Write-on

Mug of the Month Result

What a fantastic result last week! For the first time ever, our MUG OF THE MONTH award went overseas. Celia Scully, from Boise, Idaho, USA was the deserving winner. Her MOTM entry was A COTTAGE SHOP FOR SALE. Using the inspiration of our two keywords STOP and SHOP, she devised an intricate tale in 50 words to win the plaudits of the entire group. As it happens, in second place only one vote behind was our entry from Germany, NEW MEDIA by Jutta Rosen. Again, a well-crafted story told in 50 words about how a tattoo parlour has replace the old news agency in the neighbourhood. It never ceases to amaze how so much diversity and unique insights can be generated by the prompt of two simple words. Will there be an Irish winner this month? Or will the prize go abroad again? Now that Mugsy has had international acclaim, he might never want to come back!

Let’s see What’s On Write-on (WOWO) this week.

Presentations

Poem: The Dapper Stevo by James Keogh

Poem: Amateur Dramatics by James Keogh

Poem: Snowdrops by Thomas MacMahon

Reading

Short Story: The Barred Window (Part 2) by Jutta Rosen

Discussion

My Favourite Book, Short Story, Poem, Song, Memoir – members are invited to share their favourite piece of writing with the group. By reading extracts, we can highlight what it is that attracts us to a particular tale and it is hoped that by exploring the likes and dislikes of other people, we will uncover some hidden gems that we might have previously overlooked.

Already we have received extracts from various published pieces.

Mid-Term Break by Seamus Heaney Presented by Jack Ryan

Nell by Nell McCafferty Presented by Anne Murray

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey Presented by Jutta Rosen

A Small Good Thing by Raymond Carver Presented by Frank Fahy

This promises to be an entertaining and worthwhile feature that we hope to repeat over the coming sessions. We may not get through all of our selections in one evening so those that are not read or discussed tonight will roll over to next week.

We have a wide and varied selection of pieces and we look forward to a lively exposition and discussion about each person’s choice of material.

See you all at 7pm in the usual Zoom meeting hall!

It’s our last meeting in the month of April and it’s MUG OF THE MONTH time once again. Who will carry off Mugsy into the first of the summer months? As the days of Lockdown seem numbered, perhaps the defending Champion, Nollaig, will be able to make the presentation in person before too long?

This month, the keywords were STOP and SHOP. There are nine contestants as follows:

MOTM 01 Kids Today by Elizabeth Hannon

MOTM 02 A Cottage Shop for Sale by Celia Scully

MOTM 03 Believe It Or Not? by Frank Fahy

MOTM 04 On Line Shopping by Anne Murray

MOTM 05 STOP … SHOP by Geraldine Warren

MOTM 06 Lollipop by James Keogh

MOTM 07 Consumer Confidence by Mary Rose Tobin

MOTM 08 New Media by Jutta Rosen

MOTM 09 One Stop Shop by Anne McManus

Good luck to all our contestants!

Saturday 1 May is the closing deadline for submitting articles to The Write-on Anthology 2022. Remember, all items that are displayed and discussed at our meetings are automatically considered for inclusion in the Anthology. Unfortunately, there is not room for every single piece and certain editorial judgements have to be made. We try to have a representative collection of interesting stories, poems, memoirs and songs, and to maintain the high standards that we have set ourselves down through the years.

We have six readings this week.

Story 01 Me and My Mirror by Elizabeth Hannon

Story 02: The Barred Window by Jutta Rosen

Poem 03 The Boat by Thomas MacMahon

Poem 04 (Limerick): Easing Restrictions by Anne Murray

Memoir 05: Memories of Racing by Frank Fahy

Poem 06: Warriors of Aran by James Keogh

Another week comes flying around. Where does the time go? Write-on members, these are the last few days for sending in material for The Write-on Anthology 2022. Oh yes! Do you remember when 1 May 2021 was first mentioned as a deadline? May? The First of May? Sure that’s a long way off! Plenty of time to write lots of stories and poems and even some songs and memoirs! But first? A cup of tea…

Now, look! The First of May is almost upon us! Nine.. yes.. 9 days left to submit material for this year’s Anthology. The good news is that not everyone left it until the last minute. Already, we have enough material to create quite a substantial tome. However, in the interest of fairness towards all, we will wait until midnight on 1 May, to make the final selections.

