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.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy New Year
Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year
This meeting was the culmination of an exciting year’s creativity in the Café Libra at Felixstowe Library. Attendances have been a little bit up, a little bit down and then, with an influx of new writers, up quite a bit.
Here’s a reminder that Angela and the Petch family and friends are taking a part in a sponsored Christmas morning dip in the briny here in Felixstowe in aid of the St Elizabeth Hospice, in Ipswich. It’s a fantastic cause. Angela says “The Hospice is an independent local charity and all services are provided free of charge. In total it costs £5.2 million each year to run the Hospice, of which 77% is raised by supporters. We have friends who have been looked after with love in the Hospice and it is a very special place. So, will you help us freeze our ..... and .... off and sponsor us? For as little or as much as you can afford at this costly time of year. If you feel like sponsoring us, then please go to the web-site that Emily has set up for the event: www.justgiving.com/christmasdaydip08 Many thanks! (What a way to spend our first Christmas in Felixstowe!!!). Angela, Maurice and we think Jonathan plus Liam, a friend, and Emily too (Rosie is going to hold the towels and mince pies for us).xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAngela.”
Aimee and Scott would like to say happy Christmas to all the scribblers and wish that they have a great new year.
Scott says “On another note Aimee is now a brown belt in Aiki Jutsu and we are both now red belts in judo and yellow belts in Kickboxing. Aimee had an amazing week recently as she graded 3 times in four days for three different martial arts. Me,on the other hand, spent the other weekend on a coaching course for Aiki Jutsu and passed a terrifying ordeal of having to take a class for twenty minutes, it now means if I wanted too I could start up my own club, but that is not going to happen for a long time, although I can teach at our normal class if I wanted too.
“I hope you are all well and Aimee and I are looking forward to two weeks off from the martials over Christmas so we can eat and be merry. Bye for now Scott and Aimee.”
Season’s greetings come from our friend and author of ‘Witch’, Rochelle Moore in Ireland and from Morag who hopes to be back with us in the New Year.
Re our Social – Ruth has checked all the bookings and taking the initial orders and £5.00 deposits and, so popular an event, she tells us that all places have now been taken.
Guest speaker Maureen Blundell’s afternoon sessions are fully booked but there are still spaces available for the Sunday morning (25th Jan) group session from 10.00am to 12 noon looking at narrative structure, character and plot development. The cost is £10.00 also payable in advance.
IMPORTANT REMINDER all email contact with Felixstowe Scribblers can only be made at scribblers@btinternet.com All scribblers ntl accounts and addresses are no longer functional.
Finally, to round off 2008 we had one of our now very popular short writing exercises. It meant bringing a long four words, each on a small piece of paper and then dropping them into a hat where they were shaken and probably stirred too. Each writer then drew out four words and had to create something from them.
All sixteen writers took part in one of the most fascinating and successful exercises we have had. Words that came out of the hat included, as one might imagine at this time of year, mistletoe. But then other words came out to the amusement of many such as transvestite, commode, beautiful, nationalistic, profanity, tenacity, chutney, moonlight, serendipity, halo, peach, whisky, stocking tops, Viagra, hilarious and assassination. Every word that was submitted was used and the quality of the 15 minute writing session really was amazing. Surely this kind of exercise will be used many more times in the future.
Thanks to everyone for some really fantastic words and writing.
Then the fun began and the Scribblers brought their writing year to an end with a very jolly little party.
Thanks to everyone for bringing along their food and drink contributions, to Peter for overseeing the whole evening from the chair and our reliable Liliane for collecting the key.
A really lovely evening.
Next time:
Our next meeting, is on Tuesday 6th January which will be our AGM. This will be your opportunity to discuss all the issues such as meeting formats, how you think the Scribblers can be improved and, more importantly, how you would like Scribblers to develop.
Obviously there will be no homework to prepare for the AGM so that should give you a little longer to enjoy your Christmas break.
Chairperson next time: Dave
Until then,
Have a brilliant Christmas and New Year and may you look forward to happy and profitable creativity!
