SPRING IS SPRUNG
Wednesday’s meeting saw the faithful trio of Bob, Margaret and myself here to share our writing pursuits.
Bob is going to submit his story “Going Downtown” to the short story contest at the Poetry Institute of Canada. He brought it along and asked for help in re-writing it for submission. So we read the story aloud and verbally edited every paragraph and ended up with a version that satisfied the three of us. Great fun. But that only worked because Bob had brought a hard copy for each of us to look at. Smart man.
Margaret read two chapters from the Peabody collection. Peacock is interviewing applicant number five for the position of his housekeeper. Her name is Mrs. Mousley, but she was scared off when Joey started crying like a cat, a habit he picked up while visiting Marigold. Mrs. Mousley was afraid of cats. But she had suspiciously reminded Peacock of Goldie, as in Goldie and Sylvester, who had bombed the Inn on Guy Fawkes Day. Then Rev. Peasley visits and strongly advises Peacock not to hire applicant number six, as she is Miss Dye, who had talked to the town about the resident ghosts of the area. Peacock doesn’t believe in ghosts. But Miss Dye likes Joey, his parrot, so he hires her. She then asks him to call her by her first name, which just happens to be “Marigold”.
I read a short story by a writer at the Murrayville Library Writers’ Group, about a young girl growing up in Jamaica and staying at a boarding school. The girl and her sister and a friend had to take their dirty clothes and linens each Saturday to the on-site laundry, where they were terrified by the mechanic who looked after the boilers and equipment. This was an actual memoir and very interesting to read.
Last week I sent off a short story submission to Polar Express. Am also organizing things for the next novel I will write, putting together a binder with sections for character development, plot outline, chapter outline, research, and the actual writing I will do. This is something I learned I need while doing the first novel. It certainly simplifies the work process and is a great aid when I can’t remember how I spelled somebody’s name or in which chapter something specific happened. No problem with a short story, but by the time I had over a hundred pages in my novel, it was a real nuisance trying to find something. The chapter outline I did after writing each one became invaluable to me when I did the rewriting.
Hope everybody is enjoying the gorgeous spring weather that has finally arrived. It was sure a long time coming this year. Now we can take our notebooks outside to write!
Next meeting here at my place on Wednesday, June 3rd at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you then. Happy Writing!
Lisa
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
THE REVIEW
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Since I didn’t write a Review after our meeting in April, I will have to include news from two meetings this time.
On April 1st, Bob and Margaret joined me and Margaret was the only one who read. From the Peabody collection, she read “The Intruder”, which sees Marie come back to the smelly manse after staying overnight at the Inn. She opens the doors and windows to air the place out, then goes to get eggs at a farm. Meanwhile, Peabody gets up to a cold house and calls police to say there’s been an intruder, and the policeman tells Marie, who thinks it’s bad luck because the Xmas tree was removed before New Year’s. Peabody tells her he feels guilty for removing the tree, so then she feels sorry for him and puts the kettle on.
In Seniors Today, there was an article called “Just for Laughs” by Laszlo Tamas, Gemma’s husband.
On May 6th, Bob and Margaret again joined me for another meeting. Margaret brought pictures showing a brass plaque that’s on a pole in Vancouver. The plaque has Margaret’s story “Dinner At Love’s Café” on it. Isn’t that a great way of preserving an author’s work?
Bob read from his jewellery history, about the hub of the business being in the area of Hastings St. and Cordova. There was a very large diamond robbery on 1906, with $8500.00 in rings stolen, and a shot fired at a clerk pursuing the thieves. One thief was caught with 9 diamonds in the butt of a revolver. Bob also read an account of this episode from the Vancouver archives.
Margaret read about Reverend Peacock’s Christmas at Marigold’s in Gretna Green. Unfortunately, he fell out of the hole in the wall bed and Marigold called a vet to attend to his injuries. The vet was more interested in Joey, the squawking parrot. On his return home, he started interviewing for a new housekeeper. He kept praying for another Marigold.
