Record of meeting 20 July 2011

Present: David R, Jo, David C, Geoff, Helene, Mandy, Wendy


News: David R apologised for the things he has said that upset some people in the group and will make an effort not to do so again. Jo is thinking about the number of times she has almost been killed. Jo’s son Danny has vacuumed up all her spiders. David C is learning to play the ukulele because his fingers are too short to play a guitar. David C is has advertised his chamber pots on E Bay as a collection – anyone interested. Geoff talked about M J Hyland and how she cultivates the reader. Helene drove from Canberra this morning to attend the meeting. Mandy has bought a mobile phone and is learning how to use it for emergencies but will not give out her number. Mandy recently put her sixth book called “Missouri” on Smashwords. Wendy talked about an article in Rugby League week about Kim Williams her son who is a coach of coaches.


Word of the day: Mandy followmelad – ribbons worn on the back of a hat indicating a woman is single. Wendy – let the cat out of the bag – came from the practice of substituting a cat for a pig. David R – cash-cow – a business investment or product that produces an easy profit. Jo – forebear and forbear to abstain from, to restrain oneself, be patient and an ancestor. David C – coetaneous - of a similar age. Geoff – schadenfreude - dark friend. Helene shared a thought for the day “The one cause of stress is the belief that my life is not going the way I want”.


Homework reading: David C – time traveller thought mental communication and a robotic nurse. Jo – wish hard enough and you will get it, life in a white laminated world. David R read “Seduced” a poem and “the great escape” a poem about a prisoner who escapes with hairspray. Wendy read her poem on the pleasures of living in a retirement home. Mandy a monologue Doris Day funny questions and answers about being old and repeating yourself, repeating yourself.


Exercise: We wrote progressive poetry and progressive stories which included ostriches, bears, crocodiles and buttons and bows.

Quick write: The scream echoed over the ocean stories included the characters Hortence, the Lock Ness Monster, seagulls, dolphins, a bull shark, a lost daughter and murder in the dark.


Homework: Write a story using the words an annoying boss, bikini and fake illness.

Record of meeting

Present: Cath, Terry, Robyn, Geoff, Helene, Mandy, Wendy, David C, Jo, David R.


News: Helene - had a mystery message on Facebook from Kooka Burra wanting to join the writing group. Mandy took the church service last week and people laughed - not sure if people are supposed to laugh. Wendy – nothing exciting. David C – lots have happened and saw a whale at Collingwood Beach and found a book of sayings by Bryce Courtney. Jo got electrocuted using a lamp at home last week. Cath has been away driving for 3 weeks, Bathurst, Oberon, Goulburn etc. Terry saw Jennifer Byrne on fantasy stories last night which stimulated his thinking on writing. Robyn is getting ready for her cruise and working out how to pay for it. David R has been up in the Blue Mountains and has been researching the writer Edgar Allan Poe and read out a poem he wrote about him and the poem “The Raven”.


Word of the day: Geoff – egregious – extremely bad flagrant – redolent – reminiscent or smelling strongly. Mandy - Egalitarian - equality of all people. Wendy – The chiropractor had a chauffeur who played chess and sang in the choir – a sentence showing the use of different pronununciations of “ch”. Swashbuckler – a flamboyant swordsman. David C - incunabula - swaddling clothes, birth place or cradle and a book printed before 1500. Jo maniac – maniacal. Dolphins and porpoises are different. Cath - abstruse – hard to understand. Terry - nebulous – indistinct, hazy. Also discussed the word prestige. David C - surcease – cessation or relief.


Homework readings; Geoff brought a cutting about M J Hyland as he was inspired by her ability to encourage him to read her depressing story. Helene read a poem about wanting to live in a haunted house. Mandy read her short story of Asher a young girl sole survivor of a ship wreck. David C wrote an indigenous story. Terry (never without homework) read out an article about how Nicole Krauss starts writing and read the story of Cloud and a smart talking ghost. Robyn wrote the story of Donna who moves into a haunted house. David R read a poem of Miranda where the sun turned off.


Exercise


Terry challenged us with an acronyms and word meaning exercises from Word Buff – Quiz Book.


Quick write - your character picks up a hitch hiker on the way home from work.


