Writing Buddies

Writing Buddies - 27 January 2012

2012-01-31T17:47:00.002Z

Writing Buddies met once again at The Art House Cafe in Southampton on January 27^th, 2012.

Tessa has now written her latest book, The Girl from the Land of Smiles, and is currently editing it. She has proofreaders ready, both locally and in Thailand, and the book should be published in the summer. She is also preparing to publish a book of paintings for her son.

New member Jo has always been a keen writer. She has concentrated on writing for business in the past, but is now planning a book about her trip to Mongolia. This project is proving complex, and the group discussed ways for Jo to produce the work, perhaps both as a travelogue and as the basis for fiction.

Karen is continuing with her novel, though she finds that since the story is so familiar already, she finds it hard to be consistent in writing. She plans to enter some flash fiction competitions in the meantime.

Janet is working on her nursing stories, using her background knowledge and also consulting relevant magazines.

Ray’s memoirs are still in progress; he has been working on them for some time, but mentioned that he finds the Writing Buddies meetings useful and motivating. This raised a cheer in the group!

Lynne, another new member, is a literature and language teacher and has always been an active writer. While training she had to critique other writing, and wonders if this has made her hypercritical with her own work. She made some useful suggestions in the discussions.

Mike still awaits a response from the publisher about his aviation book. He has a co-written book coming out in March, Shipwrecks of the Cunard Line.

Alan is halfway through his second mouse book for preschool children. He has also been working on sketches and a sitcom, helped by his experience on the comedy stage. The group thought there is a good current market for television comedy.

James is still hoping that the Daily Echo will review his book, Growing up in Wartime Southampton – Someone Else’s Trousers . He had a letter in the Echo that week, citing a relevant quote from his book, though the reference was removed before printing. The work may be made into an audio book. James continues with Southampton - a Miscellany and his books for young children, and plans to send off a Sundance Gang book to an agent recommended to him.

Jacqueline’s flash fiction piece about Miss Havisham will appear in the next edition of What the Dickens internet magazine, out on February 1^st. She has entered a short story competition online, and will be entering two flash fiction competitions. She has enrolled for an online short-story writing course, which starts next month.

Penny has been to the National Memorial Arboretum to take some final pictures for Under the Queen’s Colours, though the Royal British Legion has not given permission yet for their use. She has recently finished editing the first edition of the new magazine Life to the Full, and is hoping for offers of admin help and sponsorship to enable the second edition to be published. She has nearly finished her book Eastleigh Then and Now for The History Press.

The general discussion was wide-ranging. Topics included how to kick-start a stalled project, ways of keeping up motivation with writing, and whether a Buddies magazine might be a possibility. A stand to sell members’ books at The Marlands is still being debated; this would be for the run-up to Christmas, and volunteers, exact venue and good marketing would be needed.

A new ebook publishing service was discussed. This is described at www.SelfSelfSelf.com by a digital consultant who takes Word-document books and converts them to ebooks for all platforms, with no up-front fee but 15% commission on net takings after other costs. It was decided that some members would take a look, and perhaps check the presentation of ebooks already published by this means.

The next Writing Buddies meeting will be on Friday February 10^th at The Art House Cafe, Southampton from 2pm. Anyone with an interest in writing is very welcome.

Writing Buddies, January 13th, 2012

2012-01-18T15:14:00.003Z

Our first meeting of 2012 was very well attended, and members had been busy over the holiday.

Rich belongs to a London-based writers’ group, and he submitted a piece for them to perform in a pub. They will be performing his monologue/narrative poem in February.

Glen’s commissioned book Voices from Eastleigh (The History Press) has now been submitted and the launch is to be scheduled. She is attending a song writing weekend, and one of her compositions has recently been well received.

Christine D has nearly finished her second novel. Publishers Weidenfeld & Nicolson liked her first book – Jump Derry - but thought it needed some adjustment before being taken up. Christine is working on this. She has entered short stories for both the Fish competition ( www.fishpublishing.com) and the one run by Chapter One Promotions who have several comps on their site.

Patricia has sent a story to BBC Opening Lines via Writers’ Room. She has also submitted a 30-minute play and a monologue script, and is now working on another play about Adam and Eve. She is trying out some nursery rhyme illustrations with agents, too.

Ray continues working on his memoirs. Through Writers’ Forum magazine he contacted Jean Henderson who said she would be able to advise shortly. Ray is keen to develop this contact, and will send her some work.

Janet was at Writing Buddies for the first time. She has just finished a Diploma in Creative Writing with the Open University, and has submitted to magazines and entered poetry competitions. She would like to start a novel, but is unsure whether she has enough material. This was discussed by the group.

Josephine is about to start a textbook on staff management; this links with her connection to Park Radio (New Forest area). She has been a programme assistant there, but is now promoted to co-presenter. She has been asked to run a workshop on her subject.

Annette is collecting ‘First Day at School’ memories for an article. She is also looking for a possible market for her piece, ‘My First Parachute Jump’, and several magazines were suggested by the group. Her first article for The Scots magazine was published in December, and the next will be in August. She has an article appearing in The Countryman this spring.