While Sonny and Chantal and baby Grayson stayed with me in April, I asked Chantal to read my novel “Fire”, which she did. She said it was a good read and she really wanted to learn the identity of the arsonist. She also said there weren’t any parts in the book that she felt she had to slog through. This was all very pleasing for me to hear. Chantal is well educated and an avid reader of fiction, so I highly respect her opinion as a reader. After that good news, I sent off my first submission to an agent, which included cover letter, synopsis, and first two chapters.
Now I am getting organized to start another novel. I plan to continue with the same characters in the same setting, but this will be a murder mystery.
Ann is currently taking a course in the History of Africa at Kwantlen, and plans to take a creative writing course in the fall. Her community hosted a talk by Doris Reidwig about having her first novel published.
In yesterday’s Langley Times there was a call for submissions of poetry or short stories to a contest where a lot of submissions will be included in an anthology. You might want to take a look.
Next meeting here at my place on Wednesday, May 20th at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you then, even if you haven’t written anything.
Lisa
Since I didn’t write a Review after our meeting in April, I will have to include news from two meetings this time.
On April 1st, Bob and Margaret joined me and Margaret was the only one who read. From the Peabody collection, she read “The Intruder”, which sees Marie come back to the smelly manse after staying overnight at the Inn. She opens the doors and windows to air the place out, then goes to get eggs at a farm. Meanwhile, Peabody gets up to a cold house and calls police to say there’s been an intruder, and the policeman tells Marie, who thinks it’s bad luck because the Xmas tree was removed before New Year’s. Peabody tells her he feels guilty for removing the tree, so then she feels sorry for him and puts the kettle on.
In Seniors Today, there was an article called “Just for Laughs” by Laszlo Tamas, Gemma’s husband.
On May 6th, Bob and Margaret again joined me for another meeting. Margaret brought pictures showing a brass plaque that’s on a pole in Vancouver. The plaque has Margaret’s story “Dinner At Love’s Café” on it. Isn’t that a great way of preserving an author’s work?
Bob read from his jewellery history, about the hub of the business being in the area of Hastings St. and Cordova. There was a very large diamond robbery on 1906, with $8500.00 in rings stolen, and a shot fired at a clerk pursuing the thieves. One thief was caught with 9 diamonds in the butt of a revolver. Bob also read an account of this episode from the Vancouver archives.
Margaret read about Reverend Peacock’s Christmas at Marigold’s in Gretna Green. Unfortunately, he fell out of the hole in the wall bed and Marigold called a vet to attend to his injuries. The vet was more interested in Joey, the squawking parrot. On his return home, he started interviewing for a new housekeeper. He kept praying for another Marigold.
While Sonny and Chantal and baby Grayson stayed with me in April, I asked Chantal to read my novel “Fire”, which she did. She said it was a good read and she really wanted to learn the identity of the arsonist. She also said there weren’t any parts in the book that she felt she had to slog through. This was all very pleasing for me to hear. Chantal is well educated and an avid reader of fiction, so I highly respect her opinion as a reader. After that good news, I sent off my first submission to an agent, which included cover letter, synopsis, and first two chapters.
Now I am getting organized to start another novel. I plan to continue with the same characters in the same setting, but this will be a murder mystery.
Ann is currently taking a course in the History of Africa at Kwantlen, and plans to take a creative writing course in the fall. Her community hosted a talk by Doris Reidwig about having her first novel published.
In yesterday’s Langley Times there was a call for submissions of poetry or short stories to a contest where a lot of submissions will be included in an anthology. You might want to take a look.
Next meeting here at my place on Wednesday, May 20th at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you then, even if you haven’t written anything.
Lisa
Sunday, March 22, 2009
THE REVIEW
SPRING AHEAD
Wednesday’s meeting was just ahead of the first day of spring. We were a group of four; Robin, Bob, Margaret and I. It was great to see Robin again.
Bob had been doing some more research regarding his memoirs of the WWII years. He went looking for the ship that transported Canadian soldiers to Hong Kong. He found a picture of the HMT Awatea on which the soldiers traveled. Bob thinks it was a New Zealand ship. They were brought home later on the CN ship Prince Robert.