This week, we have an abundance of material to present to you. Let’s look at the proposed WOWO for Thursday 22 April.

What’s On Write-On

Poem: Whispers from China by James Keogh

Poem: The Senses Allowed by Nollaig O’Donnell

Poem: Raise High the Rib Cage, Mama by Celia Scully

Poem: Crows Cawing by James Keogh (reprise)

Poem: Waxing Moon by James Keogh

Short Story: Extract from novel The Foundling Hospital by Mary Rose Tobin

Short Story: Charter Flight by Anne McManus

Old Favourites (produced for SiarSceal)

Song & Story: Skibereen Breeders by Sean MacGrath with Joyce Butcher

Poem: Riddle of the Garden by Nollaig O’Donnell

Poem: Childhood by Niamh O’Neill

Poem: Home on the Wild Atlantic Way by Thomas MacMahon read by Michael Farry

Poem: One Moment in Time by Elizabeth Hannon read by Michael Hannon

Poem: Claddagh Ring by Sean McGrath

Following our Easter break, we are looking forward to resuming our Write-on sessions from 7pm-9pm every Thursday. People have been busy during the break, and we have a packed series of readings and presentations to keep everyone entertained. We won’t have time to fit them all in this week and some items will be held over until the following week.

Here are some of the items you can expect:

Readings

Short Story: New Bike by Jack Ryan

Short Story: No Room at the Inn by Mary Rose Tobin

Extract from Novel: Addiction To Murder by Frank Fahy

Presentations

Poem: Trust by Anne McManus

Poem: Crows Crowing by James Keogh

Poem: Lesson for Life by Thomas MacMahon

Poem: Pity the Poor Shoehorn by Celia Scully

Poem: Waiting by Anne McManus

Poem: Whispers from China by James Keogh

Poem: News Speeds ‘Round by Celia Scully

Short Story: Her Pride and Joy by Anne Murray

To begin with, CELEBRATION TIME!

The new Write-on publication A DAY FOR RED – A Collection of Short Stories by Anne McManus was published this week.

Drawing on her life experience in the West of Ireland and her fertile imagination, Anne brings us this sparkling collection which glitters with wit and wisdom. Between these covers you will find a potpourri of romance, love, infidelity, tragedy, comedy, betrayal and friendship, served up with a generous helping of quirky humour, personified in her marvellous character creations, Granny Margot and Bridie. This is a book for lovers of the short story form, which will reward the reader with fresh insights into the vagaries of the human condition.

We will begin our session tonight with a reading from the author.

It’s MUG OF THE MONTH TIME again. The KEYWORDS are TREAT and PLAN. This evening, we have seven entries. The reigning champion, Anne McManus, will present the coveted MUGSY to the winner after all the votes are counted.

The entries are:

MOTM 1 Best Laid Plans by Mary Faherty

MOTM 2 Freedom by Anne Murray

MOTM 3 Life in a Blink by Judith Davitt Geoghegan

MOTM 4 The Treat That Wasn’t by Celia Scully

MOTM 5 What Next? by Mary Rose Tobin

MOTM 6 The Good Life by Nollaig O’Donnell

MOTM 7 17th March 461 by Jutta Rosen

Readings by the authors of works in progress:

DRAFT POEM: A new draft poem by Thomas MacMahon

SCENE FROM NOVEL: Addiction To Murder by Frank Fahy

VIDEO PRESENTATION: Prism by Mary Faherty

VIDEO PRESENTATION: Breaking the Ice by Jutta Rosen

After all the excitement of our St Patrick’s Day Murder Mystery, we resume our normal activities tonight with another great line-up of Stories and Poems from our prolific group of writers. Again, a huge thanks to Anne Murray who has worked so hard to research photographs and images in order to enhance the written word. All of the presentations are of excellent quality thanks to Anne’s diligence.

Donning her other cap, Anne will host the first part of the meeting where our authors get a chance to display ‘works in progress’ in order to get feedback and comments from our members. This evening we have three such works which will be read by the authors:

Extract from Novel: Chapter 3 of Victorian Novel by Debbie Roberts

Short Story Idea: Descendo by Jutta Rosen

Extract from Novel: Addiction to Murder by Frank Fahy

The second part of the meeting will be hosted by Frank Fahy. Once again, we have a variety of material which will be presented in video format.

