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.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sad, sad news.
Liam Fairhurst was well known to Felixstowe Scribblers for his wonderful fund raising efforts in the name of our Jack Wilkinson who died from cancer in August 2006. They had met in Addenbrook's at Cambridge and quickly became friends. When Jack passed so Liam began his stirling fund raising efforts.
Liam won the hearts of so many people and became a celebrity in his own right, never over-awed by the countless stars and personalities he met.
His own battle against cancer was long and brave but today, at 2.00pm, the fight was over and Liam passed away.
He leaves a wonderful memory as a determined and caring young man so full of courage, and who achieved more in his stay on this earth than many of us do in a full lifetime. Liam will be sadly missed.
Our sincerest sympathies to all his family and friends.
Just a little reminder that our next meeting is not until Tuesday 7th July, so you have an extra week to create your 500 word homework on “Flying”.
Time is running short for the anthology, so if you haven't already submitted your story or poem then now may be the time to do so. These should be sent to barry.darnell@ntlworld.com.
The first scene of the Murder Mystery was created and drafted last week and the writers will be meeting again this week to plot the next scene.
APOLOGIES: Sue (holiday), Ruth (birthday celebrations)
ATTENDING: Barry, Dick, Angela P, Roz, Jane, Liliane, Rani, Peter, Sandy, Angela L, Les, Trish, Lauren B, Tony and Dave (chair)
MATTERS ARISING and NEWS:
Happy Birthday Ruth!
Surf and Turf at Landguard Fort: The invitation for the Scribblers to participate in the event by providing preferably poetry for the event being held on 4th July, was declined. The invite came too late to be included in our programme, and though Rani was interested from a musical viewpoint, she lives and works in London making it impractical to be involved.
Poetry : The Orwell Connection: Dick raised the question about another poetry event. Although full details are not known, it appears that the Orwell Connection is looking for Christmas poems with a comical vent, and it is thought these would need to be four to five verses in length. Dick will further investigate and report back. Meanwhile, if you are interested, please liaise with Dick.
The Murder Mystery : With Connie on holiday, Dick – ironically after the Memory homework – forgot that he had another booking on the same night. Barry offered to host the meeting but then had to withdraw because of illness leaving three of us to meet at Trish’s. With the knowledge of deadlines to be met, we had to begin formulating some ideas which were duly drafted. They are certainly not set in stone and doubtless there will be plenty of discussion next Tuesday (at Dick's) when we hope to have a script from another murder mystery with which to compare our thoughts and idea. Watch this space....
THE ANTHOLOGY – A REMINDER : Barry reminds us that all submissions for the anthology need to be with him by the deadline at the end of July, so if you haven’t done so yet, please get writing, or perhaps submit some of your earlier work. Don’t forget he would also like a few words bio and perhaps a photograph too.
We hear that Christine a regular some years ago, still threatens to come along one evening. She sends her regards to all those who remember her and – as a former Scribbler, she has submitted some work for the anthology.
We also hear that Dave has had a short article published in the Priory Press – the Ipswich Transport Museum Journal and also has a letter in today (Wednesday’s) East Anglian daily Times and Evening Star. And all free of charge!
THE PLATFORM
The open themed 1500 word assignments:
Roz : Lux and Lyre Tony : Continuation of Hunions Travels
The 500 word assignment on ‘Memory’
Trish :Bob You Blewitt Les :Half Past Bloody Two Angela L :The Exhibition Sandy :Two-Thirty Peter :Winning Showman Rani :Untitled Liliane :Lost in the Woods Jane :This Year It Will Be Different Angela P :Mission Dick :All Because of Migraine Barry :1866 A Bad Year Dave :Critical Timing
OUR NEXT MEETING
Is in THREE weeks time on Tuesday 7th July at 7.30 pm in the Room at the Top, Felixstowe Library. In the chair will be Dick. Liliane will collect the key.
Please note that we now meet upstairs in the Library. This is because of all the new tables and chairs in Cafe Libra has created difficulties setting up and replacing the furniture before and after meetings. Late comers are advised that it will take a couple of extra minutes to answer the door.
ASSIGNMENTS
The 1,500 open themed work will be undertaken by Les and Barry
The 500 word homework topic is “Flying ”.
Thanks to Liliane for collecting the key who attended
Keep Scribbling!
***** Support those who support us! Have a look at Scott’s website at http://www.mrcobblerandmrlocks.co.uk Don’t forget that Scott has special ‘Felixstowe Scribblers’ mugs on sale at £5 each. Not only does it have the Scribblers logo on the front, but your name can also be added on the rear.
BBC Writersroom Roadshows ------------------------- Find out how the BBC writersroom assesses scripts - and hand yours over. New dates for Liverpool, Nottingham, and Norwich announced. http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/roadshows.shtml
Sanjeev Kohli and Gareth Edwards -------------------------------- Gareth also finds out Sanjeev Kohli's comedy-sketch-writing secrets, and talks a little bit more about Newsjack (or 7 on 7, as it was then known...) http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/sanjeev_kohli_.shtml
Blog ---- Micheál names the students for this year's College of Comedy, Ceri sends an update from the Writers Academy sift days, and Piers points out various useful things on the site you might like to read. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/writersroom/
It is time again to send out a reminder for our forthcoming meeting on Tuesday next, 16th June at 7.30pm in Felixstowe Library. We will now be meeting in The Room At The Top in the Library which will make it so much easier and negates the need to move furniture around the building.
Late comers need to remember that it will take a few moments longer to answer the doorbell than before, so please be patient!
The 1,500 word open themed homework assignment will be undertaken by Roz and Tony whilst the rest of us will need to produce up to 500 words on "Half Past Two." It is an unusual theme but leaves the door open for you to decide what happens at that time of day or night.
There is good news in the camp! Ruth, who is celebrating her birthday again - she had one last year too! - has just found a publisher for her new book. So well done Ruth!
Our Projects:
Barry is keen for more submissions to arrive for our anthology. It is a chance for everyone, that is current members as well as those members who haven't been able to attend regularly, to see themselves in print. So remember, up to 1,000 words be it a story or a poem or two with an additional few words about yourself and, if possible, a photograph too. Please contact barry.darnell@ntlworld.com in the first instance, or Dave at scribblers@btinternet.com.
Three of the six members of the Our Murder Mystery Play met up to draw up possible characters and plots for the event and the ideas have been forwarded to all members of this group to consider and offer their thoughts and further suggestions if they wish. Again, time is the ultimate factor so as we need to keep to our agreed deadlines we expect to be extremely busy in the immediate future and hope to start writing the script in the next two weeks.
The Scribbers have had a late invitation to participate in the 'Surf and Turf' event which will take place on 4th July at Landguard Fort.
"The project is made up of three main areas all coming together to create a final performance at Landguard Fort on Saturday 4th July. The performance will be open to the general public, tickets (Adults £3; Under 16's Free) available in advance (Tourist Information Centre) and on the door. The three areas are:
London Sinfonietta will work closely with local schools (Colneis Junior School Choir, Deben and Orwell High Schools Orchestra's). Workshops will be held in the build up to the event. Lead by Fraser Trainer and Poet Dean Parkin, the group will create a new piece of music using the words
created by Dean and his work with Colneis Junior School and a local Community Group (It is hoped this is where some members of Felixstowe Scribblers can get involved). Dean is very flexible and happy to meet the group when you usually meet in order to create some material. He already has workshops planned with the school and it might be that if a few members would like to gert involved and are available then this could be a link. Alternatively Dean can deliver the work created by the group if the group are interested but would prefer not to perform the work.
Finally there are TWO character postboxes currently in Felixstowe. One of which is a giant prawn, currently housed in the Library. The idea of the postbox is to collect people's memories of Felixstowe and share them through an exhibition to be held at Landguard Fort alongside the performance.
It would be great if members of Felixstowe Scribblers could get involved and contribute ideas / words for poetry to be used. If you require any further info or are interested in getting involved please do not hesitate to contact me."
The project has it's own website hosted by London Sinfonietta - http://www.surfandturf.org.uk/ so have a look and if you are interested in participating then please let me know over the weekend and I will inform the organiser, Daniel King.
APOLOGIES: Caroline F, Caroline P, Angela L, Jane and Alex.
ATTENDING: Barry (chair), Dave, Dick, Kay, Morag, Angela P, Eileen, Roz, Trish, Liliane, Tony, Les, Connie, Sue, Debbie and Peter.
WELCOME to Eileen who was invited along by Angela P after meeting her at the recent Drama Festival in Felixstowe.
MATTERS ARISING and NEWS:
It was nice to see Liliane back in the fold fresh from her annual Australian holiday with her family.
Good news week for Angela P who has been shortlisted this year for the Ip-Art Short Story competition – which she won last year! Fingers crossed for her success this year too.
Another snippet of good news comes from the Drama Festival where plays performed by companies from all over the UK saw Ruth justly claim the best actress award for her starring role in Roots which was presented by the Rushmere Players. The drama festival gained a double page spread in the Evening Star tonight (Thursday), with the report being perhaps a little unkind to Ruth.