Trying to decide how to write his novel, Bob is taking inspiration from Marcia Muller’s collection of short stories, “Somewhere In The City”. He says he wants to write a series of short stories that include the same main characters, in different vignettes. But Bob feels he must first complete his history of the jewellery business in B.C. and consequently brought an excerpt on Zuker and Company to read to us.
Robin’s had time to work on some songs while he’s been recovering from his knee replacement surgery. He brought along the typed lyrics to “Little Glass House By The Sea”, a rousing ballad about a young man in love with the women down on the beach. Then Robin gave us the CD to play, with the recorded song on it. Very interesting. And as well, Robin turned on my electric keyboard and played a bit for us. Another song Robin has been working on for years is “No Someone”. It is a very sad song about a man not having someone to ask “Do you love me?” anymore.
Margaret read another story from her Peabody collection. Rev. Peasly and his dog, Barker, go to visit Rev. Peabody, who confides that Marie has called him an old fogey. Peasly tells him it’s a type of compliment. Barker sniffs at the Christmas tree, which is the one stolen from Peasly’s yard and then sold to Peacock, who gave it to Peabody. But Barker was happy to recognize it and lifted his leg against it in greeting. Peasly and Peabody try to clean up and get rid of the smell of urine by turfing the tree out in the yard. Marie comes home and is disgusted by the smell of urine and goes to stay at the Inn.
Time had flown and I didn’t read any Chapters from my novel, but I am working on the Chapter Outline, which I could use for a longer synopsis by simply removing chapter headings from the document. Will see how this works out.
Next Meeting Wednesday, April 1st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
Lisa
Wednesday’s meeting was just ahead of the first day of spring. We were a group of four; Robin, Bob, Margaret and I. It was great to see Robin again.
Bob had been doing some more research regarding his memoirs of the WWII years. He went looking for the ship that transported Canadian soldiers to Hong Kong. He found a picture of the HMT Awatea on which the soldiers traveled. Bob thinks it was a New Zealand ship. They were brought home later on the CN ship Prince Robert.
Trying to decide how to write his novel, Bob is taking inspiration from Marcia Muller’s collection of short stories, “Somewhere In The City”. He says he wants to write a series of short stories that include the same main characters, in different vignettes. But Bob feels he must first complete his history of the jewellery business in B.C. and consequently brought an excerpt on Zuker and Company to read to us.
Robin’s had time to work on some songs while he’s been recovering from his knee replacement surgery. He brought along the typed lyrics to “Little Glass House By The Sea”, a rousing ballad about a young man in love with the women down on the beach. Then Robin gave us the CD to play, with the recorded song on it. Very interesting. And as well, Robin turned on my electric keyboard and played a bit for us. Another song Robin has been working on for years is “No Someone”. It is a very sad song about a man not having someone to ask “Do you love me?” anymore.
Margaret read another story from her Peabody collection. Rev. Peasly and his dog, Barker, go to visit Rev. Peabody, who confides that Marie has called him an old fogey. Peasly tells him it’s a type of compliment. Barker sniffs at the Christmas tree, which is the one stolen from Peasly’s yard and then sold to Peacock, who gave it to Peabody. But Barker was happy to recognize it and lifted his leg against it in greeting. Peasly and Peabody try to clean up and get rid of the smell of urine by turfing the tree out in the yard. Marie comes home and is disgusted by the smell of urine and goes to stay at the Inn.
Time had flown and I didn’t read any Chapters from my novel, but I am working on the Chapter Outline, which I could use for a longer synopsis by simply removing chapter headings from the document. Will see how this works out.
Next Meeting Wednesday, April 1st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
Lisa
Sunday, March 8, 2009
THE REVIEW
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
It was great to hear Susan’s voice again when I listened to her on CBC Radio on February 26th. She was a guest commentator on The Point and along with Kevin Paterson, offered her opinions on the federal government’s increased sentences for violence in public places, on the validity of zoos in today’s world, on giving things up for Lent, and on stem cell research. It was an hour long program and a lot was discussed. And it was mentioned several times that Susan was a writer and a mother of five. The latter seemed to be the bigger claim to fame on the show. Hoorah for Motherhood!
