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, October 30, 2009
OUR NEXT MEETING....
....is on Tuesday 3rd November at the Room at The Top, Felixstowe Library. Start time 7.30pm
The winner of the 2009 Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary is announced
Author Ruth Dugdall from Suffolk has been announced as the winner of the 2009 Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary, in a ceremony in Central London last night. Ruth received a cheque for £2,500 as well as a publishing contract with Legend Press for her novel The Woman Before Me. The novel will be published Summer 2010.
Two additional prizes were awarded on the night to 2nd and 3rd place writers Iain Laurie for his novel Smilers and Bea Davenport for her novel Kill & Tell. The winners were chosen from a shortlist of 10 authors by a judging panel including best-selling authors Sam Mills and Zoë Jenny, Luke’s mother and sister and representatives from Legend Press.
The bursary is funded by the Luke Bitmead Memorial Fund, founded by Luke’s family in association with Legend Press in 2006, shortly after Luke’s tragic death at the age of just 34. Luke’s book White Summer was the first novel to be published by Legend Press and Luke was one of the UK’s most talented up-and-coming writers. Legend Press are delighted to be working with Luke's family to ensure that Luke’s name and memory lives on. The bursary was set up to encourage and support the work of struggling talented writers, whose work is yet to be published. The winner of the 2008 bursary Andrew Blackman published his novel On the Holloway Road with Legend Press in February 2009. This year’s bursary received double the number of submissions as last year.
Tom Chalmers, Managing Director of Legend Press, commented: ”We are delighted to announce Ruth as the winner of this year’s Bursary. The judging panel were gripped with Ruth’s writing and we can’t wait to start working with her on this superb novel. Life is often incredibly tough for aspiring writers, and this bursary offers the perfect opportunity to support and develop talented authors. We are delighted to work with Luke’s family on this award, and from working with Luke, I know he would be delighted at the opportunity the bursary creates.”
Author and judge Sam Mills commented: 'I am amazed that Ruth's book - the winner of a Debut Dagger in 2005 - hasn't been picked up by publishers up until this point. But their loss is our gain! 'The Woman Before Me' is a stylish, intelligent psychological thriller that kept me turning pages from the word go. I have no doubt she will soon be entering the bestseller lists.'
Luke’s mother, Elaine Hanson commented: “The Luke Bitmead Memorial Fund has been set up for two reasons, firstly to give support to unpublished fledgling writers, particularly those who have striven to work through the disempowering feelings of anxiety and depression. Secondly to eradicate the stigma that prevents mental health problems being discussed openly enabling support and understanding. It is so uplifting to hear that The Royal College Of Psychiatrists last week launched its own cards specifically designed to be sent to people with mental health problems. With the rock solid support of Legend Press it feels as if we are helping to encourage creativity and inspire openness and compassion which must help generate a healthier environment for us all.”
They say everyone has a book inside them. This autumn the BBC is on the hunt for real life stories that could become best selling books…
Following on from the success of the recent poetry season, the BBC is launching a major new campaign designed to encourage the nation to discover the joy of books. As part of the campaign five people will win a major book deal with one of the country’s leading publishers plus a cash advance of £20,000.
The campaign is called MY STORY and it’s open to anyone…
Basically we’re looking to find true stories about ordinary people’s real lives. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, all that matters is that the story is true and based on your life or your family’s life. It can’t be fiction or fictionalised. It must be based on true events that have happened to you. 15 stories will feature in a major new five part TV series called MY STORY that will go out on primetime BBC One next year. And five of the stories from the series will be published as books.
A small literary panel will select the winning stories and the books will all be published by Harper Collins and will all be available to buy in bookshops across the country immediately after each of the five TV programmes has been broadcast.
All you have to do to take part is to go to the MY STORY website BBC.CO.UK/MYSTORY and put in a summary of your story in no more than 1500 words. That's it.
So if you've had a remarkable life or something extraordinary has happened to you or your family then get writing and you could win a publishing deal with a cash advance of £20,000.
I'm writing to you about a major new BBC campaign called My Story, which aims to find remarkable true stories from ordinary members of the public. Five of these stories will be published as books by Harper Collins, with entrants winning a £20,000cash advance. The website for the programme is bbc.co.uk/mystory .
