At the last WLW meeting Jane McKie presented us with a couple of short exercises. There was meant to be three but we ran out of time for the third one. We will do that exercise at the beginning of the next meeting.

The first exercise requires you to note down your five favourite words and then give reasons why. The point of this exercise is to make you think about the words you like and reason why. Does your choices appear often in your writing?

1. Time of day
2. Type of Food
3. Piece of Furniture
4. A Colour

For our second meeting of 2012 saw another great turn out with nine people turning up. This was probably down to the fact that poet Jane McKie came along to present a short workshop focusing on the words and metaphors people use in their work (a full post on her workshop will be posted shortly!) We also saw the arrival of two new members Bill and Ionwen.

The news from tonight’s meeting was:

• On Thursday night Ironstone are having a Burn’s Nicht @ Waterstones to celebrate Burns Night that is on Wednesday.
• Also Quill are involved in a Burn’s Night Ceilidh on Saturday night (28/01/2012). Tickets are £25.
• There was a quick reminder that the Reader’s Digest 100 short story competition is closing on the 31st of January.
• Mslexia have just opened a new short story competition which closes on the 18th of March.
• Finally, Elspeth Murray is doing a workshop to celebrate Livingston’s 50th birthday on the 24th of March.

Sediment & Ancestor/Descendant – two poems from Barbara. The first was about a cup of tea with the second one being about family resemblances.

For Audrey – a short story by Anne. On a dark and stormy night a group of Bohemian women sit around the fire drinking wine and discuss a local ghost story.

Powerful – an autobiographical poem by Mary about her Dad.

Kibera - a poem from Ionwen about the main shanty town in Nairobi, Kenya.

Leopard Print High Heels – two short 100 words short stories about the topic of prostitution told from two different perspectives.

West Lothian Writers are pleased to welcome writer Jane McKie to our next meeting on Tuesday 24th of January. For the first hour Jane will lead a workshop focusing on poetry. In the second hour she will look over pieces brought by members to the group. The meeting will be at our usual times and location:

South Barn
Nether Dechmont Farm
Fells Rigg
Carmondean
Livingston
EH54 8AX

If you are not sure where you are going either type the above post code into your sat nav or follow the map below.

Cost £2 (£1 concession)
Hope to see you there

Again for the second fortnight in a row we both welcomed and said goodbye to members of WLW. Sadly tonight was Robert’s last meeting as he will be moving to Hartlepool in the new year. However, WLW welcomed Scott to the group who recently had one of his scripts turned into the movie Electric Man.

The only other bits of new this week is that we confirmed that the award winning Jane McKie will be attending WLW on the 24th of January where she will do an hour workshop around poetry before looking over the pieces that will be read that evening. We hope everyone can make it.

Finally as the next meeting will be the last one before Christmas, we would like people to come along with Christmas themed poems and stories. Limit of 500 words please.

Of the eight people there tonight six read. Their pieces were:

Tension  – a tale of someone trying to escape by Barbara.

Electric Man – a scene from Scott’s film. Jazz and Lauren chat about life, love and comics.

Two Poems – Robert read a couple of poems he wrote for a couple of religious cards many years ago.

Edible Seashore and The House at Scraggy End - Anne presented two pieces she recently wrote at a writing retreat. The first Edible Seashore was an attempted Haku about the beach at Kippford. The House at Scraggy End is a short story about the year in the life of a house.

The End You Want – A short story by Stephen. On a late night bus journey two people come together.

The Allotment Society -  Finally for tonight, Eric read the next part of his novel. After the slightly murderous accident at the quarry, Daniel heads into a local town trying to find a bed and breakfast.

Tonight’s meeting saw seven people including a new member Barbara. Sadly it was also David’s last meeting as he is moving Midlothian. West Lothian Writers wish him well with his work in the future especially his novel The Mechanician’s Apprentice.

We are also proud to announce that local author Jane McKie, who recently won the Edwin Morgan Poetry Prize, will hopefully be presenting a workshop on the 24th of January next year. We will confirm the details at the next meeting.

The pieces read tonight were:

The Mechanician’s Apprentice  – a novel extract from David. The king decides that Pip should have a name more in keeping with his new standing and Pip is secretly delighted with the choice.

A Brother’s Shadow - another chapter of Norman’s novel. Alec Keller was so happy to receive a reprieve from bully Terry Vance that he further attempts to impress him with his pick pocketing skills.

Grey Roots - a poem from our newest member Barbara comparing life and aging to the changing seasons.

She’s Always A Woman to Me - Chris read the first chapter of a possible novel . A young man in the office falls for the new girl and nervously attempts to get to know her.

*untitled* – Eric read a humorous short story about a young girl getting the wrong end of the stick on so many counts.

*untitled* – Robert read a very short story, about 130 words, about a grumpy budgie who ‘succeeds’ in obtaining his wish to leave home.

*untitled* -  Finally Jenifer read a short piece about children’s literal understanding of one of the Beatitudes.