The expected opening of a new book store in Chilliwack by a lady keen to support and promote local authors is generating excitement, especially since she asked I forward the notice of same to our members. Bryon and I hope to go out to visit when it opens, and Gemma has asked to go with us as she has a book she would like to take out to put in the store on consignment.
Bob started writing his first fiction novel, “The Consultant”. He said it was really difficult and knowing you are supposed to catch the reader with the first paragraph he wrote four versions of same and was still stumped. Margaret and I went through a process of elimination on the four, and picked what we thought was the best one to use as it started directly with some action, rather than background information. We did tell Bob not to worry about perfection to begin with, just to write. It can all be improved later for a better read, but you should first get the story down on paper.
Margaret was doing some research on Gretna Green. When she Googled it, all she got was one sentence. When she pulled out her own very old encyclopedia she found a whole page of information. She feels sorry for today’s researchers relying on the internet and feels they are being shortchanged on historical facts.
In her Peabody collection, Margaret read that Rev. Peabody was remembering his experience of Christmas with so many houseguests. He had not felt obligated to conduct a funeral service for the dead spider. And he did not admit finding the cat with the rat’s remains. Hamish did tell him he should take a wife to prevent himself from becoming an old fogey. Peabody tells Marie he has an important question to ask her. She thinks he’s going to propose. But he only asks if he’s on old fogey.
I read the next chapter from “Fire”, where Cam is at work at the bowling alley Saturday morning, with all the little hooligans. Lucy’s brother, Rick, arrives and threatens to hurt Cam’s Mom if she doesn’t stay away from the Detective.
Last week I finished the rewrite of my novel, so am now looking at starting to send it out. I have a one-page synopsis, but still need to write a longer one. Am currently typing up my chapter outline, which I may be able to use for the longer synopsis. It’s annoying that different agents and publishers want it in different lengths.
I explained to Bryon that I had a one-page synopsis, but needed to do a twenty-page synopsis, and maybe one in-between. Being an engineer, he came up with the most practical, time saving solution. “Just change the font,” he said.
Next meeting here at my place Wednesday, March 18th at 7:00 p.m. Would love to see you then.
Lisa
It was great to hear Susan’s voice again when I listened to her on CBC Radio on February 26th. She was a guest commentator on The Point and along with Kevin Paterson, offered her opinions on the federal government’s increased sentences for violence in public places, on the validity of zoos in today’s world, on giving things up for Lent, and on stem cell research. It was an hour long program and a lot was discussed. And it was mentioned several times that Susan was a writer and a mother of five. The latter seemed to be the bigger claim to fame on the show. Hoorah for Motherhood!
The expected opening of a new book store in Chilliwack by a lady keen to support and promote local authors is generating excitement, especially since she asked I forward the notice of same to our members. Bryon and I hope to go out to visit when it opens, and Gemma has asked to go with us as she has a book she would like to take out to put in the store on consignment.
Bob started writing his first fiction novel, “The Consultant”. He said it was really difficult and knowing you are supposed to catch the reader with the first paragraph he wrote four versions of same and was still stumped. Margaret and I went through a process of elimination on the four, and picked what we thought was the best one to use as it started directly with some action, rather than background information. We did tell Bob not to worry about perfection to begin with, just to write. It can all be improved later for a better read, but you should first get the story down on paper.
Margaret was doing some research on Gretna Green. When she Googled it, all she got was one sentence. When she pulled out her own very old encyclopedia she found a whole page of information. She feels sorry for today’s researchers relying on the internet and feels they are being shortchanged on historical facts.
In her Peabody collection, Margaret read that Rev. Peabody was remembering his experience of Christmas with so many houseguests. He had not felt obligated to conduct a funeral service for the dead spider. And he did not admit finding the cat with the rat’s remains. Hamish did tell him he should take a wife to prevent himself from becoming an old fogey. Peabody tells Marie he has an important question to ask her. She thinks he’s going to propose. But he only asks if he’s on old fogey.
