The deadline for submitting your text to win February’s Mugsy is looming: Sunday 20th is the final date for Mug of the Month entries. So don’t delay, put off, postpone, wait for a better day – NOW is the time to set pen to paper and crank up the inspiration. Key words: BRUSH and SWEEP. – We look forward to posting a long list of contestants on this site next week.
Last week’s session was so packed with discussion and texts that not all scheduled items could be presented. So there will be some familiar titles in this week’s list. Again non-fiction predominates.
We can expect another interesting, inspiring and entertaining session!
Presentations:
Non-fictionAn Irish Odyssey Michael O’Dowd
Novel The Stained Collar Seamus Keogh
Story Across a Crowded Room Joyce Butcher
Story Maggie O’Donnell Geraldine Warren
Story The Yellow Van Nollaig O’Dowd
Report Historical Fiction Mary Rose Tobin
Classic Story ReviewAn Incident – Lu Hsun Frank Fahy
This week we can again offer a colourful collection of presentations, as well as a wide range of authors. Novel genres include the ‘Report on Historical Fiction’ by Mary Rose Toibin, and the ‘Classic Story Review’ by Frank Fahy. Both Mary Rose and Frank are experienced and perceptive writers and critics; we look forward to their contributions. With four short stories, a chapter from Seamus Keogh’s exciting Novella, and Michael O’Dowd’s non-fiction text, prose will dominate the evening. All the more welcome will be Celia Scully’s poem with its enticing title!
MOTM: the new keywords are BRUSH and SWEEP; the deadline for entries is February 20. With the springcleaning season just round the corner, now is the time to unleash your inspiration!
Presentations
POEM: Why I Worry About Cupid These Daysby Celia Scully
NONFICTION: An Irish Odyssey by Michael O’Dowd
NOVELLA:The Stained Collarby Seamus Keogh
STORY:Elizabeth by James Conway
STORY: No Safe Placeby Joyce Butcher
STORY:Maggie O’Donnellby Geraldine Warren
STORY: The Yellow Van by Nollaig O’Donnell
REPORT:Historical Fictionby Mary Rose Toibin
CLASSIC STORY REVIEW: An Incident – Lu Hsun by Frank Fahy
Welcome to our new session, the fifth(!) this year. This evening’s programme offers a kaleidoscope of short-form literary genres, the first time we’ve had such a variety of styles.
There are several entries for the task set by Frank last week: enlivening a narrative by converting it to dialogue. The original text is shown below. There is a PRIZE for the dialogue voted best by participants at our meeting: a box of Quality Street! Deadline for entries: Thursday 3 February noon Irish time! As usual, voting will be by Doodle. To work this, 1) first enter your Write-On name in the space provided. 2) Select your choice (only one vote) in the button beside each contribution. Note that this list might be interupp – ted by advertising – swish down below the ad. 3) Look down to the end of the list to the Send button and click on that. Done!
Our Aussie member Joyce Butcher has sent us a short story. We hope she’ll be able to join us, though it will mean an early start to Friday for her down under!
New works by James Conway and Seamus Keogh are a joy – their poems stand for poetic artistry and quality, while Elizabeth Hannon‘s texts, whether fiction or non-fiction, are unusual and always of particular interest.
The sad passing away of Frank’s faithful Labrador, Madra, inspired Michael O’Dowd to a song. A fitting tribute – we look forward to hearing it. Michael has also contributed a non-fiction text.
Anne McManus beat very stiff competition to win the January Mug of the Month with her beautiful poem ‘Nourishment’. As we can see on the Mug of the Month page, Mugsy is safe in her hands until the next contest on February 24. The new key words are BRUSH and SWEEP. Closing date for entries is Sunday, Feb 20, so brush up your inspiration and let your pen sweep over the page!
Anne McManus, January winner of the Mug of the Month. Congratulations!
Presentations
POEM: Cool Dude by James Conway
NON-FICTION: Finding Philomena by Elizabeth Hannon
NON-FICTION: The Irish Odyssey by Michael O’Dowd
POEM: Lucid Fantasy by Seamus Keogh
SONG: Rainbow for Madra by Michael O’Dowd
DIALOGUE CHALLENGE: Competition
NOVELLA: The Stained Collar by Seamus Keogh
Have an enjoyable and profitable evening!
Quality Street Dialogue Challenge: Original Text
Ann and the children were flying back to Dublin after their week in Gran Canaria. Marie was still angry and wanted to know how come they’d ever gone there in the first place.
