December 2020

Two fabulous meetings this month. Our annual Christmas party was held virtually via Zoom, with thanks to Robyn for the quiz. Our second meeting had a quiz by Karen, literary hats and congratulations to Emma on her publishing deal to Penguin Random House!!Also congratulations to Helena for her recent interview on BBC radio Somerset. The next meeting will be Jan 6th, also held virtually. Homework is to write a fictional recipe with fictional ingredients. To be posted to Slack by Jan 4th. Word count up to 400 words. We also took time to remember our former Chair and founding member, Pam Dyke who has sadly passed away. Many happy reminicences and stories were shared about her wonderful writing, kindness and support of her fellow writers. She will be much missed.

Any new members wishing to join can contact us via this blog or via our facebook page. Wishing all our members past and present a very Happy, Healthy Christmas and New Year.

October 2020

The group held another “Zoom” meeting on Wednesday 7th October, unfortunately only a few members were able to attend. We had a lively discussion on the previous work subject of “Invent a superhero” and people’s different approach to the subject was noticeable from the work published on “Slack”. Karen told us that she had recently given a talk on her ancestry and this led to discussion by other members, about their own ancestry, with some surprising disclosures about genes within their family. In respect of the next AGM due in November, it was decidedthat, due to present circumstances, it may be better for present officers to keep their roles for the time being but if anyone wished to step down, they should inform the Secretary by email or “Slack” or at the next meeting and volunteers, for replacement, would be sought. It was also suggested that the yearly accounts should be delayed until we can meet in person or arrangements can made to discuss them on “Zoom”. Homework for

October was set as “Family True” fact or fiction up to 500 words. Whether, it is a “bluff” or not to be found out at our next meeting “Sounds interesting”. Details of the next meeting will be provided by the Secretary nearer the time. Hope to see you there Eric Newton Vice Chairman

September 2020

The group held their September Zoom meeting on Thurs 6th September. Due to various circumstances, only a few members were able to attend. Although the meeting was quiet, it was quite fun and it was lovely to celebrate Carol’s win in the NAWG 24 hour flash fiction competition and chat about virtual NAWG festival events. Homework for the next meeting is: Invent a superhero, human or extra terrestrial or animal, evil or good 500 words approx. Next meeting will again be via Zoom on Wednesday 7

th October at 7.30pm. Details can be obtained from the Secretary. Hope to see you there. Eric Newton Vice Chairman

August 2020

Our Zoom meeting this month was held on Thursday 6 th August and was attended by the usual regular members. General discussion ranged from the current state of the virus epidemic to the effect it was having on people’s social and cultural activities. Several members had posted their July homework on “Slack”, which was “a travel article” and it was commented on by members at the meeting, how different the pieces where on the same subject and yet most were of visual impressions.. The meeting then discussed the NAWG competition. The results have not yet been published but Carol has been informed that she is shortlisted in the “memoir” section. Helen gave us an insight into her approach to writing a novel and said that she works most effectively when she has to meet a deadline. The homework for August was set by Mark as “ A story board for an imaginary musical”, maximum 800 words, to be submitted by 6thSeptember as our next “zoom” meeting will be on Wed 9th Sept. New members or returning members are always most welcome to join or rejoin, please contact us here or via our secretary Emma on our facebook page. See you there. Eric Newton. Vice Chairman.

July 2020

Our usual monthly meeting on Wed1st July and was another Zoom meeting. Matters discussed included the status of the library, which Mary said she would check but it looks likely meetings will continue to be held on Zoom for the foreseeable future. If people aren’t comfortable with Zoom but would still like to share their writing, it can be posted on Zoom. If you have a problem with this please contact Emma, who may be able to help. For those posting homework, on Slack, if you would rather not have feedback or you’d prefer only positive feedback, just mention this when you post. The matter of this year’s Christmas Tree Festival was raised, which unless there is a big change between now and December is likely to be going virtual this year. However, it was suggested that we could all still do pieces of writing and Emma would look into whether she can create a virtual tree. The group congratulated Helen on her book launch this week “Murder at the Playhouse”, details of which can be found on the Amazon website. Homework for the next meeting is “A travel article based on a fictional place” (500 words max.). It can be completely made up or a location based on a story, film or TV series, encouraging us to visit the place. Please post your homework by 1st August. The next Zoom meeting will be Wed5th Aug 2020 at 07.30pm. Hope to see you there. Eric Newton Vice Chairman.