Karen told us she has contracted ‘the writing bug’ over Christmas, and is starting to work on a novel, which she’s had in mind for some time.

Catherine has now rewritten 30,000 words of her novel, being advised by the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers Scheme. She has met an agent/editor who wants to see the book. In February she is giving a talk to Writers in Southampton on the subject of social networking.

Member Janet is writing short stories; she has hospital experience and may check some nursing magazines to further inform her work. She is interested in travel writing, too.

Jimmy’s story for preschoolers, Jayden’s First Adventure, has been submitted to The Thorn Press, and he has a sequel in mind. He is planning the last book in his trilogy, Gerry’s Quest. Work continues on his commissioned Southampton Miscellany (The History Press), and he is working with Penny on a book about 1940s Southampton. The magazine Best of British will be reviewing his book Growing up in Wartime Southampton – Someone Else’s Trousers.

Jacqueline will have a short story in Hampshire View. Her poem appeared in the first issue of What the Dickens, and she has submitted flash fiction for the next. As yet she has not had any news about her children’s book, she may approach agents or publish as an ebook. She is giving a talk to Writers in Southampton in March on how to write and sell magazine articles.

Tony published his military history book We Spared Not the Capital of America in September with Authorhouse, and it is selling quite well on Amazon. It is available as a book or an ebook. He is now targeting military history and re-enactment societies to publicise it.

New member Mike has written books about Southampton docks, and has another co-authored book coming out on the subject of Shipwrecks of the Cunard Line.

Penny finished Under the Queen’s Colours for The History Press, and it is to be published in May. Current projects include an Eastleigh archive book and a grisly history of Southampton. She recently launched Life to the Full, a magazine for Age Concern, Southampton.

Vijay continues to work on the novel which he began for NaNoWriMo, and sees his way forward with the plot.

General discussions then worked around the need for blogs and websites as a personal showcase, and how to set them up. On the topic of how to start a novel, suggestions included blogging, setting targets, developing from a short story, creative writing courses, NaNoWriMo, and not stopping to edit but just ‘getting it down’. For marketing, ideas included Facebook and Twitter, making friends with local bookshops, and using LinkedIn (for professional people). The session ended with ideas for where to place particular articles and how to choose and write for a charity. Future meetings focusing on self-publishing and on ebooks are to be considered.

The next meeting will be on January 27^th at The Art House, Southampton, 2pm. Anyone interested in writing will be very welcome.

Post by Jacqueline Pye.

Writing Buddies, 9 December 2011

2012-01-18T14:58:00.005Z

Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House, Southampton on December 9th. There were a good number of us, and Penny treated us to wine and mince pies.

Josephine is now involved with Park Radio's weekly "Working Lives" programme - with her business background she is the ideal person to research for them. The Chartered Management Institute is starting a quarterly newsletter, and Josephine is writing a Q-A column for them. She is also currently working on a book on staff management, and hopes that Hodders might take it up, as they have published her work previously.

Jacqueline is working with a relative's WW1 diary from the front, matching it to facts about surrounding action and aiming for an article, possibly for military history magazines. She has feedback from children about her novel, which has now been submitted to a publisher. The new internet magazine What the Dickens included her poem about snow.

Tessa is busy producing Ann Victoria Roberts' book The Master's Tale, published by Tessa's own company The Thorn Press, as an ebook. There have been problems with the vagaries of the programme, now sorted. Tessa continues writing her next novel, The Girl from the Land of Smiles.

New member Shirley was welcomed to the group. She writes short stories and novels, and is 75,000 words into a sci-fi novel and looking for an agent. She has had many stories published, and has been very successful in competitions, including a top ten place out of nearly 1,000 entries for The Glass Woman Prize. Her website is www.shirleygolden.net

Ray continues work on writing his memoirs, which start just after the end of WW2. He is currently 1,500 words into the project, and he discussed various aspects of it with the group.

Mo has been enjoying the work of punk poet Attila The Stockbroker. One of her short plays is to be filmed, and her publisher is aiming to go for print-on-demand for her novel A Blues for Shindig and may make it available on Kindle.

Catherine has replanned her novel following feedback from the RNA's New Writers scheme. She has a helpful writing partner who is also on the scheme, and has revised 6 chapters (17,000 words) so far. She is still entering writing competitions.

Jimmy has been book-signing at an authors' meeting at Waterstone's, and has further dates at October Books in Portswood and ASDA Chandlers Ford. He is writing the third in his trilogy of fantasy novels, and is working on a pocket miscellany of Southampton commissioned by The History Press. His book for preschool children, Jayden the Naughty Goldfish, is nearly ready.

Jan graduated recently in Fine Arts at Solent University. She is working on future plans for her writing.

Karen has also graduated in Fine Arts. She illustrates children's books including preschool, and is working on stories for teenagers, the first of which is well on its way.

Alan continues with his children's stories featuring Sniggles the travelling mouse. He is currently on the second of these.

Penny has completed her latest book, Under the Queen's Colours, by the deadline. During the week after the meeting she was due at the Centre for the Third Age, Cranbury Terrace, for the launch of their new magazine Life to the Full. Her book Folklore of Southampton has been mentioned in a video 'Wessex Boy' by folk singer Frank Turner.

During the following discussion, the need for writers to manage (and fund) their own publicity was discussed. Many thought this inappropriate - we just want to write - but it was agreed that in the current climate writers have to accept it. There are people who will take on the marketing, but it can be expensive. Building up a readership by maintaining an active blog was recommended. The possibility of a stand at West Quay in the run-up to Christmas was discussed, but the cost is thought too high. One member is considering volunteering at a library (otherwise to close), and wondered about offering borrowers a short writing course. This was thought a good idea, and there were offers of talks by other members.

The next meeting will be at The Art House, Southampton on Friday January 13h 2012 from 2pm. Anyone interested in writing is very welcome.

Post by Jacqueline Pye.

Writing Buddies 25 November 2011

2011-12-09T08:28:00.002Z

After the excitement of the launch of the Writing Buddies' first anthology, it was a little disappointing to find only six buddies at the meeting immediately afterwards. Still, small is beautiful, so the group chatted rather than went into detail about what they had been up to.

The anthology launch was discussed and lessons learnt from it were noted. It was decided that there had to be changes to the way any future competition was be run, as the fees charged did not cover the costs of producing the resulting anthology.

The next Writing Buddies meeting will be on 9 December. This will be the final one before the Christmas break. The group will restart on Friday 13 January 2012.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Writing Buddies Launch Anthology!

2011-12-09T08:23:00.003Z

The Writing Buddies' Anthology was launched at Waterstones Above Bar in the presence of The Mayor and Mayoress of Southampton on Saturday 19 November.

A goodly sprinkle of Writing Buddies turned up to support the event, which was voted both great fun and a success.

To order copies of the book, click here.

Writing Buddies, 11 November 2011

2011-12-09T08:18:00.002Z

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 11 November to discuss writing matters. Jimmy chaired in Penny's absence.

Karen has started writing about the childhood games she and her sister played and which she hopes can be turned into a series.

Jan has been looking at her nursing stories and writes whenever possible.

Veronica has been focusing on peace matters and showed the group The Christmas Truce by Carol Ann Duffy.

Ray Dumper joined the group for the first time and explained that for some years he has been writing his memoirs. He has reached the stage where he needs help and advice to move forward.

Tessa has been reading e books and recommends Smash Words www.smashwords.com for any writer thinking of publishing an e book. Tessa has also been working on her current novel.

Jacqueline has been editing her children's novel and will submit to a publisher by the end of November/early December. She has submitted a poem to 'What the Dickens' on the theme of snow, been blogging on the psychology of writing, and sent a pitch to Writer's Forum magazine. Jacqueline is unsure at the moment what to do with her Uncle Frank's war diaries (WW1). She is currently enjoying reading Tessa's first book of her trilogy, The Dohlen Inheritance, and showed the group a copy of the Waterside Herald newspaper which featured the launch of Pam Whittington's poetry book.

Elizabeth has taken a break from fiction writing and written a poem and started two more.

Pam has been busy organising the badges for the Wordfall writers at the launch on Saturday 19 November at Waterstones, Above Bar. She has sent Wordfall off to Society of Women Writers & Editor's magazine The Woman Writer. Pam is very occupied at present reading through a manuscript for a friend. Her poetry book Sunshine and Showers Poetry and Prose has been published and she was pleased to inform the group that her book launch was very successful.

Lisa recently attended a Harper Collins book launch for Miranda Dickinson's It Started with a Kiss. She is continuing to go back and proof read her novel Death in the City and is putting the polishing touches to the 6^th chapter of her fantasy horror. She will try John Jarrold Literary Agent for publication.

Glen has not had much contact with The History Press but she is expecting to be proof reading soon. She sold six or seven copies of her framed poem and Romsey Tourist office have taken a quantity to sell.

Jimmy gave a talk at Bitterne Library and was asked if he would be willing to give another in the new year, as listeners outnumbered seats. He is having a little trouble obtaining the coat of arms for Southampton for his book A Miscellany of Southampton. He has been reading through his 'Sundance' series of books and unfortunately lost some edited work but realises the importance of backing up work. Jimmy is continuing to record his published book for The Talking Echo and has completed four chapters so far.

Mo received a large unexpected bill from her internet supplier and found that someone had been downloading vast quantities of material via her router. Mo advised that her publisher is stopping supplying Amazon with her books.

Open discussion mainly focussed on Ray's request for advice. He mentioned that he had read Jimmy's book and had in fact met Jimmy's late father. Ray has been writing for 18 years but he doesn't read books regularly and lacks confidence. In his book he is aiming to emphasise the changes since the 1950's, which is when he grew up. Pam recommended that he join a writers group who will read and give constructive comment on his work. Lisa advised that Brockenhurst College run a Memoir Writing Course, which could be helpful. It was generally agreed that Ray needs to find someone, or a group of writers, who will read his work and give an opinion and that this may involve a financial outlay. Ray had to leave the group early but expressed his thanks for the advice given.

Jacqueline informed the group about The Giving Machine www.thegivingmachine.co.uk where a vast amount of shops, including Amazon, give to charities. Jacqueline also mentioned that Janice, a Buddy member, was recording a Poetry Corner for The Talking Echo.

Notes by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Jimmy concluded the meeting by reminding everyone that the launch of Wordfall is at Waterstones, Above Bar branch on Saturday 19 November 5.30 – 6.30pm. Also, the recording of The Writing Buddies interview with Katie Martin of Radio Solent is being aired from 14 - 18^th November.

The next meeting will be on Friday 25 November at 2.00pm.

Writing Buddies, Friday 14 October 2011

2011-10-28T06:39:00.003+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 14 October for a lively

chat and update on members' writing achievements.

Jan has not done very much writing lately but continues to collect information for future use.

Karen has been busy illustrating and blogging. She and her sister have an idea to put their childhood games into a book, aimed at the teenage market. The group encouraged her to do this.

Tessa is learning how to programme for E books and finding it to be a tedious process. Tessa feels that Smash Words see www.smashwords.com is the best way to go as she has found using Kindle involves more work. Tessa reported that her latest book Ladybird Fly is doing well and she proposes to publish it as an E book.

Alan showed the group a letter he had published in the Echo (Your Views) about th

e cenotaph and also a framed poem he wrote 15 years ago.

Veronica informed the group about Forward Poetry of Peterborough see www.forwardpoetry.co.uk where you will find poetry competitions to enter. Veronica has an entry in the anthology.

Glen has not heard from The History Press but is expecting to receive proofs of Voices of Eastleigh to read and return by the end of October. The book will be published in February. Glen has finished her Poppy poem and has framed copies of it, which she showed to the group. She will donate 10% of the profits from the sale of them to the British Legion. Penny suggested that veteran day events would be a good way of selling them.

Mo advised the group that the launch for Christine Donovan's Jump Derry went well at Writers in Southampton. Mo is at present interviewing actors to perform her character, Shindig, from her book A Blues for Shindig.

Elizabeth is continuing, albeit slowly, with her Writers Bureau course.

Jimmy now has the contract from The History Press for his Pocket Miscellany of Southampton and this is due out mid 2013. He is giving thought to the publication of the first of his Jayden the Goldfish books. His talk at Woolston Library went very well and his next one will be at Bitterne Library on Saturday 5 November at 2.15pm.

Catherine has finished her first draft of her philosophical memoir. This has been planned for years and the book portrays an inner journey. Penny suggested Richard Dawkins’ publishers as possibly being interested in Catherine’s work. See www.richarddawkins.net.

John informed the group about Apples and Snakes who are running ten workshops helping children see www.applesandsnakes.org

Penny was pleased to announce that the group's anthology Wordfall will be out on FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2011 and the book's launch will take place at Waterstones, Above Bar branch. On 20 October Penny will be on Radio Solent talking about her ghost book. The British Legion has informed Penny that they will not support her forthcoming book Under the Queen's Colours, which was going to raise money for the Poppy Appeal. She has approached other service charities and these are more than happy to work with her.

Penny advised that Pam Whittington launches her poetry book on 25 October 2011 in Hythe. Glen is considering the Age Concern room in Eastleigh for the launch of her book. General discussion took place as to the different ways of advertising forthcoming book launches.

The next meeting will be on Friday 28 October at 2.00pm. Everyone welcome!

Blog post by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies, 16 September 2011

2011-09-29T21:03:00.005+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 16 September with Jacqueline chairing the meeting in the absence of Penny.

Tessa showed everyone the Echo article about Andrew Jones, author of Inktastic, which was published by her company, The Thorn Press. Ann Roberts' book, The Master's Tale, also published by Tessa's publishing company, is being launched on 20 September. Ann will be on Radio Solent on 23 September, in the afternoon, to talk about her book. Ladybird Fly, Tessa's third book of her trilogy, is now published and she has started a new novel about a Thai girl who marries an Englishman. The book will show the differences in cultures.

Jimmy has completed his questionnaire for The History Press regarding a Miscellany of Southampton. Both Penny and Jimmy had been offered the opportunity to write a book about 1950s childhood and The History Press have confirmed that they are happy for Penny and Jimmy to write it jointly. Jimmy is busily editing his Jayden the Goldfish books, which he hopes to self publish through Lulu. Jimmy is giving talks at Woolston Library on Friday 7 October and Bitterne Library on Saturday 5 November.

Elizabeth is continuing with her Writers Bureau course and feels it has opened her eyes to writing non fiction, as there are so many publications on the market with opportunities for placing work.

Jan has been out and about and gathering ideas for future writing.

Catherine is having a little break from intense writing but has been keeping herself busy with a 75 word exercise: see www.paragraphplanet.com. Catherine has submitted a short story to Writers Forum and will get feedback on her work. She is entering the Harry Bowling prize: see www.harrybowlingprize.co.uk. Catherine is also involved in the staff newsletter for employees at West Quay shopping centre.

Emma writes poetry and has been trying to start a blog.

Karen is continuing with her 30 day writing challenge and is thinking of having a go at NaNoWriMo. She is also contemplating blogging.

Pat has been short listed for the Maskers Theatre: see www.maskers.org.uk with a play. She has also written 80,000 words of her novel but feels she can write more.

Lottie, joining the group for the first time, has been writing on and off for four years. She recently completed a fantasy novel for teenagers, sent it to an editor and received good feedback. She feels she has more to write so it could turn into a trilogy. Lottie requested help with writing a synopsis.

Mo has a new actress playing her character, Shindig, from her book A Blues for Shindig, as the original one has gone to the USA. Mo has been blogging and entering a life writing competition.

Lisa's first chapter of her romance novel for the Mills and Boon competition is now completed:see www.romanceisnotdead.com. The deadline is 10 October, when entries are then filtered by a voting system. There are six categories to choose from and Lisa has opted for 'warm and cosy.'

Jacqueline has pitched an article on How to Keep Your Brain Active, to Woman's Weekly magazine. Hampshire View magazine has accepted a short story and this will be published in the March 2012 edition. Regarding her children’s book, Jacqueline requested that Lisa, with all her expertise in this field, give a presentation at a future Writing Buddies meeting about self publishing.

Vijay has been writing a few flash fiction stories but as yet has not submitted them anywhere. He is still planning NaNoWriMo but feeling unsure where to take it.

General discussion covered the merits of blogging and Emma expressed her need for help in this area. Informative websites are www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com. Literary Agents and magazine editors do look at blogs, so it is well worth blogging. For a hit counter go to www.easycounter.com. The Society of Authors are having a Tweetathon on Radio 4, over a period of five weeks. The idea is to make a story out of five tweets. Ian Rankin has started the Tweetathon with an opening line: see www.societyofauthors.org. For anyone interested in screenwriting then BBC Talent is asking for 30 minute scripts (minimum) for a drama course. Deadline for submissions is 1 November see www.bbc.co.uk/newtalent and go to Writers Room.

The next meeting will be on Friday 30 September at 2.00pm.

Post by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies, 2 September 2011

2011-09-29T20:41:00.006+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 2 September. New faces were present along with regular members to discuss writing matters.

Josephine has finished her last but one book and has ideas coming quickly for the one she is working on at the moment. A local radio station in the New Forest has been asking for volunteers and when Josephine mentioned her text books they showed great interest. They said that they could fit a business section into their programme. The radio station is on 96.9 FM www.thepark.fm

Lyn came to the last meeting and gained a few ideas. She looked at the suggestions of Suite 101 and Motion on Line for practicing her writing and liked Suite 101. Lyn is working on ideas for newspapers and has started the first assignment of her Writers Bureau journalism course.

Tony had two local history books, published years ago. He uses Authorhouse to publish his books, www.authorhouse.co.uk, who, he says, do deliver, although they are a little on the slow side. However, they do put things right quickly and are reasonably priced. Tony has given up with The History Press as they quoted him £10,000 to publish his book on the American Civil War.

Elizabeth is continuing with her Writers Bureau course. She received an email from Sainsbury's magazine, regarding a letter she sent for the 'News and Views' page confirming that it would be published in the November edition.

Jimmy brought his book, Growing up in Wartime Southampton: Someone Else's Trousers to the meeting, together with flyers that his publishers, The History Press, have issued for his talk at Woolston Library on Friday 7 October, 12 – 2.00pm. Tickets are available now (contact: Carolyn.Taplin@southampton.gov.uk). He contacted The History Press to accept the commission to write Miscellany of Southampton. He has also been approached about writing a book about 1950s childhood.

Catherine (Miller) is a member of The Romantic Novelists' Association under the New Writers Scheme, where she submits work and receives feedback. Catherine is now in the scheme until her book is published. Although Catherine believed she was more a chick lit writer, she has been informed that she is a woman's fiction writer. She has been published in Prima magazine twice this year. The magazine pays £25 per comment. Prima can be followed on Facebook and will give an indication as to what they are looking for.

Catherine, joining the group for the first time, explained that she was brought up in Zimbabwe and has written 260 pages so far of her memories and reflections of her life there. When she has finished the book she would like to pass it to people for their comments. It was suggested that, as family and friends can often be too 'kind', it be given to friends to ask them to pass to people they know, but are not known to Catherine, for a more critical opinion.

Christine will be performing at the Big Oak Literary & Arts Festival in Derry, Ireland www.bigoakartsfest.com which takes place from 9^th - 11^th September 2011. She will be one of several featured authors and at the moment is unsure what is expected from her. The street in which the festival is being held was the setting for her book, Jump Derry.