***** I am writing a book for Veloce called The Cafe Racer Phenomenon, and trying to track down riders who built, raced or just enjoyed the cafe racer bikes from the 50s-80s.
I am keen to get some personal memories of the cafe scene from the 50s to the 80s, maybe the odd archive pic or two, so it would be great to get in touch with former Gus Kuhn staff or customers and have a chat.
I live up on the Wirral near Chester, but am travelling a bit over January/February as I do some interviews. Anyone who can help is welcome to make contact anytime. alastair walker alastairw100@hotmail.com 07739 466 569 0151 328 0709 – home
***** Kaixin has introduced a poetry and a photographic competition to compliment the writing competition. Entries to date have been very exciting. In order to encourage as many entries as possible, entry to all the competitions is free. First prize for each competition is $A100, plus permanent publication on Kaixin with links to the author if requested. Kaixin is becoming increasingly popular which makes publication on the site of worth in its own right. We have big plans for the site in 2009. Xiaosui & Graeme Writing Competition Poetry Competition Photographic Competition ***** Leaf Books publishes seriously impressive short fiction, micro-fiction and poetry by new and established authors. We've published individual short stories and compilations of poetry and micro-fiction in both A6-sized formats, small enough to fit into a pocket, and conventional anthologies. Leaf Books is one of the world’s leading publishers of micro-fiction. In barely two years we’ve put nigh on two-hundred authors and poets into print, many for the very first time. Our material is sourced via competitions, something which may be of interest to your creative writing group. You and your writer's group are therefore invited to take part in our competitions and to pass the information on to anyone who'd also love to put pen to paper. Our current writing competitions: Nano Fiction Competition: closes 31 January 2009. - Can you tell a story in under 100 words? (Any Subject) Young Writers' Competition: closes 31 March 2009 - Poetry, Short Stories (Aged 18 and Under) Further information can be found by following this link: http://www.leafbooks.co.uk/New/For%20Writers/CurrentCompetitions.html We look forward to you getting involved, reading your work and making your talents known. New Title now available: Discovering a Comet and more micro-fiction Once a competition has closed, we pick the most outstanding pieces and publish them in an anthology. Our most recent anthology of micro-fiction, Discovering a Comet and more micro-fiction has just been published and is already our most successfully sold book to date. A showcase of the winning and truly outstanding entries to the 2008 Micro Fiction Competition, the collection contains short, sharp and astonishing fiction that leaves you gasping for more! A definite must for your book shelf or as a literary Christmas or New Year gift! For a further glimpse please visit: http://www.leafbooks.co.uk/New/Books/DiscoveringAComet.htm Further opportunities: Root Creations We also offer a printing service for writers and groups, known as Root Creations. Whether you'd like something to sell at poetry readings, or make an anthology of your group's work then our service would definitely be a benefit. We can also offer you a web page as part of our website, through which to sell your book. More details regarding this can be found at http://www.leafbooks.co.uk/New/For%20Writers/RootCreations.html Please visit our website and our links above to find out more about our opportunities for writers, and please let us know if you or your group's contact details change. I look forward to hearing from you. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Sarah Edmonds www.leafbooks.co.uk **** My name is Bob Griffin. I have just started a small publishing company that will be publishing fantasy, science fiction and horror stories. Listed below is my company's first press release. If anybody in your organization is interested in submitting their works of fiction please visit us at www.absentwillowreview.com.
