We are a long established Writers Circle based in Felixstowe, Suffolk. This Weblog will be about us, Writing, Writing Competitions, Writing in Felixstowe, life and generally what we are up to as a Group and individuals and what interests us.
We are based in Felixstowe but our membership comes both from a wide area within Suffolk and we also have many 'online' members from around the UK, Europe and the US.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Please note our New! contact address is scribblers@btinternet.com . Please note all previous email addresses are now defunct.
Friday, July 27, 2007
THE BEACH PARTY
The Annual Summer Social, for the second consecutive year, took the shape of a beach party using Ruth and Andrew's beach hut as the focal point.
After a bitterly cold evening in 2006, we watched the weather with trepidation as Monday evening was a very cold, wet and miserable night and despite the hopes that the weather would be better on the Tuesday, it was a case of keeping our fingers crossed that the forecasters had got it right.
Tuesday came, a glorious sunny day with the weather doing exactly as we wished, staying fine through into the very late evening. It really was lovely, clear blue sky, a calm peaceful sea, plenty of food and drink courtesy of our members, atmospheric background guitar music and song or two from from Andrew together with crooner extraordinaire, Tony, a rare poem from Dave and, of course, some really wonderful company.
It was great to see Scott and Aimee back from their honeymoon allowing Dave to present them with a small wedding gift from all the Felixstowe Scribblers, of a specially designed heart shaped plate as a memento of their marriage.
It was nice to see Barry and his wife along with Liliane, Alex, Zoe, Rosie, Kay, Morag, Tony, Ruth and Andrew and Dave.
Special thanks to Ruth and Andrew for hosting the evening and allowing us the use of their beach hut.
A reminder that there is no Felixstowe Scribblers meeting next week, there having been an 'extra' Tuesday in July. Instead our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 7th August in the Café Libra at the Library at 7.30 pm. The open themed 1,500 word homework assignment will be undertaken by Alex and Di whilst the 500 word assignment for the rest of us is 'Asylum.' How maddening can that be?
Have received an email from Chris who is now safely back in Cairns. He says, 'I arrived safely but exhausted, with fond memories of the 100th birthday and our meeting. My very grateful thanks for your hospitality in allowing me to be part of the Tuesday night meeting. I was gratified with the reception of my offering, and appreciated all the other submissions. The camaraderie is great, especially bearing in mind the disparity of age groups and background of the members. Great bunch!' Chris has submitted a few words on 'asylum' which we hope will be read out at our 7th August meeting.
The beach party went extremely well, thanks to everyone who attended on what was really the only nice evening of the week. Great to see Scott and Aimee there and was pleased to be able to pass our wedding gift on to them. Thanks to Ruth and Andrew for their hospitality at the beach hut and to everyone who brought along the 'goodies'. More will appear on the weblog.
So until Tuesday 7th August,
Keep Scribbling!
*********
ONLINE SCRIBBLERS new competition is now open for your entries.
This is an open themed competition that may be written in any genre but with a 2,000 word maximum. Free for members to enter online, go to http://onlinescribblers.com
The closing date for entries is 31st August. Details of the online voting for your favourite entry will follow from 1st September. Best of luck!
Scott and Aimee - a really lovely photograph of a really lovely couple. From all the Scribblers... many congratulations for a long and happy future together.
Apologies for absence were received from Lisa who is on holiday.
In attendance were Peter, Barry, Dick, Alex, Tony, Liliane, Ken, Morag, Les, Trish, Diane, Ruth, Dave, Rosemary, Liz and our special guest from Cairns, Chris Shaw.
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY ON OUR GUEST FROM AUSTRALIA.
Chris Shaw, was born and bred in Felixstowe, attended Framlingham College, did Pharmacy, worked in London, went to the West Indies for seven years, and now lives with his Librarian wife Rebecca in a suburb called Lake Placid, just outside Cairns.
In 2001-2002 they spent 12 months in UK, Chris doing Locum pharmacy work and spending some quality time with his aging parents. He regularly wrote newsletters back to friends in Cairns, about where they had visited, so when he returned down under Chris put them all together and came up with around 40,000 words! Since writing a two page letter had always been a chore, Chris felt very pleased with himself. The upshot was that he continued writing and found he thoroughly enjoyed it.