I thought this campaign might be of interest to your writing group members. It would be great if you could pass the message along to your members, or let me know how best to do so. Or it may be that you yourself have or know of someone who has an extraordinary real life tale to tell! Writing ability is not paramount, as ghost writers will be available to assist with writing.
floreatbooks is a self-publishing company that passionately believes in writers and helping them get their books into print. We are contacting writing groups around the UK to let them know about our services and hopefully providing them with useful information and advice on the publishing industry. As writers ourselves, we know how difficult it can be to get a book published these days and we find it helps to be armed with knowledge of the publishing process (whether traditional or self-publishing) when writing a book.
We would be very grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to check out our website (www.floreatbooks.com). On our website, you can look at Our Services, read our Blog and, if you fancy it, sign up for our free guide on "How to Get Published".
Any feedback from you, or other writers in your group, would be very much appreciated. In the future we hope to provide helpful updates, know-how and news on the self-publishing process and industry. If this doesn't sound like something you or your group would be interested in, follow the quick instructions below and we won't bother you again. We hope you won't though!
What makes us different?
We believe in two things: (1) great customer service and (2) producing beautiful books. We provide a very personal service to our authors and want to deliver a product and level of service that is comparable to that which a writer with a traditional publisher might receive. We are also one of the few self-publishers to offer real marketing services. Marketing any book (whether traditional or self-published) is crucial to its success and we provide a comprehensive list of marketing services to help authors achieve their publishing goals. Questions?
If you have any questions or just want to find out more please do feel free to get in touch. Our number is 0207 078 3910 or you can email us at publish@floreatbooks.com.
Our next meeting takes place on Tuesday 3rd November at 7.30 pm in the Room at the Top, Felixstowe Library when we return to our usual format. As you know the
500 word homework assignment is on either “FOREIGN COUNTRY” or “FANTASY”, but, if you're feeling brave, on both! The two open themed 1,500 word work will be read by Sandy and Dick.
We have some tremendous news, first and foremost we learnt today that our Ruth has been announced as the winner of the 2009 Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary, in a ceremony in Central London last night. Ruth received a cheque for £2,500 as well as a publishing contract with Legend Press for her novel The Woman Before Me. The novel will be published Summer 2010. It is hoped that more information will be posted on the weblog later. So, Ruth, from all of us, congratulations!
There are two other pieces of news that will be of interest. Our Murder Mystery, 'The Crabby Arms Arms Affair', gets its first read through by Rushmere Players on Monday evening and also we have all been invited along to a special free screening of 'The Lost Sock' in Felixstowe in mid November. Details at Tuesday's meeting.
It was nice to see a really good turn out for this evening’s special torchlight meeting.
Dick informs us that the deadline has passed for poems in the Orwell Connection.
Good news from the writers of the Murder Mystery – the script has now been finalised and we await confirmation of the date that Rushmere Players will do their first read-through and also the date of the play at Colneis School.
Good news too that the anthology has been delivered but will not be released until the book launch on 28th November at the Castle Lodge Hotel. However, Peter our Treasurer, would appreciate advance orders with payments please. Cheques should be made payable to Felixstowe Scribblers or handed to him at the next meeting. The anthology is over twice the size of our first attempt with 125 pages and contributions from 36 Scribblers past and present including one story from Rachel Sloane. Costing £5 it, represents excellent value for money in the present climate and will certainly make a valuable Christmas present. The hard work for this excellent work is down to Barry, Jane and Les so many thanks and congratulations to them all. Profits will be donated to East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice.
Received a letter from John a lovely gentleman who stays whenever he can at the Castle Lodge Hotel. John, who is in his nineties, has attended Scribblers on a couple of occasions, each time participating in the events of the evening. John has written a lot poetry although his family never acknowledged nor appreciated his talent. Invited along to a Scribblers meeting back in 2007, he jumped at the chance, remarkable really as he is in his nineties and can be regarded as our eldest member. In his letter John wished to thank us for the warm welcome he has always received and for encouraging him with his creative writing. He ends his letter, “My sincere thanks and best wishes to you all in life and in your literary efforts, Sincerely, John.”
Very soon we will arrange a committee meeting to discuss the Scribblers including a suggestion from our friend Ken Matthews in Cyprus – more details later.
