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.
Monday, September 29, 2008
FELIXSTOWE SCRIBBLERS NEXT MEETING
The next Scribblers Meeting will be held on TUESDAY 7th OCTOBER usual place, usual time!
Our next meeting takes place on Tuesday, 7th October starting at 7.30pm in the Café Libra in Felixstowe Library.
The news is that Dave is currently on the move and as his ISP is changing it will mean a new email address in due course. Details will be circulated as soon as possible so watch this space and the weblog for news!
The homework theme this time will be 500 words on 'TROPHY' so one wonders what sort of trophy this will be? The open themed 1,500 word work will be provided by Ruth and Liliane.
At the end of the email there is a request for short snippets from Essential magazine for women aged between 30 and 55.... and they pay! Also there is still a request for reviewers from www.onesuffolk.co.uk/onesuffolkwriters
Hope to see you all on 7th October!
Keep Scribbling!
Secretary
*****
A bit of an odd request I'm afraid: I'm working for Essentials magazine in London and I'm putting together a feature that we do every month where we ask women to give us their anecdotes on different topics - I'm currently doing the Christmas issue so I looking for memories people have of wanting/ receiving toys. I desperately need to get in contact with some women between the ages of 30 and 55, and I wondered if I could ask you to pass this round to your members in the vain hope that someone will reply!
I'm just looking for 100-150 word snippets, so it's just a bit of fun really, but we pay £30 for any submissions that are printed which is a nice incentive.
We are very keen to increase the number of reviewers contributing to the site and we'd by very happy to work with you as a group or individually. Is this something you would be interested in?
In the meantime we are trying to find someone to review Night Must Fall at Deben High School Studio - 30th Oct to 1st Nov. Would one of your group be interested in covering this?
Do email or call on 07905 438 051 (m) 01473 583 891 (office) if you have any questions.
Apologies for absence were received from Dick (holiday) Morag (Vets dinner) and Les.
In attendance: Liliane, Angela, Trish, Alex, Jane, Peter, Barry, Dave, Tony, Lauren, Rosie, Stephen, Ruth and surprise visitor Margareta.
SCRIBBLERS NEWS
It was nice to welcome Margareta to a Scribblers meeting once again. It is a long time since she attended, but living in Austria one can understand. Although not having any written work to read out she very kindly donated a prize to the winner of the Bill Budner competition and presented the trophy to the winner. There is a picture on our weblog.
Margareta has just sent an email that says: Just a line or two to thank you very much for the very friendly welcome. Fellows (writers) are all so talented and creative, I enjoyed their pieces, glad I was allowed to vote – Am flying back on Saturday, with my son Thomas - he is in Cambridge attending a students workshop, will join me in Felixstowe tomorrow and then we fly home from Stansted together. Wishing you all the best - thanks for keeping in touch. Margareta.
Rushmere Players. Next play October 17th. Details below, and also on weblog. Tickets from Ruth or Tony.
‘Just a quick hello to my Scribblers friends’ from Scott who says:
‘Aimee and I have been very busy working late at her office on Friday nights to get my new website off the ground. It’s gone live and you can see it at www.mrcobblerandmrlocks.co.uk
‘I have also redone my shop front inside and out whilst roof is about to be repaired. I am also in the process of getting my garden paved, as I said it’s been crazy! That’s not all either. We graded in karate a few weeks back and are now red belts. I have my Black belt grading for aiki jutsu in two weeks followed by my kick boxing grading the same week. On top of all this we have started judo on Monday nights, so I'm now aiming for four black belts by the time I'm forty.
‘You must be thinking this is it, but wait! Due to all the martial arts we have sadly stopped dancing due to lack of time. But there is still more as I have just started a new venture at work doing mug (coffee mugs not faces) printing with Aimee's office starting the ball rolling with sixty mugs off me so far and they just sent out an e-mail out for me to 570 companies, so I may be up to my eyes in mugs soon.