Thank you for your time, Bob Griffin Rochester, NH
PRESS RELEASE OCTOBER 31, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
New Hampshire Authors Launch Publishing Company. Rochester, NH - New Hampshire authors Rick DeCost and Bob Griffin are proud to announce the launch of their publishing company and its online presence. Absent Willow Publishing LLC is an independent book publisher that will provide its readers with high quality stories of horror, fantasy and science fiction. Its online efforts include The Absent Willow Review. The Absent Willow Review plans to publish fictional stories in the horror, fantasy, and science fiction genre while allowing its readers access to the magazine anywhere in the world. Additionally, the Absent Willow Review will publish paperback anthologies from their collected works. “We¹re huge fans of the genres we publish,” remarked Griffin. “We started this company to find greats works of fiction and to locate the next generation of great writers.” With its online magazine spotlighting new works and its print publications soon to be available through Amazon.com and other retailers, the Company is planning to renew interest in short works of fiction. “For new and established authors of short fiction in the horror or fantasy vein, the market is light,” DeCost added. “We are hoping to change that.” Absent Willow Publishing LLC is located in Rochester,
NH USA MEDIA CONTACT: Rick Decost & Bob Griffin Absent Willow Publishing LLC PO Box 66 Rochester, NH 03866
A Craft Fair is being held in memory of Jack Wilkinson at Felixstowe Leisure Centre on Sunday 14th December from 10.00am until 3.00pm. Do go along if you can.
Recently a cheque for £2,000 in Jack's memory was handed over to EACH (East Anglia's Children's Hospice http://www.each.org.uk/)
A little news on Liam Fairhurst is that he is having music therapy with EACH and is due to have more chemotherapy on 18th December and all being well he should be home at Christmas. View Liam's website to see what he has achieved http://www.liamfairhurst.com/
Another year has virtually passed us by yet some of our members have had a measure of success in their fields so they, at least, will be able to look back on 2008 with some pride and, perhaps, a bob or two in the bank!
It seems quite amazing how fast Christmas is approaching, one moment it seemed months away and now it is just a few days away. It means that this coming Tuesday, 16th December, will be our last gathering of the year, a time when our meeting will take on a slightly different format.
The homework is simply to bring along four words of your choice - picked completely at random and written on small separate slips of paper.
The idea? This is for a little creative writing exercise. All words will go into a hat then everyone draws four words out then has up to 15 minutes to include them all in a piece of writing. It will be good fun I am certain, especially when the work is read out...!
Once the formalities of the meeting are over then it will be time for our own little celebration. Perhaps you would all like to bring along a few 'goodies', mince pies, savouries etc., not too many of course as we don't want lots left over. Perhaps some drink, preferably non-alcoholic for the drivers, and then we will bring to an end another very interesting year.
The meeting will start at the usual time, 7.30.
We received a message from Ally who has been unable to come along recently - her work teaching teenagers is quite exhausting but she sends seasonal greetings to all the Scribblers new and old.
Until next Tuesday,
Keep Scribbling!
*****
Hello,
The next meeting of Riverside Writers will take place from 7.30pm to 9.30pm on December 22nd, at West Kirby Library, Wirral. We may re-locate to The White Lion (just up the road) afterwards!
December's project is to create a poem or short story - any length, any genre - on the theme of The Punch Bowl. So, that could be a seasonal party, a find at an antiques fair, a murder weapon... It's entirely up to you.
Website! Remember to visit Riverside Writers' website on MySpace for meetings dates and other news. If you are wondering what happened to our two other websites, then I can explain that AOL closed down its webpage facility recently, resulting in the loss of one site, and our site on Communigate is refusing to let my new computer talk to it! Hopefully functionality will be restored shortly, but meanwhile our MySpace page is working fine and is up-to-date.
If you haven't considered it yet, then I encourage you to open your own MySpace page. It's free and very easy to do. These-days every writer is expected, by agents and publishers, to have a web presence. This means that when they Google your name, they can find you - the assumption being that if a writer/poet can't be bothered to promote themselves even in this simple way, then they don't take themselves seriously as writers/poets.
When you visit our MySpace page, do take a little time to look at the many other pages linked to ours. You'll find publishers, agents, event organisers, and writers, poets and creative people of all kinds. Networking is an invaluable tool, and having your own page is an easy and effective way to make contact with both useful and interesting people and opportunities.
