Sunday, September 11, 2011

Meeting Minutes September 11, 2011

Although we are marking the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, the mood at our meeting today was jovial and we used it as an occasion to celebrate.
First of all, Harry had returned to the fold! We've missed his wonderful, witty prose and poetry.
Secondly, Kelli rejoined us as well. She's been away with health issues and is now weaned off her medications to control seizures. She is experiencing minor side-effects and hopes to have her driver's license back soon. We are all so excited for her!
Thirdly, Clare brought wonderful treats made by his wife Dorothy. We all told him that she's a keeper. Marilyn said that she was going to have to go to confession, Harry corrected that the proper term was "confection."
Fourth, Nancy brought cake to celebrate Diane (me) having an agent! Of course, I had to bring the plates, napkins and forks, but...the cake was delicious.

Now onto the News:

Marilyn and Danielle are both submitting short stories to the Writer's Digest contest.

Marilyn also reminded us of the Eden Mills Writer's Festival on Sept 18. For more details, go to the website:
http://edenmillswritersfestival.ca/EMWF/

Nancy told us that Mike Bellinger, husband of the late Janet Bellinger from the HWG, had emailed her regarding the bursary that we co-sponsor with the Bellinger family for a graduating student from ODSS (Orangeville District Secondary School.) Convocation is November 4, 2011 at 7pm. He wanted to know if we were adding more money to the bursary again this year and which members of our group were going to present the award to a deserving student planning to pursue writing in continuing studies. In the end, Nancy and Diane (me, again) volunteered. We'll let you know how it goes!

Shirley was not present, but had e-mailed me regarding our new website. We have a website at a cost of $7.99 per year and our new website address will be http://www.headwaterswritersguild.com  She will be working hard to set it up and make it a site we can all be proud of.

Readings:

Judy read three poems. One was "Fluctuate" that was inspired by Clare's question "What kind of water are you like?" When she was done reading it, Clare pointed out that she'd forgotten that water wears down rock and finds the smallest space to fill. It is flexible. Her second poem was called "Alexander Pope" because reading his works had her thinking in Iambic Pentameter. Her third poem, "Faith," will appear in the front of her memoir.

Marilyn had been inspired by contest information I had sent for the "Watching Paint Dry" contest. Riveting story with a great twist ending! Looking forward to hearing the finished product.

Clare had brought a copy of the Banner from Sept 6 which featured his article "Proposals from a Political Pundit." Marilyn told us that if we liked politics, we'd love books by Terry Fallis.

Harry read to us from his circus book. He has been querying agents and actually got some helpful feedback to streamline his work. He is working on a new draft, very inspired and excited. The chapter he read was about "a son trying to touch his father's ghost." Nancy told us about a book called "What Disturbs the Blood" which has a similar premise. Harry had a powerful chapter and we were all mesmerized! Looking forward to the book one day soon!

Judy also had a script for a 10 minute movie that she wants to make and needed some critiques on. It is a sci-fi/paranormal/spiritual story. The story involves re-incarnation and the "life between lives." She received lots of feedback and is looking forward to doing a re-write and making it more vivid for her audience. Can't wait to see the video.

The Prompts:
All of the prompts I used were borrowed from "Writing Past Dark" by Bonnie Friedman.
1) I spent this morning smashing flies.
2) I wanted to get everything in that room just right before my writing began.
3) You fall the way you do in dreams.
4) The things that disgust also fascinate.
5) We have an aversion to loss of control, as much as we love it.
6) We are afraid of writing, even those of us who love it.
7) I knew a man who believed a bee had been sent to earth to give him a message.
8) My dreams came true one day. It was just as I had always imagined it would be.

Our next meeting is Sept. 25, 2011, Judy will be leading.
Future meetings and leaders:
            Oct 16 - Clare
            Oct 30 - Jayne
            Nov 13 - Marilyn
            Nov 27 - Nancy
             Dec 11 - Christmas luncheon, place and time to be determined.

What else is new?

Sept 13 - Nancy's birthday
Sept 18 - Ruth's birthday
Sept 19 - David's birthday
Sept 20 - Sonja's birthday
Happy Birthday to all until we meet again!

I will not be at the next meeting. See you all in October!

No comments: