Meeting Minutes - January 22, 2017

Members of the Headwaters Writers' Guild are encouraged to attend this event. Everyone in Orangeville is encouraged to attend.

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The HWG received the following email:

My name is MJ Moores and I am the Event/Vendor Coordinator for the Writers’ Community of York Region’s (WCYR’s) THE BOOKSHELF. This love-of-reading event is a not-for-profit endeavor created to fill a programming gap noticed across the GTA with regards to book selling opportunities in the Spring and early Summer months.

The 2nd Annual Bookshelf event will be held in conjunction with the Newmarket Farmers’ Market on Sat. May 13th, 2017 in the Community Centre. Local authors will be given the opportunity to read some of their work during this event.

In addition to vendor and author reading opportunities, we will have draws, spot prizes and a genre-based scavenger hunt for all ages. This year’s author readings will take the form of an “open mic” for the 14 available 10-min. time slots to be drawn for. Any author/vendor interested in having their name entered into the draw needs to register for a table
before the end of February 2017 and have contacted the Readings Coordinator (see online).
 
We also have in place an extensive advertising plan that covers a wide range of social media, online news outlets & event calendars for York Region, print news, radio, and TV.
 
It is our goal to establish a firm footing for this new book event with the goal of bringing in Readers and book lovers. We want to reach active York Region readers (and beyond!) to nurture a formidable venue to celebrate Canadian Authors and Reading.
 
Currently, we are looking to invite local indie authors, small presses, local book stores, and reading/genre-related craft people to participate in our vendor room. I hope you’ll consider attending and/or passing this invitation on to another potential participant.


WE OFFER THE FOLLOWING RATES: [all tables are 6’ in length]
FULL-TABLE - $30 (great for established indie authors with more than two books, & non-book vendors)
INDUSTRY DOUBLE-TABLE - $50 (perfect for writing groups w/publications, small presses, indie book stores, & large non-book vendors)
A $5 DISCOUNT is available to any returning vendor (discount option available when you register and check out).
 
Please visit our website at http://thebookshelf.wcyork.ca for more details, and to see the vendor room layout.

The group suggested that since we have several published authors, we might want to consider purchasing a table or two as The Headwaters' Writers Guild using HWG funds. We are inquiring as to whether only book vendors are able to participate. We believe someone selling home made jewelry, for example, may also participate. This needs immediate attention.

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A discussion was had as to whether the group would consider publishing a book as a writing tool consisting of prompts of different forms. This will be discussed again at future meetings.

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Congratulations to Sonja for leading the meeting for the first time. She did a great job. Her preamble and prompts are below:

Thrillers

“Thrillers deal with the really big subjects: death, violence, cruelty, good and evil. They are often all about important moral and ethical dilemmas. They invariable raise the question of nature versus nurture, heredity versus environment, and whether people are intrinsically good or bad.” Julie Parsons, (author of Alpha Wave, I Saw You, and numerous detective novels)

P.D. James, English detective novelist of Death Comes to Pemberley and the Adam Dalgliesh novels, says that the most dangerous emotion of all is not hatred but love. The thriller allows us to see the viewpoint of the villain and how he or she justifies their actions and beliefs.

Emotionally driven, a thriller requires the hero to foil evil. It is an “impossible mission” that puts the hero in terrible danger.

Different types of thrillers include, psychological, crime, paranormal, medical, legal, espionage (spy stories), and romantic.

Using the prompts below, imagine the villain of the story and write from their point of view. What do they love? What is their motivation in the scenario presented? What is their ultimate goal and the plan to achieve that goal?

Alternately, write the beginnings of a thriller using any of the prompts.

Prompts

1.       They said it was a miracle she survived the fire that killed her entire family. What they didn’t know was that death followed her, and he wasn’t done yet.

2.       Everyone thought she’d died from a heart attack, until they discovered the puncture wounds on her throat.

3.       The scribe’s apprentice discovers a hidden drawer in the library and realizes his master is not the man of God he thought he was.

4.       She went into the elevator alone and was never seen or heard from again.

5.       It always happens when he’s alone in the car.

6.       She was excited about having made a friend at her new school, until she learned that no one else at the school had ever seen or met her friend.

7.       The last surviving member of the Seven Crows lodge knew it was time to tell the secret he had guarded for so long.

8.       The exotic flower pressed between the pages of her book was proof that he was still alive, and now she knew where.

9.       His imaginary friend “Johnny” had always been a lot of fun, until one day Johnny brought another friend with him.

1.   She was working late, putting the final touches on her speech for tomorrow’s reveal of the corporation’s new product, unaware of the assassin outside her door.

The next HWG meeting is Sunday, February 5th, at 1:30pm at the Orangeville Public Library, Mill Street location.

Clare will be leading.