Discover exclusive designs by Adele - greetings cards, t-shirts (many styles & sizes at low prices), mugs & steins, bags, mousemats & much more! Great gifts ideas! http://www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB
****
Dear Felixstowe Scribblers,
Following the successful launch of our Room to Write weekends in Carmarthenshire, we are now planning a couple more, in March and June 2009. There's a general outline below and at http://www.ceridwencentre.co.uk/events.htm
Please forward this email to anyone you think would enjoy a rigorous course in an inspiring environment.
Many thanks,
Marcus
SPIEL UNLIMITED 20 Coxwell Street Cirencester Gloucestershire GL7 2BH 01285 640470
Spiel Unlimited courses at Ceridwen in Carmarthenshire
Fancy time away freeing up your creative juices with like-minded people? Want to pick up a pen, let your imagination wander, cast your words to the winds? Ever thought of treating yourself to a writing weekend?
Ceridwen is all about inspiration. Here you will enjoy fabulous food, cheerful companionship, spectacular scenery, and workshops that entertain, engage and exhilarate – giving you the space to create. Invention. Expression. Freedom.
Whether your interest is in poetry, prose or performance, each course will provide opportunities for you to explore or expand your writing skills. Liven up lines, pep up paragraphs, stanza and deliver. Take your pick from a variety of exercises, discussions, readings, individual tutorials, group sessions, games, walks… and other adventures to stretch both brain and body!
Both courses will be delivered by writers Marcus Moore and Sara-Jane Arbury, who work together as Spiel Unlimited. Marcus has written Call My Bluff scripts for the BBC, had poems published by Macmillan, and run countless workshops in schools, libraries and prisons. Sara-Jane directs the voices off programme for Cheltenham Literature Festival, has toured nationally as a performer in the Bloodaxe production of Staying Alive, and was recently Herefordshire’s first writer-in-residence.
The Ceridwen Centre is a large, converted old smithy, tucked away in the beautiful Teifi Valley, only 25 minutes by road from Carmarthen. Have a look at www.ceridwencentre.co.uk for more details.
Our courses for 2009 are as follows:
Friday 6 – Sunday 8 March
Friday 12 – Sunday 14 June
Both courses run from 5pm Friday to 5pm Sunday.
Cost: £185 all inclusive (accommodation, meals, refreshments and tuition).
To book or find out more, contact Spiel Unlimited by phone 01285 640470 or 07814 830031 or email courses@spiel.wanadoo.co.uk See you there!
Apologies: Ruth (whose husband is working away) Alex (not available), Angela P (unwell), Rosie (revision for exams)
Present: Lauren, Les, Tony, Jane, Jack, Liliane, Kay, Caroline F, Joanne, Nicola, Connie, Sue, Barry, Peter, Dave, Dick, , Angela L and two new members ,Sandy and Caroline P.
SCRIBBLERS NEWS
It was a strange evening with six of our more regular members missing yet there were still nineteen in attendance! Our biggest gathering for almost three years. It was good to see that Sue had overcome her illness and Lauren returning after missing two meetings. It was lovely to be able to welcome to more new faces to the fold, another Caroline, P’ and Sandy.
Sandy from the Hadleigh area has been writing for many years and has stored her writing away.
Caroline P writes some fiction and poetry along with copy for websites. She enjoys writing about East Anglia and the Suffolk coast and has been commissioned to write descriptive copy for tourism publications. She also has an unpublished novel.
A recent message from Angela P revealed that she has been short-listed and is mentioned in last months issue of Writers News. Angela says, “I'm chuffed. That's now the 4th time I've been short-listed. I was runner-up twice with them - once for a poem and the other for a short story. It's always good for the confidence to know that not everybody thinks what we write is rubbish!!” Well done Angela.
Incidentally I understand that Angela, family and friends are taking a sponsored Christmas morning dip in the briny here in Felixstowe in aid of the St Elizabeth Hospice, in Ipswich. You will find more details at the end of this email. It is a terrific cause so it will be nice to support both Angela and the Hospice if you can.
