Minutes of the meeting at La Rosa Hotel on the above date.
Present: Adele, Harry, John, Kaz, Ian, Jenny (chair).
Apologies: Laura, James, Lesley, Michele, Pip.
Topic: Members’ work-in-progress.
Matters Arising
Jenny — showed a copy of the inaugural edition of a new Whitby free periodical: Whitby Foghorn.
She discovered the editor had given her a free review of her book: The House On Baxtergate.
Harry — drew the meeting’s attention to the BBC programme In Our Time, chaired by Melvyn Bragg. This week the programme dealt with Lewis Carroll, a presiding eminence of our venue.
Ian announces that the price of coffee in lieu of an admission charge went up to £3 per person from the start of 2024. He apologised for not announcing it earlier.
Members’ Readings
Ian used his slot to read aloud John’s pre-circulated synopsis of his novel in-progress: Jack The Painter, so that John could use his entire slot to ask questions of the meeting.
John — led a discussion on the synopsis just-read.
Adele wondered if bald narration of the plot was missing the opportunity to identify hooks to appeal to readers, and could try to convey more emotion. Effort on developing a synopsis might be better spent fine-tuning a cover letter plus a blurb.
Ian opined that the proposal had great potential: basically a conversation between an 18-cent terrorist (Jack) and a 21-cent soldier (Will) wounded in a counter-terrorist operation. Each has the opportunity to tell his story. The frame story, seeking to rationalise the appearance of Jack’s ghost, was in Ian‘s opinion superfluous: the readership would accept the ghostly encounter as just a plot device to bring Jack and Will together for a deep discussion. The spectral mechanics serves only as a distraction from this dialogue. There are practically-speaking only 2 ways Ian could see to bring two men together across 250 years: (a) time slip, (b) ghostly apparition. Either would be a MacGuffin – and rightly so. Appealing to a cliché is actually an advantage: it absolves the author of any need to offer a theory of ghosts.
A discussion ensued on the morality of collateral damage (anodyne euphemism for harm done to non-combatants), the practicality of avoiding it, and possible bad consequences from doing so. All of which loom large in John’s story, without the need for (or advisability of) John prescribing solutions. Interestingly, Jack (a historical figure) took pains that his sabotage of naval dockyards would not endanger life. In this he was commendably successful, but it may have contributed to his ultimate failure.
Harry — handed-out a copy of the next instalment of his seafaring memoir, which he read aloud. Turning south beyond the French island of Ushant, the Marwarri encounters rough seas and rolls badly. Several of the officers are seasick and don’t appear for breakfast. Beryl, the author’s wife, cheerfully tucks into scrambled eggs on toast. The chapter is full of delightful minutiae of ship’s life, each told laconically with a dry wit that lets the narrative flow easily.
Adele — read a further instalment from her Covid Diary.
Boris Johnson acts as if he’s God’s gift to the Ukrainian nation in the face of the Russian aggression. Hoping to deflect heat from the “Partygate” scandal, which is all set to run and run. He has just been fined for hosting illegal Downing Street parties, while thousands die in care homes and the Queen attends her husband’s funeral alone in compliance with covid rules. This makes Boris the only British PM in the modern era to be punished for breaking the law while in office.
Another Chinese city is in lockdown, after only 30 cases. But countrywide the new Omicron variant is raging out of control. Little news emerges from the locked-down city: most of it via Starbucks, which has branches throughout China which report their staff non-attendance or lack of it due to virtual house-arrest.
Matt Hancock’s authorised release of covid sufferers from hospitals back to their care homes, causing large numbers of old people to die separated from their families, has been pronounced illegal. Meanwhile the much-vaunted Nightingale hospitals set up to cater for just such a need have been hardly used.
Scotland announces new rules, relaxing many covid restrictions. Test-and-trace is deemed no longer needed, including the much-hated App, condemned for being “Big Brother On Your Phone”.
Meanwhile the politicians party on, seemingly even Kier Starmer being accused of allowing a working meeting of the Labour Party to degenerate into a social occasion. His gambit is to offer to resign if Durham Police charge him with breaking the law – something that had never crossed Boris’s mind to offer to do.
The meeting closed at 1:10 PM.
[Corrected: Sun 18 Feb 2024: Jenny’s book review was for The House On Baxtergate]
Whitby Writers Group 