Dogs, Diaries, Dementia and Days Out

A great attendance this week of initially 19 members until the break when TJ jioned the group.

This week's theme was a beginning: "The storm had knocked out the electricity......"

Rosemary kicked off with an excerpt from a book that she is in the process of writing entitled "John, Dementia and Me". This dealt with her dealing with the onset of dementia in her husband although it was not known at the time. The excerpt concentrated with the anxieties that she went through. Variousquestions were asked and suggestions made  to improve credibility.

Mary S gave a very humourous account of a day out at a garden party at which she had to force herself not to get too "squishy". She did hoewever still enjoy the day.

Mary K's effort was a competition entry of a maximum 150 words which had to contain the word "set". Again suggestions were made to improve the piece. Jane totally misheard the criteria and thought the word to be contained was "sex".

Maureen read out a very much abridged version of a previous account to South America. This was a very descriptive piece which is to be published in an ezine.

John McGregor's tale was called "37" but possibly should have been called "The Coming of Age" as this was a sexy story of a man celebrating his birthday. Again this was a very funny item with lots of good phrasing and the use of comparisons.

Alan gave us an excerpt from "Spike's Diary" and was about Spike recovering from a broken leg and having to cope with a new dog on the block. Again very funny with some unusual use of words.

Stan's effort "Not for the Faint Hearted" could have been renamed "Spooky" as he recalled being at a rehearsal for a wedding and encountering a strange apparition in the church. This was a very atmospheric piece.

Gerry's item was a tale from the old west about an apparent hobo returning to a small town after 25 years. It was thought that the story line was intriguing but required more description.

John Major read out a prequel to a story he had read a few weeks ago. This item was called "The Two Trainers" and dealt with a visit from head office in England to a branch in Belfast. Told in John's inimitable style he had everyone in stitches at his heroes antics.

Brenda was last with a short reading from her novel.This was an intriguing piece with some good visualisation although it was felt that perhaps some more detail could enhance it. It was also suggested that the opening paragraph should be dropped as it did nothing for the story.

Ian C