Present: Graham, Pat, Kate, Saime, Alex, Val, Joanne, Susan, Liz, Ishbel, Janine, Jean, Dave Murder and Mayhem Val Jogging (short story extract) Irene is baffled when her bookworm husband Gerald starts taking up strange activities, such as jogging. Irene suspects a midlife crisis and or another woman. Val did explain that someone does end up dead, but didn’t give us ending… so maybe we’ll solve the mystery soon. Owls enjoyed how Val described the change in Gerald together with the frustration of Irene the amusing character of Gerald’s mum Kitty. Suggestions for improvement included tightening up of narration, but keep the detailed tone. Alex (Mayhem) Faraway from Nowhere Chapter A Gerbil’s Distraction Henry the camel is back! Delighting owls Alex once again read from his Henry the camel stories. We heard from a chapter in the first book, Henry has been recaptured and Oboe is the hero of the hour. The clever gerbil bites through the rope of the master’s tent, (recalling the earlier episode where he free Henry this way). After collapsing the master’s tent, Oboe distracts the other guards while Rozetta the rhino (a friend from a previous chapter) knocks down the camel’s fence. Sorry if I’ve spelt her name wrong Alex. Owls as always enjoyed Henry’s adventures, and enjoyed Alex’s energetic pace, and creative use of language, particularly the sensory language, and appreciated how easily we could visualise the scenes. We all look forward to hearing the full series one day. Pat (off theme) Pat shared a little story from her life, telling of her experience as an evacuee. The story told among other things the arrival of two female officers whose names are never known, and how Pat’s dad let the them take the bed, much to his wife’s annoyance. OWLS liked the gentle tone of this story, very much told from the perspective of a child, with the knowledge of a adult looking back. Graham (Murder and Mayhem) History In a very Edgar Allan Poe style story, Graham the theme to the extreme with the story of a young monk who stumbles across a dead girl floating in the local lake. He hurries back to his mentor to help solve the mystery. Who was she? How did she die? And why? Owls liked this spooky story, but felt it could be improved for quickening the pace, and revising the dialogue.

Minutes Present: Kate, Janine (returning visitor), Joanne (returning visitor), Alex, Graham, Jean, Dave (returning visitor) Susan (guest) Write on the Night Unfortunately none of us could remember the line we had originally come up with, so Graham came up with the following, to be used as the first or last line. “I ended up in jail” (or) “The result was I ended up in jail” Alex (last line) True Story Alex took us on a trip down memory lane with an entertaining story about his relationship with his now, wife. Working in different cities they would take turns to visit each other. One day Alex travelled down for the day to see Cath as she couldn’t come to see him. He had planned to take one train the home, but she suggested taking a later one. The result was that due to fuel restrictions and other bad luck he ended up in jail. Owls found this very entertaining, Alex’s slick writing style and the mingling of love and comedy were well received, especially the line where he referred to first picking Cath up at a jumble sale. Joanne (opening) True Story Joanne has and old bike which she affectionately called a “chain-dropper”, on meeting her friend Nige (possibly boyfriend, this wasn’t specified), on finding he’s a keen cyclist it spurs her on to get a better bike. They plan a cycling holiday, and Joanne sets out to look for a bike. She finds one in a second-hand shop, buys it, cleans it up, and heads out on some test runs with Nige. However, her dream bike turn into a nightmare when she finds out she’s bought a stolen bike and is taken off in a police car. Owls enjoyed the simple and relatable nature of the story, and how you suspected something was going to happen, but still didn’t see the twist at the end coming. Susan (last) Fiction A child is out flying a kite with their dad at a bird sanctuary, based on Martin Mere. They take time to admire the kite, but is surprised when it hits an eagle, killing it, thanks to the fact that dad had attached some extra features in tribute to his hero, TV presenter and tracker Ray Meares. Thus the dad is carted off to jail. OWLS liked the descriptive narrative. Dave (last) Fiction Idea It was Dave’s first doing this exercise. He used the line for an idea for a story about a girl called Samantha taking her boyfriend on a Friday night out. He dislikes her treated him to Champaign etc. later the boyfriend encounters a mysterious woman and a man in a suit while Samantha is in the ladies. What are they up to? Dave left us guessing, but said he’d probably continue the story afterwards. OWLS enjoyed the description of Samantha, and also the casual yet interesting way Dave introduced the mysterious couple. He had our attention and we’re eager for more. Jean (last) Fiction A holiday in Greece turns ugly. A couple are sight-seeing in Greece, and after stopping for a drink, they decide to go on the another place. However, a fierce old widow, accuses the woman in the couple of being a witch and stealing her chicken. They couple try to defend themselves, but the police end being called, the couple end up in jail and the holiday is forgotten. OWLS liked the light tone, and comic nature to the story, and found it very relatable. Kate (opening) Fiction A man who signed up with uniformdating.com meets a woman for a coffee. He explains a funny story to her about how he ended up in jail for running a speed camera more than once. He wasn’t sure how she’d take it, but she doesn’t judge him. A twist at the end proves that the man has gone on a date with a prison officer. OWLS liked the contemporary nature of the story with the mention of online dating. We also didn’t see the twist at the end. Graham (last) Fiction (based on fact) Graham’s was a cautionary tale of children who choose to “borrow” some things they need for a game of cricket from a posh school. However, they didn’t anticipate being thrown in jail for this. OWLS enjoyed the descriptive nature of the piece, but would have preferred more dialogue.