I read the next chapter from “Fire”, where Cam is at work at the bowling alley Saturday morning, with all the little hooligans. Lucy’s brother, Rick, arrives and threatens to hurt Cam’s Mom if she doesn’t stay away from the Detective.
Last week I finished the rewrite of my novel, so am now looking at starting to send it out. I have a one-page synopsis, but still need to write a longer one. Am currently typing up my chapter outline, which I may be able to use for the longer synopsis. It’s annoying that different agents and publishers want it in different lengths.
I explained to Bryon that I had a one-page synopsis, but needed to do a twenty-page synopsis, and maybe one in-between. Being an engineer, he came up with the most practical, time saving solution. “Just change the font,” he said.
Next meeting here at my place Wednesday, March 18th at 7:00 p.m. Would love to see you then.
Lisa
Sunday, February 22, 2009
THE REVIEW
STILL WRITING
Bob and Margaret and I were still the only ones present at our meeting on Wednesday. Does that mean we’re the only ones still writing?
Bob is recovering slowly from surgery he had 2 weeks ago, but was able to complete the piece he was writing about his memories of the WWII years. He read about seeing an aircraft carrier in Vancouver harbour, a small one that only carried 5 or 6 planes. He told us the allied invasion of Normandy was called Operation Overload. The Canadian infantry spent the winter of 1944-45 in Holland. CPR steamships ran the ferry to Victoria as part of the transcontinental railway system. In 1944 patients from Shaughnessy Military Hospital were seen in Bob’s neighbourhood. On April 12, 1945 there was an assembly at school because Roosevelt died. On May 6, 1945 the war was over in Europe. After the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945. That fall Bob was sent to a boarding school where the cadets wore uniforms that were old leftovers from the Boer war. He remembers taking a trip with his parents from Ontario to Detroit to Chicago and a train trip on the Golden State Railway which traveled on the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railway Line (AT&SF). He loved that name.
Margaret read “The Royal Bedroom”. Marie was reading the Christmas mail and learned that Hamish and his wife Matilda and their adopted son, Gaylord and his two pets were coming to visit Rev. Peabody for Christmas. Marie had already invited her own son and daughter-in-law and their two children and two pets. Where would they all sleep? Rev. Peabody found her in the office as she was planning to turn it into an extra bedroom. He wanted to know if she was cooking supper as they hadn’t had any lunch.
Then Margaret read the next chapter, “Dear Diary”. Marie is writing in her diary about the Christmas holidays they had with seven guests and four pets. The remains of Mandrake, the English black rat, were found in front of Angora, one of the cats. Aristotle, the second cat, attacked the turkey. Gooseberry, the 8 legged spider in the canning jar got loose and Rev. Peabody stepped on him. Marie was relieved to see that for the next Christmas, they were invited to the Flemish castle with Hamish and Matilda to celebrate.
I read Chapter 17 in my novel. Fiona woke up Saturday morning on Easter weekend, thinking she’d have the day to herself. She heard Cam leave for work. She relaxed over coffee and remembered her years with her husband before he died, and then saw how lucky her job in the complex was as it enabled her to be close by for Cam as she was working. She couldn’t do anything more about the arson fires until Monday or Tuesday and she planned to have dinner at home that night with her son. Then she checked telephone messages and learned an emergency Council meeting had been called for that afternoon to discuss the fires and she would have to attend.
Next Meeting on Wednesday, March 4th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
Lisa
Bob and Margaret and I were still the only ones present at our meeting on Wednesday. Does that mean we’re the only ones still writing?
Bob is recovering slowly from surgery he had 2 weeks ago, but was able to complete the piece he was writing about his memories of the WWII years. He read about seeing an aircraft carrier in Vancouver harbour, a small one that only carried 5 or 6 planes. He told us the allied invasion of Normandy was called Operation Overload. The Canadian infantry spent the winter of 1944-45 in Holland. CPR steamships ran the ferry to Victoria as part of the transcontinental railway system. In 1944 patients from Shaughnessy Military Hospital were seen in Bob’s neighbourhood. On April 12, 1945 there was an assembly at school because Roosevelt died. On May 6, 1945 the war was over in Europe. After the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945. That fall Bob was sent to a boarding school where the cadets wore uniforms that were old leftovers from the Boer war. He remembers taking a trip with his parents from Ontario to Detroit to Chicago and a train trip on the Golden State Railway which traveled on the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railway Line (AT&SF). He loved that name.
