I was late arriving to the meeting. Thanks to Pat for taking notes for the first hour that I missed and for sending them to me right after the meeting.
Richard passed around headshots for individual approval. Some retakes were done after the meeting.
Gloria shared page set up samples for bios and content for the anthology. She advised that she has decided on a 6x9 inch book, a little larger than her previous anthology Stories of Prayers and Faith. The group agreed that the smaller sized bio and picture were more appropriate as to not overpower the page (Richard's words). Headers and footers were agreed upon by the group members present.
Kelli pointed out that the website still has the photo of the library on it. Richard is going to take a picture of the church and forward it to Shirley so she can change it on the website.
It was agreed that A Walk in Fields of Gold is the final title for the anthology. Richard has been trying to match the font from the HWG logo, but has been unsuccessful. Pat will email Rich Landriault who produced the logo and see if he can help.
Pat advised that the official HWG membership list includes names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and birthdates; and that this list is only distributed to Nancy, Shirley, Laura and Diane. She suggested sending to the group via email a list of names and addresses only. Everyone agreed.
Another reminder was issued to have submissions and bios emailed to Gloria by the end of July.
And this is where I took over.....
Richard brought up a discussion about using prologues and epilogues. A lot of editors don't like them. They feel the information should be woven into the body of the story. Richard argued that there are times when they are appropriate to use. For example, when part of your backstory takes place hundreds of years before the novel, a writer can use a prologue for the distant past information. When a novel concludes in a way that the reader needs a little more information to be sure things ended up "happily ever after", you can use an epilogue to let us know how things turned out. They are mostly used in mysteries, sci-fi and fantasy novels. David wondered if it was the editor who was unnecessary, not the prologue or epilogue.
Richard reminded us that 2001: A Space Odessey was a prologue.
Laura read a piece to us that we asked her to post to the blog. It was called "Revenge on the Editor" and included several members of our group in the cast! Very funny story.
The prompt was based on Richard's last blog post about "What's in a Name?"
We were handed names written on slips of paper and told to write a character description and plot using the name. Most of us got something on paper, but some of us were caught up in the discussions about names and the stereotypes of names. As writers, we work hard on our story lines and settings, but sometimes forget how important names are. What it does come down to, however, is a matter of perspective and what the author chooses.
Some of the names Richard handed out were: Daniel, Theodore, Eugene, Laura, Betty, Wilma, Bella (Isabella or Belladonna), Wilbur, Warren, Elizabeth, Robert, Raven, Barry. Everyone found that we had to work a little harder for "stereotype" names and "non-exciting" names.
Ways that some of our members choose names for their characters are: from people they know or have met, baby name books, on-line name lists.
Last night I looked up some tips for naming fictional characters. I came across three interesting sites to check out:
www.babynames.com/character-names.php
http://www.charlottedillon.com/characters.html
www.fictionfactor.com/characters.html
Hope these can help to answer some questions. Out of all my writing books at home, I only found a short section in one magazine that even referenced this topic.
This is an excerpt from an article by Sam McCarver in The Writer from March 2009 (Page 23):
"Give characters fitting names that suit their roles and personalities. Would the name Felix Frump bring to mind a fearless, intriguing detective? No, but it might well apply to a comic character in a humorous novel. A tough detective would more likely have a name like Dirty Harry. A character, therefore, should be given a name that fits his or her individuality. The names Ebenezer Scrooge, Zorro, Frankenstein, Tarzan, James Bond and Dirk Pitt are all fitting, unique fictional names that in themselves can help evoke visual images and impressions of the characters.
Give your cast of characters names with clear differences-some shorter names, other longer, using various letters of the alphabet, each name having a different basic sound. The deadly villain of Star Wars is aptly named DarthVader, using hard consonants, while the heroic character exploring the far reaches of the universe is suitably named Luke Skywalker, emphasizing vowels. Janet Evanovich gave her female sleuth an intriguing name, Stephanie Plum, that is very rhythmical-a long, soft first name of three syllables, balanced by a single-syllable but soft surname.