Making a flying visit to England to celebrate his father’s 100th birthday, quite by accident Chris found details of the Scribblers on the Internet and congratulates Alex on our beautiful and easy website so decided, after initial email contact, to come along to a meeting and share his first short story with us.
Scribblers News:
It was welcome back to the fold to Alex, Les and Diane and what turned out to be a very well attended meeting on, for a change, such a warm and lovely evening.
Congratulations are due to our dear Zoe who has now been appointed to a paid position after such a long time. We all send our wishes for success in her new career.
There is another member who deserves special praise as well. Our friend Di hasn’t been able to attend many meetings over the past two or three years because of the studies for her degree so it was particularly lovely to see her again. Her news couldn’t be better for all her hard work has paid off and many congratulations are in order as she achieved a first in her history degree at Suffolk College and is now a BA. Di is considering a career in teaching.
Thanks once again go to Ken for bringing along a healthy supply of his home baked brownies. Went down a real treat at coffee break and is helping expand our waistlines!
Absent last meeting because of her ‘date’ with Rod Steward, Morag thoroughly enjoyed the show at Portman Road despite getting soaked in the torrential downpours!
Apologies from our newest member Liz that, because of another commitment has to drive in from Aldeburgh and will always be a minutes late arriving at our meetings.
Hoping that Les is better now after having to leave the Scribblers early because of feeling unwell.
The whispers are that Scott and Aimee should soon be back in Britain after their honeymoon so perhaps we will see them at our beach party next week.
CHANGE OF OUR EMAIL ADDRESS.
It is a sign of the times that, despite all the technology to block spam mail and root out unwanted material from our inboxes, it occasionally becomes so bad that something needs to be done to rectify the situation. The simplest way is to open up a new email account which has now been done.
Henceforth our new, but very similar, email address is scribblers.1@ntlworld.com Meantime our original email address will be kept active for those genuine communications that arrive informing us of competitions etc. Should you have any problems with this address then please let me know at a meeting. References to our old address will need to be changed on our website and weblog so poor old Alex will be asked to help out on this one!
THE SUMMER SOCIAL - A BEACH PARTY … IT’S ALMOST HERE!
Don’t forget that our beach party will be held next Tuesday, 24th July at 7.30pm on the beach in front of Ruth’s hut which is the closest one to the Spa. Please bring along some light refreshments, nibbles or goodies if you can. It would be nice if any musically talented members would bring along a guitar for a sing song, or bring along some written work if you wish, and perhaps we will try building a story. In the event of some inclement weather then there has been a suggestion of cover in a local hostelry….
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
With well over 10,000 views between them, it could be worth keeping an eye both the weblog and our official website Don’t forget to visit them at http://nar8or.blogspot.com for the weblog and http://felixstowescribblers.com for our website.
Don’t forget the Online Scribblers site at http://onlinescribblers.com, where a new competition has started for members. Essentially for those unable to attend Scribblers meetings, free membership is required to use the site. Details can be obtained from Vincent West organiser@onlinescribblers.com
The 1,500 Word Homework Assignment:
Chris: Happy Anniversary: A true story involving two cats and a mysterious red helium filled balloon. Relayed with all its gentle humour and an excellent first time effort.
Liz: Finding: A brother and sister and their broken relationship. The sister, in her 40s needed time to overcome her emotional crisis. A very strong opening half of the story.
The 500 word homework assignment on ‘Bridges.’
Dave: Last Train to Island Central: Lovers troubled by her husband’s model railway in the garden. Humorous vengeance by the wife.
Tony: A Short Cut to Humbugs: Another of Tony’s fantasy works this time involving a troll bridge.
Rosemary: Duty: Speed camera and the police watching the traffic - and the sinister white van.
Ruth: Innocence Lane: Part of her new novel. Taking the children home for Gran’s funeral.
Barry: Overtime: True story set at the time of the local railway electrification and the bridge mishaps.
Trish: Snogarderch (Swedish): Fantasy. Buying a castle and the drawbridge problems.
Liliane: I Saw the Garden of Paradise: Story of the afterlife and the bridge between the living and the dead.
Dick: Bridges of Faith: The clash of faiths - friends trying to sort out such problems.
Morag: Bridges: The English language as a bridge between nations - featuring Sherpa & Everest.
Peter: How many Bridges? Humorous tale related in Peter’s gentle Suffolk dialect.
Ken: Bridges: Meeting to build bridges. Live Aid crowds. Those who don’t fit in.