Ann thought back on her conversation with Ina some months ago. Ina had described her fantastic holiday on Gran Canaria. She and Martin had stayed in a bungalow complex located in a pleasant garden just across from the little beach. There was a small swimming pool for the residents and a private patio for each unit. Ina and Martin had gone hiking in the barrancas and hills nearby, and had eaten wonderful meals with crisply fried fresh plaice in picturesque restaurants on the waterfront.
Ann had discussed the possibility of a similar holiday with her two kids. Her means were much more limited than Ina’s, but once on the island they should be able to enjoy the beach and the ocean, and even if it was fishfingers instead of fresh plaice, they could still have a wonderful holiday. She’d found an apartment in a highrise further down the coast, not far from the wonderful sand dunes of Maspalomas, a bargain. But when they got there, the kids had been bitterly disappointed. They said it looked like they were holidaying in Ballymun, only less attractive. They hated the apartment, which had just one bedroom for the 3 of them and a tiny kitchen with only one pot and no kettle. At night they could hear strange noises and regular thumping from the apartment next door, and loud music from the bar on the ground floor. The walk to the beach took them through a grotty estate for twenty minutes, and the beach was overcrowded and full of cigarette butts and bottle caps. Ann tried to cheer them up and pointed out that the water had been lovely and warm, with gentle but exciting waves, but Marie said she didn’t want to know how many people had fouled the water before they’d had their dip. Tom had been bored all the time until he’d found a gang playing beachball. After that they’d seen little of him. Ann and Marie had got on each other’s nerves. None of them was interested in exploring the surroundings like Ina and Martin had done. And then, when the weather turned sultry and overcast, that had been the last straw. On the night before their departure, Marie said her gold ankle chain her friend Tony had given her was missing, probably the maid had stolen it. She was furious. Later she found it in one of her shoes.
It’s Mug Of The Month time again. The key words ‘Drop’ and ‘Drink’ have inspired eleven candidates to vie for possession of Mugsie going into February. It promises to be an exciting competition!
We can also look forward to Frank’s feature on the ins and outs of writing dialogue. Frank’s tutorials are always clearly presented and packed with useful information, so have your notepads and pens to hand!
A story by Anne McManus and another secton from Seamus Keogh’s fast-paced, edge-of-the-seat novel will round off the evening.
Mug of the Month
Christmas 2021 by Elizabeth Hannon
Drop to Drink by James Conway
Empty Nesters by Mary Rose Tobin
Heights of Imagination by Nollaig O’Donnell
Just what the Doctor Ordered by Celia Scully
Modern Mariner by Joe Naughton
New Year Resolution by Anne Murray
Nourishment by Anne McManus
Remembering Christmas by Frank Fahy
The First by Richard O’Donnell
The Scar by Brian Ferguson
Story: The Secret Meby Anne McManus
Discussion: Dialogue – To Speak or Not to Speakchaired by Frank Fahy
We have a full programme of presentations to look forward to this evening! After four poems, including two from new member Joe Naughton (Welcome!), there are SIX entries for the ‘Write-on Ring Challenge’ posed last week. Well done, all challengers! And finally two short stories to round off the evening.
We can look forward to a very entertaining session!
PRESENTATIONS:
POEM: A Place for Hiding by James Conway
POEM: Words in Play by Joe Naughton
POEM: Cuckoo Eggs by Joe Naughton
POEM: Homeless Soul (revised) by Seamus Keogh
The Write-On Ring Challenge:
1. Go Lightly by Nollaig O’Donnell
2. The Mystery Ring by Mary Rose Tobin
3. The Engagement Ring by Jutta Rosen
4. The Secret Ring by Frank Fahy
5. Dead Ringer by Joe Naughton
6. The Ring by James Conway
SHORT STORY: The Stained Collar by Seamus Keogh
SHORT STORY: The Secret Me by Anne McManus
And last but not least:
Don’t forget that coming Sunday is the deadline for entering your Mug Of The Month texts, which must include the words DRINK and DROP, and not exceed 50 words (excluding the title).
After the Christmas Break, some of us are still sluggish and find it hard to get back into a writing rhythm. To help those suffering with the dreaded ‘Writer’s Block’, a Write-on Challenge will be presented tonight. The entire plot of a story (poem) will be given to you. All you have to do is to think up how the story might end. Simple!
Why not put the Writing Blues behind you. Get writing tonight! Take the Write-on Challenge!
The Treasurer will provide a Box of Roses to the person who writes Story Poem or Song that best captures the spirit of the Competition!
Four stories and three poems are on the agenda for our next session.