‘Following this success I am about to purchase a machine that will do t-shirt prints, mouse mats, caps, badges, teddy bears and a whole host of other things. So as you can see I'm still alive (just), but I have been very busy. Oh and just for good fun I still repair shoes!’
Where does Scott get his energy?
Di has also been in touch. She says
‘It has been ages since I attended a Scribblers meeting. Tuesdays are difficult at the moment because I have started a part time job and work all day on a Tuesday and Felixstowe is a bit of a trek for me when I am tired. When I get into the new routines, I will hopefully make at least one meeting a month. I miss the writing environment and always feel so inspired when attending. I am still writing (how could I ever stop!!) My novel is coming together slowly and I am thoroughly enjoying writing it! I've got about 6 chapters written but they are only in a first draft. I am quickly discovering that ideas I had for plots have to be changed to make sure the novel has a good pace etc, indeed some of my initial ideas don't work, but gradually a story is unravelling around my central characters. There is still a long way to go but I am quietly encouraged with my progress so far. I don't know if this will have any bearing on whether or not the end result is publishable, but I don't really care (something I never thought I would feel!) because I am enjoying the story and enjoying writing it.
My love to all at Scribblers and hopefully I will see you all soon. Di’
Tony has organised another Evening of Musical Mayhem on Saturday October 25th starting at 7.30pm at his home it will continue until it finishes! Nibbles will be provided but everyone is invited to contribute and, why not take a bottle along (preferably not an empty one!)
Rexie and Gordon, on behalf of the children of Pulilan foundation say that their charity is having a Christmas prize draw in December and we need people to sell tickets so if you are able to help please contact them at childrenofpulilanfoundation@hotmail.com There are nearly forty prizes on offer including three cash ones.
Ruth mentioned this site http://www.authonomy.com/ where you can upload your novel and get feedback. The top 5 each month will be read by Harper Collins editors.
ARE THERE ANY SCRIBBLERS INTERESTED IN reviewing Night Must Fall at Deben High School Studio - 30th Oct to 1st Nov. See the interesting website at www.onesuffolk.co.uk/onesuffolkwriters. They are looking for people to review shows.
The second Jack Wilkinson Memorial Walk in aid of Cancer Research took place on Sunday 14th September. The organiser Doreen Giff was quoted in the Evening Star as being disappointed with the numbers who joined in. The Scribblers agreed all monies from tonight’s coffee fund should be donated, going to Cancer Research.
THE PLATFORM
This was our 5th Bill Budner Trophy Competition, with a very diverse selection of excellent stories. A thoroughly enjoyable evening was had by all!
Readings: 1. Lifelines (by Angela) 2. When Father papered the Parlour (by Dave) 3. The Gentle Man (by Barry) 4. Island (by Lauren) 5. Miles from Anywhere (by Lillian) 6. The Face (by Peter) 7. The Big Drip (by Tony) 8. Outside the Box (Rosie) 9. The Hell Factor (by Jane) 10. Brave (by Ruth)
Winners: 1st Ruth, 2nd Dick, and 3rd Jane. Congratulations to Ruth! See photo on weblog of Ruth receiving the trophy from our guest of honour, Margareta.
Thanks to Ruth for chairing the meeting and providing the notes.
Our Next Meeting is in THREE weeks time in the Café Libra, Felixstowe Library, on Tuesday 7th October, at 7.30pm.
The 500 word homework assignment is ‘TROPHY’ with the 1,500 word open themed work to be read by Ruth and Liliane.
We are very keen to increase the number of reviewers contributing to the site and we'd by very happy to work with you as a group or individually. Is this something you would be interested in?
In the meantime we are trying to find someone to review Night Must Fall at Deben High School Studio - 30th Oct to 1st Nov. Would one of your group be interested in covering this?
Do email or call on 07905 438 051 (m) 01473 583 891 (office) if you have any questions.
