Being the last Wednesday of the month, today was a "Hot Pen " day but the members were confronted with a different scenario. Instead of using a random word to write about they were presented with a scene - a pine table and chair and on the table was a stack of paper which had some writing on it along with a pen. Fifteen minutes was allotted to write the piece and as usual the members did not disappoint with various pictures conjured up from a different version of "The Three Bears", a classroom scene in which the teacher was absent, the proposed reading of a will in a solicitor's office to a young man returning to the cottage where his grandfather had lived.
After the break, there was time for a quickfire "hot pen" using the word, "penny". Childhood memories of sweets and family life figured largely with this item and of course the bad penny always showed up.
Ian C
Wednesday, 29 July 2015
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Futurelearn.com
Futurelearn provide many online courses and they are very good and easy to do. They can take time, but weekly hours are indicated and the more time you can devote the greater the payback.
Some members of Stanza Mar Menor have just signed up for WILLIAM WORDSWORTH: POETRY, PEOPLE AND PLACE. This is a course that is run with Lancaster University and the Wordsworth Trust and if previous courses are anything to go by - it should be good. It does not start until 7th September and so there is enough time to read more about him. It is only a few hours a week and is only over four weeks. Why not give it a go?
There is interactive feedback and we can offer our views of colleagues work and comments. I just think that it a very good idea and something that TORREVIEJA Writers Circle can participate in. Okay, I know that you think that it is just about poetry, but there is more in this course than that. If you feel the need to know more about poetry then you will learn and it may influence your future efforts.
John Edwards 28th July, 2015
Thursday, 23 July 2015
Wednesday 22 July
There was a change of programme for today's meeting as we had as a guest speaker, Aoife Leddy, the editor of "Costa Blanca People" (formerly known as "The Coastrider"). Aoife gave us an insight into the running of a newspaper and its trials and tribulations. There was a variety of questions posed to her ranging from her role as editor, the evolution of the newspaper, to the economics of providing a free newspaper in the face of so much competition. During the Q and A session, a number of suggestions were made by members as to what they would like to see in the paper and Aoife said she would take these on board and investigate the possibility of them being included sometime in the future.
After the break there was further discussion on journalistic writing and the general guidelines issued within the newspaper industry. Aoife suggested that, as creative writers, why did we not attempt to write an article on the subject of writing, treat it as a competition which she would judge and the winning entry would be published in a future edition of the newspaper.
The members accepted the challenge with the following guidelines:
Subject "Why Write"
Word Count 500 max
Closing Date 26 August ( To the Chairman)
The chairman would then liaise with her at the beginning of September for publication in either late September or early October. The published article would also include details of the TWC which might attract new members.
Ian C
After the break there was further discussion on journalistic writing and the general guidelines issued within the newspaper industry. Aoife suggested that, as creative writers, why did we not attempt to write an article on the subject of writing, treat it as a competition which she would judge and the winning entry would be published in a future edition of the newspaper.
The members accepted the challenge with the following guidelines:
Subject "Why Write"
Word Count 500 max
Closing Date 26 August ( To the Chairman)
The chairman would then liaise with her at the beginning of September for publication in either late September or early October. The published article would also include details of the TWC which might attract new members.
Ian C
Sunday, 19 July 2015
Shimla, our next destination
Tour Leader job
Shimla
16-18 February
We travelled for a full day by road from Dharamshala, and we were relieved to stretch our legs for a short climb up a hundred or so steps leading to our Shimla hotel. Until we had been climbing for a few minutes, that is, when relief was replaced by exhaustion as the altitude began to get the better of some of us, me included. I was gasping by the time we reached the reception at Clarke’s hotel. The establishment is elegant, and the service impeccable, but the view from our window was truly depressing: a huge shabby concrete building, a crowded road, and vehicles jam-packed into tiny car parks or on the pavement below. We had expected sweeping views of the Himalaya. The rooms were comfortable, but there was no free wifi – shock, horror for some of us – and none of our plugs fitted the hotel sockets. The food and bar drinks were expensive, but the ambience was genteel and the waiters looked very dashing in their long coats and turbans. For around 130 euro per night, it wasn’t a bad deal.