STORY: Manu by Joyce Butcher

POEM: What If? by Geraldine Warren

POEM: A Baptism by Jutta Rosen

POEM: A Get Well Card by Nollaig O’Donnell

POEM: Another Paddy’s Night by Mary Faherty

POEM: Moon of Love by Thomas MacMahon

We look forward to meeting you all from 7:00pm – 9:00pm at our Zoom Session!

We have another packed programme of events this Thursday 11 March starting at 7pm (Irish Time) and finishing at 9pm.

Once again, Anne Murray will take the chair for the first part of the meeting. After her excellent debut last week, Anne will guide us through the various readings by the authors.

Here is the Menu for What’s On Write-on (WOWO) this evening.

Story: Spirit Night by Thomas MacMahon

Story: It Could Not Happen by Elizabeth Hannon

Poem: Black Veils – In Memory by Judith Davitt Geoghegan

Story: Extract from Victorian Novel by Debbie Roberts

Story: Manu by Joyce Butcher (Australia)

The second part of the session has a variety of video presentations of stories and poems that are at a more finished stage.

Frank Fahy will chair this portion of the session.

Welcome to our new member from USA, Celia Scully. We will start with her first poem for Write-on.

Poem: Saffron by Celia Scully

Poem: Civil Service by Anne Murray

Poem: Prism by Mary Faherty

Story: My First Book by Frank Fahy

Also on display will be the Cover of A DAY FOR RED by Anne McManus. Anne’s Collection of Short Stories will be going for printing early next week.

What a day today is! For the first time in our lifetimes the date is:

4 3 21

And what a day for Write-on! We introduce (or I might say RE-INTRODUCE) a new format for tonight’s session. Just like in the “old days” of physical meetings, we are asking our members to read their “draft works in progress” in order to garner comments from other members. No music, no photos, no images, no audio – just you, reading your work!

Where possible, the words will be shared on screen so that the audience can read along with the Author.

We have learned from the experience of doing this in our meeting rooms, that the greatest benefit accrues to the author who is prepared to LISTEN (not to DEFEND!) There is a huge temptation on the part of the author to “explain what I meant”; “Here is the background to my story!”; “to give the reasons why I wrote it that way!’ This causes DEBATE and it reduces the time that an author has for learning what the general reader understands about what is written. Remember, if the work is published, the author will not be on hand to explain to the reader what he or she really meant to say. The reader has to work out for themselves what the author has written without listening to further explanations from the author.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

Authors — discipline yourselves to sit back and listen to the comments. Do not argue or try to defend! If the readers or commentators have got it wrong, or misunderstood the context or meaning of what you have written, the author might consider rewriting a passage to make it clearer. But do not argue the point on the night. It is just a waste of time and the author will learn nothing! I cannot stress this often enough.

With so many pieces submitted from authors, we do not have time for debates. Please note that due to time constraints, not all of these pieces will be read this week. Items not read this week, will be re-scheduled for the following week.

Here are the items that have already been submitted to be read as DRAFTS:

POEM: Dapper Stevo by James Keogh

STORY: Extract from Victorian Novel by Debbie Roberts

STORY: Breaking Ice by Jutta Rosen

STORY: Sorry by Mary Faherty

STORY: Spirit Night by Thomas MacMahon

STORY: It Couldn’t Happen by Elizabeth Hannon

STORY: Manu by Joyce Butcher

STORY: Extract from Addiction to Murder by Frank Fahy

For the second part of the session, the following videos have been prepared:

STORY: Bridie and Cepta by Anne McManus

STORY: Birthday Present by Anne McManus

POEM: Priceless by Mary Faherty

POEM: Poets’ Corner by James Keogh

POEM: Nanny and Cal’s by Thomas MacMahon

If time permits, I may get a change to unveil the COVER of The Short Story Collection by Anne McManus. Her book is very close to completion now and will be going for printing in the very near future. Exciting times for Anne and for the Write-on group; our Seventh Publication under the Write-on banner!

Lots of Write-on activity! Hope to see you all at 7:00pm this evening! The countdown is on: 4 … 3 … 2 1!

