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, August 31, 2007
Our Next Meeting
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 4th September in the Café Libra at Felixstowe Library and will be chaired by Dave. Start time remains at 7.30pm for the second of our anonymous competitions for the Bill Budner Trophy. It promises to be an interesting evening once again.
As a reminder the rules for the competition for attending writers only, are:
* Up to 1,000 words on any topic. * Work should be typed. * Anonymous so no names or identification marks on the paper. *All work will be placed on a table, and each writer, at a given time, will collect one story and have a few minutes to familiarise themselves with it. * The stories will be read out with everyone marking the work. * At the end of the evening all the marks will be entered anonymously into a box and then counted.
The Bill Budner Trophy will be presented to the winner then, after engraving by Scott at Mr Cobbler in Felixstowe, will be held until the next competition in three months time.
Tony, the current holder, is not keen to relinquish the trophy that he won in May so can you become the second winner? We all look forward to hearing the work on offer.
Some news filtered through from Giles at Felixstowe TV that says:
"Felixstowe TV is pleased to be able to announce that 'The Lost Sock' - the only full length feature film ever made from start to end in Felixstowe - is to be shown on broadcast TV this weekend. "The world TV premiere of the unique local film, made by Felixstowe TV, is at noon on Saturday (1st September) on Information TV - Sky channel 167. It will be shown again at the same time every Saturday during September, plus another showing every Friday night at midnight on Information TV 2 (channel 168). (See www.information.tv for schedule.)
"Between 400 and 500 people attended the film's World Premiere at The Spa Pavilion Theatre last July, 200 copies of the DVD have now been sold, and tens of thousands watched the original episode format on the internet (over half a million showings across the 11 episodes), where it was first shown on Felixstowe TV www.felixstowetv.co.uk. Now it will be broadcast to potentially millions of homes across the UK and Europe!
"Chris Gosling passed on what the broadcaster said... 'When he first saw the film, he was tickled pink by the quirky humour and local appeal. Information TV Chief Executive Fred J Perkins told me that after a slightly slow first ten minutes, it picked up a good pace and was lots of fun.' We're all very proud of having been part of a real community effort, with so many local people involved. And as Chris said, getting the film on TV is the icing on the cake!"
By all accounts the East Anglian Daily Times carried a feature yesterday, 30th August. Has anyone got a copy to share or spare, please?
***
Another piece of news is that a cheetah cub at Suffolk Wildlife Park at Kessingland is to be name after Jack Wilkinson.
***
Until Tuesday next,
Keep Scribbling and Best of luck in the competition!
Felixstowe TV is pleased to be able to announce that 'The Lost Sock' - the only full length feature film ever made from start to end in Felixstowe - is to be shown on broadcast TV this weekend.
The world TV premiere of the unique local film, made by Felixstowe TV, is at noon on Saturday (1st September) on Information TV - Sky channel 167. It will be shown again at the same time every Saturday during September, plus another showing every Friday night at midnight on Information TV 2 (channel 168). (See www.information.tv for schedule.)
Between 400 and 500 people attended the film's World Premiere at The Spa Pavilion Theatre last July, 200 copies of the DVD have now been sold, and tens of thousands watched the original episode format on the internet (over half a million showings across the 11 episodes), where it was first shown on Felixstowe TV www.felixstowetv.co.uk . Now it will be broadcast to potentially millions of homes across the UK and Europe!
Chris passed on what the broadcaster said... "When he first saw the film, he was tickled pink by the quirky humour and local appeal. Information TV Chief Executive Fred J Perkins told me that after a slightly slow first ten minutes, it picked up a good pace and was lots of fun." We're all very proud of having been part of a real community effort, with so many local people involved. And as Chris said, getting the film on TV is the icing on the cake!
What the public have said about The Lost Sock (all genuine quotes!):
"Brilliant! Looks like great fun was had by all" "Better and more believable script than 'Eastenders' - pure classic Felixstowe entertainment!" "BRILLIANT! I love this online series!" "Wow! That was an interesting watch!" "Brilliant - witty, well acted, original and amusing!" "Fantastic - well done!" "Excellent - some classic moments!" "This is genius - the funniest thing I’ve ever seen!"
In aid of cancer research and in conjunction with Caz and Karl Wilkinson, a triple walks event has been organised in memory of their son Jack who died in August last year. Named the Jack Wilkinson Memorial Walk, three walks have been organised in the Felixstowe town and sea front areas, one covering a distance of 9 miles, another of 5 miles together with a shorter 1½ mile walk designed for people with restricted mobility.
There will be staggered start times beginning at 10am on Sunday 9th September. Details and sponsorship forms may be obtained from Doreen Giff by emailing dorndg@talktalk.net.
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 21st AUGUST 2007
In the Chair: Alex.
Apologies for absence were received from Rosie (holiday) and Diane.
In attendance were Dave, Barry, Peter, Liliane, Louis, Scott, Ali, Dick, Tony, Alex and Morag
A welcome back to Louis whose work in the London area usually keeps him quite busy these days. Nice to see Barry back after his spell in hospital that was related in his homework.
Scribblers News:
Dick reported that a triple walks event in aid of cancer research and in conjunction with Caz and Karl, will be called the Jack Wilkinson Memorial Walk. There are three walks in the Felixstowe town and sea front areas, one over a distance of 9 miles, another of 5 miles together with a shorter 1½ mile walk designed for people with restricted mobility. There will be staggered start times beginning at 10am on Sunday 9th September. Details and sponsorship forms may be obtained from Doreen Giff by emailing dorndg@talktalk.net.
We have received a welcome email from Belinda down under. She says:-
“Sorry it has been a long dry spell with news but here is some exciting news - we have had rain and lots of it. I must say our days had warmed up early (mid 20's) and were very nice but we still had quite cold nights and early mornings. But this last week we have had the most rain in ages and of course a drop back in temperatures. We have had a rather colder than usual winter we feel and both Geoff and I ended up with a bad strain of flu but thankfully we are over it all now.
"Last Thursday we flew out to Canberra for a holiday and to attend an Engagement Party while we were down there, so we expected it to be very cold and it was but not unbearably so . I know it is still snowing in places down south here.
“We had looked at doing a house move back early July if Geoff went back to RAAF but then he decided not to, when he didn't hear back from them and so we have decided to stay put for now. This would have meant moving over near Amberly and the Ipswich area which you may know as always being just that bit colder in winter and hotter in summer than most of the rest of the Brisbane and greater Brisbane area. In the last few days there has been contact again from the airforce so we could still have a move on our hands in the future but not right at this time .
“We are still getting plenty of work with security and have a lot of work on in the next 2 months too. We have done quite a bit of work down in the middle to lower New South Wales areas too and have got to see and stay in some interesting places. Surprisingly enough, I'm still enjoying the work and it gives me enough flexible time to do other things as well. Mind you my writing is slow going of late but that was mostly due to the flu.
“We have both been very sick with a bad strain of the flu. For 13 or so nights, it was easier for me to sleep sitting up in the lounge chair because I tended to cough less of course can't say the sleep was as good. We hope you and your family are keeping well. It has been particularly bad in Queensland this year and both of my nieces have had great numbers in their classes at school off sick with it.