June 2020

The group held another Zoom meeting on Wed 3rd June. General conversation drifted from the effects of the release of some of the “lockdown” restrictions, to the previous last few days of glorious weather. It was a little cooler on Wednesday, with some showers but all agreed that it was a welcome change, particularly for the gardens and the temptation of bending the “social distancing” rules was not as great. The general consensus of opinion was that our usual venue would probably not be open for at least another month. We did a 10 minute writing warm up on the subject of “What we liked best at school”, which in some instances turned into “What we disliked most at school”. All present read out their pieces of work and it was interesting to hear people’s various experiences. Submissions for the previous month’s homework “A meeting under the apple tree” had been published on the Slack worksite by most people and were discussed in general by the group. It was decide that submissions from two people, who were not yet members, would be considered further and any comments made by members would be communicated to these two people, by e.mail. The next meeting will be a Zoom meeting on Wed 3rd July. A homework project was set by Mark as “Next Year” (Things you are looking forward to), in the form of a poem of approx. 3 verses ( I interpret this as say 18 -24 lines). I look forward to hearing the things you are looking forward to. Until then, Takecare – Eric Newton Vice Chairman

May 2020

The group held their second zoom video meeting on Wed 6th May, with 9 members eventually taking part. I have to say that I had extreme difficulty in logging into the meeting, to the extent that I missed about 40 minutes and had to rely on an old fashioned telephone call the next morning, with the chairman, to check on what was discussed in the early part of the meeting. One of these early matters was a report from Helen (Helena Dixon) on the success of her latest book, which is now in the top 1000 in this country and is also a best seller in Canada and Australia. This has resulted in her being offered a further two book deal. I therefore wish to record the group’s heartiest congratulations to her and wish her even more success in the future. Some members had posted their homework project, “The propelling pencil” on “Slack” and Carol read hers out, which was a sonnet. Whether it was in Shakespearian form or not I am not sure, as I was distracted, trying to solve my video problem but it seemed to be enjoyed by the rest of the group. Our next “Zoom” meeting was set for Wed 3rd June at 7.30pm and members were requested to post their homework project on “Slack” before the date of this meeting. The subject of the homework was set by our chairman, Mark, as “A meeting under the apple tree” and it was agreed that, if possible, it should be written in the form of a 10 minute play suitable for radio. This is to be loaded on Slack for members to read and comment on ahead of the next meeting. Members to upload by May 31st. I wish everyone success with this very interesting subject and look forward to hearing the results of your efforts. Please everyone take care and keep safe in these very difficult times. – Eric Newton Vice Chairman.

April 2020

As with numerous other societies, due to Corona Virus precautions, Wombourne Writers were unable to hold their meeting scheduled for 1st April, at their usual venue. As Richie S.Moore, was to give a presentation on the “media”, it was thought appropriate that our meeting should be held in the form of a virtual video conference and Emma, very efficiently, organized a group circle on the “Slack” website, which also included a video conferencing facility by incorporating “Slack Zoom”. One or two group members had difficulty in “logging in” to this site but by the time set for the meeting, most of the regular group members had mastered the system and were able to participate in the group video conference, chaired by Richie.. He initially gave a short informative talk on current media trends. Following his suggestion, the group agreed to start a community group on an existing Wombourne Writers Facebook site page (@wombourne writers), which Emma had opened and had been running for some time. Richie therefore proceeded to expand this page, to include a community group section and by the time the meeting closed, all those members present, who wished to be involved, were linked into the website. On behalf of the group, I would like to express our gratitude to Richie, for establishing this group Facebook page, which I am sure will be a great help in promoting Wombourne Writers, in the future. Our next meeting will be another “Slack Zoom” video conference on Wednesday 6 th April commencing approx. 7.30pm and I look forward to seeing you all on this occasion or by contact via the Facebook page or my personal blog which also has a link on the group Facebook page. Congratulations to Helena Dixon on the release of the second book in her Miss Underhay Investigates series. Keep up the writing by blogging me. My best regards. Eric Newton. Vice Chairman.