IN THE DARK FOR TONIGHT’S HALLOWEEN TORCHLIGHT MEETING
THE PLATFORM
The 1,500 word open themed assignments:
Rani The Judgement Feast Dave Mary’s Cottage
The 750 word ‘spooky’ assignment
Simon What the Real Monsters Do at Halloween Trish Shitty Death Angela L The Lake Amanda The Long Drive Home Sandy Walking Home Rosie Alice is Dead Jane They’re Coming Jack Africa Angela P Strange Happenings Ruth Excerpt from ‘Sacrificial Man’ Liliane A Lingering Presence Dick The Sad Lady of Landguard Fort Peter Voice From ..... ? Shaun A Catholic Holiday Debbie The Chair
A rather atmospheric meeting with some real masterpieces including two stories that both ended with rapturous applause – well done to Simon for his hilarious Monsters story and also to Rosie for her poetic work on Alice. And of course everyone else also deserved accolades for their excellent work. Well done!
THANKS to Liliane for collecting the key and also providing biscuits, thanks too to Debbie and Angela L who also provided cakes and biscuits.
OUR NEXT MEETING ....
Takes place in TWO weeks time on Tuesday 3rd November at 7.30 pm in the Room at the Top, Felixstowe Library.
The 1,500 word work will be read by Dick and Sandy
The 500 word homework assignment can be on either “FOREIGN COUNTRY” or “FANTASY”, or both!
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.
Just over 6 weeks to go! Its not long! We hope you are all tweaking and editing your screenplays & scripts!
Get in early! Send your entry in NOW for consideration to Wipst!
Do you want to work alongside a professional director to see your writing come to life on the screen? We’re looking for fantastic, raw writing talent and the winner will see a 10 minute pilot created from their full length script which you can send to film festivals, potential backers, producers and TV companies. They may commission your work after seeing a snippet on film.
Don’t worry about the rights to the script, once it has been filmed everything remains your intellectual property right.
The Pilot is purely your PRIZE for winning the best screenplay/script at WIPST!
Keep a look out in the coming weeks for more information to be revealed about judges and more!
Closing date is 30th November 2009 and the winner will be announced on 18th January 2010
Our next meeting will be the special “TORCHLIGHT HALLOWEEN MEETING” on Tuesday 20th October at 7.30 pm in the Room at the Top, Felixstowe Library.
Members are asked to bring a torch along for the evening. We are hoping for some spooky, ghostly, scary paranormal or Halloween stories. Long pieces will be by Rani and Dave whilst everyone else is invited to write up to 750 words for the homework assignment.
We have received an email from a former Scribbler Ken (Matthews) who is now living Cyprus. Currently his writing has taken a back seat but he passes his best wishes on to all Scribblers.
Condolences to Morag who has sadly lost her mother.
WELCOME to Shaun who has just moved from Southend to Felixstowe. Shaun has written for an online magazine and has also written one novel whilst he also had one poem published as a nine-year-old.
MATTERS ARISING and NEWS:
Another smaller than usual turnout that did not detract from the quality of the evening’s readings.
Dick reminisced on his most enjoyable Canadian holiday with Pearl. Canada is a fantastic country but wherever you turn or whatever service you have everyone expects a tip and this seriously affected the cash flow!
We understand that Les is not too well following his recent knee operation so we all send him our best wishes and hope to see him very soon.
Our friend Rochelle in Ireland is under the weather at present so here’s wishing her a quick return to health.
Although unable to attend this evening, Tony was a little disappointed that his recent ‘evening of musical mayhem’ for once lacked any Scribblers. Tut, tut, tut!
The 2009 Annual Jack Wilkinson Memorial walk took place in aid of Cancer Research and reports are that around fifty people were on the walk. Blessed by good weather, the sponsorship is now due and we look forward to reporting a big donation to the deserving charity.
Dick reminds us that the very last chance to submit work for The Orwell Connection Christmas Poems must be with him this weekend. As previously reported the poems may be either humorous or religious.
The Murder Mystery script is finished save for a read-through by the writers and hopefully will be passed to Rushmere Players in the next week or two. The working title ‘The Crabby Arms Affair’ has been adopted as the title.
The Anthology is now ready and we must await the official launch before general sales go ahead. Retailing at £5 each they are great value for the money and will give many hours of reading and pleasure. Barry will be emailing round in the next few days with information.
Our next meeting will be the special Torchlight Halloween meeting – details are shown below....
THE PLATFORM
The 1,500 word open themed assignments:
Angela L: Milden Cottage. Liliane: Like a Lady and her Knight.
The 500 word assignment on ‘Stone’.
Dick: Western Canada by Train (a poem) Shaun: Plato Rising Connie: The Class Divide Jane: The Day the Dog Went Missing Amanda: The Managing Director Picks up a Stone Trish: Lost Love (a poem) Peter: A Use of Stone Dave: Stone Lodge Lane
Another eclectic collection of work from the Scribblers.