And it is also well done Angela L. She tells us that “I had a letter from Maurice, who runs the Coast to Coast competition, mentioning the Felixstowe Scribblers as a group to possibly join, if I hadn't already, but I had! I have to wait until January to hear what I've won, having been one of last month's finalists. I came joint 4th under the short story section, but am told (and am delighted now) that it makes no difference if you came 1st, 4th or 6th, all the finalists are still in a pot to be judged in January 2009.
There is a suggestion that this report be renamed “Angela News”….. !
OUR NEXT SOCIAL:
Details of the event have now been circulated to members via the last meeting reminder. The date for the meal is Saturday 24th January at the Castle Lodge Hotel, Felixstowe where you should arrive at 6.30pm for 7.00pm. The cost of the meal is £15.00 with a £5.00 deposit required per person – members will be subsidised by £5.00 from club funds whilst the remainder of the payment will be due prior to the day. The choice of main meal is required with your deposit whilst starter and dessert selection will be made on the night.
The afternoon editing sessions with our guest speaker, Maureen Blundell, are fully booked but there are spaces available for the Sunday morning (25th Jan) group session from 10.00am to 12 noon looking at narrative structure, character and plot development. The cost is £10.00 also payable in advance.
If you haven’t already done so then please book your place with Ruth at
All scribblers ntl accounts and addresses have been cancelled and no longer function..
The Platform:
The 1,500 Open themed assignments:
Caroline F: Legacy: A chapter set in Italy. Kay: Tales From the Shallow Sea. Opening part of a novel.
The 500 word assignments on “Pain or Joy or both”.
Lauren: Concrete Nightmare Les: Such Sweet Sorry Tony: Whereshood Revisited (another chapter) Jane: The Pain of Abandonment Jack: Prologue Liliane: Almost Christmas Baby Joanne: Don’t Let it Take Over, and, The Colour of Your Soul Nicola: Payne Connie: See Saw Sue: Never Go Back Peter: Zena’s Exercise Change Barry: The Verdict Dave: Joy and Pain – poems entitled Tribute to a Texan Legend and The Empty Place Dick: Second Time Around Sandy: Time To Go Angela L: The Visitors Caroline P: Witchpicked ( an excerpt from her novel)
Thanks to everyone for some really fantastic writing this evening with so much fresh and invigorating words from a broad spectrum of prose and verse. What a talented group the Felixstowe Scribblers are!
Thanks too, for Dick taking the chair, Liliane collecting the key and Lauren bringing along some cakes again.
A really lovely meeting.
Next time:
The next meeting, obviously our last before Christmas and the New Year will be held on 16th December. There will be no homework for this meeting. Instead please bring along four words each written on a small separate slip of paper. These will go into a hat followed by everyone drawing out four words then taking 10 minutes to write something including those words. Remember this is Xmas so it should be fun!
This part of the meeting will be fun but the second half will be our own little Xmas party so please bring along just a few savories, mince pies, or cakes and, of course, if you wish, some drink.
Dear all of you, Forgive this blatant begging letter but the Petch family are going to support St Elizabeth Hospice in Ipswich and are taking part in the annual Christmas Day Dip this year. It's all Emily's fault but - heck - it's a fantastic cause. The Hospice is an independent local charity and all services are provided free of charge. In total it costs £5.2 million each year to run the Hospice, of which 77% is raised by supporters.We have friends who have been looked after with love in the Hospice and it is a very special place. So, will you help us freeze our ..... and .... off and sponsor us? For as little or as much as you can afford at this costly time of year. If you feel like sponsoring us, then please go to the web-site that Emily has set up for the event: www.justgiving.com/christmasdaydip08 Many thanks!(What a way to spend our first Christmas in Felixstowe!!!). Angela, Maurice and we think Jonathan plus Liam, a friend, and Emily too (Rosie is going to hold the towels and mince pies for us).xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAngela.
*****
Andrew Burton, Head of Marketing, New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich reveals details of Springboard ’09, a linked series of drama writing workshops leading to rehearsed readings of your work during our Pulse Fringe Festival ’09. Places are limited so early booking is recommended by ‘phoning our Box Office on 01473 295900 or calling into the Box Office in person.
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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