John is still writing amateur dramatic reviews for the Echo. He has thoughts about resuming his play and novel. He is presently assisting Penny typing up her tapes.

Jacqueline is still awaiting a reply from Nosy Crow. She is editing her children’s book, which she now thinks could be a series. She was not short listed for her Humble Boy entry, which was apparently judged by the amount of laughter each entry received. Penny's introduction of the recordings made by Writing Buddies' members for The Talking Echo is to go out on memory stick together, with Mo's two-part story. Half an hour of Writing Buddies work (approx. 3 stories) will be sent out every four weeks. Chris Litton thanked the Writing Buddies for their efforts and they will await feed back from the listeners. Jacqueline's submission to People's Friend has still not been published, although she has been paid. Jacqueline had a letter printed in the Echo and she is also pitching ideas for self marking quizzes.

Alan brought in his story The Adventures of Sniggles, as he needs advice on what to do with it. He was extremely impressed by Karen's art work.

Mo praised Christine’s book, Jump Derry, and mentioned that Christine will be at the next meeting of Writers in Southampton www.writers-in-southampton.org.uk on Thursday 6 October, which will be held at the Richmond Inn, Portswood, (opposite Waitrose).

Alex, new to the group, has been blogging for four years and has had two pieces of work published. Alex has entered a 60 minute play for the Bruntwood Prize for playwriting. It is a send up of cookery programmes. The closing date was in June and the results will be announced in October 2011.

Karen is applying herself to a 30 day writing challenge and everyday she writes a piece based on one word.

Jan is progressing with her writing about growing up in a mining community.

Penny, new to the group, attends a writing course run by Penny Legg at Age UK. She had a blog published in Woman's Own magazine.

Penny (Legg) is running a new class at Age UK and is launching a new magazine titled, Life to the Full. She is still interviewing for her Diamond Jubilee book, Under the Queen's Colours, the deadline of which is 1 December 2011.

Richard is still editing the U3A magazine for his area but will soon be giving it up.

General discussion ranged from how to cut and paste, to the practicalities of running a twitter account from a mobile phone. Christine was concerned about what she should talk about at the Literary Festival and Penny (Legg) suggested that she focused on a particular aspect of her novel. The merits of blogging were also discussed and it was thought to be a very good tool to get your name known. You Tube is also another way of advertising your work.

The next meeting will be on Friday 16 September at 2.00pm.

Post by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies, 19 August 2011

2011-08-27T12:05:00.002+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 19 August. Although a smaller group than usual, due to the holiday season, the discussion on writing matters was as varied as ever.

Tessa proudly showed the group the cover of Ann Roberts' book about the Titanic. Her company, The Thorn Press, is publishing the book, The Masters Tale. It will be released for sale on 20 September 2011 and the book explains how the disaster happened. Tessa's own book, Ladybird Fly is due for release and she is thinking about where to hold her book launch.

Karen attended the last meeting and found it to be beneficial. She is, at the moment, thinking about two stories which are half written. One is about her grandmother's life and someone at university has inspired her for the other. Karen has done some very clever illustrations for Alan's story about a mouse which he talked about at the last meeting.

Jan has written about 400 words about growing up in a mining community. She has checked at the library and found an organisation interested in stories from the 50s and 60s so she will decide what to do with her writing. She was congratulated on taking her first steps into writing.

Elizabeth is continuing with The Writers Bureau Course, more slowly than anticipated as she is finding trawling through magazines to be a time consuming experience. She has also sent a letter, via email, to Sainsbury's magazine.

Jimmy mentioned that the Echo are still ignoring him and Tessa kindly said that she will write to them on Jimmy's behalf. Following his email to Best of British magazine they have confirmed that they wish to do a review of his book, Growing up in Wartime Southampton: Someone Else's Trousers. He has now written three stories about Jayden the Naughty Goldfish and received an email from The History Press asking him if he is interested in writing a Miscellany of Southampton. He has accepted and is also continuing to edit his other books.

Debs called into the Art House Café for a cup of coffee and saw the Writing Buddies advert. A friend is putting together a play about Deb's life. Debs has been keeping a journal for some years. She transcribes dreams and is a Life Coach by profession, being paid by a charity to do this.

Lyn has edited charity newsletters in the past and started a journalism course with The Writers Bureau two years ago. However, she needs to get motivated into a writing routine as she feels that she is now ready to start.

Mo has sent the first three chapters of her latest book to two potential publishers. Her new book, her third, is about two women who fall in love. Mo is also writing with a friend and feels she needs to focus more on Southampton instead of London.

Penny has appeared on the Katie Martin show on Radio Solent for five consecutive days. Each day a different one of her books was featured with the book she is currently writing, Under the Queen's Colours, being featured every day. She was able to get a plug in for Writing Buddies. Listeners contacted the show with their stories. BBC radio want Penny to broadcast on location. She interviewed a service man she met in Weymouth for her diamond jubilee book, Under the Queen's Colours.

