An Inkling for Hot Beverages

My literary hero is C.S. Lewis. He is without a doubt, my favourite author, my favourite book of all time is his (The Silver Chair), and just as a person I find him fascinating. If I had a time machine, the first thing I would do is attend one of his lectures at Oxford.

For those who do not research Lewis in their spare time, or have not read Here, There Be Dragons, Lewis is a member of "The Inklings," a literary group of writers and editors at Oxford who read to critique each other's work, make fun of work they did not like, and see who could write the worst. They often met in a nearby pub called the The Eagle and Child. If I ever get that time machine, another thing I will do is attend an Inklings meeting, although that could be difficult, being a girl.

Last week was reading week, and my best friend and cousin Mikyla came to visit. We are kindred spirits based not only on the fact that we have been shoved together since birth, but also because we have the common dream of becoming published authors. When we get together, our conversations often revolve around our work and new character exercises we have learned. Because we are both aspiring fantasy writers, we feel a connection to the Inklings, or at least, we want to be like them. So while Kya was in town, we tried our own version of an Inkling meeting.

We didn't go to a pub, we went to a coffee shop and drank tea. For a couple hours we took over the couch and discussed dragons and fairytale adaptations. We even got some decent work done. We have decided that in our budding version of the Inklings, Kya is Tolkein, I am Lewis, and Janine is Charles Williams. These are the original members of the group.

We are still working out a few things, like a cooler place to meet than a chain coffee shop, and our own name that is not copying our heroes, but we were still very pleased with ourselves. After all, I will probably never get that time machine. I may as well just do my best to be like my hero rather than pin my hopes on science to create a way for me to meet him.