During their rule, the British made this town their summer station, moving lock, stock and barrel by horse and cart, up the mountain road to escape the oppressive heat of Calcutta, and ended up spending more time at this ‘hill station’ at 7,000 feet, than in the sweltering capital.
The small village was discovered by Captain Charles Kennedy in the early 19th century, became popular with the British in the 1830s, and in 1864 became the summer headquarters of the British Government in India. Enticed by its salubrious character, the ladies arrived first, followed by their officer husbands…. and then the parties started. And party they did, entertaining themselves with clandestine affairs in between visits to church and games of cricket and tennis.
We ventured to a vegetarian restaurant where we dined exquisitely on green pea pulao and methi paratha with fresh lime juice for 233 rupees (3.5 euro), and returned to the hotel bar for a glass of wine which cost twice as much as our meal.
Shimla from terrace
Next morning we were driven to the Vice Regal Lodge for a glimpse of past luxury, followed by a leisurely stroll along the famous Mall, where no Indians were once allowed. The Lodge is full of memorabilia and original furniture, and it was easy to picture the formal receptions for visiting dignitaries or royal Indian princes. The signatories to the partition of Bangladesh and Pakistan in 1947 would have mounted the wide stairs, as would those on their way to the ballroom for a lavish party, or to the wood-panelled dining room decorated with coats of arms for a sumptuous feast.
Vice Regal lodge Shimla
As we ambled along The Mall, I tried to picture characters from fictional stories about the British in India: moustachioed colonels accompanied by pale, lace-clad ladies swooning in the heat, and dashing young soldiers in britches, all being duly waited upon by shy and servile turbaned Indians. Passion rising in their muscular chests and heaving breasts, decorum dictating their behaviour at all times. Except occasionally, when the climate clearly became too much, overwhelming their restraint. Apparently a young British woman eloped on horseback with her Indian lover, prompting Kipling to name their meeting place ‘Scandal Corner’.
.
I pondered on the rich and poor divide, which despite so-called progress, seems to be as much in evidence in these days as it was in those. While tourists barter over silk pashminas, skinny young lads run errands, weaving between the more fortunate visitors to the town.
For once we were not obliged to rise early on our second morning, as our short Toy Train ride from Shimla to Solan didn’t start till 10.30. The track was covered in scampering monkeys, and the platform crowded with noisy, boisterous schoolchildren, some of whom kept pestering their mothers to buy them biscuit and cake snacks served from rusty buckets.
We saved our appetite for the second part of our journey, after stopping near Solan for an outdoor picnic lunch of vegetable sandwiches and tonic water at a government run conference centre in the hills. From there we drove to Kalka, where we continued by train to New Delhi. Dinner was served on board, and seemed endless: starter samosa-type snacks, biscuits, dal, rice, spicy tofu, yogurt….and of course, tea, or chai as it is called in India. The carriage was packed; whenever I travel by train in India, it seems the world and his wife are on the move. I often wonder where they’re all going and why.
We travelled for a full day by road from Dharamshala, and we were relieved to stretch our legs for a short climb up a hundred or so steps leading to our Shimla hotel. Until we had been climbing for a few minutes, that is, when relief was replaced by exhaustion as the altitude began to get the better of some of us, me included. I was gasping by the time we reached the reception at Clarke’s hotel. The establishment is elegant, and the service impeccable, but the view from our window was truly depressing: a huge shabby concrete building, a crowded road, and vehicles jam-packed into tiny car parks or on the pavement below. We had expected sweeping views of the Himalaya. The rooms were comfortable, but there was no free wifi – shock, horror for some of us – and none of our plugs fitted the hotel sockets. The food and bar drinks were expensive, but the ambience was genteel and the waiters looked very dashing in their long coats and turbans. For around 130 euro per night, it wasn’t a bad deal.
During their rule, the British made this town their summer station, moving lock, stock and barrel by horse and cart, up the mountain road to escape the oppressive heat of Calcutta, and ended up spending more time at this ‘hill station’ at 7,000 feet, than in the sweltering capital.