“About this time last year, I did a series of innovative and new style in healing seminars and workshops called Reconnection. I am finding the work quite interesting and much improved on any trainings of the past that I have learnt. Back in late June this year, I had a great time away on a Reconnective Healing weekend and we all wish it had been longer as we really connected and had fantastic experiences. It was very enlightening especially a German based project we got to do on the Saturday night. The food was yummy and the retreat was up in an old Nun's nunnery up in the mountainous area of Bardon, not far from Mt Coot-tha so great views and excellent for our early morning pre sunrise meditation. I was able to strengthen my Reconnective process and have made some new friendships and connections from the weekend all a great benefit. Things went so well that on the Sunday afternoon we discussed getting together in August to further continue on with our work we had started on the weekend with the marketing side of things, so on Sunday, 12th I went off to Mt Coot-tha for the day to attend a mentoring day. Boy the views up there at the lookout are so great – it’s been awhile since I have had lunch up there and of course the Mentoring day was invaluable with our work.
“I have added my story to the online competition so we'll see how it all goes. I have a couple of books in the pipeline and am working on an Anthology of short stories, poems and verse with a writers' group I'm involved with here to be released early next year. Geoff keeps ever busy with his family history research and having got over the last stages of the flu he is back enjoying reading books again. “Well that’s all the news for now. Say hi to all at the next Scribblers meeting and thanks for the photos - that was really great to see you all again even if for now it is only in a 2 dimensional photo. Take care. Love from Belinda and Geoff XXXX”
There is also our site at http://onlinescribblers.com, where the open themed competition for members is in its final week for entries. With a maximum of 2,000 words the choice of subject is for you to decide. Already Morag, Chris ,Belinda and Dave have entered. Why not have a go yourself? If you are not already a member then contact Vincent West for details at organiser@onlinescribblers.com
The 1,500 Word Homework Assignment:
Barry: A Trip To London: Autobiographical full of quite dry humour surrounding his recent stay in hospital. Full of excellent descriptions it portrayed his many observations that were loving, caring and touching.
Dick: Welcome to the Supernatural: Relating the recent psychical research undertaken at Landguard Fort when Dick was present throughout the night. Carefully told and systematically revealing events etched in the memory of time itself. (Dick reveals that there is to be a special Halloween Event at the Fort on 31st October. Numbers will be strictly controlled at tickets, at £10 each, can be ordered from Doreen Giff by emailing dorndg@talktalk.net. Also, in February next year, Dick will be delivering a talk on Landguard Fort and its ghosts at the Ipswich Record Office. Details will follow.)
The 500 word homework assignment on ‘Cherry Blossom.’
Morag: The Break-up: A tragic melancholic tone to a short story told from the viewpoint of a child horse owner.
Louis: Wonder Beach: Really evocative and descriptive work, Very tragic and based on a personal friend. ’I am alive when I might not be.’
Scott: A Cats Eye View: An idiosyncratic tale in Scott’s imitable style full of humorous observations.
Ally: Someone Special: The idea came from a friend online for a narrative tale of a young woman on the prowl.
Tony: Chapter 3: Painstakingly constructed comedy with every sentence carrying multiple meanings.
Alex: Colours: Powerful but sobering dark work.
Dave: Just Who Was She?: Textural and poignant story suggesting the time and place when the events were set.
Peter: Shining Saviour: Tale of the cold war power games and financial skulduggery.
Liliane: So Passing is Everything: A enjoyable factual work about historical Japan and its renaissance.
Chris Shaw (read by Dave): In Cherry Blossom Time: A chance encounter between a Japanese and an Australian man telling a very moving tale of a victim of Hiroshima.
Our next Felixstowe Scribblers meeting is on Tuesday 4th September at 7.30pm in the Café Libra at the Library.
In the chair: Dave
The Homework Assignment For the coming meeting only! A competition for attending writers.
Here is your chance to relieve our friend Tony of the Bill Budner Trophy that he won in May.
Up to 1,000 words on any topic. Work should be typed. Anonymous so no names or identification marks on the paper. All work will be placed on a table, and each writer, at a given time, will collect one story or poem and have a few minutes to familiarise themselves with it. The stories will be read out with everyone marking the work. At the end of the evening all the marks will be entered anonymously into a box and then counted. The Bill Budner Trophy will be presented to the winner and after engraving by Scott at Mr Cobbler, will be held until the next competition in three months time.
