This is Jasper. He loves to read good writing!
On this Friday morning, at 7:55 a.m. Dylan dashed out the door with his school backpack. "I'm ready to go mom!"
I quickly searched for my purse, which is never in the same spot.
As Dylan and I slid into the car, I noticed a cute little car zip to a stop in front of our house. A dark haired woman fluffed her bangs. Sure enough! It was the Gatekeeper. From the faraway desert lands of Southern California. I gave her a quick wave and a signal that I'd be right back.
When I returned, the Gatekeeper stepped into my car and off we headed toward the freeway. Today our writer's meeting was at the home of Mary Rice Hopkins. We were greeted by two large smiling labs, a puffy white poodle and a kitchen full of writers.
There were ten of us today. Pat, Sandy, Jane, Mary, Yvonne, Marilyn, Sharon, Becky, Susan and the Gatekeeper. Mary broke out pistachio nuts, deliciously sweet orange and yellow bell peppers, peanuts, dried cranberries and what really wound up the meeting.....some sort of Monster Ginseng drink. It took us a good 30 minutes to calm down and start the meeting. Everyone was chatting "a mile a minute".
Pat, our most industrious writer, brought an article for us to critique. It's about 3 miracles that occurred in her life, and she is submitting it to Guideposts Magazine.
Susan, who experienced our group for the first time today, brought a very funny poem she wrote about cats. The photos she brought were hilarious. My favorite was the cat sleeping in the toilet bowl.
Jane, who tells us every month that she is not going to accept anymore editing jobs, is working on another editing job. Last month's editing job, "the never-ending story" still hasn't ended. But she will get a break soon, as she and her husband are heading out for an exciting trip that involves ministry, and also a family reunion.
Marilyn, who has inherited the draft of Arleta Richardson's Manzanar novel has been doing some interesting research including speaking with a woman who lived at Manzanar (Japanese Internment camp) as a child.
Many other projects and subjects were discussed.
A special treat today, was hearing some of Mary's new music. She has about thirty new songs in the works. We were toe tappin' and foot stompin' to her lively music. My favorite was the song about people who don't listen. After that followed a very entertaining discussion about husbands and the funny things they do when they are supposed to be listening to us! Like walking away before we're even done speaking! We had a good laugh.
Extra special thanks to Mary for opening her home! We missed all who could not attend.
Special note to my blogging friends. Just a little note of explanation. Our writer's group meets the first Friday of every month. I usually write up a little light-hearted summary for those who could not attend and email it to all the group members. I decided to post it here this month...and then invite my non-blogging writer friends :-) over here to blog land. They aren't too sure about blogging....yet. The Gatekeeper and I are the only bloggers. Speaking of that...the Gatekeeper wrote a fun and interesting article about our group and it is published here:How to Have a Successful Writers Group
Have a nice day everyone!
7 comments:
Sounds like you have a fun group. There is a writer's group here in town but I dare not join and add one more commitment at the moment. They seem to be novels & short stories type group. Maybe when I can devote more time to my writing I might branch out & join them.
Yes, Kayaking was a place of beauty & tranquility to me. I hope it can be both a form of exercise & a place of spiritual retreat. Its almost a place of magic, like I can't believe how amazing it is when I'm out there, just floating along & taking it all in!
Quadette is still slowly taking shape which is ok. I'm in no hurry for her quite yet but soon I'll be chugging along in my own cloud of dust over the hills & I think it will be a whole new experience. Not as tranquil but still a way to get me 'out there' where I love to be :)
PS - I'm viewing your blog in Explorer & it looks fine to me. I can see all your links :)
That's a relief. About Explorer.
I know a little bit about what its like to be on the water. I've been out there with an air-raft and oars. I can stay pretty dry inside, and bring a book. I haven't been able to do it for 3 years. We don't live near a lake. We're hoping to go to Mammoth Lakes--very beautiful alpine lakes-- for a few days late in the summer, to ride our motorcycles. I better check and make sure the raft is in working order!
tee hee like the specks mind :)
LOVE the dog!
I love to write, although I never considered myself to do it very well. Wish I could be in your group, I'd bring brownies! :-)
Vanessa
Sounds like a fun crew! If you look in Sally Stuarts Christian Writers Market Guide, I'm part of The Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Fellowship. Marlene Bagnull founded it many years ago. She also runs Christian Writers conferences throughout the US. I've been blessed to be a part of it. There's so much to learn in the wonderful world of words!
BTW - love the doggie pic. I hope to blog about my doggie soon. She's been an interesting addition to our family since we adopted her in November!
Thanks for the link SL. I received a bunch of page views on my article (always a good thing for Gatekeep and family). We've planted the zucchini and are looking forward to harvesting it. I hope to raid your garden again. Hehehehe. We have our own little oasis going on here in Desert Land.
Stay cool, and I'll talk to ya later.
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