Stories included an old a man and a dead tree, an artistic student, a young man with bad tooth, a minister who picks up a hitchhiker, how to get rid of a hitchhiker, a prostitute, a guide for hitchhikers, a hitchhiker in drag and taking home a hitchhiker.


Homework due 20 July 2011

Use the following words in your homework - Retirement home, escape, imprisoned, family.

BAY AND BASIN WRITERS BLOG

6TH JULY 2011

PRESENT. Mandy Byrne. Wendy Williams.Jo Ball Leonie Worthy. Terry McLafferty. David Rudder Robyn Kellner. Di Halmer Eva Brown. Geoff Bolton..

The ship is run by Wendy today with an iron fist. Little but firm she says.

News or Things of Interest in our Week.

Jo. Nothing great is happening for her, she was just cold..

Terry. Going to Noosa for a week. Got a good deal for accommodation.

Robyn Is going on a 28 Day cruise and SHE GOT IT FOR A BARGAIN PRICE. How lucky is she. I am green with envy.

Leonie No news.

Mandy Sold 8 books on line and is boasting about it. She also bought a new swimming costume.

Di No big news just settling in her new home.

David R Bought a new sofa to have downstairs for when he has his hip replacement done. He also has taken to writing limericks in the middle of night. They were very rude. But he said he only wrote two the rest were off the internet. Naughty Irishmen he reckons.

Geoff Showed us a book of poems by Peter Bakowski and he read one of his winning poems. Portrait of Leonard Drisdall. It told a story very interesting.

Eva. She has a new man in man in her life and  it is blocking up her emails. She met him on line and wants to meet him soon in person. We all advised her to be careful.

Word of the Day.

Emollient. A smoother easier person. Or a substance that softens of sooths the skin.

Robyn  Devoid. An emptiness  Without anything.

Leonie Deft. Dextrous and organized in handling things.

Mandy.  Progenitor  Ancestor.

Wendy. Proponent. A noun. A person who argues in favour of something.

Di Pedagogue. A pedantic school teacher.

David. His CLEAN word of the day.de ja vu a feeling of having already experienced something. From French word meaning already seen.

Terry. To Coin. To invent a word or a phase.

Geoff has invented  a word called Interlogue as he wanted to put a words meaning in the middle of the story. Very clever.

Homework.

Robyn. Tuesday A short storyl about a family on Tuesday, So true.

Leonie. Gramps Gift. Short story. About Identical Twins.

Mandy Bums and Beaches. About a reoccurring dream that never happened.

Wendy. One of her poems called Changes.

Di. Out of the Rut. Short story. about love a second time around.

 David R. De je vu. A Poem  A nice clean poem.

Jo. Once More with Feeling. A short story. Really worth reading very good. Jo to send it to Helene for the Stories Blog.

Terry. I Wonder. Short Story.

David read us another poem .Wrapped.

We did an exercise set by Jo with words made up from different set letters.

Homework.

A child moves into a new house and the others tell her it is haunted. She makes up stories and the more she tells the more she is frightened.

The meeting ended with the usual laughter and friendship.

We are missing a few of our members. Cath. Helene and Vala get your but back my dears.

THE BAY AND BASIN WRITERS BLOG

JUNE 29TH 2011

ATTENDING. Mandy Byrne. Eva Brown. Wendy Williams. Terry Mclafferty.

                        David Rudder. Di Hamer. Melissa Ehrhardt. David Cargill. Jo Ball.

                       

News of the Day.

Welcome back Jo she has been sick and we missed her unique sense of humour.

Di. Her daughter has met a nice man on the train and chemistry was struck. Di hasn't met him yet so is worried as all mum would as her daughter has a disability

Wendy has been sick and feels better now Went to a concert Freddy Mercury look alike concert. Wendy can sing any Queen song, she knows all the words but refused to give us a recital.

Mandy Now a proud author and has sold 7 books. Whoopee.. Still has a sore jaw and can't find a cure. Dentist says it is neuralgia.

Melissa. Her young cousin went home to America and she rung her mother and apologised for being a teenager when she was young. Only a mother would understand.

Eva  Her 14 year old has a boyfriend and she is okay about it. The joys of having a teenage daughter.

Terry  Spoke about mashed potatoes not sure what he meant but everyone else laughed.

He also put two entries in a Poet's competition  Good luck Terry.

Jo finally got rid of her rash and feels better. But what it was caused by she has no idea.