Best of luck!
Thanks to Alex for taking the chair and providing the notes and, of course, to Liliane for collecting the key once again.
So until next time….
Keep Scribbling!
scribblers.1@ntlworld.com
***** Please note that information follows from
ONLINE SCRIBBLERS
Whilst every effort is made to include only genuine literary information, Felixstowe Scribblers cannot be held responsible for items from external sources. To unsubscribe from the Felixstowe Scribblers email and information list simply email the secretary at scribblers.1@ntlworld.com
****** 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 If you aren’t yet a member then please email to register at organiser@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 *****
Playwright, local actor and valued member of Felixstowe Scribblers, Tony Shearman is the current holder of The Bill Budner Trophy after his short story "Stevie and the Kid" was adjudged the best of the evening in June.
The quarterly competition requires each attending writer to produce an anonymous short story that would be collected and read out by another Scribbler. At the end of the readings, each writer votes for their first three choices. The votes are then counted, the winner announced and the trophy presented and accordingly engraved by Mr Cobbler.
Awarded in memory of Bill Budner, a Felixstowe Scribbler who died suddenly on Tuesday 14th February 2006. Bill joined Felixstowe Scribblers in August of 2005 and quickly made a lot of friends within the group. He enjoyed his writing and produced some prolific words in his short stories. His mild manner and quiet voice vividly portrayed every word that he wrote. In another competition run by his widow Maureen in memory of Bill, the winner was Belinda Janz who is now back in her native Australia. She donated her prize money to her friends the Scribblers and suggested this competition be run in Bill's memory.
The new competition will take place at our next meeting, Tuesday 4th September.
For further information email scribblers.1@ntlword.com typing Bill Budner Competition into the subject line.
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 21st August in the Café Libra at Felixstowe Library and will be chaired by Alex. Start time is at 7.30pm with the 500 word homework topic on ‘Cherry Blossom’.
It is good to hear that Barry is now out of hospital and is raring to get back to Scribblers. He will be reading one of the 1,500 word pieces to us, whilst Dick will deliver his own masterpiece.
Many of us will have remembered Jack’s sad passing one year ago this week and will have sent kind thoughts to Caz and Karl. Caz was featured on Radio Suffolk earlier this week whilst Jack’s young friend Liam was on the local television news the same day.
Here’s to Tuesday and, if nothing else, some cherry blossom shoe shine!
Keep Scribbling!
****
ONLINE SCRIBBLERS competition:
There are just two weeks left for you to enter this open themed competition which means you may write on any subject, in any genre and any length up to a maximum of 2,000 words.
The competition is free for members to enter, simply go to http://onlinescribblers.com where you will be able to post your entries. If you are not a member but would like to enter the competition then please contact Vincent West at organiser@onlinescribblers.com
The closing date for entries is 31st August whilst details of the online voting for your favourite entry will follow from 1st September.
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 7th AUGUST 2007
In the Chair: Dave.
Apologies for absence were received from Rosie (holiday), Ruth (holiday) Barry (hospital), Ken (work) and Morag (work)
In attendance were Ally, Scott, Tony, Di, Trish, Kay, Liliane, Alex, Peter, Dick and Dave.
A special welcome to Ally who attended her first meeting. A close friend of Aimee and Scott, she used to write longer stories but with time at a premium she stopped. Now looking forward to devoting regular time to writing, she was invited to come along to our meeting to share the Felixstowe Scribblers experience.
Scribblers News: Bumped into one of our former Scribblers, Rob Lake recently who wishes to be remembered to everyone. An avid fantasy and science fiction fan he is still writing his intriguing stories. Rob promises to return to Scribblers one day.
