The room is quiet except for the sound of scratching pencils. Six girls, their heads bent over notebooks, are working on their poems. Lemonade and cookies sit on a table. Merna Hecht sits in an armchair, overlooking the girls. After seven minutes, a timer rings. The girls look up. They take turns in a circle, reading their work. Hecht smiles and says, “The Write Sisters have begun.”

The Write Sisters have gathered every Tuesday for a summer writing intensive. The intensive includes listening to great poets on CDs, a special writing period and a time when the girls can read the stories or poems they have been working on. The girls in this group, ages 11 to 13, include Rain Sheehan, Audrey Watkins-Szala, Ella Maierhofer, Genevieve Payne, Lily Robinthal and Annika McFarlin.

Rain writes many short stories. She is working on two stories at the moment. One is the story of a mischievous first-grader. The other is the story of a seventh-grader.

Audrey is currently working on a novel called “A Broken Howl,” which is from a wolf’s point of view. She plan to have it published when she is finished.

Ella is working on a novel called “Seven.” It is the story of seven gypsy children scattered across the world. Ella also enjoys writing poetry.

Genevieve enjoys writing poems, small novels and funny stories. She is currently writing a series called “Two Little Angels.” It is a large book made up of many short stories.

Lily is currently writing a novel called “The Tornadoes, the Taffy, and Me.” It takes place in the early 1900s in Kansas. She hopes it might get published soon.

Annika is currently working on a story about three sisters living in Switzerland during World War I.

Merna is the leader of the group. She is a published author, nationally known storyteller and teacher. She does many other writing groups for kids and adults. She is offering more writing groups this fall on the Island. All of the young Write Sisters love coming to her house on Tuesdays. They all enjoy lemonade, cookies and scones, and most of all they enjoy writing together.

— Ella Maierhofer and Lily Robinthal are 12, and Genevieve Payne is 11.

The Write Sisters will read from their work, and an open mic will follow for writers ages 9 to 21 at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, at the Vashon Bookshop.