IMPORTANT DATE : Next Tuesday 24th July, 7.30pm The annual beach party.
Our next Felixstowe Scribblers meeting is set for Tuesday 7th August at 7.30pm in the Café Libra at the Library and will be chaired by Dave
The homework assignment is to write 500 words maximum on “Asylum”. Could be interesting - definitely a subject for white coats!
The 1500 word open themed topics will feature work by Di and Alex.
With thanks and bon voyage to Chris for his long journey back to northern Queensland this weekend. (See photograph on weblog)
Thanks also to Dick for chairing the meeting and taking the notes.
So until next time - or better still the beach party,
ONLINE SCRIBBLERS new competition is now open for your entries. This is an open themed competition that may be written in any genre but with a 2,000 word maximum. Free for members to enter online, go to http://onlinescribblers.com The closing date for entries is 31st August. Details of the online voting for your favourite entry will follow from 1st September. Best of luck! Vincent West Organiser
Chris Shaw, guest from Cairns, Australia, who combined his visit home to Felixstowe to celebrate his father's centenary with a guest appearance at a recent meeting. Chris, in white shirt, is pictured with some of the Felixstowe Scribblers who attended the meeting.
The August edition of the Writers’ News carries a front line story, courtesy of Private Eye who ran the investigation, into vanity publishing company Writersworld.
The company describes itself as ’the gold standard’ of print on demand but there are a number of out of pocket wannabe authors who beg to differ. Private Eye reports that there is a list of county court judgements against the company totalling more than £20,000 owed to authors and former contractors.
There are in excess of a dozen authors who paid upfront for books that were never completed. Alongside dissatisfied authors are illustrators, editors and IT contractors all complaining of non-payment for their work.
Company owner Graham Cook who runs the business from his Oxfordshire home was called before the Oxfordshire Trading Standards to discuss the experience suffered by these authors and to clarify the company’s position. The meeting took place in May but the contents of the meeting were confidential and at present the company is still trading.
Acting on the advice of both Private Eye and Writers’ News, authors would be wise to avoid Writersworld.
Our next meeting will be held this coming Tuesday 17th July, at 7.30pm in the Café Libra at the Library. Commencing at 7.30 pm, we have a 500 word homwork theme of 'bridges'.
The 1,500 word work will be read by our guest from Cairns, Australia, Chris Shaw and also from Liz.
For those familiar with the Lost Sock, there has been some sad news that Neil Hawcroft, who played Dawson, died last week. Our sympathies go to his family.
It is with regret that we have learned that Neil has passed away. A friend of the Felixstowe Scribblers through his role as Dawson in The Lost Sock, Neil will be sadly missed.
His funeral is to be held on Friday 20 July at Rushmere St Andrew church at 2pm. The family requests no flowers.
It's one year ago today that Felixstowe's first ever full length feature film premiered at The Spa Pavilion Theatre. 100 local people, businesses and organisations had put in huge amounts of work to produce what can only be described as 'The Lost Sock'! By the time that more than 400 people attended the World Premiere, the online episodes had had well over half a million viewings online, and in the months afterwards, 200 DVDs were sold.
Over the next few weeks the episodes are being placed onto Youtube, and plans are to show the whole film on Information TV www.information.tv which broadcasts to the UK and Europe on Sky Digital channel 167. The transmission times will follow a bit nearer the time but any questions or comments in the meantime, can be directed to Giles Meehan (gpmeehan@felixstowetv.co.uk) or Chris Gosling (chris@spectrumcoms.co.uk)
'Felixstowe Films' are hoping to embark on another project when ideas can be formulated - watch this space...
Sadly, for those of you who haven't heard, Neil Hawcroft who played Dawson in The Lost Sock has been very unwell again. Now back at home, the prognosis is not at all good and thoughts and wishes go to him, his wife Judy and family.
For all your research and information for writers visit your local Felixstowe Library and the Suffolk Record Office .
FELIXSTOWE SCRIBBLERS NEWSHEET
Incorporating the
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD 3rd JULY 2007
In the Chair: Dave.
Apologies for absence were received from Morag, Alex and Zoe.
In attendance were Dick, Tony, Trish, Kay, Rosie, Liliane, Barry, Peter, Ken, Ruth, Liz and Dave. With so much recent inclement weather, the evening was greeted with thunderstorms, torrential downpours and flooded roads so a sincere thankyou to everyone who attended what turned out to be a very interesting meeting.