THANKS to Liliane for collecting the key.
OUR NEXT MEETING ....
.... will be the special “TORCHLIGHT HALLOWEEN MEETING” which takes place in TWO weeks time on Tuesday 20th October at 7.30 pm in the Room at the Top, Felixstowe Library.
The 1,500 word work will be read by Rani and Dave
Specially for this meeting only everyone else is invited to provide a 750 word homework assignment on any spooky, ghostly, scary or Halloween subject.
Members are asked to bring along a torch for the evening. Until next time
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.
*****
THE KOL PATERSON BAND Smooth & Groovy JAZZ For all occasions from Solo piano to 5-piece band CD available on request Tel: 01473 712624 Email: kol@ourservice2u.co.uk
****** I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you all of a new service being offered by Meridian Writing which may be of interest to members of your writing group/circle/club. In addition to the quarterly short story competitions we run we are now offering a Critique service for short stories up to 10,000 words long. There are two levels of service: Basic, and Detailed, with stories falling into one of three categories; up to 3,000 words, up to 6,000 words and up to 10,000 words. Prices are £5, £10 and £15 for the three levels of Basic critique and £15, £20 and £25 for the Detailed. A Basic critique will be approx. 1 page A4 in length and the Detailed approx. 3 pages, and will cover the most basic issues the story has and work up. Full details may be found on our website (www.meridian-writing.co.uk) or please mail me back if you have any specific question regarding our service. Andrew Goodman info@meridian-writing.co.uk
******* Just under 2 months to closing date.
Prose and Poetry Prizes 2009 from The New Writer magazine Closing date 30 November Established in 1997, one of the major annual international competitions for short stories, novellas, single poems, poetry collections, essays and articles; offers cash prizes as well as publication for the prize-winning writers in The Collection, special edition of The New Writer magazine each July (back copies available on TNW website).
The New Writer 100th issue No better time to subscribe or renew. Coming soon: our bumper celebration anniversary issue, Jan/Feb 2010, TNW 100. If subscribers, past and present, would like to send us a few words - their impression of the magazine - we’d be very pleased to hear. Just send an email to the editorial office - editor@thenewwriter.com - marked 100th issue in the subject line.
The New Writer magazine Special Offer INTRODUCTORY OFFER - TAKE OUT A SUBSCRIPTION and we will add TWO FREE ISSUES to the subscription that you require, whether 1, 2 or 3 year subs, in the UK or overseas. All you have to do is click on our website: http://www.thenewwriter.com/ go to our secure online form and specify which subscription you require and we will add two extra issues to the end of your subscription and confirm the duration by email. This Offer also applies to all renewals and any subscriptions taken out by post, paid by credit card, cheque, postal order while this offer lasts.
For a free recent copy of the magazine send A4 SAE stamped at 76p (Large Letter) or 2 x first class stamps (UK) whatever's easier or 5 International Reply Coupons (IRCs) to the address below.
The New Writer email News is included free of charge in our subscription package. This monthly emailing to our subscribers covers breaking news of urgent interest to writers, important announcements that we receive too late for the next issue of the magazine, and many other useful items including market updates, competitions and calls for submissions. If you would like to read the latest email News bulletin go to http://www.thenewwriter.com/ and click on the pink box.
Strand Publishing UK Ltd invites submissions from published and unpublished poets for a collection of the best poems written in English to be published in Autumn 2010.
This is not a competition. There is no award for 'best' poet. Nor can the company guarantee to publish all work submitted.
For full rules and criteria for entry, please see www.strandpublishing.co.uk
We are a new on line poetry magazine that will publish twice yearly. We are currently calling for submissions for well crafted poems of any length. We are looking for work whose imagery surprises and subject matter that deals with the overlooked and unusual.
Submissions should be sent in an Email with ‘poetry submissions’ in the title bar. Please send to; fsmessageinabottle3@googlemail.com Fiona Sinclair.
Tuesday will be a very special day for one of our Scribblers - Rosie will be celebrating her 18th birthday so, Rosie, from all your Scribbling friends, have a really lovely day - Happy Birthday!
This coincides with our next meeting on Tuesday 6th October at 7.30 pm in the Room at the Top, Felixstowe Library. The 500 word homework assignment is “STONE” whilst the two 1,500 word contributions will be presented by Angela L and Liliane.
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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