It has now been agreed that Tessa will typeset the Writing Buddies Anthology Wordfall. Penny's book Voices of Southampton will be launched at Waterstones, Above Bar branch on Saturday 20 August.

During general discussion, self publishing was debated and it was generally agreed that this is changing fast. Penny mentioned that Writing Buddy member Lisa Scullard has very successfully self published on Kindle. Tessa explained that every writer needs an editor but you have to believe in yourself. If you do go down the route of self publishing then you have to be aware that you must approach book shops yourself to get them to stock your book.

Lyn has many interests and the How To articles might be a solution for her. Suite 101 www.suite101.com was mentioned as there are masses of articles on all subjects and this may be another idea for Lyn, to practice her writing. Caution is needed, however, with advertisements asking for payment. Lyn mentioned that she has an opportunity to write for an on line newspaper for no fee. Penny suggested that if no fee is offered then she should make sure she has a link to her website or blog. Motion on Line www.motiononline.co.uk is also a good way of practising article writing.

Penny mentioned to the group that Josephine still requires more Pet Hates for her book.

The next meeting will be on Friday 2 September at 2.00pm.

Blog post by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies, 22 July 2011

2011-08-15T22:18:00.004+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 22 July and welcomed Chris Litton from the Southampton Are Talking Echo, who was joining the group to talk about the organisation.

To give time to our guest the Writing Buddies gave a brief account of their writing experiences since the last meeting:

Vijay writes fantasy and has started plotting for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in which he will write 50,000 words in a month. See www.nanowrimo.org. The Writing Buddies will give him every encouragement and support.

Rhiannon is finding that her writing is very fluent at the moment and she is considering starting NaNoWriMo as well.

Janice is continuing with her poetry.

Tessa showed the group the cover of her third book of her trilogy which is titled Ladybird Fly and is due out in August.

Ann has completed the non fiction part of her Writers Bureau course. She has had success in getting four pieces of work published.

Christine Donovan joined Writing Buddies for the first time She has self published her book Jump Derry and is writing more novels.

Jacqueline has had major problems with her computer and lost most of her work. She is, however, soldiering on and has been pitching to Woman magazine and Yours magazine. Her sleep article will be published in the August edition of Yours.

Glen is more or less on target for the deadline, in about five weeks time, of her book Voices of Eastleigh. She is working on the photographs now and getting good feedback from friends who have seen her work.

Christine has edited the latest version of her book Child and Adolescent Mental Health and the publishers are interested in reprinting shortly. She is now on her second assignment with The Writers Bureau.

Lisa is trying to wean herself from writing about zombies and has started to write a romantic novel. She reported that 150 copies of her books have sold on Amazon.

Josephine thanked the Writing Buddies for their response to her request for pet hates. She is considering either putting these into sections or using them in one bigger book. She is considering writing an article on presentation for Writers' Forum magazine.

Pat is writing for Humble Boy and continuing with her poetry.

Jimmy is currently editing all his books. He announced that his book Growing up in Wartime Southampton: Someone Else's Trousers is selling well and he has had some wonderful feedback from local people who have read it. His interview with Andy Dyke on Radio Solent was very successful.

Elizabeth is continuing with the third assignment for The Writers Bureau.

Janet has a degree in Fine Art taken at Solent University and she undertook a creative writing course some years ago and is hoping to blend the two together.

Mo advised that she sold seven books at the reading at Shoreditch. She will try rewriting a script. Sanctum will sell her book as part of the ticket price but Mo will have to watch she gets paid.

Penny enjoyed the Buckingham Palace garden party and her husband, Joe, chatted with Prince Philip. She received a phone call from Radio Solent who want her to record over a period of five days. This will be looking at one of her published works each day and there would be a general chat with presenter, Katie Martin. It will be an opportunity to raise the profile of Writing Buddies and plug books. The Diamond Jubilee book is coming on. In July 2012 a military event will take place at The Kings Theatre, Southsea and they have invited Penny to be their an guest author, with Under the Queen's Colours.

Chris Litton from Southampton Talking Echo gave some background of the charity. It has been running for 37 years as a registered charity providing local information for the blind and sight impaired. There are currently 80 volunteers who record information. This used to be recorded onto an audio cassette but a memory stick is now used. The listener is sent a green wallet which encloses the memory stick and this is then plugged into the supplied play back speaker (a computer is not required). Articles covered are gardening, cookery and local history and once a month other information is included. The listener receives the memory stick every fortnight and this is almost three hours of recording and is a free service. The organisation produces news letters to generate income.

Chris is hoping, as a way of increasing the variety to the listener, that authors from Writing Buddies would be willing to record their own work, but, readers can be available if that is the authors' preference. The stories required should take 15-20 minutes recording time (1500 – 2000 words) on any theme. Submissions can be fiction, non fiction or poetry and there may also be the possibility of serialisation of longer pieces of work. Chris advised that a typical listener is female between ages 60 – 90 but they do have some younger listeners.

