Tuesday Meeting: 26th April

Thanks to Eric for preparing these notes. Apologies that I wasn’t able to attend but I was triple booked with a visit to see my eldest son’s GCSE drama presentation taking precedence.

A short meeting today. Very few pieces in the Dropbox but still enough to hold a meeting. Unseasonal weather may have contributed. We would like to welcome Alice who was attending for the first time.

On with the crits!

• Ian presented a story title “The Vorsam” which turned out to be a humorous sci-fi story about a peaceful alien species who arrive on Earth. Everybody liked the light, humorous tone of this piece, particularly the opening where the protagonist decides to end it all by waiting for the aliens only to discover they are harmless. A few people thought the ending too abrupt and that it could have been longer. Some thought the protagonist needed a stronger motivation for putting her life in jeopardy. Mixed opinion on contemporary references to Bake Off and Jeremy Corbyn.
• Eric presented another short chapter form his horror novel “Hellbound”. Praise for the shocking use of violence. Movie reference of the night goes to “Batman Begins”, notably Christian Bale’s misleading public speech to his guests. Some liked the way that Ray is turning into the antagonist. A few were confused as to how this chapter moved the story along and whether Ray was possessed (he is). Several mixed metaphors were highlighted, a particular favourite being when Ray refers to his wife as a “reptilian shrew”!

We were all done by 8 o’clock and moved on to Common for a chat about literary festivals and sci-fi B movies!

Next meeting: Wednesday 11th May

See you there!