The small village was discovered by Captain Charles Kennedy in the early 19th century, became popular with the British in the 1830s, and in 1864 became the summer headquarters of the British Government in India. Enticed by its salubrious character, the ladies arrived first, followed by their officer husbands…. and then the parties started. And party they did, entertaining themselves with clandestine affairs in between visits to church and games of cricket and tennis.
We ventured to a vegetarian restaurant where we dined exquisitely on green pea pulao and methi paratha with fresh lime juice for 233 rupees (3.5 euro), and returned to the hotel bar for a glass of wine which cost twice as much as our meal.
Shimla from terrace
Next morning we were driven to the Vice Regal Lodge for a glimpse of past luxury, followed by a leisurely stroll along the famous Mall, where no Indians were once allowed. The Lodge is full of memorabilia and original furniture, and it was easy to picture the formal receptions for visiting dignitaries or royal Indian princes. The signatories to the partition of Bangladesh and Pakistan in 1947 would have mounted the wide stairs, as would those on their way to the ballroom for a lavish party, or to the wood-panelled dining room decorated with coats of arms for a sumptuous feast.
Vice Regal lodge Shimla
As we ambled along The Mall, I tried to picture characters from fictional stories about the British in India: moustachioed colonels accompanied by pale, lace-clad ladies swooning in the heat, and dashing young soldiers in britches, all being duly waited upon by shy and servile turbaned Indians. Passion rising in their muscular chests and heaving breasts, decorum dictating their behaviour at all times. Except occasionally, when the climate clearly became too much, overwhelming their restraint. Apparently a young British woman eloped on horseback with her Indian lover, prompting Kipling to name their meeting place ‘Scandal Corner’.
. 
I pondered on the rich and poor divide, which despite so-called progress, seems to be as much in evidence in these days as it was in those. While tourists barter over silk pashminas, skinny young lads run errands, weaving between the more fortunate visitors to the town.
For once we were not obliged to rise early on our second morning, as our short Toy Train ride from Shimla to Solan didn’t start till 10.30. The track was covered in scampering monkeys, and the platform crowded with noisy, boisterous schoolchildren, some of whom kept pestering their mothers to buy them biscuit and cake snacks served from rusty buckets.
We saved our appetite for the second part of our journey, after stopping near Solan for an outdoor picnic lunch of vegetable sandwiches and tonic water at a government run conference centre in the hills. From there we drove to Kalka, where we continued by train to New Delhi. Dinner was served on board, and seemed endless: starter samosa-type snacks, biscuits, dal, rice, spicy tofu, yogurt….and of course, tea, or chai as it is called in India. The carriage was packed; whenever I travel by train in India, it seems the world and his wife are on the move. I often wonder where they’re all going and why.
Saturday, 18 July 2015
TORREVIEJA WRITERS GROUP FACE BOOK
There are new items on our Face Book page and it is a way to pass information onwards. If you are not on Face Book you could join this small group.
Third in Mari Hannah's Series of Crime
Mari Hannah with 'Deadly Deceit'
Mari Hannah and 'Deadly Deceit' where on the cover it is said that 'pure evil wears many disguises', and as it unfolds you will know that it does.
This is the third book that I have read following on from the 'Murder Wall' and 'Settled Blood' where her top detectives DCI Kate Daniels and her solid as a rock DS Hank Gormley battle not only with themselves, but the murdering kind as well.
She paints her characters with a vividness that steps off the page into our imagination. I like the way she writes about individual frailties that become exposed within the murder room and in the real world of the street. No one is perfect.
Her books voice our concerns about what we know is out here. The prejudices and discriminations
that hinder the freedom of choice. Kate battles with 'coming out' or staying stum so as not to hinder her possible promotion. I enjoyed the revelations about her sex/love life and the need to remain focused on her work that just gets in the way of emotional satisfaction.
Kate is a super-woman who has the apparent energy of a battalion of lesser people. Here I ask why do writers have to give their heroes more than they should?
I will not say a thing about the plots as you can read the back cover if you care to. Incidents are pulled together and the participants write their own story. There is one occasion where Kate is leaning against the wall at the nick and within a few lines she is opening a back door in a house. What occurred there? There is one other section that also requires a leap of the imagination.