SHORT STORY: The Stained Collar, by Seamus Keogh
SHORT STORY: The Yellow Van, by Nollaig O’Donnell
POEM: Bold and Sweet, by James Conway
POEM: A Place for Hiding, by James Conway
POEM: Manchurian Candidate, by James Conway
SHORT STORY (non-fiction): Songs that Live in our Hearts, by Michael O’Dowd
STORY: WORK IN PROGRESS: Eva and Franz at the concert, by Jutta Rosen
In addition: Discussion of a proposed Newsletter for Write-On
As creative minds are gradually recovering from the stress of Christmas and New Year celebrations under Covid conditions, we can look forward to a flow of new offerings in the coming weeks.
And don’t forget: Mug of the Month is on the horizon. Deadline for entries is Sunday, January 23rd, with the inspiring key words: drink & drop!
What will it bring us – more restrictions, or more freedom? Worry and care, or health and happiness?As far as our writing, cooperation, discussions and zoom meetings are concerned, we can take things into our own hands. The Thursday sessions are just the culmination and highlight of a whole 7 days of thinking, probing, writing, reading, creativity and anticipation, and that week after week. What a godsend!
So we’re starting off with our first 2022 session this Thursday. The themes are loosely defined as we feel our way into projects that are already outlined, and welcome first presentations. Here’s what we have lined up so far:
Short Story: I, Goddess by Michael O’Dowd
Short Story: Bridie’s Covid Christmas 2021 by Anne McManus
Short Story: Halloween Party by James Conway
Song: On Galway Bay by Michael O’Dowd
Song:Manhattan Christmas Magic by Judith & Bill Geoghegan (New song + Video)
Poem: Pecking scattered crumbs… by James Keogh
Poem: Bold and Sweet by James Conway
Discussion on two planned publications:
Anthology 2023 & Seamus Keogh’s Poetry Book
Setting writing targets for 2022
And not to forget: MOTM, with the key words Drop & Drink. Closing date January 23rd.
Looking forward to seeing everyone on January 6th.
Christmas is just round the corner and the tension is rising. This Thursday’s mega session is playing its part in providing even more excitement, with Christmas music, songs, stories, memories and poems. Plus lots of laughs and perhaps some surprises! Make sure you’ve put out the cat and fed the family before we begin, because we’ll be going into overtime!
Without further ado, here is the long list of presentations.
As a writers’ group, part of our function is to WRITE! This week we will ask our participants to do just that. We will devote approximately ten minutes of our session just writing. So, have your writing implements to hand – notebooks, pencil and paper, quills, laptops, or mobile phones. Mary Rose has written an intriguing new story with the “working title” CHARITY SHOP. She will read her story at the session, but… just when you think she is reaching the denouement, she will stop. At this point, we will ask our participants to ‘GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?’ or ‘HOW WOULD YOU END THE STORY?’ We can have lots of fun exploring the different suggested endings and then will come the big reveal: How did Mary Rose finish her story?
We are spoiled for choice this week with so many contributions. We have a wonderful selection of stories, poems and songs to get us into the Festive Spirit.
Newsflash!
Bill Geoghegan is working on a Write-on Christmas Song. Remember last year? We hope to do a collective recording of our new song for Christmas 2021 during the week.
Here’s What’s On Write-on (WOWO) for this week:
STORY:Charity Shop by Mary Rose Tobin (Write the ending exercise!)
STORY:Christmas Years by Elizabeth Hannon
STORY:An Irish Odyssey by Michael O’Dowd
POEM: All Around Me by James Conway
POEM:Samhain by Anne McManus
POEM:Curlew by Christine Kelley
SONG:Laura by Michael O’Dowd
SONG:Rathmullan Romance by The Pattersons
SONG:On Galway Bay by Michael O’Dowd (Cancer Care West Charity CD)
Hard to believe we’re into December already and the year is drawing to a close! There’ll be three sessions this month, the last being on the 16th. Because of this early date, and since there are currently TWO holders of Mug of the Month, it was decided not to have a MOTM competition in December. Elizabeth and Jutta hold the trophy into the New Year!
There will be a CHRISTMAS SPECIAL on 16 December. Could we get everybody to contribute something? It can be old, new, used, rehashed …. Also, remember that family and friends can be invited to look in and enjoy the fun. The deadline for submissions is Sunday, 12 December.
For this Thursday we have a fine mix of poems and stories, as well as interesting background to Charlotte Brontë’s honeymoon in Ireland.
Presentations for December 2:
A WRITE-ON SPECIAL: Charlotte Brontë by Michael O’Dowd
POEM: Silence by Seamus Keogh
POEM: Little Voices by James Conway
POEM: Lost Words by Seamus Keogh
STORY: Charter Flight (revisited) by Anne McManus
STORY: Down Memory Lane by Anne Murray (work in progress)
STORY: 1916 by James Conway
Looking forward to an enjoyable and inspiring evening!
