Meeting 19th May 2012

Another great meeting was held today. Apologies from several of our members who had commitments elsewhere and could not attend.

On the agenda today, we discussed : goals, our proposed anthology, details for our next meeting (Saturday, 16th June) with a guest speaker on police procedures, a short session on brainstorming and finally we worked on collages for our latest wip.

Lastly, but not least, Hunter Romance Writers would like to welcome the following new members :

*   Linda Hills – Joined 21st April.

*   Stacey Nash – Joined 21st April.

*   Connie Wood – Joined 19th May.

Until next time…

Next Meeting 21st April 2012

Last month’s meeting on the 17^th March 2012 proved both entertaining and informative.

After our normal short warm up chat we moved onto reviewing our goals and setting new goals for this month. Of course there were a few of us that didn’t quite make our goals last month and had to wear the ‘naughty hat’ again. (Sandie hangs her head in shame again). On the flip side we had the high achievers who reached their goals and received incentive bags to do the same this month. Well done Mary de, Simone and Kerrie.

Erin O’Hara came prepared with a great writing exercise for us all, thank you Erin.

Mary de, entertained us with her Heroine’s interview, before we moved onto a discussion on websites versus blogs.

As always we finished the meeting with lunch at the ‘Reader’s Café’. Our next meeting is Saturday 21^st April from 9.30/10am to 12.30pm at the East Maitland Library as usual.

This month’s agenda:-

Hunter Romance Writers Agenda ~ 21^st April 2012

1. Chat: –
   1. Catch up on latest news from everyone
   2. Intro from any new members
   3. Goals who succeed and who didn’t
   4. Set new goals.
2. Writing exercise – Mary
3. Simone’s Office plot discussion
4. Open discussion on who needs help
5. Brainstorming session
6. Discussion on when to have chat with Mary’s brother-in-law
7. What we need to bring next month for collage exercise

Don’t forget to bring your current WIP, any problem you may be having with your writing and enthusiasm to reach your goals. See you on Saturday.

Next Meeting : Saturday 17th March 2012

Our previous meeting on Saturday,  18th February, was great with an informative, interactive and fab workshop given by our member, Deb Challinor. Thank you Deb for a great session.

All members worked hard with the majority achieving their writing goals for the month. Well done, everyone. But there were a couple who wore the ‘naughty’ hat for failing to achieve  goals (shall name no names – lol).

Our next meeting will be held on Saturday 17th March 2012. Same place / same time.

Sandie has detailed a fab agenda :

* Short warm up chat

* Goal reviews

* Set new goals

* Writing exercise – courtesy of our member, Erin O’Hara.

* Mary de - Heroine interview

* Chat about Deb’s info sheets

* Problem solving session. Help anyone with problems they are having re: WIP/synopsis/query letters etc.

* Discussion on websites versus blogs.

* Discussion on agents or publishers? What they expect in a submission etc?

* A quick discussion on the conference & what everyone is doing.

So bring your wip, any problems, queries, writing craft info etc and we look forward to seeing everyone this weekend. Have a great week & take care.

Sandie & Suzanne

First Meeting for 2012

Today we had our first meeting for the year 2012, or the Year of the Water Dragon if you are into Chinese astrology.

Our members embraced the year of change and discussed a new look and direction for our group. We voted on a new name, from NewMait Writers to Hunter Romance Writers. We also worked on a formal structure; such as -

*   A membership form to be completed together with a set fee per attendance. The fee will be split between the cost of hiring our meeting room and a ‘kitty’ for the group.

*   Meeting time has been set as : 9.30am (please note that due to distance we are aware some members will be late) and 1.30pm (at the latest). Lunch break will be discussed at each meeting and will depend upon members’ commitments on that day.

*   Our e-loop is to be utilised more often between meetings. If anyone has a query, requires help or has info or links to provide, please post to the loop and someone will respond.

*   Members will be encouraged to become accountable for achievement of goals (and non-achievement). The ‘carrot and the stick’ options were discussed and it has been decided that each month one member will be picked from those who have achieved their goals for the month & rewarded.

*   Discussions were held on various topics for workshops and seminars to be arranged for this year with:   A life coach/motivator; a police detective, Conflict gurus and Grammar gurus.

*   For 2012, our group will focus on helping each member achieve their writing goals. We will be doing sessions on brainstorming, problem/plot solving, technical issues and critiquing each other’s work.

Two of our very experienced published authors have  generously offered to critique members’ works (subject, of course, to their workload / deadlines). A very appreciative thankyou going out to Deborah Challinor and Erica Hayes.

To our members who have yet to send in bios and website / blog addresses etc,  please do so when you have the time.

Our next meeting will be held on Saturday 18th February and we hope to see you all there. In the meantime…write!

Thank you to all members who attended and who helped to make this first meeting a productive and proactive one.

from Sandie & Suz

Maryde

Mary’s first love is to write Historical Romance Fiction, but she also enjoys the lure of writing and reading other genres such as Contemporary, Paranormal, Steampunk and Romantica, not to mention getting buried in a good  mystery, intrigue,  murder, futuristic and fantasy.

Mary is also a professional/selling artist who paints under the tag of Hart Haven Gallery. So when she is not writing, lurking through the pages of history for information, or working her day job in education, she can be found busy in her art studio at her easel painting oils, pastels and porcelain. You can find out more by visiting her at her blogpage where you can peruse her artwork and see what else she is up to ….

http://marydeatharthaven.blogspot.com/

New Name & New Blog

After our meeting today we decided to change our group name from NewMait Writers to Hunter Romance Writers. This site is till under construction with information about our group and our members yet to be added.