Good Luck with Your January

We have exactly 28 days, four full weeks, of January ahead of us. In coastal New England, while January is definitely our coldest month; the snowiest months follow. And even if February and March are snowy, January to me is like a deep dark chasm that must be crossed each year. We are standing on a rope bridge, creeping across it, enduring its challenges of cold and darkness, one day at a time. Not many cultural events are planned in January due to the fickle weather. So there is time for writing, thinking, and all manner of indoor projects. Our local AAUW branch has a wonderful tradition. We meet for a pot luck supper luck followed by a book discussion, on a cold night right in the middle of January. This year we are discussing An Unseemly Wife by E.B. Moore, and the author will join us. By month's end, the sun sets around 5PM again, proof that we've endured the toughest part of winter. So, may you pass January with good books, engrossing indoor projects, ways to enjoy being outside, and opportunities to see good friends. May it pass quickly.  How do you traverse Januarys?

Writer's Group at the Cafe

My writer's group is a God-send. Not only in terms of regular check-ins, feedback and camaraderie.  For me, the most important thing is the motivation to produce something in time for our next session.

Some of us are writing novels and short stories. Two of us are poets, and most of us also dabble in essays and features. The regulars of the group have all been published. Our goal is to improve our craft, produce more work, and get it published. We are all members of AAUW, (American Association of University Women) which sponsors our group.

 We meet in the evening at Brewed Awakenings, a cafe in Hingham, south of Boston. We are usually the only patrons, and sometimes we have to ask the staff to turn down the pop music on the sound system. They oblige, and over the months have come to know us as 'the writers'.

The first to arrive claims one of our favorite tables near the windows. The seats are comfortable woven wicker. The coffee, hot chocolate, cider and tea are just the thing on a cold winter night. Sometimes one of us will buy a sweet and split it four or five ways.

At first, we sit and read each others' material. Then we give our comments, which range from simple typos and repeated words to big picture points. There is a lot of encouragement.

Last meeting, a group of teenagers, friends of the cafe staff, showed up for a visit just as we got going. A half dozen of them, all at once, decided to sweep the floor under all the tables. It was chaotic and very distracting as they dragged the chairs around and rearranged the tables. But we persevered, for we had nowhere else to go, and we need this time together each month. They would have had to pull us out by the hair to break up our writers group meeting! Eventually things quieted down and we were able to get our work done.

Amy MacKinnon Discusses TETHERED at AAUW

Last week our local Hingham Area Branch of AAUW hosted author Amy MacKinnon, a resident of nearby Marshfield, at a discussion of her debut novel, TETHERED. It was a fascinating evening. There were about 25 in attendance. Nearly everyone seemed to have read the book twice. I certainly did; it's that kind of book. There is so much happening on several levels, that once you know the ending, you need to work back and see how it all went down. Her writing is tautly understated, which adds to the tension and mystery of the characters. The book is set in Brockton and Whitman, old towns south of Boston. While Amy has carefully drawn them with a sad grittiness, she also captured the last traces old-fashioned gentility and the fragile web of community and caring that holds on through the years and generations. During the discussion, Amy shared many facets of her writing process with us. It's clear that her reporter's experience has brought her face-to-face with unusual characters and troubling social issues. It reminded me of how Charles Dickens was exposed to the gritty underside of London and went on to write about it brilliantly. Amy does the same thing. And though the book is set near Boston, its themes are universal. TETHERED has struck a chord with readers around the world. As of now, it has been translated into ten languages. I look forward to Amy's second novel, and have no doubt it will be even more intriguing.

My Writers Group

I'm lucky to be in a wonderful writers group (also known as a critique group), formed a few years ago within the local branch of AAUW - the American Association of University Women. Five of us meet regularly at a coffee shop - currently twice a month - to read, critique and encourage each other in our writing. Each of us is on a unique writing journey. Beatrice is a poet/columnist who's completing her first novel. Gwen is a natural-born columnist who's also doing features and has a children's book in process. Susan is a poet/editor who is working on a memoir. Patricia is a gifted fiction writer who creates fabulous characters in her short stories. It's a gentle critique group, but not too gentle to be useful. In our first sessions, we did short writing exercises on a given topic. Within a few months, we were bringing our own projects for feedback. We read each other's poems, humorous essays and novel chapters. We often discuss the business of writing, things like how to contact/communicate with editors and agents. We attend workshops together, and share ideas and information. The group is reading several key chapters from my novel - set in Mecca - and their feedback is incredibly useful. We're reading Beatrice's chapters - and we feel like we're in the creative process with her. It's exciting to share one's work and to be an early reader for others. I am grateful for this special ensemble of interesting women and recommend writer's groups wholeheartedly. Here's a good article on finding or forming a writer's group.