Minutes of the meeting at La Rosa Hotel on Thursday 21 March 2019.
Present: Adele, Jonathan, Mike, Louise, Pip, Ian (chair).
Topic: Members’ work-in-progress.
Matters Arising
Ian gratefully accepted an offer from Adele to place a recruitment ad for Whitby Writers Group in local libraries.
Members’ Readings
Mike — [Aladdin]. More mystery letters for Steve (Abanazer), who eventually encounters Shirley in the foyer, a one-time professional partner and one-night-stand, now suffering from terminal cancer. She has a little boy called Simon, quite obviously Steve’s son, whom she introduces to him. Steve is delighted with the child, but starts wondering how to break the matter to his wife and daughter.
Ian [Anitra’s Petition] — Oberon has nearly reached Mars. Hermes is crushed by Anitra’s letter of goodbye, which Dolpou has made her write.
Anitra has one last conversation with Peter Zwillinge, who tries to persuade her that her petition is doomed on Mars and to stay aboard the Oberon with him and his powerful friends. But Anitra has already concluded that her destiny lies with the groubians. (See: The Story So Far.)
Adele — read an article brimming with social history. As an estate agent she was charged with selling the very cottage she had been born in, her mother having been governess to the family of the Marquess of Normanby before her marriage. She takes the opportunity to show her mother round the empty property. The old lady is surprised at how little it had changed. Still one single electric power socket in every room in addition to the central light fitting.
A leisurely discussion ensued on the way things were within the living memory of the members, especially on labour-saving gadgets and the social drivers of post-war modernisation. Jonathan, from his experience as a tax official, reminded the group of the mechanism of Post-War Credits, which provided some of the financial drive for it.
Louise — had brought no draft to read but wanted to air an idea for the group to discuss. She plans to walk coast-to-coast from Morecambe to Saltburn and write a guide for the older walker. She needs to explore the legalities of positioning her guide with regard to Wainwright and existing authors, although her route will be a new one, bypassing high ground. Adele, a walker herself, possesses all the guides in question. Ian suggested that Louise ought to start approaching publishers right away, who would know the answers to all the questions she was asking.
Ian also remarked that we’d just heard two fascinating topics, each of which by itself would have kicked off a lively discussion to fill a whole meeting.
The meeting closed at 12:50 PM.
Whitby Writers Group 