March 1st,
The Guild welcomed guest, and hopefully new member, Doug Chamberlin to the meeting. After brief introductions and explanation of the procedures during the critique process, Doug along with three other member signed up to read.
Genevieve started off the meeting with a rewrite of the opening chapter to her novel, No Never No More. The improvement between this read and last week's was evident. She engaged the reader with the opening paragraph and built tension throughout the scenes. With only a few minor adjustments remaining Genevieve's story is off to a promising beginning.
Shirley followed with a poem that stired a variety of emotions among the members allowing each to interpret the nature of its origin.
Doug jumped in with his fantasy - scifi shortstory, "Read the Directions." The group enjoyed the storyline and offered several suggestions that might help Doug with dialogue and tension. It was suggested that he slow things down and expand each scene to allow the characters time to develop.
The final reader for the evening was William with a scene from his novel, The Family Tree. His rough draft showed good command of pace and tension. The group felt that the story provided detail without being overstated and pushed many of the right buttons that could make it a page turner. The members would like to see the rewrite of this scene after issues with sentence structure and tense are corrected.
February 22nd, 2010
After rescheduling the meeting due to President's Day our third meeting featured three readers. The evening began with the election of new officers for the Guild. Nominations were opened by outgoing President and the slate included, Jean Lamb, President; Bill Barrett, Vice President; Lisa Davis, Treasurer; and Maggie Wood, Secretary. No other members were nominated or challenged the slate. Nominations were closed and a vote was called. Thirteen members casted votes in favor of the slate, no one opposed the nominations and one member abstained. On April 1, 2010 the new officers with assume their posts.
Shirley began the meeting with two poems that displayed her command of both subject and pace. Although the second drew a lively discussion about horses and their owners, both poems were well received.
Genevieve followed with the first chapter of her 1860's novel, No Never No More. The chapter lacked some tension as backstory slowed the pace. The story was well written but most felt that there could have been a better starting point.
Ed ended the evening with a scene from his novel, The Adventures of Midshipman Tyke. The scene brought together myriad of characters that delightfully captured the imagination of the reader in the proper etiquette of table top battles using cheese, forks and plenty of wine.
February 1st, 2010
Finally the weather cooperated as we gathered for our second get-together in 2010. The meeting was well attended as members filled the room to hear what four weeks of no contact would conjur up. Although 5 members signed up to read we only had time to critique the offerings of Ken, Glenn, Eric and Bill. Ken shared a short from his collection of stories about his work as a physician in Afghanistan. His ability to share horrific scenes with clarity and calmness was well received.
Glenn followed with a short from his childhood in West Virginia, as he shared a story passed on by his Grandfather. The simplistic charm of the story flowed easily and held the readers interests. Well done.
Eric offered a new project, a collection of poetry that he will be making into a CD. Brilliant is the only way to describe Eric's read. He is a talented wordsmith.
Bill had the unfortunate task of following Eric. Although the members didn't feel the scene worked for his novel, Operation Kamiaken, he still displayed a talented writing style.
January 4th, 2010
The first meeting in 2010, was attended by eight members with two readers. After a discussion about the upcoming elections where the current officers will be stepping down the critique portion of the meeting began.
Janeane read a poem and a rewrite of her short story, "Peace on Earth." Both were well received as members offered suggestion on the structure of her poem, and a comparison of her original version of "Peace on Earth." Members felt the rewrite lacked the emotional connection the original offered but, it did provide more information about the circumstances of the event.
Bonnie shared a short humorous scene she wrote that played on words and reaction. This was offered without critique.
The meeting ended at 9:00 PM.