandering soul that was in an acorn and then a wolf, a fish, a man, a tree, a sparrow, a hawk, and then the sky, and a moonbeam, where it returns to the moon. This story was very haunting and evocative of animal and spirit. We hope she can find somewhere to have it published and showcased.
Annette read her next two chapters in “A Touch of Wormwood”. We see Mike approaching Alyssa’s parents and trying to move them and their other two daughters to safety. He spends the night collecting Mr. and Mrs. Jorgen at their home, their daughter Eva at church, and their daughter Benny at a motel with a co-ed crowd, and then driving them all some distance to a motel he checks them into. Mike and Mr. Jorgen go out to collect some breakfast for all of them, but also to discuss the situation. After explaining that Alyssa and her whole family were in danger, that an assassin had been hired previously to kill Alyssa, Mr. Jorgen wants to know if Mike was that hired assassin. His question was the end of the chapter, and that was a great hook to keep readers turning the pages.
Jim read Chapter 59 in Book II of “Coventry Ghosts”. Sara and Joel are trying to avoid both the Umbra and the guards at the compound where they think Jason is, so Sara tries teaching Joel mental telepathy so they can communicate without being heard. However, Joel is annoyed and keeps telling her to get out of his head. He eventually catches on and suggests they walk, while Sara shields him and keeps him invisible.
Jim said he had contacted the editor that Jason had recommended to him and was waiting to hear from her after sending samples of his work.
Jason read another chapter from his book. Here we see a Hindu mother in hospital praying fervently for the life of her badly burned ten year old daughter. Through the night there is a miraculous healing and the mother witnesses energy flowing from Gregg into her daughter, as he’s holding her hand. Jason put a lot of research into this chapter about burns and their treatment, but also about Hindu prayer. There was good tension here, and it added much more depth to the story.
Margaret Moffatt has an article on the history of Surrey in the October issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine.
Wendy and I didn’t read anything, but I did bring up a discussion about our website and future possibilities. I did say I don’t want the site to lose any current content if it is updated, and that I also don’t want the site used specifically for sales. However, I have no objection to it containing links to members’ own websites where they want to sell their own work. Members at the meeting were all in agreement they would like to see many more links to writers’ resource websites and will start collecting ones they think would be beneficial to the writing community.
Recently Margaret Moffatt received an email from someone who read her article about her father that is included on our website. And the blog received a comment from a writer in Toronto who also had a story accepted by Polar Expressions. It’s good to know Ram’s Head members are not the only ones who read the website or the blog for The Review.
Copies of the anthology “Don’t Light A Match In The Outhouse” by Summit Studios were available and my thanks to the four who bought copies. The book includes my short story “The Blob At Green Lake”. The editor said the book should be available in stores by November.
The next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 15th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then and may the Muse inspire you 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, September 19, 2014
THE REVIEW
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
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
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