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

December 2019

This year Wombourne Writers decided to celebrate Christmas with a meal at a local hostelry rather than our usual Christmas party and on this Wednesday evening, several of our members gathered at “The Springhill” to enjoy the available fare. Our thanks go to Richard Gilbert for arranging and promoting the evening, which everyone agreed was a tremendous success. The menu comprised a main course of either roast turkey, fillet of beef, fillet of salmon or mushroom and cashew nut “wellington”, with various starters and desserts. I chose the fillet of beef and was highly satisfied and I am assured that the turkey and the salmon were also very good. The “wellington” certainly looked sufficient to satisfy anyone, vegetarian or not. Our congratulations therefore go to “The Springhill” catering staff for delicious food and excellent service Our thanks also go to our treasurer, Robyn for providing us with, after dinner, entertainment, in the form of a quiz. Not quite sure who, if anyone won, as it seemed that some people were claiming half a point, for getting answers partially right but it was a lot of laughs and all good fun. I would also like to mention that during the evening we also handed in our contributions, to a local church Christmas tree festival, which were Christmas tree stars inscribed with our own Christmas carol quotations. Our thanks go to Jane for organising this. Our Wednesday evening meetings are usually more conventional and are open to anyone with an interest in writing. They take place at Wombourne Library, commencing at 7.15pm. Our next meeting will be January 8 th 2020 and new members will be extremely welcome. Eric Newton Vice Chairman

April 18

Many thanks to Jane, for our wonderful new posters. This months homework is a romantic piece set in 1818.