Movie studios realized that the real names of potential stars could be burdens and so made them more memorable. Thus, we saw no movies with Archibald Leach, but enjoyed many with Cary Grant-his studio name. Greta Gustafson became Greta Garbo, and Marion Morrison took the name John Wayne.Elmore Leonard has said, "Sometimes a character doesn't work until I change his name." If your character names don't fit, change them."
Our next meeting is August 8, 2010. Harry will be leading.
Hope to see you all then.
Showing posts with label Stories of Prayers and Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stories of Prayers and Faith. Show all posts
Monday, July 26, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Photos from Stories of Prayers and Faith Book Launch
Ruth reading from her poetry book.
Diane reads part of Gifts from God.
Nancy reads part of Heavenly Encounters.
Gloria and Alberta start things off with Alberta reading about her experience with a shark in Hawaii. Her story is called We Are One.
Writers, writers everywhere and nary a pen in sight!
Okay so that's not totally true. Those authors with stories in the book were only too happy to sign their stories and chat with our friends. I even stepped in to serve drinks when our beloved BookLore lady Nancy was busy.
Thanks to all who came for such a great evening.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Meeting Minutes April 25, 2010
We had a great day for writing. Since it was gloomy outside, no one minded being inside.
I had a great conversation with Clare and Ron before the meeting. We talked about Vertical vs. Horizontal thinking. If you want something interesting to Google, this would be it!
A cheque was paid to the Tweedsmuir Church for use of their room for the first 6 months of the year. Although they do not charge us rent, we took it upon ourselves to make a donation of $100 to the church twice a year. We are grateful for the time and space to write. Nancy was talking to new members about how we used to write at the library for free on taxpayers' money, but now we write for free at the church using God's money. Clare laughed and said, "So you're okay if we use taxpayer money, but not God's money?" Judy clarified the situation by reminding us that "When you boil it down, it's all God's money. The government just thinks it's theirs."
Jayne's novel is still the most "feedbacked" item in the Presbyterian Record. Yes, she made up a new word. We liked it so it's on the blog. You can read her novel on http://www.presbyterianrecord.ca/.
Nancy, Gaetan, Clare and Judy all made it out to Grey Roots Museum April 24 for the Poetry reading that Harry was involved in. They gave kudos to Harry for such an impressive job. They told us that all of the works were heartfelt and impressive. Each piece made them think and touched them deeply as the performances spoke to their souls. Nancy recorded some of the show and will burn it onto a DVD to show us all. She thinks it's wonderful that poets love to watch other poets.
Ron showed us a book written by former ODSS teacher Gary T. Gravelle (GTG) called Paths Through Heartache. It is a touching book about his wife who died from Huntington's Disease in 2001. Pat will extend a formal invitation to join our group and talk to us about his book writing experience.
Reminder: Monday April 26 at 7pm is the book launch for Stories of Prayers and Faith. A few of our members have been published in this anthology. Come on out and show them your support!
We welcomed back Kelli Curtis, who joined us once before then got busy with publishing her children's book called Amber and the Fallen Bridge. She had a book launch at As We Grow and will be doing a reading at St. Benedict School here in Orangeville on May 4th. Her book is available at: BookLore, As We Grow, and The Vinyl Cut. She read it to us for practice even though we were all far bigger kids than she is used to reading to. We loved it. Way to go Kelli!
Kelli brought up a great question about how much to charge schools for us to go in to read/talk to students. Some suggestions were to check other author websites and to start low and raise your fees as you get more books published. The base price suggested was $50 per hour and go up from there.
Hope to see you at more meetings.
June 19 is the deadline for submissions for the anthology! There is a 2000 word limit on prose. The group had several questions which I will forward to Gloria later today so she can have an answer for our next meeting. Bring in ideas for artwork for the book cover! There is no theme so anything goes.
June 19 is also the Eramosa Eden Retreat. We will be there from 10am - 4pm to write, use prompts, take pictures, nap...Nancy wants your money asap if you are able to plan ahead. The cost for the day is $10, bring your own bag lunch. Coffee will be provided. If people would like to bring treats, we won't discourage it!
Readings.
Clare read about a chance meeting at a Tim Hortons with Jayne and her father. He should get a sponsorship from them for all the stories he has written in their restaurants. Or at least a bottomless Tim Card.
Pat read a section of her novel-in-progress. Can't wait to see what happens next.
Kelli read her book to us. We all love the nervous giggle. Glad we could be your first real audience for it.
Ron told us he had great news. He has plans to meet his historian friend next month in Lexington, NC. We'll look forward to hearing all the stories he has to share about that meeting.
Diane read the revised Chapter 1 of her Young Adult novel The Mural.
Judy read her piece about "I can't write today."
We talked about being vulnerable when reading to the group and to others.
Sandy surprised us all by singing her song that she wrote when her son was little. She recorded it with her brothers and sisters who performed in a band called The Free Design out of Delevan, New York. Her song, "Love You" appeared on the band's 6th album and was used in worldwide Toyota commercials as well as others. It also appeared in the closeing credits of the movie Stranger Than Fiction starring Emma Thompson and Will Farrell. Go ahead and Google her and her former group. I dare you not to be impressed!
We wrote our prompts and Clare read his about a Silver Angel and included the song On The Road Again. We'd love to hear more.
Sonja read about a woman waiting for the right time to kill a man. Intriguing.
Pat read about an obstacle someone hadn't anticipated.
Kelli wrote about breaking up with a friend in Grade 9 and trying to reconnect now that she's older. She plans to write a story about it.
Nancy started off reading about her younger sister then talked about the men in her family. She wished we lived in a world that did not punish the truth sayers.
When it was Sandy's turn to read, Kelli asked, "Are you going to sing it?"
She didn't but it was a nice story about two people reconnecting. We're waiting for more on that one too!
Jayne and Ron tackled the prompt about the difference between men and women.
Caitlyn told a story with great suspense. We want more.
Diane wrote a bit more of The Mural.
Judy wrote poetry about "If I Could Say I'm Sorry."
The Prompts
1. "So what are the main differences between the genders, between you and me," he asked her.
2. His mirror image stared back at him. He leaned into it, examining his receding hairline, the greasy spot on his tie, and his frayed shirt cuff.
3. "If my mother knew what I do for a living, it would make her crazy."
4. Thirty years had elapsed since they had seen each other.
5. He pushed the coin into the slot and waited for the silver angel to answer his question.
6. The children hid behind the crumbling stone wall when the machine began to quiver and belch smoke.
7. This was one obstacle she hadn't anticipated.
8. If you could say you're sorry to one person from your past, who would it be?
That wraps it up for this week. I need to get a new notebook and sharpen my pencil for the next meeting.
Our next meeting is May 2 at 1:30pm. Richard will be leading.
See you all then.
I had a great conversation with Clare and Ron before the meeting. We talked about Vertical vs. Horizontal thinking. If you want something interesting to Google, this would be it!
A cheque was paid to the Tweedsmuir Church for use of their room for the first 6 months of the year. Although they do not charge us rent, we took it upon ourselves to make a donation of $100 to the church twice a year. We are grateful for the time and space to write. Nancy was talking to new members about how we used to write at the library for free on taxpayers' money, but now we write for free at the church using God's money. Clare laughed and said, "So you're okay if we use taxpayer money, but not God's money?" Judy clarified the situation by reminding us that "When you boil it down, it's all God's money. The government just thinks it's theirs."
Jayne's novel is still the most "feedbacked" item in the Presbyterian Record. Yes, she made up a new word. We liked it so it's on the blog. You can read her novel on http://www.presbyterianrecord.ca/.
Nancy, Gaetan, Clare and Judy all made it out to Grey Roots Museum April 24 for the Poetry reading that Harry was involved in. They gave kudos to Harry for such an impressive job. They told us that all of the works were heartfelt and impressive. Each piece made them think and touched them deeply as the performances spoke to their souls. Nancy recorded some of the show and will burn it onto a DVD to show us all. She thinks it's wonderful that poets love to watch other poets.
Ron showed us a book written by former ODSS teacher Gary T. Gravelle (GTG) called Paths Through Heartache. It is a touching book about his wife who died from Huntington's Disease in 2001. Pat will extend a formal invitation to join our group and talk to us about his book writing experience.
