Hello everyone,

General:
After a week away, during which I had a chance to take a peek at the emails piling up, I was still astonished to find a list of 41 waiting for me to digest. As I had 35 on another address where I am involved with a lot of discussion (not pleasure writing, alas), I’m having my work cut out to deal with everything. Nevertheless, I won’t drop my Alpha commitment.

The latest exchange of emails has been fairly extensive, with everyone joining in – except me! So I’ll make good now. The discussions about music interests has been interesting – and nostalgic. John raised the name of Deanna Durbin, and no-one else seems to remember hearing her sing, though Zena did correct John’s spelling! John also asked about the names of the singing group involved with ‘How much is that doggie … ’, and if no-one else has answered, it was the Beverley Sisters. John also mentions 78 records – I had a good collection of them: they weren’t bakelite, either, they were a form of shellac (as Chris said), and they weren’t that brittle. We also had fibre needles to play them, because they caused less wear on the record. If you used fibre needles, you also had a sharpener for them! My collection comprised singers such as Bing Crosby (far more famous than Sinatra in his day), Dinah Shore, Maxine Sullivan in her young days, with bands like Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, and of course, the original Glenn Miller (as opposed to ‘the sound of’ that happens so much nowadays).

But as for home environment grooming your likes and dislikes – well, my mother wasn’t interested in music and my father only in popular songs (some from WW1). It was when I got married and my wife introduced me to classical music that my whole outlook on music changed. I care nothing for popular music now, and I can’t name a popular song, or a successful pop star. Similarly, my enjoyment from reading bore no similarities with others in my family, though it has changed too. No-one ever was concerned about the writings of my ancestor Bjornson, and it was much later in my life that I discovered his importance. I have been asked if I am going to the celebrations in Norway this year, as it is 100 years after his death.

Name:
Bert Mendelssohn was a mathematician. I came across his name when looking at textbooks which might be suitable to recommend to students. He was an American, and the subject coverage wasn’t appropriate, though I can’t remember which branch of mathematics it was. It was the name that stuck in my mind, especially as a colleague, who thought I’d seen the book when I hadn’t, said to me, “What do you think of Mendelssohn?” I’ve never come across the name Mendelssohn anywhere else, but the association with ‘Bert’ seemed unlikely.

Challenges:
You’ve all seen the marks for Challenge 4.

Translating them into points gives Zena 3 for being the clear winner, with Clare getting 2 and a *, with Geoff getting 2. Christine gets 1 with a *, but there was a gap behind her marks, so no more are gained this time, except 1 for every entry.

The marks for Challenge 5, which Geoff has circulated, shows up Zena again as the clear winner. Gaining 3 points. Sally gets 2 and a *, with Geoff getting 2, Christine gets 1 with a *, while Chris and David ghet 1 each =- all these in addition to the 1 point for entering.

This bring the leader board (including the odd points for the Christmas Quiz) to:
Zena 13 points
Christine 12 points and ***
Geoff 12 points
Sally 11 points and one *
Clare 10 points and **
Celia 10 points
Chris 8 points and **

and the rest of us are waiting to make a strong finish to the season.

Books of 2009:
David tells me that the response to the request for the best books that you’ve read in 2009 has been a bit patchy. If there are any late comments, please send them to him, and the final conclusions will be made known.

Courses, info, etc:
I have received the following advert from Anne Aylor. If you’ve got the odd £750 that you don’t know what to do with, it’s a suggestion! I actually think belonging to Alpha is much better value. Realistically, my feeling is that if I were in such a beautiful place for just a week, the last thing I’d want to do is to sit inside writing, or listening to others talk about their writing.

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Dear Writers

I’d like to give you advance notice of a writing retreat in Catalonia (11- 18 June 2010) @ La Torre de Dalt, a beautifully renovated 17th-century baronial country house located in the village of Camós. 

This novel writing intensive will have morning workshops covering topics such as “Getting Started”, Characterisation", "Point of View", "Setting", "Plotting and Shaping" and "Editing". In 6 sessions we will cover material normally taught over 6 weeks. This idyllic retreat takes place in the foothills of the Pyrenees in a building surrounded by olive trees, pine and oak forests. Afternoons are free to write, explore, swim or have a tutorial. All sessions are voluntary and if you wish to use the time to write, you may do so.

This is a perfect place to spend a week working on your novel, memoir or short story collection. You have the opportunity to use the time to write or attend the morning workshops, with the added advantage of tutor support in one-to-ones and Open Mic evenings before dinner.

http://www.anneaylor.co.uk/NovelWritingInSpain.htm

Anne Aylor Creative Writing Courses
46 Beversbrook Road
London N19 4QH
tel: 0207 263 0669
email: anne@anneaylor.co.uk
web: www.anneaylor.co.uk

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And I’ve had the usual reminder from Writing Raw:

The January 15 issue of WritingRaw.com is NOW online:  Writing Raw is a FREE literary ezine dedicated to new and emerging writers. Our goal at Writing Raw is simple - to serve the literary community with the opportunity to have their work online and out in the world. In this world of disappearing literary magazines, Writing Raw is providing the blank pages for writers to fill. 

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And if any of you in the UK are interested in participating in a consultation:

Today Arts Council England opens a consultation on future priorities for the arts.

This consultation sets out our understanding of the current landscape, celebrates the success of the arts and identifies areas for development over the next ten years. We are asking for your thoughts on the way forward. Your views will inform our long term strategic framework and our next set of investment decisions. To take part in the consultation visit www.artscouncil.org.uk/consultation The consultation will close on 14 April 2010. We're looking forward to hearing your views.

Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England  

This isn’t the most exciting circular, I know, but I hope to do better – and perhaps even have some writing exploits for Christine to log!

Best wishes all

- Olaf