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Review of Meeting 2nd September 2025

by Piers Rowlandson.

The brief was to read and discuss current projects.

Ten members attended and one guest.

We started with members' news.

Piers.

Nicola Garrard has published a third novel. On the Edge. Set in Devon, it is a novel about a teenage boy and his younger brothers growing up in poverty, their mother having died and their father away earning a living. The plight of small, isolated seaside villages is the background. The houses are being bought by outsiders as holiday cottages and, as a result, are largely left empty. Shops are closed and there are few jobs. The social injustice leads Rhys to join with ex-Oxford student Dodo in a campaign of civil disobedience. The writing is lyrical and the pace is fast and furious. Strongly recommended.

We thought we should invite Nicola back if we could afford her. I have circulated a message from Nicola about a book signing in Petworth at 6.30 on 6th September.

Christan.

His book, Leopard, is due to be published this month by Conrad Press. He has completed the author bio and the cover is to be discussed this week.

Sharon.

The competition had seven entries. It was hard to decide on a winner, but Neill's story about an alarm clock that took on a human and rather malignant personality stood out. Second was Daniela Bullas. Sharon read out Daniela's story in the author's absence. Neil read his own story to a round of applause. Nicky gave him a certificate and a prize of a small notepad with CWC printed on the plastic cover.

-§-

After tea, Philip read out the first 1500 words of the opening chapter of his novel, a work of historical fiction with the provisional title A Son of the Revels. It concerns boy actors in Elizabethan England, who generally played the female roles and were cruelly abused, it seems.

I read out a 1500 word piece from my short story, Cowes Week, which describes Alex falling overboard during a race.

Lesley read out the beginning of the chapter titled The Coldest Wettest June from her time slip novel. She has changed to the first person for this novel because writing it in the third person just did not work.

After each reading, there was a detailed and friendly discussion and many helpful suggestions.

Finally, I agreed to email Ian about the difficulty that people are having logging onto the website and ask him to send new passwords with instructions.

Review of Meeting 5th August 2025

by Piers Rowlandson.

Chair: Stephen Bullas.

There were eight members present and two guests.

Members' News: Christian's book is scheduled for publication in September. He has already arranged several venues to promote and sign copies of The Leopard

Steve had set us an exercise: Story Plot Structure.

Write a story, not more than a page and not less than 300 words. The prompt was, "In 1919, a nurse returns to a Yorkshire manor house in which she used to work during the Great War. Hidden in the back of a cupboard, she finds a bundle of letters tied up with twine. She leaves without opening them."

Discuss your story in terms of how plotting shaped the narrative and share the inspiration and any research behind the story.

Seven stories were read out and discussed. They were all very different but a common theme was that the letters provided closure for the nurse who had experienced trauma in the Manor House. She seems to have experienced love and loss, or unrequited love. One met, nursed, and loved an escaped German prisoner of war; another was a man who worked as an orderly, nursing the wounded soldiers as part of his job, as men at that time were not typically employed as nurses.

There was extensive and lively discussion.

Next time I am in the chair.

This is a chance to read out a piece from something you are working on, either a poem, flash fiction, short story or novel. It is recommended that the piece you read out is limited to 1500 words. If you feel that members need to have access to a whole chapter, then I suggest that you upload it to the CHAT page. If you have difficulty logging onto the members' Chat Page, I can help by contacting Ian, who created and manages our website.

Review of the meeting on 1st July 2025

Piers Rowlandson

I was in the chair in place of Lesley, who was unable to attend and sent apologies. Nine members were present and two guests were welcomed, one on holiday from Sheffield.

Members News.

Christian Johansson has had his 125,000-word murder mystery novel, Leopard, accepted by Conrad Press, which does not demand a fee.

The Meeting.

Following Christian's news, there was a discussion about all aspects of publishing, including the merits of having an agent, paying to have your novel published or printed and self-publishing.

We followed Lesley's idea of each person reading out their favourite opening paragraph from any novel or short story. Both guests contributed, as well as each member. There was a wide variety of authors represented, but no one chose Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Presumably because everyone thought it was too well known! John Buchan's The 39 Steps, Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train, George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman and Dylan Thomas' Holiday Memory were some of the other novels quoted. One person used their own novel to a round of applause. It was an amusing and interesting evening.

The 1500 word pieces on a supernatural theme are to be handed in to Nicky at the August meeting, (see below).

3rd June 2025,

Review Meeting

by Piers Rowlandson.

Nicky was in the Chair.

Seven members were present and one guest. There were apologies from two members.

Members' news: Janet pointed out that the WordPress CWC website is still out there which is confusing. Nicky said that in the past we had tried to take it down but were unable to, for some reason. I have put a warning on the home page of our present site.

Four pieces were read out, the longer pieces only in part since they had already been circulated.

My piece was the beginning of a chapter about a sailing adventure inserted into my novel about Alex and her pony. It was generally thought to be out of place in the novel. I am going to correct the many mistakes and it will become a short story.

Neill's complete short story, The Old Guy, was greeted with great pleasure and praise. It was suggested that it should be entered for a competition or submitted to a magazine.

Janet's chapter continues the story of Karl, who is reluctantly going off to war in 1939. On the spur of the moment, he and his friend Ernst decide to join the Luftwaffe. There was animated and enthusiastic discussion.

Nicky's piece concerned Lana, who is home from university during a storm. Clearing up after the storm, she finds a curious gemstone which seems to have magic properties. This is the prologue to a much longer piece in which Lana is the hero. The group was intrigued and much discussion ensued.

Lesley is in the Chair for the next meeting and asked members to bring their favourite first paragraph from any novel.

Sharon is running a competition for the best 1500 word piece on a supernatural theme, to be handed in at the August meeting.

Any supernatural theme.
Not more than 1500 words
Must have a beginning, middle and end.
If there is a twist at the end, that would be great, but quite unusual for a story with this theme.

There is a £1.00 entry fee to be handed in to Nicky. Entries must be anonymous but pinned to an envelope containing a slip of paper with the author's name on it.

Review of the meeting on 1st April 2025

Piers Rowlandson

Eight members were present and apologies were received from three.

Piers Rowlandson was in the chair.

The meeting started with a brief AGM which included a review of our financial position: healthy. We have a new bank account with Virgin Money which does not incur charges.

Subscriptions are not due until June.

Piers Rowlandson was appointed secretary.

The website is coming back to life. It may be that the secretary is the only person who can add to the forthcoming events and meetings, write a blog or add to the chat room. I will ask Ian to add user names and passwords for all members.

Outside speakers were discussed and the general view was that once or twice a year would be a good idea but no names were put forward. It was mentioned that a speaker might expect to be paid in the region of £50 to £75 for an hour.

In the second half of the meeting, three contributions were read out.

1. The Leopard by Christian Johansson.

This is part of a chapter of a murder mystery thriller, the main character being a psychopath. Vivid writing and chilling was the verdict.

2. Near Hagen, Germany 1939 by Janet Denny.

In some ways, this novel is a follow-up to her first book about her father who was killed in WWII: The Man on the Mantelpiece. Near Hagen deals with the experiences and feelings of a nineteen-year-old student living near Hagen in 1939 as the Nazis rise to power. Beautiful descriptions of the wildlife and the countryside contrast with the political situation and the smoke from factories churning out war machines.

3. Ann and Tom by Lesley Pardoe.

This is a time-slip novel about the Lord of the Manor's daughter Lady Ann and her father's shepherd, Tom. Aimed at twelve-year-olds it has a lovely simplicity and the local West Country dialogue adds to the atmosphere.

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