Meeting Minutes April 1, 2012

Another short meeting today, members had things to do and places to be.

We welcomed Barry back for his second meeting. Barry writes sci-fi, mystic and spiritual books. He also has a website and book publishing company at www.alderbookpublishing.ca where you can purchase his books and e-books as well as have your own published. His current series is called "Inner Voices."

Kelli was back and talked about the bumps along her publishing journey. We were all reminded that if a publisher asks you for money up front, be wary and check them out!
On the topic of publishers:
Judy is looking into Balboa Press which is a division of Hay House.
Clare is dealing with Pandora Press for his next book.
Danielle reminded us for self-publishing there are Create Space and Lulu.
We also have three of our own writers who have their own publishing companies:
           Barry with Alder Book Publishing
           Gloria with Spiral Press
           Marilyn with Sun Dragon Press
Jayne's publisher, currently working on book 2, is Harborlight Press. They are a division of White Rose and Pelican. They are at the low end of royalty presses but she has gotten a cheque and they require no monetary investment.
As Clare reminded us: We all have to start somewhere.

Judy read about an awards presentation she attended a few years ago.

Sonja came in and we chatted about her winning Dragonfly's "Tell Me Her Story" contest by SJ Pringle. She plans to get permission to post the picture, now called "Emma's Resolve" and links for Dragonfly and SJ Pringle. She thanked everyone who came to support her Saturday at the presentation.

Diane read Chapter One from her new book Deja Vu.

Danielle read the second half of her story from two weeks ago.

Prompts:

This week we did an exercise on alliteration - using as many words starting with the same letter/sound as possible. Everyone did a great job, but honourable mentions were Clare, Jayne, Judy and Megan.

After all the giggles, we packed up and called it an afternoon.

Our Next Meeting is April 15. Diane will be leading.
Have a great two weeks and keep writing!!!

Meeting Minutes March 4, 2012

We had a very small group today, 6 of us, but a lot of laughs.
Clare was our fearless leader.

News
Clare's wife Dorothy is recovering nicely after her fall on ice a while ago. We all send hugs!

Harry Posner's booklaunch for Charivari takes place March 27, 2012 at 7pm BookLore in Orangeville. Proceeds of the sales of his book go to The University Health Network.

The Brian Henry workshop Feb 25 was the best one yet. Half the crowd was made up of HWG members who all got a great deal of information about writing a page turner. Patricia will write a blog post about the session at a later date.

There is a contest being run by Dragonfly called "Tell Me Her Story" where writers tell a story about an oil painting done by SJ Pringle. The painting is on display inside Dragonfly. Writers can submit a short story or even just a premise or title about the painting. Please have your entry in at Dragonfly before March 24. There is an open house March 31st at 2pm when the winning story will be read. The winner will win "naming rights" and a print.

Readings

Sonja - read the final version of her Toronto Star Short Story contest entry called "In the Palm of his Hand." After all the edits, it has turned into a very strong, riveting story.

Danielle - read part of a short story that had us all in the palm of her hand.

Marilyn - is working on an anthology "Short Tales from a Short Person." This will be her own ecclectic collection of poems and short stories. Today she read an Isaac Asimov inspired poem called "Inspiration."

Clare - talked about a column he wrote for the Orangeville Banner called "Dufferin Storyteller with the heart and soul of a Bard" about Jim Tramble. Jim's widow enjoyed his "meanderings."

Prompt

Clare versed us on PARAPROSDOKIANS. Definition: "Figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected: frequently used in a humorous situation." Winston Churchill loved them!

Examples: 
1) Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
2) Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
3) The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list.

Some of the ones we came up with:

Old King Cole was a merry old soul, until he was dragged through divorce court.

Time flies, except at the airport.

All you need is love, and an iron-clad prenuptual agreement.

It's better to give than to receive, particularly if it's crabs.

The recipe for success is a good bowel movement.

A fool and his money are great to take on vacation.

Only an idiot would run for government office. Obviously.

And in closing....

We came, we saw, we had some laughs.
Our next meeting is March 18. Marilyn will be leading.

Keep on Writing!