David C. Visited Art Rush on line and was surprised there was only a few that rhymed he found this a bit off putting. He admits to being an old fashioned poem.

David Rudder. Reading Michael Connelly's book The Poet and  is enjoying it. His hip is feeling much better and he has enjoyed walks on the beach.

Word of the Day

Wendy. Tantamount it means the equivalent value or significance.

Melissa. Filibuster To obstruct legislation  by making long speeches Or as a noun it can mean a Buccaneers

Eva. Pusillanimous.  Cowerdly to not help another in trouble.

Terry. Parochial..  Pertaining to a parish. Limited in outlook .

Jo. The longest word. meaning a lung disease caused by chopped dust.

David.C. Manifest to dash against or offend. Difficult to be seen or understood. Obscure to the eye. To hold public meetings too.

David R. Druid. A priest or soothsayer  in a religion.

Di. Spectre. A ghost or vision.

.Homework.

Di Did What Ifs. Short story. Beautifully descriptive of Kangaroo Valley.

Wendy. A poem about twins. In her usual funny way it is so clever.Also did one called The Boyfriend. To be  sent to Helene for the writers blog.

Mandy. A short story that might get longer first chapter called The Wrong Time.

Terry Hey Dad.  A poem really funny. Read it on Bay and Basin Writer Stories Blog

Jo. Identical. A poem.

David C. To Erica A short story. A very sexy story. He is still thinking about sex he has a one track mind.

David R. The Clones Closed Party. A poem about making babies in a test tube.

Exercise. Picking out sayings from words. Verbosity.We are all quick off the mark clever lot.

Quick Write. We were each given a fortune cookie and had to write about the contents.

Homework.

Around mid-morning you realize that everything that is happening seems really familiar. After much thought you discover that:

a) you are reliving a day from your past.

b) a dream/nightmare that you have had is now happening for real or

c) your life has fallen into a terrible rut and now you must take drastic measures to find a way out of it.

Write one of the three.

Good meeting with lots of laughs and jokes.

BLOG FOR 22ND JUNE 2011-06-22

ATTENDING.

Dave Cargill. David Rudder. Mandy Byrne. Geoff Bolton. Melissa Ehrhardt  Leonie Worthy. Terry McLafferty. LATE COMER. DI Hammer.

News from the Members.

David made a comment that for the first time there are more men than women.Then Di arrived and evened the score.

Terry. He has a trailer sail and came up with Aweigh With Words. We thought it was very appropriate.

Leonnie. Choosing furniture and stuff for her new home, exciting and worrying at the same time.

Melissa. Dressed in her purple beanie waiting to warm up had nothing to report.

Geoff. Went to see the Nowra Players  last night and enjoyed the play The Good Doctor. he said it was very enjoyable.

Mandy. Now in the best sellers list she has sold 5 books on Smashwords.She is waiting for her friends to buy one but it seems she doesn't have many friends. Boo Hoo!

Di; She has discovered the Golf Course at Vincentia and thinks she will have lots of fun up there.

David R. Took a trip on the new Nerriga road and went out towards Goulbourn but it didn't save him any time so it wasn't any quicker. He enjoyed the solitary time. Also he has occasional company from three brothers who sound very suspicious but they are better than having guard dogs he reckons.

We had a discussion about locals in the outback being great when they are needed, much nicer than anyone would imagine..

David Cargill. Has been looking at retirement homes at Coastal Waters. And he gave us all the low down on it, till we told him to shut up and get on with the meeting. We were very tactful of course.

Word of the Day.

Terry.  Desultory Something that is all over the place.

Leonie. Spume. Refers to froth on top of a wave.

Melissa. Mordacious. Biting sarcasm or an animal or person given to biting.

Geoff. Egregious. Guilding the Lily saying something hollow when they are trying to do two things at once.Our Pollies who have two jobs do this often.

Mandy. Mellifluous. Smooth or sweet.

Di. Jocose. Meaning Jocular sort of person.or a jocose moment.

David. Promulgate. To promote or make widely known an idea or cause. Or to put into law by proclamation. 

David C. Flotsam and Jetsam. Flotsam is from a ship wreck. and Jetsam is something that has been thrown overboard that is not needed. Deliberately thrown away. Stuff washed up on a beach can be either.