*** Rushmere Players present Hilary versus Rhinoceros, an evening of Absurdist Drama (with a fish and chip supper) at Rushmere Primary School, Lanark Road, Ipswich on Saturday 18th October at 7.30pm. Tickets, including the supper, are £8.00 in advance and may be ordered from the ticketline at 01473-604655
Published author Ruth Dugdall proudly holds the Bill Budner Trophy at last! It was presented by the Felixstowe Scribblers good friend, Margareta who was on a surprise visit from her home in Austria.
Our next meeting takes place this Tuesday, 16th September starting at 7.30pm in the Café Libra in Felixstowe Library.
It is a special evening with an anonymous writing competition for the Bill Budner Trophy. This coveted cup, in memory of Bill, has previously been held by Tony, Rosie, Morag and Dick. Now it is someone else’s turn. It could be yours!
For attending writers only, the basic rules are:
Short stories or poetry up to a maximum of 1,000 words on any topic. Work must be typed (on single sides of paper). Entries must be completed before arrival at the meeting. Work must be anonymous - so no names or identification marks on the paper. All work will be placed, face down, on a table, and each writer, at a given time, will collect one entry and have a short time to familiarize themselves with it. The stories will then be read out to the group with everyone present marking them and selecting their top three entries. At the end of the evening all the marks will be entered anonymously into a box and then counted by designated members of the group. The winner will presented with The Bill Budner Trophy. The trophy will be engraved by Scott at Mr Cobbler in Felixstowe. The trophy will be held for four months (or as decided) until the next competition The holder undertakes to return the trophy to Felixstowe Scribblers and advise any change of address.
This Sunday, 14th September sees the second Jack Wilkinson Memorial Walk in aid of Cancer Research. There are three walks taking place, 1.5 miles, 5 miles or 9 miles and start at intervals from 9.45 am from The Foxgrove Nursing Home, High Road West. Everyone is welcome to join in.
Hoping you will be at Scribblers on Tuesday for what is always an excellent evening of entertainment!
Until then,
Keep Scribbling!
******
The New Writer, bi-monthly magazine, available by subscription only, publishes the best in fact, fiction and poetry. Annual sub in the UK is £27.00 for six issues of the magazine and a minimum of twelve substantial eNews bulletins. Also, there are big reductions on 2 and 3 year subs - see http://www.thenewwriter.com/subscribe.htm For a free recent back copy of the magazine send 66p in stamps or 2 x first class stamps (UK), whatever's easier, to: The New Writer, PO Box 60, Cranbrook, TN17 2ZR, UK. email News bulletin: If you would like to read the latest issue go to http://www.thenewwriter.com/ and click on the pink box on the home page, putting newsletter in the subject line on your email. Prose and Poetry Prizes 2008 - major annual international competition for short stories, novellas, single poems, poetry collections, essays and articles; offers cash prizes from a total fund above £2,000 as well as publication for the prize-winning writers in The Collection, special edition of The New Writer magazine each July. Closing date 30 November 2008. Further information including guidelines, entry form and fees at http://www.thenewwriter.com/prizes.htm Tel: 01580 212626.
FELIXSTOWE SCRIBBLERS NEWSHEET incorporating the Report of Meeting
REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD 2nd SEPTEMBER 2008
In the Chair: Morag.
Apologies for absence were received from Ruth and Alex.
In attendance: Morag, Dick, Angela, Trish, Liliane, Tony, Les, Jack, Peter, Jane, Barry, Dave, Lauren, Rosie and Stephen.
SCRIBBLERS NEWS
The Scribblers all wished Lauren a very happy 12th birthday and thanked her for the cakes that she had brought along to celebrate her special day.
Thanks must go to Liliane for collecting the key despite having injured her ankle at the weekend. She recently met Christine, one of our members who has been suffering from eye and teeth problems. She sends her best wishes and hopes one day to be able to return.
Tony has been published on Felixstowe TV having a moan in poetic form! Jane continues her scribbling to stardom being shortlisted for a global short story competition with her story ‘Arctic Wilderness’ and finishing in the top ten. Well done to them both!
