Meeting Report: 6th August 2012

It was good to see so many members dragging themselves away from watching the Olympics to attend our meeting on Monday 6 August – or maybe people had just given up trying to understand the rules of the Women’s Omnium cycle event!  

The meeting was one of our regular Manuscript Evenings, where a small number of members read out extracts from their work in progress to gain helpful feedback from their colleagues. 

First up was Alex Willis, with the first part of a detective thriller novel, ‘Poetic Justice’, starring the gritty Inspector Jack Buchanan.  Alex hopes to produce a series of Jack Buchanan books, all set in Eastbourne. The Group felt that Alex had made a positive start with a gripping story line, and looked forward to hearing more in the future.

Next, to give our minds a rest, Janet Kates read us a short story, ‘Greek Music’.  In 2011, this story won third prize in the Group’s annual flagship competition, the Catherine Cookson Cup. We all agreed that this tightly written, atmospheric piece would set a high standard for our 2012 entries to measure up to.

Eileen Masters read us the closing pages of her autobiographical memoir, ‘Prayers for an Infidel’.  The work combines fascinating stories about Eileen’s work in war-ravaged Afghanistan with memories of her own childhood.  The Group made a number of suggestions to Eileen about how such a powerful piece of writing could best be finished off, and we look forward to reading the final version.

Lastly, Amanda Giles presented a further extract from her radio play, ‘Moondance’.  At our last Manuscript evening, Amanda had asked us to take different parts for a reading of the play, and on this occasion, we obliged again.  As the characters are mostly Welsh, with a London rock-star thrown in, our efforts were predictably hilarious.  Even so, Amanda felt that having real people read the play was a very helpful exercise for her.

The Group meets fortnightly at the White Rock Hotel. If you are interested in joining (there is currently a waiting list), or in finding out more about our activities, please contact the Membership Secretary, Amanda Giles, on 01424 442707 or e-mail membership.hwg@gmail.com. You can also visit our website at
www.hastingswriters.co.uk.

Report compiled by Steph Gaunt