If you want a hero, particularly a female one, then you have one here and there are others that can entice. You will know that it is much less of a perfect world that you may have thought before reading this fast moving novel.
Mari Hannah and 'Deadly Deceit' where on the cover it is said that 'pure evil wears many disguises', and as it unfolds you will know that it does.
This is the third book that I have read following on from the 'Murder Wall' and 'Settled Blood' where her top detectives DCI Kate Daniels and her solid as a rock DS Hank Gormley battle not only with themselves, but the murdering kind as well.
She paints her characters with a vividness that steps off the page into our imagination. I like the way she writes about individual frailties that become exposed within the murder room and in the real world of the street. No one is perfect.
Her books voice our concerns about what we know is out here. The prejudices and discriminations
that hinder the freedom of choice. Kate battles with 'coming out' or staying stum so as not to hinder her possible promotion. I enjoyed the revelations about her sex/love life and the need to remain focused on her work that just gets in the way of emotional satisfaction.
Kate is a super-woman who has the apparent energy of a battalion of lesser people. Here I ask why do writers have to give their heroes more than they should?
I will not say a thing about the plots as you can read the back cover if you care to. Incidents are pulled together and the participants write their own story. There is one occasion where Kate is leaning against the wall at the nick and within a few lines she is opening a back door in a house. What occurred there? There is one other section that also requires a leap of the imagination.
If you want a hero, particularly a female one, then you have one here and there are others that can entice. You will know that it is much less of a perfect world that you may have thought before reading this fast moving novel.
Monday, 13 July 2015
Book Review
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
First published in 1989 by Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-330-45013-3, 1076 pages long.
A book set in 12th century England it covers the period from 1123 to 1174. For anyone interested in history, particularly medieval history, this book is astonishing in its attention to detail.
In Ken Follett's introduction he admits that this book nearly never got written. He is better known as a "thriller" writer, but this idea was in his head for ten years before he actually started writing it. It began with his fascination of medieval architecture, churches and cathedrals in particular. The way they were built at a time without today's technology, power tools or understanding of modern engineering. They were also poor. Only the rich and powerful rode horses. The rest went by foot. And yet many of those buildings, built nine hundred years ago, still stand today.
Relegion dominated peoples lives and the monasteries were the closest thing to the welfare system. Ken Follett explores the daily lives of both the rich and poor, during times of wealth and famine. Today, politicians and bankers, more or less rule peoples lives. Then, it was the Kings and Bishops, Squires and Earls. Someone who was rich one day, residing in a castle, could, the next, be starving in a prison.
This book contains plenty of violence, including rape, pillage and murder, but it is the love stories, entwined through the generations, which capture. This book is such a page turner, that, despite its length, I read it in a couple of weeks. It is definitely one of my favourite books. At the end of the book we are given the first chapter of his sequel, "World Without End", which I will now be looking out for.
Sue Champion
First published in 1989 by Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-330-45013-3, 1076 pages long.
A book set in 12th century England it covers the period from 1123 to 1174. For anyone interested in history, particularly medieval history, this book is astonishing in its attention to detail.
In Ken Follett's introduction he admits that this book nearly never got written. He is better known as a "thriller" writer, but this idea was in his head for ten years before he actually started writing it. It began with his fascination of medieval architecture, churches and cathedrals in particular. The way they were built at a time without today's technology, power tools or understanding of modern engineering. They were also poor. Only the rich and powerful rode horses. The rest went by foot. And yet many of those buildings, built nine hundred years ago, still stand today.
Relegion dominated peoples lives and the monasteries were the closest thing to the welfare system. Ken Follett explores the daily lives of both the rich and poor, during times of wealth and famine. Today, politicians and bankers, more or less rule peoples lives. Then, it was the Kings and Bishops, Squires and Earls. Someone who was rich one day, residing in a castle, could, the next, be starving in a prison.
This book contains plenty of violence, including rape, pillage and murder, but it is the love stories, entwined through the generations, which capture. This book is such a page turner, that, despite its length, I read it in a couple of weeks. It is definitely one of my favourite books. At the end of the book we are given the first chapter of his sequel, "World Without End", which I will now be looking out for.
Sue Champion
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