Margaret read “The Royal Bedroom”. Marie was reading the Christmas mail and learned that Hamish and his wife Matilda and their adopted son, Gaylord and his two pets were coming to visit Rev. Peabody for Christmas. Marie had already invited her own son and daughter-in-law and their two children and two pets. Where would they all sleep? Rev. Peabody found her in the office as she was planning to turn it into an extra bedroom. He wanted to know if she was cooking supper as they hadn’t had any lunch.
Then Margaret read the next chapter, “Dear Diary”. Marie is writing in her diary about the Christmas holidays they had with seven guests and four pets. The remains of Mandrake, the English black rat, were found in front of Angora, one of the cats. Aristotle, the second cat, attacked the turkey. Gooseberry, the 8 legged spider in the canning jar got loose and Rev. Peabody stepped on him. Marie was relieved to see that for the next Christmas, they were invited to the Flemish castle with Hamish and Matilda to celebrate.
I read Chapter 17 in my novel. Fiona woke up Saturday morning on Easter weekend, thinking she’d have the day to herself. She heard Cam leave for work. She relaxed over coffee and remembered her years with her husband before he died, and then saw how lucky her job in the complex was as it enabled her to be close by for Cam as she was working. She couldn’t do anything more about the arson fires until Monday or Tuesday and she planned to have dinner at home that night with her son. Then she checked telephone messages and learned an emergency Council meeting had been called for that afternoon to discuss the fires and she would have to attend.
Next Meeting on Wednesday, March 4th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then.
Lisa
Sunday, February 8, 2009
THE REVIEW
WEDNESDAY’S CHILD
We have moved our Meetings to the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month and hope that might make it possible for more to attend. According to the nursery rhyme, “Wednesday’s child is full of woe”. But the original version from 1887 had “Wednesday’s child is loving and giving”. So whatever inspires your writing, pain or pleasure, Wednesday can handle it all!
Bob had written more about his childhood memories during WWII. He did some research on Zombies and Zoot Suiters. Zombies were draftees in the army as non-fighting forces. Zoot Suiters wore a strange fashion made in Chinatown with high-waisted baggy-bottom trousers that had a very narrow cuff. The jackets were very long, double breasted, and had padded shoulders. Bob also had many pictures of aircraft used during WWII and we enjoyed looking at them.
Margaret read “Bearer Of Gifts” from her Peabody collection. The farmer, Mr. Lamb, who raises sheep, noticed that somebody stole all his mistletoe. Peabody went to cut down a Xmas tree but found somebody else had already cut it down and it was gone. Then Rev. Peacock answered his door and from a young boy, bought a Xmas tree and some mistletoe, which, because he was going away to visit Marigold for Xmas, he then gave to Peabody.
Margaret and I both received our copies of “Summer Tapestry”, an anthology which includes our short stories; my “The Perfect Size” and Margaret’s “The Assignment”. Nice to see my name in a book instead of a newspaper or magazine. Is that a step up?
The February issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine has Margaret’s story “The Hat” and a reprint of Gemma’s “New Year’s Resolution”. I read Margaret’s story out loud. It’s about one day in 1945 when she went to a shop on Granville St. to buy a hat, and a huge explosion rocked the street and blew out windows. The ship Greenhill Park had blown up in the harbour.
Bob has decided to forego writing the history of the jewllery business in B.C. and focus his talents on writing a novel, humour and a little mystery, based on all the interesting stories he has told us on the side. That way, he can use all that’s most interesting if he’s writing fiction instead of fact. He was all smiles talking about it. This could be fun.
Robin Ryan is recovering from knee surgery and some complications since. We wish him a speedy recovery and return to good health.
Bob had day surgery on Friday, and though I haven’t heard anything since, we assume he, too, is recovering.
