{"id":522,"date":"2019-10-05T13:59:37","date_gmt":"2019-10-05T13:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nethergatewriters.org\/?p=522"},"modified":"2021-02-20T11:15:10","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T11:15:10","slug":"davids-dispatches-25th-september-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/?p=522","title":{"rendered":"David’s Dispatches – 25th September 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Carson provides us with the news from our latest meeting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Present:<\/strong> Craig (in the chair), Zoe, Ian, Gillian, David F., Ray, Susan S., Ross (first time), Fraser, Richard, Rupert, Sandra, David C.<\/p>\n

Apologies:<\/strong> Abby, Rosie, Suzy<\/p>\n

Zoe passed round photographs of the Nethergate district – a pictorial archive – for information and inspiration.<\/p>\n

Writing<\/strong><\/p>\n

3 pieces from the previous meeting had not been discussed – Pitkerrow Road and Fantastic Reductions, both by Susan, and Take Me Out To The Ball game by Roddie.<\/p>\n

Susan said she was happy to leave her pieces (though individual comments would be welcome.)
\n4 further pieces that had been circulated were discussed.
\n(a) The Dry Rot Man (Susan)
\n(b) Happy Birthday (David)
\n(c ) Game (Susan)
\n(d) The Outsider (Roddie)<\/p>\n

The Dry Rot Man –\u00a0<\/strong>This story, set in the Nethergate, about the removal of dry rot from a student flat was much enjoyed. We liked the unusual subject matter, and praised the dialogue – inventive and original. The way the dry rot is described is vivid and humorous (\u201cspecies on the make, families going about their business, connect up and see a New Jerusalem\u201d). The characters are well-described. And the hints of supernatural powers are all the more effective for being introduced slant.
\nThis would make an excellent story for the project.<\/p>\n

Happy Birthday –<\/strong> This first-person narrative dealt with the sensitive issues of still birth through the eyes of the narrator, a surviving sibling. While well received, suggestions were made regarding the introductory sentences and the ending which needs a bit of expanding.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Game-<\/strong> Susan had some misgivings about this story, from the point of view of subject matter and narrative. She called it a \u201creal grimbo.\u201d But we liked it a lot! The story concerns Laz, a top-class gamer living in isolation, cut off from the outside world. The main themes emege in the first page – narcissism, obsession, self- deception. But as the narrative progresses, deeper psychological scars are revealed concerning abortion and a family in disintegration. The ending is shocking but appropriate.
\nThis is a skilful, well-constructed and vividly written story (well read by Gillian, as Susan remarked).<\/p>\n

The Outsider.<\/strong> This is another story in the series \u201cOnce We Were Heroes\u201d that Roddie is writing. In this one a new character is introduced into the milieu of the bar in Hamilton, Ontario.\u00a0We enjoyed it, particularly the pace and the dramatic incidents which are well described. This is especially true of the second half of the narrative, with colourful characterisation and tension in the confrontation at the bar, which is resolved in a very believable way.
\nWe thought that in the first half there was quite a lot of \u201ctelling\u201d. We understood the necessity for this, and it filled in the details of the new character, but we thought this backstory could be given in a more \u201cshowing\u201d way, perhaps by setting out the contents of the girlfriend\u2019s letter and the narrator\u2019s reply.\u00a0An excellent addition to the series, and perhaps it could be the first one.<\/p>\n

Business<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Constitution.<\/strong> It was suggested that two members could be asked to update it, and have the work done in time for the next AGM for ratification by members. It was agreed that this could be done separately from any moves towards charitable status. Craig undertook to raise this with the Committee.<\/p>\n

Copy-editing.<\/strong> Fraser clarified the second paragraph of the note he had sent round. It is understood that the author has control of content.<\/p>\n

Amazon.<\/strong> Gillian was thanked for her work in unravelling the complexities of the Amazon account (hacking her way through the financial undergrowth!). She will sent round an explanatory email.<\/p>\n

And finally, congratulations to our NW member who has had a story accepted for publication. Details cannot be revealed publicly at present, but we know who he is!<\/p>\n

David C. 28 September 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Carson provides us with the news from our latest meeting. Present: Craig (in the chair), Zoe, Ian, Gillian, David F., Ray, Susan S., Ross (first time), Fraser, Richard, Rupert, Sandra, David C. Apologies: Abby, Rosie, Suzy Zoe passed round photographs of the Nethergate district – a pictorial archive – for information and inspiration. Writing… Read More »David’s Dispatches – 25th September 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meeting-archive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=522"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":525,"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions\/525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nethergatewriters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}