March 2020

First of all, I must apologise for incorrectly stating in my February blog, that the meeting in March would be mainly a presentation by Richie S. Moore. This will actually take place at our meeting on Wednesday 1stApril 2020. Despite the possible confusion and a very low attendance, we did hold a meeting on Wednesday 4th March. Fortunately all the members that attended had done the homework project set by Karen and all pieces displayed very different approaches to the subject, which was “The Fashion Victim”. Each piece was read to the group and created some interesting comments. Along with these and the current Corona virus situation we had a lively discussion. This year’s NAWG competition was also raised and I would encourage all members of the group to enter. There are various sections to this competition, so everyone should be able to find something suitable to their particular writing interest. Competition details and entry form are on the NAWG website. Closing date for entries is 30thMarch 2020 and please note that the postcode on some entry forms may be incorrect. It should read NP253PX. Our homework for the next meeting was agreed as an attempt at the short story section of the NAWG competition of up to 2000 words and include, a given subject of “propelling pencil, within the text. Our next meeting will be as previously stated mainly a presentation titled “Social Media” by Richie S. Moore on Wed. 1st April 2020. This may of course be subject to any conditions imposed by the virus outbreak. Let’s hope not and that we can hold another successful event. My best wishes to you all. Eric Newton Vice Chairman

February 2020

Our meeting on 5th February was in the form of a workshop presented by Emma Purshouse, City of Wolverhampton Poet Laureate. It was well attended by our members, who, I am sure, all gained a new insight into descriptive writing, whether it be prose or poetry. The Poet laureate is very interested in performance poetry and her observations and guidance on everyone’s pieces of work were very astute and motivated by her enthusiasm and desire to enable everyone attending to be able to produce a piece of work that could be confidently performed to an audience. As a group we applaud her commitment to descriptive writing and say a big thank you for providing us with a very interesting and informative evening. Our next meeting on Wednesday 4th March 2020 will mainly be a presentation by one of our members “Richie.S.Moore” on “Social Media”but we have also been given a home project, by Karen. The subject is to be “The Fashion Victim”, with a maximum of 1000 words. We will review as many as pieces of work as possible at our meeting, dependant on the time available. Look forward to seeing you there. Eric Newton. Vice Chairman

January 2020

First of all a happy new year to members and friends Our first meeting of 2020 was 8th January and it was attended by most of our regular members plus two prospective members, who both showed great potential, to the extent that one of their pieces of work for our ten minute writing warm up was chosen along with a piece from our member Jane, to be submitted to the Grapevine church magazine. It was a lively evening with various pieces of ten minute writing on different photographs of quite obscure countryside and buildings of interest, provided by Mary. A large part of the evening was taken up by members reading out their pieces of fantasy science fiction prepared since the last meeting. These provoked a lot of interesting discussion and highlighted the different approaches, by everyone, to the subject of “time for a change”. Dates for your Diary- Our next meeting will be first Wednesday 5th February 2020, starting at 7.30pm and will comprise a workshop by Emma Purshouse, City of Wolverhampton Poet Laureate. The meeting is open to anyone. There will be a nominal £5.00 entry charge for non members but you will probably get a cup of tea and a biscuit included. The meeting to be held on the 4th March 2020 will be a presentation by one of our members Richie S. Moore – Psychotherapist and Mind Coach, on social media further details will be in my next blog My best regards and keep up the writing Eric Newton Vice Chairman