Have received a message from Judy by now flying the Jolly Roger somewhere out at sea! She says:-
“I am now a long-term absentee from Scribblers - there always seems to be so many things going on! We went sailing for 6 weeks, which was great, and have been home for almost two weeks. Now we are off again next week - our feet rarely touch the ground. My book is coming out in November. I received the amendments from the editor last week, there were not many, mostly millions of hyphens to insert and several commas and semi-colons - it all kept me busy. It is now going to design stage so I have to make an appearance at the publishers shortly. I am sure that Scribblers is going great guns and that I shall make an appearance some day soon. Give my love to one and all.”
Having been privileged to read a chapter several months ago, I believe this will be a successful ‘first’ for Judy.
Alex reported attending one of Gordon’s poker nights recently and enjoyed the experience - especially as Gordon’s wife Rexie kept the evening light-hearted. Nowadays our former Scribbler runs four separate classes in the Ipswich area, one, unfortunately, clashing with our own meetings.
Tony visited Lowestoft recently and called in at Genesis Crystals in the High Street which is run by one of the Lost Sock scriptwriters, Ken May who is doing quite well now. His website can be found at http://www.genesiscrystals.co.uk/
We wonder how our friends Kate and Christine are getting along now. Kate has been recuperating fro some time now and hopefully will be able to come along to a meeting in the future. Christine, so long a regular, has been unable to attend for some time but, again, we hope to see her at a meeting one day soon.
If you have any news of our absent friends then please let us know as we look forward to hearing about them.
We received a lovely thankyou card from Scott and Aimee for the wedding plate that was presented to them at our beach party.
THE SUMMER SOCIAL - A BEACH PARTY … IT HAPPENED! For the second successive year, the summer social took the shape of a beach party this time using Ruth and Andrew's beach hut as the focal point.
After the bitterly cold evening in 2006, when we had to adjourn to the pub, we watched the weather with trepidation. 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 a 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 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 finally present them with a small wedding gift from all Felixstowe Scribblers, of a specially designed heart shaped plate as a memento of their marriage. It really was nice to see so many Scribblers present including 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.
CHANGE OF 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. References to our old address will need to be changed on our website and weblog so Alex will soon be asked to help sort this out!
There is also our site at http://onlinescribblers.com, where the open themed competition for members is waiting for your entry. With a maximum of 2,000 words the choice of subject is for you to decide. Please contact Vincent West for details at organiser@onlinescribblers.com
MAKE YOUR MARK Make Your Mark is the national enterprise campaign which runs an events listings website to promote the best networking opportunities across the UK. They want to highlight networking opportunities for people interested in the creative industries and would love to promote your network (group) and your upcoming events. There is no cost involved. Samantha Sprenger, Creative Industries, Enterprise Insight, 6 Mercer Street, London. WC2H 9QA 0207 497 4808 creativetemp@enterpriseinsight.co.uk www.starttalkingideas.org
Before making a decision whether to join or not, we have to consider if there will be any benefits for us. It will be helpful if the Scribblers and out committee members have a look at the website at www.makeyourmarkconnect.org and feed back their views to Dave.
The 1,500 Word Homework Assignment:
Alex: Interior: Not certain where he was, he awoke sweating with headache and migraine. Was he in a hotel room? The infernal knocking at the door. Nausea set in, he saw the battered image in the mirror. Who was he…?
Di: A Double Life: Jane’s waking moments. The face of the handsome stranger she had seen moments before.. She turned in her bed but there was no-one beside her. Had he just been a dream? Her week was spent ferrying young son Bobby to and from school yet all the while remembering the face of that stranger. Later Bobby disappeared when they were on a park but was eventually found with an angler by the riverside.
Both these works generated some of the most in depth feedback for a long time.
The 500 word homework assignment on ‘Asylum.’
Trish: Mummy Said: Don’t remember the trees. Woodbridge felt cold. Don’t understand why the train ticket is fuzzy. They took Mummy away. The child’s terrible temper, mother on the floor, covered in blood. In her room in Melton Asylum her words “Mummy said I just needed an extra pair of hands.”