Scribblers News:
Morag had a long arranged ‘date’ with a certain Rod Steward who was performing at Portman Road, Ipswich and, hopefully, she didn’t get too wet in the heavy downpours that covered the area.
Alex texted to say sorry that he could not attend once more but he had a conference to attend. On another note, and well done to him, he had some work performed at the recent refugee event in Ipswich. Good to hear that his talent has been recognised.
Dick has recently returned from a cruise and enjoyed the delights of the onboard facilities almost as much as he enjoyed Norway! He has some excellent news that his book of the film, ‘The Lost Sock’ is soon to be published and includes some cartoons from Mrs Aimee Fairburn, wife of Scott.
Talking of Aimee and Scott, it was a wonderful day for their celebration as Alex said ‘Their wedding was great, I was almost moved to tears by it. I am so happy for them.’ A sentiment shared by all the Scribblers who know them so well.
Can you believe that on the day of the wedding, at precisely 08.54 Dave received the following email:-
‘I will be back in late July until September when it will start again for another ten weeks and then it will finish due to the dance teacher being pregnant. So I will see you in around a month and yes I am sending this on my wedding day as I’m trying to waste time as I woke up early due to all the excitement. See you soon Scott’
Looking forward to Scott’s return to the Scribblers.
Thanks go to Ken for bringing along a healthy supply of his home baked brownies. Went down a real treat at coffee break!
Noticed last week in the Ipswich Evening Star mention of Belinda’s win in the Bill Budner competition together with other familiar names like Ruth as runner up and Rosie as junior winner. You’ll find it posted on the weblog at http://nar8or.blogspot.com You can click on the image to increase the size to make it easier to read.
Had a few words with Kate last week to find out how she is. Kate says she is slowly getting better but still has a long way to go before she will be able to drive again. Our best wishes and kind thoughts to her as well.
Best wishes as well to Kay, who had to leave the meeting early with a migraine. It is a horrible debilitating condition which can be extremely painful. So get better soon Kay and Kate.
AN AUSTRALIAN GUEST
Chris Shaw will soon be jetting into England and confirms that he plans to attend our meeting on July 17th when he will read his first ever short story ‘Happy Anniversary.’
THE SUMMER SOCIAL - A BEACH PARTY … APPROACHES!
Hoping for warmer and drier weather this year the beach party will be held on Tuesday 24th July at 7.30pm on the beach next to Ruth’s hut situated between the Spa Pavilion and The Alex. Those attending are asked to bring along some Light refreshments, nibbles and similar will be the order of the day so please bring something along if you can. It would be nice if any musically talented members would bring along a guitar for a sing song, or bring along some written work if you wish, and perhaps we will try building a story. IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Don’t forget the Online Scribblers site at http://onlinescribblers.com, essentially for those unable to attend meetings, free membership is necessary to use the site. Details can be obtained from Vincent West organiser@onlinescribblers.com
The 1,500 Word Homework Assignment:
Liliane: Thirteen of us and Elsa: A lookback at the first in the family series that leaves ‘Dallas’ trailing in its wake! Great Uncle Jan, single but father of an illegitimate son, resembled Buffalo Bill complete with the hair! A drinker, Jan was known to tell naughty stories. Humorous, well written and a must for a book on Liliane’s family tales.
Tony: Sword of the Kings, a spoof by Perry Trachett: Chapter One ‘The Pedals of Power’: Such an enjoyable opening to a mind blowing set of circumstances that only Tony can create in his inimitable and humorous fashion. Opening with a swimmer and not a drowner the story washes swiftly on, describes in detail an arrow dropping downwards onto the word ALL and landing in L. There’s a good kicking from a woman and an exercise bike that provides electricity to the world…And the story is only just beginning….!!!
The 500 word homework assignment on ‘Rain/Rein/Reign.’
Liz: A Lovely Day at the Beach: A story of Ellie who finds the shelter on the promenade from the falling rain. She makes her way to a café and is disturbed by the stranger, a man, who disturbs her peaceful enjoyment of the beach scene. Anger wells up… An enjoyable atmospheric story that leaves a real cliff-hanger - why the anger? What happens next? Perhaps the story will be developed and all will be revealed.