Next Meeting here at my place at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18th. Would love to see you then. Happy Valentine’s Day in the meantime.
Lisa
We have moved our Meetings to the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month and hope that might make it possible for more to attend. According to the nursery rhyme, “Wednesday’s child is full of woe”. But the original version from 1887 had “Wednesday’s child is loving and giving”. So whatever inspires your writing, pain or pleasure, Wednesday can handle it all!
Bob had written more about his childhood memories during WWII. He did some research on Zombies and Zoot Suiters. Zombies were draftees in the army as non-fighting forces. Zoot Suiters wore a strange fashion made in Chinatown with high-waisted baggy-bottom trousers that had a very narrow cuff. The jackets were very long, double breasted, and had padded shoulders. Bob also had many pictures of aircraft used during WWII and we enjoyed looking at them.
Margaret read “Bearer Of Gifts” from her Peabody collection. The farmer, Mr. Lamb, who raises sheep, noticed that somebody stole all his mistletoe. Peabody went to cut down a Xmas tree but found somebody else had already cut it down and it was gone. Then Rev. Peacock answered his door and from a young boy, bought a Xmas tree and some mistletoe, which, because he was going away to visit Marigold for Xmas, he then gave to Peabody.
Margaret and I both received our copies of “Summer Tapestry”, an anthology which includes our short stories; my “The Perfect Size” and Margaret’s “The Assignment”. Nice to see my name in a book instead of a newspaper or magazine. Is that a step up?
The February issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine has Margaret’s story “The Hat” and a reprint of Gemma’s “New Year’s Resolution”. I read Margaret’s story out loud. It’s about one day in 1945 when she went to a shop on Granville St. to buy a hat, and a huge explosion rocked the street and blew out windows. The ship Greenhill Park had blown up in the harbour.
Bob has decided to forego writing the history of the jewllery business in B.C. and focus his talents on writing a novel, humour and a little mystery, based on all the interesting stories he has told us on the side. That way, he can use all that’s most interesting if he’s writing fiction instead of fact. He was all smiles talking about it. This could be fun.
Robin Ryan is recovering from knee surgery and some complications since. We wish him a speedy recovery and return to good health.
Bob had day surgery on Friday, and though I haven’t heard anything since, we assume he, too, is recovering.
Next Meeting here at my place at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18th. Would love to see you then. Happy Valentine’s Day in the meantime.
Lisa
Saturday, January 24, 2009
THE REVIEW
IN BETWEEN SNOWSTORMS
We did have a Meeting on Thursday, when enough snow had melted for people to get around, and before the next snowfall comes on Tuesday. Bob and Margaret were here, and Cameron Dueck also attended for the first time. Cameron said he writes poetry, short stories and plays; a little bit of everything. We welcome him to the fold.
Bob started by reading an article from the Vancouver Historical Society detailing a visit to Vancouver on July 18, 1915 by Teddy Roosevelt and his wife.
Then Bob proudly told us he had written 2508 words on a topic other than the history of the jewellery business in B.C. He read to us his boyhood memories of local events and news received during WWII. Very interesting. We had told Bob that if writing about the jewellery business had become too onerous that he should consider writing on subjects that did grab his attention. It is true that if the writer is bored then he/she will probably bore their readers as well.
Margaret read another story from the Peabody collection , “Greetings From Marigold”. Reverend Peacock received a Christmas card and letter from Marigold. She told him she had married Jasper in Gretna Green in Scotland and that was where they were settling. Jasper’s aunt and uncle had disowned him because he married outside the Jewish faith, and her Catholic family were not communicating with them either. Therefore, she invited Rev. Peacock and his parrot, Joey, to visit and stay with them over Christmas. Margaret has said this story is nearing the end of the Peabody collection. We shall greatly miss hearing about these beloved characters she has brought to life for us.
Cameron read to us two of his poems. The first one, “If Totem Poles Could Talk They’d Probably Cry” detailed the dying tribal life and how the tribal voices are being stilled. It is a very moving poem. He said it had been published in an anthology, but we think he should do more with it. The next poem was “British Columbia” and it was a picture painted in words of all the beautiful vistas that B.C. has to offer. Both these poems were strong pieces of writing that spoke to the listener very clearly.
