Meeting attendees: Don, Ev, Vicky, Emmet, Michelle, Becky
Emmet filled in on his life after a long absence: While working and helping raise two young daughters he is still writing, participating in nanowrimo with a new sci-fi novel based in a world in which genders are totally separate. He shared that his novel "The Cure" is complete and he has secured an editor. Very exited and supportive of Emmet.
Vicky read a first chapter of her (finished) novel Tales from a Time of Plague, set during the pandemic, a mix of nonfiction and fiction.
Ev read his short piece “Sticks and Stuff,” featuring the job of monback, which everybody caught onto immediately except me.
Michelle and Becky, who slavishly obeyed the month’s prompt, read pieces respectively titled “Stick Season” and “The Fall of Freddy.”
Our discussion generated several interesting book recommendations:
"Herland" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman "Herland is a utopian novel published in 1915 and written by the feminist writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The story describes an isolated society composed entirely of women. The result is a perfect social order, free of all wars, conflicts and dominations."
"The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula Le Guin "A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters..."
"A Journal of the Plague Year" by Daniel DeFoe (thought of by Becky after the meeting) "In 1665 the plague swept through London, claiming over 97,000 lives. Daniel Defoe was just five at the time of the plague, but he later called on his own memories, as well as his writing experience, to create this vivid chronicle of the epidemic and its victims."
"Spinning Silver" by Naomi Novik "Spinning Silver draws readers deeper into this glittering realm of fantasy, where the boundary between wonder and terror is thinner than a breath, and safety can be stolen as quickly as a kiss." (pseudo Russian mythology recced after Michelle shared her current bedside read "The Bear and the Nightingale" by Katherine Arden
Writing prompt for next month is “Christmas.” Anything to do with, good, bad, indifferent, or peripheral.
For anyone looking for upcoming contests, workshops and resources please see our monthly newsletter. Latest found HERE
Our December meeting will take place on Thursday, December 21, 6 PM, at the Swanton Public Library.