After a very late decision, Dave attended the meeting and was glad that he did! His eye operation was successful and relatively painless.
The second Jack Wilkinson Memorial Walk in aid of Cancer Research takes place on Sunday 14th September. In aid of Cancer Research, you can walk 1.5 miles, 5 miles or 9 miles. Please go along, remember Jack and raise money for a good cause, whilst enjoying a stroll around Felixstowe.
The walks start at 9:45am from The Foxgrove Nursing Home, High Road West, for the 9 mile walk and at 10.15 for the 5 mile walk. Further details of the walk, and to obtain sponsorship forms, please contact Doreen Giff – contact details available from scribblers.1@ntlworld.com
THE PLATFORM
1,500 word opened themed assignments. Tony: Sword of the Kings – Hunions Travels. Stephen: Writers Block.
500 word themed assignments on “Sausages.” Les: Bernie and the Bangers. Jack: The Start of Something Bad. Lauren: Bangers. Peter: Hot Dogs and Hovercraft. Jane: Mary. Barry: Part of “Springfield”. Dave: The Sausage Man Cometh. Rosie: Little Red Skinny Jeans. Dick: A Diamond Venture. Angela: Out of the Frying Pan. Trish: The Gamekeeper’s Daughter. Liliane: Lucanian Sausage.
Another entertaining evening with three of the best stories coming from the younger membership making folk like Dave feel that they are past their sell-by dates!
Thanks to Morag for chairing the meeting and providing the notes.
Our Next Meeting
Is in TWO weeks time in the Café Libra, Felixstowe Library, on Tuesday 16th September, at 7.30pm.
The Homework Assignment is the special anonymous on any subject for the Bill Budner Trophy. It is for attending writers only: -
The Bill Budner Trophy Bill joined Felixstowe Scribblers in August of 2005 and soon afterwards registered with our online group. A really friendly and popular character, Bill made many friends at Scribblers in such a short time. His tremendous passion for writing produced many prolific words in his short stories, his mild manner and quiet voice accentuating every facet of his work.
Away from Scribblers Bill was a lay preacher and heavily involved with church affairs at St Mary's in Walton where he took over the responsibility for the parish magazine.
Bill died suddenly from a massive heart attack on Tuesday 14th February 2006 leaving his wife Maureen and family deep in shock and mourning his loss, the Felixstowe Scribblers sharing their grief.
For attending writers only, the guidelines for the Bill Budner Trophy are:
* Short stories or poetry up to a maximum of 1,000 words on any topic.
* Work must be typed (on single sides of paper).
* Entries must be completed before arrival at the meeting.
* Work must be anonymous - so no names or identification marks on the paper.
* All work will be placed, face down, on a table, and each writer, at a given time, will collect one entry and have a short time to familiarize themselves with it.
* The stories will then be read out to the group with everyone present marking them and selecting their top three entries.
* At the end of the evening all the marks will be entered anonymously into a box and then counted by designated members of the group.
* The winner will be announced and The Bill Budner Trophy presented to them by the previous winner.
* The trophy will be engraved by Scott at Mr Cobbler in Felixstowe.
* The trophy will be held for four months(or as decided) until the next competition
* The holder undertakes to return the trophy to Felixstowe Scribblers and advise any change of address.
Previous winners have been: Tony Shearman, Rosie Woolley, Morag Clarke and Dick Bradshaw.
Chairperson next time: Peter (subject to confirmation).
Until then,
Keep Scribbling!
******** The Munster Literature Centre in Cork, Ireland, is currently accepting submissions for the 2008 Fool For Poetry Chapbook Competition. We would appreciate if you might share the enclosed details with your poetry students and anyone else who might be interested.
The Munster Literature Centre is a non-profit organisation which aims to promote and encourage all forms of literature. Further details are available on our website, www.munsterlit.ie.