Trish: Three Steps: A search for eternal life. Step One, Never have any other god; Step Two, never doubt; Step Three; Never go back on an agreement. The man in the hospital bed was a medical mystery, had a fall on the steps and ended in a coma, his life in limbo or is the coma eternal life itself?
Kay: Raindrop: A beautiful but very short poem based on a single raindrop that could be prehistoric water. Short but very thought provoking. No doubt a single raindrop started the deluge that has hit the UK over recent days.
Rosie: Shadow: The proud King rode his blood stained carpet through the crowds and a warrior in front of a statue in the Church. The King thrust his sword into the ground signifying the end of a 47 year war. A lone soldier holds up the multitude and the proud king died a death. This is part of a story that Rosie and her friend are writing between them, each providing an addition to the story in turn.
Ruth: Blackbirds: The beginning of a re-write of the Woman Before Me: This provides the comparison between blackbirds building their nest despite the rain, and a sick mother in her bed, her own nest. The blackbirds have their chicks, whilst the sick mother has her schoolgirl daughter, her own chick. Downstairs her husband provides the meals but there is more to be heard of him later. Well written and very imaginative - those publishers don’t know what they are missing!
Barry: Conflict: Seven year old Barry being driven out of London into the country in a sidecar with his sister, dreaming one of his dreams of a Sherman tank moving through the thick French mud - driver ordered to slow down - then, reverting to the sidecar, jumped off the saddle and fell face first into the mud. One of a series of chapters all with a single word title.
Peter: The Rain of Life: A gentle country account of how the countryside is refreshed and invigorated by the spring rain. So well written it was easy to visualise the images and the sweet fresh scent of the country.
Ken: Rain: A tale of an Irish funeral that took place in the rain. Rain splashing down, umbrellas raised shielding all the black fineries in competition with others at the ceremony. Those in mourning probably ignored the deceased when he was alive.
Dick: Cruise ship: A well written rhyming poem with a verse for each deck of the ship from the very top by the funnel to the depths where the engine room and crews accommodation is located.
Dave: It Never Rains but it Pours: A late running train, a rollicking at HQ and the reasons for not driving - all because the wife overspent when out shopping. Read and comment on the whole affair at http://onlinescribblers.com in Your Work.
Our next Felixstowe Scribblers meeting is set for Tuesday 17th July at 7.30pm in the Café Libra at the Library and will be chaired by Dick
The homework assignment is to write 500 words maximum on “BRIDGES”. Could this be a railway bridge, the Orwell Bridge, a bailey bridge, Mrs Bridges or something else? This may be a subject to get the old (and not so old) brain cells working.
The 1500 word open themed topics will feature work by our guest Chris and our newest member Liz.
Interested? Then why not join us at one of our meetings?
We meet on the First and Third Tuesday of each month at the Felixstowe Library in Crescent Road, Felixstowe, IP11 7BY., meetings start at 7.30 pm and we endeavour to be finished by 10pm.
The New!2009 programme is:-
All meetings are held at Felixstowe Library
Start at 7.30 pm and finish by 10.00 pm.
Suggested 50 pence donation per meeting, includes tea or coffee
January
20 Bill Budner Trophy – Anonymous competition for attending writers only
24 Social meal at Castle Lodge Hotel
25 Group session with Maureen Blundell at Castle Lodge Hotel
February
3 Meeting
17 Meeting
March
3 Meeting
17 Creative writing exercise
April
7 Meeting
21 Meeting
May
5 Meeting
19 Bill Budner Trophy – Anonymous competition for attending writers only
June
2 Meeting
16 Meeting
Beach Party Social to be arranged June/July
July
7 Meeting
21 Creative writing exercise
August
4 Meeting
18 Meeting
September
1 Meeting
15 Bill Budner Trophy – Anonymous competition for attending writers only
October
6 Meeting
20 Torchlight Halloween Meeting
November
3 Meeting
17 Meeting
December
1 Meeting
15 Creative writing exercise followed by the Christmas party.
Remember, membership is FREE, so why not come along? We ask for an optional donation of 50p per meeting to help towards running costs but that does include tea or coffee and a biscuit!
New!IMPORTANT - you can help.....do you know information or content that would help other readers of the Felixstowe Scribblers Weblog?...mail us at Dave Feakes, scribblers@btinternet.com with your comments, additions and suggestions TA! The Scribblers.
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The Felixstowe Scribblers are an initiative created with the support of Suffolk County Council to help, support and encourage writers living in Suffolk.
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