Reminder: Monday April 26 at 7pm is the book launch for Stories of Prayers and Faith. A few of our members have been published in this anthology. Come on out and show them your support!
We welcomed back Kelli Curtis, who joined us once before then got busy with publishing her children's book called Amber and the Fallen Bridge. She had a book launch at As We Grow and will be doing a reading at St. Benedict School here in Orangeville on May 4th. Her book is available at: BookLore, As We Grow, and The Vinyl Cut. She read it to us for practice even though we were all far bigger kids than she is used to reading to. We loved it. Way to go Kelli!
Kelli brought up a great question about how much to charge schools for us to go in to read/talk to students. Some suggestions were to check other author websites and to start low and raise your fees as you get more books published. The base price suggested was $50 per hour and go up from there.
Hope to see you at more meetings.
June 19 is the deadline for submissions for the anthology! There is a 2000 word limit on prose. The group had several questions which I will forward to Gloria later today so she can have an answer for our next meeting. Bring in ideas for artwork for the book cover! There is no theme so anything goes.
June 19 is also the Eramosa Eden Retreat. We will be there from 10am - 4pm to write, use prompts, take pictures, nap...Nancy wants your money asap if you are able to plan ahead. The cost for the day is $10, bring your own bag lunch. Coffee will be provided. If people would like to bring treats, we won't discourage it!
Readings.
Clare read about a chance meeting at a Tim Hortons with Jayne and her father. He should get a sponsorship from them for all the stories he has written in their restaurants. Or at least a bottomless Tim Card.
Pat read a section of her novel-in-progress. Can't wait to see what happens next.
Kelli read her book to us. We all love the nervous giggle. Glad we could be your first real audience for it.
Ron told us he had great news. He has plans to meet his historian friend next month in Lexington, NC. We'll look forward to hearing all the stories he has to share about that meeting.
Diane read the revised Chapter 1 of her Young Adult novel The Mural.
Judy read her piece about "I can't write today."
We talked about being vulnerable when reading to the group and to others.
Sandy surprised us all by singing her song that she wrote when her son was little. She recorded it with her brothers and sisters who performed in a band called The Free Design out of Delevan, New York. Her song, "Love You" appeared on the band's 6th album and was used in worldwide Toyota commercials as well as others. It also appeared in the closeing credits of the movie Stranger Than Fiction starring Emma Thompson and Will Farrell. Go ahead and Google her and her former group. I dare you not to be impressed!
We wrote our prompts and Clare read his about a Silver Angel and included the song On The Road Again. We'd love to hear more.
Sonja read about a woman waiting for the right time to kill a man. Intriguing.
Pat read about an obstacle someone hadn't anticipated.
Kelli wrote about breaking up with a friend in Grade 9 and trying to reconnect now that she's older. She plans to write a story about it.
Nancy started off reading about her younger sister then talked about the men in her family. She wished we lived in a world that did not punish the truth sayers.
When it was Sandy's turn to read, Kelli asked, "Are you going to sing it?"
She didn't but it was a nice story about two people reconnecting. We're waiting for more on that one too!
Jayne and Ron tackled the prompt about the difference between men and women.
Caitlyn told a story with great suspense. We want more.
Diane wrote a bit more of The Mural.
Judy wrote poetry about "If I Could Say I'm Sorry."
The Prompts
1. "So what are the main differences between the genders, between you and me," he asked her.
2. His mirror image stared back at him. He leaned into it, examining his receding hairline, the greasy spot on his tie, and his frayed shirt cuff.
3. "If my mother knew what I do for a living, it would make her crazy."
4. Thirty years had elapsed since they had seen each other.
5. He pushed the coin into the slot and waited for the silver angel to answer his question.
6. The children hid behind the crumbling stone wall when the machine began to quiver and belch smoke.
7. This was one obstacle she hadn't anticipated.
8. If you could say you're sorry to one person from your past, who would it be?
That wraps it up for this week. I need to get a new notebook and sharpen my pencil for the next meeting.
Our next meeting is May 2 at 1:30pm. Richard will be leading.
See you all then.
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