Should you have any questions, please contact us via email or on (011 353) 21 4312955
The Munster Literature Centre
******
LEAF BOOKS NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2008
Special note type thing – Leaf Books is taking a brief part-time sabbatical or sorts, and thus we will be unable to pick up post or to fulfil book orders until Friday 12th September. We will, however, be able to check our email and to answer any queries you might have, and you can continue to enter competitions as normal. Apologies for any inconvenience: we’ll get everything sent out as soon as we possibly can.
In production: Discovering a Comet and More Micro-Fiction
Discovering a Comet and More Micro-Fiction, containing the winning entries from the 2008 Micro-Fiction Competition, is currently in a fairly advanced state of production – all the material barring a couple of errant biographies has been marshalled together and formatted and tweaked in a preliminary sort of fashion and it’s almost ready to be typeset. We hope to send it to the printer by the end of next month, depending on how long the proofing stage takes – if all goes to plan, it should be available for purchase in November.
Special Offer: Free Mini-Book with every Anthology Ordered
Henceforth and for the foreseeable future, we’re offering a free mini-book (see http://www.leafbooks.co.uk/New/Books/Mini%20Books/MiniBooksSpecialOffer.html for details) will every anthology purchased. The mini-books each contain a single short story, or a collection of micro-fiction, or some poetry, and are very much a jolly good read. Feel free to scribble the name of your preferred title on your order form or to drop us an email when you order online, or let us choose your free mini-book for you.
Current Competitions
Ongoing: Mostly Life Competition *CLOSES THIS MONTH*
Mostly Life (a sister site of Leaf Books: www.mostlylife.com) invites you to submit humorous material in any publishable medium imaginable: writing (fiction or non-fiction, including comic verse), videos (live-action or animated), audio files, cartoon strips, still pictures, games and anything else that comes to mind. All original, previously-unpublished and non-offensive material will be considered.
Video/audio material should ideally be no longer than five or six minutes, if that – remember that it has to quickly capture and then maintain its audience's attention. Similarly, writing should ideally not go beyond a couple of pages.
Entry fee: £3 per entry, £10 for four entries. One winning entry will receive £200 and publication on the Mostly Life website. Other selected entries may also be published if they sufficiently tickle the judges' fancy. The winner or winners will be announced on the Leaf and the Mostly Life website. All copyright remains with the authors.
Enter online only and pay via paypal or credit card. Note that the payments go to the mothership at Leaf Books.
Poetry Competition.
Leaf Books invites you to submit poetry of any length and on any subject. Enter online or by post. £3 per single submission; £10 for four submissions. Winner receives £200. Runner-up receives ten free pocket-sized Leaf Books. All selected entries will be published in a competition anthology. Closes 31st October 2008.
*Note – if you’re paying for two or three entries at once, eg. £6 or £9, we advise you to make each payment separately (as in two or three lots of £3), otherwise you’ll incur an erroneous £1 p&p charge. It’s a PayPal glitch – we have to designate price groupings for postage charges and we can’t mark those amounts as p&p free without losing the p&p for our anthologies. There’s no problem, however, with paying for a single entry at £3 or a group of four entries as £10 – no p&p fee will be incurred.
From the Evening Star at the start of last years walk.
Sunday 14th September, the day the second Jack Wilkinson Memorial Walk takes place. In aid of Cancer Research, you can walk 1.5 miles, 5 miles or 9 miles. Please go along, remember Jack and raise money for a good cause, at the same time enjoying a stroll around Felixstowe.
The walks start at 9:45am from The Foxgrove Nursing Home, High Road West, for the 9 mile walk and at 10.15 for the 5 mile walk. Further details of the walk, and to obtain sponsorship forms, please contact Doreen Giff - her phone number is available from scribblers.1@ntlworld.com
Jack, who lost his brave battle with cancer, at the age of 12, on 11th August 2006. A Tribute Fund in Jack's memory was set up on 14th January 2008, when Jack would have been 14. You may donate to EACH through Jack's Fund, contact: EACH, 6 Walker Close, Ipswich, IP3 8LY or go to the following websites.
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.
Sponsored Links
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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