Homework. We had three phases. A Sinister Man. a Stolen Ring and Fear of Spiders.

The  Sinister Man. By Mandy Byrne. A true Story about a visit to Centrelink.

Geoff. Arachnecide  A story about a spider in the bathroom.  See the story on our Blogg Bay and Basin Writers Stories.

Melissa. My Cousin Kenny. A good short story.

Leonie. Finished off her last weeks homework. Aerobics. Avery poignant short story we all think it is wonderful and would like to print it out.

Terry. The Sad Story of Unhappy Billy. A short confusing story. Dealing with tautology.  

David. Cargill. My Great Grandpa. A great little story about a stolen ring.

David Rudder. Theft. Arachnophobia. and the Sinister Stranger. A Poem. that included all the phases very cleverly done..

Di. The Stolen Ring. A poem. Well written fantasy

Exercise by Terry. Read out a story and we had to pick out the tautology in it. There were over 57.

Quick Write. A Way with words.

Helene set up a blogg for our stories. Go to Bay and Basin Writers Stories. to view them.I have to look this up as I have never used it before.

We all wrote something and it seems that David C is a bit preoccupied with sex at the moment. Must be his age.

Homework.  Identical Twins A Party Invitation. A Locked closet. Use all or some of these words to do homework. If you don't do it you are not excommunicated just frowned upon so do come, even if it is just to be frowned upon.

Jo is not well so we hope she is better soon as we miss her. Where are Cathy, Vala and Robyn and our other new ladies??? A note of apology will suffice. .

BLOG FOR WRITERS GROUP

JUNE 15TH 2011-06-15

ATTENDING.

Melissa. Mandy, Robyn,Wendy, Terry, David Cargill, David Rudder. Geoff Bolton. Di Hamer. Rochelle Mills. Leonne Worthy; new member Rochelle Mills.

More men than ladies for once well for ten minutes.

 News Items.

Mandy still has her sore yaw and feeling down over friends so ill, life goes on. On a happier note she has published three books on smashwords now.

Geoff going to Eisteddfods and enjoying watching the talented participants.

Wendy nothing this week.

Mellisa her 14yr old cousin is visiting and singing her songs She might be moving to Wagga in January. We are not amused with news.

Robyn. Went to visit friends and all her grandchildren, enjoyed it all despite the weather.

Terry. His grandson had a hair cut and was excited to give his curls to his grandfather who has a serious hair loss. AAhh!

David C. Went to see his grandson and went bowling with him and his new knees. He scored over 100 so felt he did well, well done knees..

David Rudder. Took his hip to the medical centre and had a steroid injection in it and it is helping the pain.

Di. Did water aerobics and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rochelle our new member. Welcome to the Mad House and we hope you will come back again. Rochelle wants to learn to write and cares for her father. Married with two kids. Loves writing about her own life and thoughts.

Leonie. Home loan approved and the builder will start her new home. How exciting.

Word of the Day.

David C. Nuance a graduate between colours or a subtle difference in a person meanings.

Terry. brusque. Abrupt in manner. Scotch. To make harmless. To scotch a rumour.

Melissa. Kibosh. same as scotch but  needed looking up. We found it is to dispose of something. To put an end to something.

Geoff. Scratch. has many meanings Not up to scratch or to scratch and has a sporting meaning to take off. Mark or cut.

Claque. people put in an audience to cheer and make comments..

Mandy. Sublimate to divert energy an emotion or impulse arising from primitive instinct.

Wendy. Refudiate. A word made up by a politician a malapropism of Repudiate. The politician Sara Palin used it to deny  something.

Di. Racketeer A crime to be carried out without attracting attention. These people were known as Racketeers.

David R. Provocative. Adj. to cause annoyance or anger deliberately. Provocative pose can be sexual.

Homework.

Wendy. Poem  Under the Bed. A really funny poem.

Mandy read part of a novel. Lost then Found.

Melissa. Hidding under my bed. A boys prospective of what's under his bed. You would not believe what was there!

Terry. Jims Dilemma. A really funny poem that had us in fits. Terry should send this off we all said.

David C. Poetic Licence. Another funny poem.

David R. Unpleasant secrets. A very sexy tale and so funny. We are concerned for him he seems to have sex on the brain today.

Di. Dear Diary. Short story. Another sexy tale.