I received from Susan an envelope with several goodies. She sent two issues of the newsletter “Word” put out by the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. That organization is probably similar to the Federation of B.C. Writers. Also included in the parcel was the January/February issue of Atlantic Business magazine, in which there is an announcement of Susan and her husband, Chris, starting their own business in communications/consultancy called “48 Degrees Inc. We wish them good luck with this business venture.
I did attend a meeting on the 15th, at the Murrayville library, of a recently formed writers’ group. It was interesting and I was happy to see the whole time was spent discussing writing topics only. There was a printed agenda for the meeting which included a specified time slot for writers to define what writing goals they hoped to meet before the next meeting. I thought this was an excellent idea as it gives the incentive of having a deadline to meet. Also received at this meeting was a list of library resources for writers, which I will forward in a separate email..
After some discussion, it was decided that we will switch meeting nights from Thursdays to Wednesdays. Our meetings will now be the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Hopefully that could eliminate scheduling conflicts for some people. Our next meeting will be here at my place at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4th. Hope to see you then. Bring your Muse.
Lisa
We did have a Meeting on Thursday, when enough snow had melted for people to get around, and before the next snowfall comes on Tuesday. Bob and Margaret were here, and Cameron Dueck also attended for the first time. Cameron said he writes poetry, short stories and plays; a little bit of everything. We welcome him to the fold.
Bob started by reading an article from the Vancouver Historical Society detailing a visit to Vancouver on July 18, 1915 by Teddy Roosevelt and his wife.
Then Bob proudly told us he had written 2508 words on a topic other than the history of the jewellery business in B.C. He read to us his boyhood memories of local events and news received during WWII. Very interesting. We had told Bob that if writing about the jewellery business had become too onerous that he should consider writing on subjects that did grab his attention. It is true that if the writer is bored then he/she will probably bore their readers as well.
Margaret read another story from the Peabody collection , “Greetings From Marigold”. Reverend Peacock received a Christmas card and letter from Marigold. She told him she had married Jasper in Gretna Green in Scotland and that was where they were settling. Jasper’s aunt and uncle had disowned him because he married outside the Jewish faith, and her Catholic family were not communicating with them either. Therefore, she invited Rev. Peacock and his parrot, Joey, to visit and stay with them over Christmas. Margaret has said this story is nearing the end of the Peabody collection. We shall greatly miss hearing about these beloved characters she has brought to life for us.
Cameron read to us two of his poems. The first one, “If Totem Poles Could Talk They’d Probably Cry” detailed the dying tribal life and how the tribal voices are being stilled. It is a very moving poem. He said it had been published in an anthology, but we think he should do more with it. The next poem was “British Columbia” and it was a picture painted in words of all the beautiful vistas that B.C. has to offer. Both these poems were strong pieces of writing that spoke to the listener very clearly.
I received from Susan an envelope with several goodies. She sent two issues of the newsletter “Word” put out by the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador. That organization is probably similar to the Federation of B.C. Writers. Also included in the parcel was the January/February issue of Atlantic Business magazine, in which there is an announcement of Susan and her husband, Chris, starting their own business in communications/consultancy called “48 Degrees Inc. We wish them good luck with this business venture.
I did attend a meeting on the 15th, at the Murrayville library, of a recently formed writers’ group. It was interesting and I was happy to see the whole time was spent discussing writing topics only. There was a printed agenda for the meeting which included a specified time slot for writers to define what writing goals they hoped to meet before the next meeting. I thought this was an excellent idea as it gives the incentive of having a deadline to meet. Also received at this meeting was a list of library resources for writers, which I will forward in a separate email..
After some discussion, it was decided that we will switch meeting nights from Thursdays to Wednesdays. Our meetings will now be the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Hopefully that could eliminate scheduling conflicts for some people. Our next meeting will be here at my place at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4th. Hope to see you then. Bring your Muse.
Lisa
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