A Veblenesque Gorge

May 22

The April Writing Group: Laundry, Escapes, Redecorating, and Getting Dressed

In April, we welcomed new member Erum into the writing group, and us old-timers watched as, right before our eyes, it became her favorite night of the month, as well.

Other major changes in April included an extension of the allotted silent writing time (silent, but with wine!) from 30 to 45 minutes. You’ll notice a commensurate increase in average word count.

I hated my story right after I wrote it, but now, revisiting a few weeks later, it’s completely grown on me, at the same time I notice only now the possibility that I subconsciously stole the premise from that one scene in Atonement.

March Writing Group: The One I Almost Sabotaged

I love my writing group, so it was with panicky horror that I received a text from Sacha at 7:30pm or so the night of our March get-together asking where the hell was I, only politely, which is the only way Sacha knows. I responded that I’d be there at 8pm, right? She said, it started at seven. I said oh shiiiiiiizzzzzzz, and then I still got there at five minutes after eight.

I think the delay served everyone well though. Just look at these stories (along with the photos that inspired them)…

January Writing Group: Cold Outside, Warm in Our Hearts

There aren’t many things that can entice me out of the apartment on January evenings, but my writing group is one of them. This time around, Ebeth did her first turn as host, and as usual we drank lots of wine and wrote lots of words.

I’ve scanned in the photos upon which each story is based, with the exception of Sacha’s, because someone in my household threw it out by accident when we were cleaning up for guests. It’s obviously gone, unable to survive in isolation from the other three photos. But in a classic twist on the domestic drama, S. Jam Fitzgerald insists that it’s probably still in the apartment somewhere, because he’s not a thrower outer, he’s a stacker.

The mystery is deep. Will it tear this family apart? Spoiler alert: No, but it will result in my being provided with a tray for my stray papers so I no longer lose track of them.

Sacha’s picture was of a bucolic country castle. Sorry Sacha!