Kay: Asylum: Washing day at the river. Daughter carrying wet clothes. The lorry approached, men jumped from it killing all they saw. Daughter escaped to the trees, They caught mother but let her live. The killing fields, littered with bodies and blood.
Liliane: The Asylum: The girl sat next to him on the bench in the garden. He didn’t like her. Wanted the peace. She reminded him of a ferocious ferret. Her mother a prostitute so the daughter was placed in the care of Social Services. The mixture of rich kids and poor in the Asylum.
Peter: Frightingly Lost: Driving along the road a man ran out in front of him. Being chased by odd people the driver gave him a lift. Kept saying ‘asylum’ and he was taken from Blythburgh and delivered to St Clements in Ipswich.
Dick: Welcome to Bedlam: For pure entertainment Lady Rose and Sir Ralph went by sedan chair to Bethlehem Asylum to watch the inmates. The stench was vile as the keeper greeted them with ‘London’s little hell on earth. Welcome to Bedlam.’
Dave: John Smart: Use of word association from one line to the next, John Smart was not quite the ticket and toured the madness of the words until reaching the ultimate climax - ‘They’re coming to take me away ha, haaaa!’
Ally reading on behalf of Chris Shaw back home in Cairns: Back in (our own) sane asylum: Likening the transportation of criminals to Australia with his own journey home across three time zones, currency exchanges, bland food and two foreign airports and associated languages all within thirty hours, Chris hadn’t even mentioned jet lag as he returned to his cottage in the rainforest in his own sane asylum!
Scott: Inside Out: Wake up! Who is it? Psychiatric nurse. Has the pills. Says wife beat you over the head sp take the pills. Why? Voice says, ’don’t take the pills!’ She says ‘Take the pills‘. I take the pillszzzzzzzz…
Tony: Sword of the Kings, by Perry Rragett; Chapter Two: The continuing fantasy discovers that Honions will be chucked out when he reaches maturity so has to leave the asylum. Father was not human. He was a half-timer.
Our next Felixstowe Scribblers meeting is set for Tuesday 21st August at 7.30pm in the Café Libra at the Library.
In the chair: To be announced
The homework assignment is to write 500 words maximum on “Cherry Blossom”.
The 1500 word open themed topics will feature work by Barry and Dick.
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 If you aren’t yet a member then please email to register at organiser@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
It is one year ago today since brave Jack Wilkinson passed away. The talented, humorous and friendly young Scribbler was our youngest ever member coming along to meetings with his mother Caz from the tender age of eight. He made an everlasting impression with Felixstowe Scribblers producing some lovely poems for one so young and acting as our photographer extraordinaire at our social events. He left us with many happy memories. Our thoughts, on this first anniversary, are for Jack and his parents, Caz and Karl.
A tribute to this remarkable young man may be found at Online Scribblers
August already and summer seems to have arrived at last! To those on, or going on holiday, enjoy yourselves and come back refreshed! To some of us others, there still seem to be several weeks before its our turn!
Our next meeting will be held this coming Tuesday 7th August, at 7.30pm in the Café Libra at the Library. The 500 word homework assignment was set as 'Asylum' with some of us thinking this is a maddening subject. Be interesting to hear everyone's stories.
The two 1,500 word works this time will be read by Di and Alex.
I hear from Vincent West at Online Scribblers that our Australian friend Chris Shaw has submitted a story for the current open themed competition. Might be worth a read, or even provoke an entry or two? Members can see it at http://onlinescribblers.com
*** ONLINE SCRIBBLERS new competition is now open for your entries. This is an open themed competition that may be written in any genre. 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 ***
There are 2 new creative writing courses being planned by for Autumn 2007 by Anne Aylor's Creative Writing Courses 46 Beversbrook Road London N19 4QH tel: 0207 263 0669 email: anne@anneaylor.co.ukweb: www.anneaylor.co.uk
LONDON SHORT COURSES
Workshop Your Fiction • Course 32 4 October - 13 December 2007 @ Housman's Bookshop, London, N1
WORKSHOP VENUE Housman's Bookshop 5 Caledonian Road London N1 9DX Date: Thursdays, 4 October - 13 December 2007 Time: 6.45PM - 9.15PM Tube: Kings Cross Cost: £198 for 11 weeks' tuition
TO undertake a novel is a long, often lonely, experience. Many people begin a book only to lose momentum. This workshop is an opportunity for those working on novels or short stories to receive constructive feedback, inspiration and a deadline.