The Murder Mystery Playwriting group will meet for the first time next Tuesday – late alteration to the venue with everyone meeting at Barry’s this time. Connie has taken over from Angela who has too many commitments to be able to devote enough time to the process. Trish has also volunteered. We await details and confirmation from Dee Cobbold about the date of the play and some little snippets on the school masters and characters from Colneis.
We await confirmation too, of the date for our beach party, tentatively set for 14th July.
Received an email from our Vienna based friend Margareta who is currently very busy with her students and also translations but she is hoping to attend a meeting during the summer when she is in England again.
A parcel of about six or seven free books were received from United Press. These were distributed at the meeting and will be returned for others to read in due course.
THE ANTHOLOGY – A REMINDER
This is just a gentle reminder from the Anthology group that there are only eight weeks left to get in your thousand word entries. Don't forget they can be made up of one, one thousand word short story or separate pieces or as we have had already a collection of poems.
Also the few lines precis on what you are up to at present perhaps including developments or achievements both personal and professional that will be of interest to all.
Please don't forget, the end of July is the deadline.
THE PLATFORM
The open themed 1500 word assignments:
Morag: Coach Trip: (chapter six of her novel). Connie: The Time Sphere.
The 500 word assignment on ‘Memory’
Sue: Trixie Debbie: Memory (poem) Les: Eventual Recall Tony: The story continues – embellishing chapter two Liliane: The Memory of Rain Trish: What is memory? Roz: Mary, What are you doing? Peter: Stones of Pride Angela P: Footprints Kay: Transcending (poem) Dick: I Remember: Tireless Wireless (two poems) Dave: Memory Battle Barry: The Album
OUR NEXT MEETING
Tuesday 16th June, 7.30 pm in the Room at the Top, Felixstowe Library. In the chair will be Dick. Liliane will collect the key. Please note that we will now meet upstairs at the Library. This is because of all the new tables and chairs in Cafe Libra has created difficulties setting up and replacing the furniture before and after meetings.
ASSIGNMENTS
The 1,500 open themed work will be undertaken by Roz with Tony providing the second piece.
The 500 word homework topic is “Half past two”. Now that is an unusual but very challenging topic. What is the significance of the time? Is it early morning or afternoon? What happens at that time of day? The old brain cells are ticking over....
Thanks to everyone who attended and to Barry for collecting the key and chairing the meeting.
Keep Scribbling!
***** Support those who support us! Have a look at Scott’s website at http://www.mrcobblerandmrlocks.co.uk Don’t forget that Scott has special ‘Felixstowe Scribblers’ mugs on sale at £5 each. Not only does it have the Scribblers logo on the front, but your name can also be added on the rear.
***** Caroline Foster is running a Creative Writing Groups short story workshop on Saturday 6th June from 10am to 4pm. Priced at £52 it includes free lunch and is being held at 12 Court Farm, Stutton Road, Brantham CO11 1PW. There are some places left so there is still time to book.
There will also be a commercial writing workshop on Tuesday 9th June same time, same place at £59 includes free lunch!
For further details or to book your place contact Caroline at Creative Writing Groups on 01473 858429 or email caroline@cwgroups.org.uk
***** The Ads *****
As we embrace modern technology and look increasingly to the internet for sales you may be interested in this article which appeared in the New York Times.
Here at Cormorant Publishing we are not quite ready to launch ebooks but in the not too distant future that will be a market we will consider - once your book has been in the bookshops for 12 months. By that time we anticipate you will have exhausted the "printed version" market and hope to generate extra revenue for you by publishing your book as an "ebook". Now here is the article regards John Riddle
Google appears to be throwing down the gauntlet in the e-book market.
In discussions with publishers at the annual BookExpo convention in New York over the weekend, Google signalled its intent to introduce a program by that would enable publishers to sell digital versions of their newest books direct to consumers through Google.
The move would pit Google against Amazon.com, which is seeking to control the ebooks books market with the versions it sells for its Kindle reading device.
Google’s move is likely to be welcomed by publishers who have expressed concerns about the possibility that Amazon will dominate the market for ebooks books with its aggressive pricing strategy. Amazon offers Kindle editions of most new best-sellers for $9.99, a price far lower than the typical $26 at which publishers sell new hardcovers. In early discussions, Google has said it would allow publishers to set a suggested list price, but that Google would ultimately set consumer prices. NY Times
A Creative Writing Groups short story workshop is being held on Saturday 6th June from 10am to 4pm. Priced at £52 it includes free lunch and is being held at 12 Court Farm, Stutton Road, Brantham CO11 1PW. There are some places left so book now to avoid disappointment.
There is also have a commercial writing workshop on Tuesday 9th June same time, same place at £59 includes free lunch!
For further details or to book your place contact :
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.
![[ Registered ]](http://www.diarist.net/registry/button.gif){kind=small}