Readings.

David C read another chapter from his current Novel, still to be named. We are very interested in the detective he also got into bed with someone this time. These Men!

Geoff Bolton. Read another chapter from his novel. Showa 46.This has a Japanese theme and is very interesting.

Exercise We did the opposites of words. Such as female and male animals  and other opposites. Wendy was so quick with her responses. For a 4'11" she is packed with information and was the champion by a mile.

Quick write. It was time for a change. Some poems and short pieces. Well done and entertaining

We discussed putting some of these wonderful poems onto a disc and Mandy would like to go into talking books. This could be a new venture but we might need some software to do it. Terry will price some and see what is the best deal as he is good at this. We have some money in the kitty.

Mandy printed out some of the groups Anthology at $5 a book to cover the ink. Any one wanting one please contact her and order one.

For new writers who want instruction about writing and getting stuff ready to publish we do have books and information you can borrow. If you feel daunted at the thought one of the group will mentor you and give you any help you need. We are a wonderful group and very modest with it.

Homework. Stolen Ring. Fear of Spiders. A Sinister Stranger. Use all three or some of them, do a poem, short story or long one. What ever you do just write and enjoy it.

  

BAY AND BASIN BLOG.

BAY AND BASIN BLOG.

8TH JUNE 11

ATTENDING

David Rudder. David Cargill. Terry Mac.Robyn Kellner, Eva Brown. Geoff Bolkton. Di Hamar. Wendy Williams. Mandy Byrne. Leonie Worthy. Cathy Rose.

Brags. The two Davids have bragged about their grandchildren and what a joy they are to have. (They are only young so still human) David. C is going to be a great grandfather even though he is too young he reckons.

Leonie is now a great Aunt and we commented on how fertile we are.

Terry bragged about getting more members for Wildlife Rescue South Coast. This is great for the group.

Robyn. Her Granddaughter used to be lovely but is now 18 and her letters are not quite so loving as what Dave's granddaughter sent him. The language was very colourful now she sends texts messages.

Eva Brown. Nearly finished her course assessment she has to do a 3,000 essay to complete so good luck. This is for her her Aged Care Diploma

Geoff had no brags this week.

Cath nearly had a accident with a forgetful driver turning around and going back right in front of her.

Di Hamar. Brought a book in that the poets might find useful called Phrase and Fables.She had time with her partner for a change as they have been very busy so it was nice to have time together.

Wendy Williams. Had a very quiet week

Mandy survivied being with her granddaughter for two weeks and completed teaching

Word of the day.

David R. Hocus Pocus relates to wizardry a juggler or a jugglers trick. Also the name of several bands.

David Cargill. Xanthus. means blonde flaxen, brown or red haired or of the fair haired type. Greek word for yellow. Also the name of Achilles horse.

Leonie. Abracadabra a magic word one you exclaim when doing magic tricks.

Terry. Edify To improve morally. An edifying experience. Comes from the word Edifice a building.

Robyn Lorgnette Opera glasses on a handle. or to squint.

Eva  Tractable. Easy to manage docile and amenable.

Geoff. Contumely. Scorn or abuse.

Cathy. Chicanery. Trickery  Clever or misleading thoughts. Also things that stop accidents in races.

Di. Phantasmagoria. A shifting meddly of dream like figures.

Wendy. Googleganger. When you google your name on the net.

Mandy. No word.

Geoff gave us information on Literary Competitions.

Homework. Theme about a lost love.

Dave Rudder Read us several Poems he wrote. Some about being a jilted woman.

David Cargill. Poem about an X girlfriend.

Leonie. The X a story about lost love, then found again.

Terry. Short Story Me and Lee. A very vocal short story.

Geoff. Told us about Mysteries that were not mysteries.

Cathy. Short Story The Voyage.

Di. An X boyfriend a pair of binoculars and a good luck Charm. Short Story about lost love.

Wendy Williams. Revenge. A poem. Don't mess with this lady when you ditch her.

Mandy. A true story about a young mother with triplets and a toddler.

David C. Gave us a chapter from his novel.

Leonie read us one of her poems.

Exercise. Double Trouble Each word has two meanings

Bat. Press. Pen. Ring. Fly. Plug. Club. Note. Band.

Homework. Aerobics Secret Diary Something unpleasant under the bed.

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