The every popular MUG OF THE MONTH Competition is upon us once again. A spectacular line-up of entries, using the keywords TRACK and TRAIN, have been prepared for your entertainment.

Isn’t it amazing how two little words can spark the imagination? From these common keywords, a myriad of ideas have inspired our members once again to write about a diversity of topics.

Using the latest electronic voting technology, every Write-on member will be allowed ONE VOTE. (Of course, one is not allowed to vote for one’s own entry!) There are ten entries in total for the February competition. The holder of the trophy, ‘MUGSY’, is not allowed to win it two months in a row, so Mary Rose, with great reluctance will sit this one out and arrange to make a virtual presentation of the prized vessel to the February winner. Here is the a list of the entries:

MOTM 01 The Garden in Snow by Jutta Rosen

MOTM 02 Free Way by Nollaig O’Donnell

MOTM 03 Healing by Mary Faherty

MOTM 04 Twin Tracks by Jack Ryan

MOTM 05 Puncture by Anne Murray

MOTM 06 Space by Elizabeth Hannon

MOTM 07 Train on Track by Richard O’Donnell

MOTM 08 That Day by Anne McManus

MOTM 09 The Challenge by Geraldine Renton

MOTM 10 The Craic by James Keogh

After the excitement of Mug of the Month, we hope to have time for more poems, short stories, memories, or extracts from novels.

Here are some of the items you can expect:

POEM: Night Cry by James Keogh

POEM: Djouce by Thomas MacMahon

POEM: Special Daddy by Geraldine Renton

Short Story: The Birthday Present by Anne McManus

Short Story: My First Book by Frank Fahy

If time permits, we may get our first glimpse of the cover of Anne McManus’ new book THE SHORT STORY COLLECTION (working title). Yes. The deadline is fast approaching. Anne’s NEW BOOK will be published in early March 2021. This will be the SEVENTH Write-on Publication since we were founded in 2017.

Members can avail of a very special offer of all SIX previous publications for €30.00 (Publisher’s discount) including post and packaging, delivered straight to your door. To see a list of the titles and view the covers of these books, check under the heading PUBLICATIONS on this website.

Any of our members who have already availed of the discounted books, please write a short testimonial or review about your experience of getting the books delivered and I will post it here next week.

Please note that we have a new ZOOM reference number starting tonight. The number has been emailed to everyone and it is also on our WhatsApp Write-on Group Chat. This number will be in use for the coming weeks so it would be a good idea to store it in a safe place for easy reference every week.

Looking forward to meeting everyone tonight for what will be a pleasant and entertaining session! Good luck to all the Mugsy Contestants! May the best Mug win!

After last week’s exhilarating debut by Jessica Brady, we are delighted to announce that Geraldine Renton will be highlighted this week. Geri, as we affectionately name her (to avoid mixing her up with our other Geraldine!) will present SHE – a very powerful contemporary poem.

Switching genres, she also takes a humorous look at the battle to lay down the ground rules for a recalcitrant canine in her piece entitled DOGGY STANDOFF. We look forward to these two pieces with the promise of many more to come in future sessions.

Once again, a huge debt of gratitude to Anne Murray who works away behind the scenes to help produce our wonderful videos.

This week, we have an abundance of new material. Thank you to our regular contributors and for the other members who write less frequently – you are the engine that keeps the Write-on vehicle motoring every week! If you haven’t written anything in recent weeks, now is the time to start. As you can see from the variety of topics listed below, the world is your oyster when it comes to things to write about. Settle on a topic and let’s see your name on the Menu for WOWO next week!

Here’s What’s On Write-on (WOWO) this week!

POEM: She by Geraldine Renton

POEM: Split Mind by Mary Faherty

POEM: Power by James Keogh

POEM: A Lover’s Day by Thomas MacMahon

POEM: A Lenten Journey by Nollaig O’Donnel

POEM: Cartoon Grandad by Frank Fahy

STORY: Doggy Standoff by Geraldine Renton

STORY: Bridie’s Weather Eye (Part 2) by Anne McManus

BALLAD: A presentation by Frank Fahy of THE CREMATION OF SAM MCGEE – Robert Service

BOOK COVER: A discussion about the Draft Cover for the new book GREEN, WHITE & GREY – herbs, science and outcome in Medicine by Dr Dilis Clare and Tim Morrissey.