This short course will consist of readings and discussions of your work-in-progress. Sessions will include:
• techniques to develop your novel or short story • advice on how to arrange and expand your material • help if you've hit a block • a chance to create work that feeds into your manuscript • the opportunity to have writing read and discussed • learning how to edit to become a more objective critic of your own work
REQUIREMENT TO JOIN It is not necessary to have written before, but because this workshop will be generated by the work students produce, you must be committed to bringing work for discussion. Constructive feedback and a weekly deadline will encourage you to steam ahead with your prose.
FEEDBACK To receive the best feedback, you'll need to bring photocopies of the excerpts you are reading. These will be marked up and returned to you. Maximum number of words per person at each session: 1300 - 1400 words
TO BOOK By post: Enrolment will be confirmed on receipt of your £60 deposit. Payment in full is due by 27 September. Download a brochure for a booking form and information on where to send your cheque. Online: To pay by credit/debit card, you will need to pay the full amount. Course fee: £198
Release the Writer In You • Course 33 18 - 19 November 2007 @ The Dragon Hall, London WC2
WORKSHOP VENUE The Dragon Hall 17 Stukeley Street London WC2B 5LT Date: Saturday, 17 November - Sunday, 18 November 2007 Time: 10.30AM - 5.30PM Cost: £120/£70 concession
If you have a desire to put your ideas and experiences on paper, but don't know where to start, this 2-day workshop will help you to free your imagination and give you the confidence to release the writer within. This journey of self-discovery includes:
• writing exercises to access the conscious and unconscious mind • techniques to start writing • a chance to create work which may lead to a short story or novel • the opportunity to have writing done in the workshop read and discussed (voluntary)
This exciting fact or fiction short course will help you develop your creative skills and explore your unique powers of expression. It will be conducted in a friendly, constructive atmosphere and is open to anyone with a desire to learn, from beginners to experienced writers.
TO BOOK This workshop is in collaboration with Alternatives, St James's Church, Piccadilly, and booking must be done through them. To be eligible for a concession, you will need to provide current evidence of your entitlement when you enrol. To ensure your place, full payment is due by 9 November.
ALLAN GUTHRIE has won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year for Two Way Split. This first saw the light as his entry in the 2001 Debut Dagger, the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) award for unpublished writers of crime fiction. Then called Blithe Psychopaths, it was credited to Allan under his real name of Allan Buchan and was shortlisted for the prize. Allan beat Mike Jecks, who was the 2001 Debut Dagger organiser.
The 2001 runner up, EDWIN THOMAS, was very highly commended by the judges for his excellent entry, The Blighted Cliffs. He too now has a successful career writing both as Edwin Thomas and Tom Harper, and was Chair of the Debut Dagger from 2005 – 2006.
By the autumn of this year, the 2001 Debut Dagger will have seen five of the shortlisted authors published: ADRIAN MAGSON is published by Crème de la Crime, DIANE JANES, who was shortlisted in 2001 and Highly Commended for the 2006 Debut Dagger, had her true crime text published in June 2007.
2001 Debut Dagger winner EDWARD WRIGHT has now won two further awards for his writing: the Shamus Award for best PI novel, and the CWA Ellis Peters Award in 2006 for Red Sky Lament. The winning Debut Dagger entry for 2007, The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, is now online.
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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