Jacqueline, who is a volunteer herself, is willing to co-ordinate. There are sufficient readers at the moment but editors and sound engineers are being sought - see www.sate.org.uk. Writing Buddies would, of course be mentioned on the recording. Chris demonstrated how the machinery worked and confirmed to those not familiar with recording machines that, should the reader make a mistake, it is only necessary to pause for a moment and then continue. The continuity will then be taken care of and when they edit, the reader will have a copy to listen to. 'Book at bedtime' is a theory they may pursue.

The Writing Buddies expressed their interest and thanked Chris for his very informative presentation.

Further general discussion took place and Janet advised the group that she used to be a nurse in the 1970s. She would like to write about her nursing experiences. The art degree she has is in book binding and she informed the group about Red Hot Press www.redhotpress.org.uk who are artistic printers and run book binding courses, and also www.blurb.com.

Ann wondered if she should ask for a particular rate when pitching to a publication. The general practice is not to do that but instead, check current rates before pitching. The NUJ offer guidance to freelance rates.

Penny reminded the group that The Art House window display must be cleared today.

The next meeting will be on Friday 5 August at 2.00pm.

Notes by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies Friday 8 July 2011

2011-07-12T10:48:00.004+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 8 July to discuss writing matters and welcomed Penny back after her much earned break.

Elizabeth continues with her Writers Bureau course and is about to start the third assignment.

Jan met Barry Cunningham of Chicken House Publishing at the Winchester Writers Conference and he is reading her book, which is aimed at 8 – 12 year old children. She does not like the title of her book so is considering changing it. Jan expects a response from Barry within 6 – 8 weeks.

Jacqueline entered the Inktastic competition - she didn't win, but enjoyed entering. She has entered a competition in Freelance Market News which calls for a story of no more than 140 characters. She more or less has the plot for her Humble Boy entry and has sent two submissions to Nosy Crow, children's book publishers. Jacqueline has approached Waterstones at West Quay regarding a small self published gift book suitable for Christmas. She was informed that if the book has a good cover Waterstones could, in theory, sell about 100 copies. To help keep her abreast of her writing activities Jacqueline uses a white board on which she has two columns showing the competitions she has entered and her other projects.

Tessa reported that the Inktastic competition has now been judged and the winner picked. There was a disappointingly low number of entries. Tessa is working out a contract with a London Agent who wants 10% on gross sales. Tessa has rewritten the contract and sent it back. The more normal commission rate is 7 -7½% on net sales. She has been working on various projects and the last book of her trilogy should go to print by the end of July.

Mo emailed all Writing Buddies on 10 July regarding a reading of her book, A Blues for Shindig, which will take place at the Vegas Gallery, Shoreditch, London on 14 July.

Rhiannon is re-working a novel she started 15 years ago and has written 12,000 words so far. She is currently aiming at freelance work and has been blogging. She saw two magazines on the internet requesting submissions and is now thinking about what she could submit to them.

Jimmy has sent three chapters of the first book of his trilogy to Legend Press. He is actively promoting his published book, Growing up in Wartime Southampton: Other People's Trousers and has a signing booked for 21 August at Asda, Totton. He has finally secured an answer from the Echo and they will be in contact with regard to reviewing his book. Andy Dyke, a presenter on Radio Solent, will be interviewing Jimmy on 14 July. The blog on his website www.aloejimmy.com is now up and running.

Penny has signed three more contracts with The History Press.

· Eastleigh Then and Now – Penny has recently taken photos of the railway works.

· Bloody Southampton – Penny already has plenty of material for this book.

· Under the Queen's Colours – this will be a commemorative book for the Queen's Jubilee. It will be published in May 2012 and has to be finished by the end of December 2011 to be ready for the publishing date. Donations will go to the Poppy Appeal.

Penny is collaborating with Martin Baum on a new book, which they will consider self publishing. On 19 July Penny will be attending the Queen's Garden Party and she will be at Winchester Cathedral on 15/16 July promoting her book, Winchester: History You Can See. She has been invited to the Society of Authors lunch on 14 July.

General discussion followed. Jacqueline will send another email about the stories required by the Talking Echo. It has been suggested that the writer's record them and Jacqueline advised that this could either be done at her home, or in a quiet room in the Central Library. Penny mentioned that The History Press are now publishing historical fiction whereas previously they only published non fiction. Members were reminded that the items displayed in the Art House Café window will shortly need to be removed.

The next meeting will be on Friday 22 July at 2.00pm, when the Writing Buddies will welcome Chris Litton, from the Eastleigh Talking Pages.

Post written by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddy Mo Foster at Vegas Gallery, London

2011-07-12T10:44:00.001+01:00

Mo Foster, one of the Writing Buddies, has an exciting night ahead of her:

Vegas Gallery is this summer embarking on a new era and are proud to present: Storytelling/Chapter One, the first performance event curated by Alexander Vega.

Storytelling is a contravention to the recognized exhibitions at the gallery, aiming to showcase and promote artistic expression in the field of live art, performance, writing and video.

In Chapter One we will visit the darkest alley ways of 1950’s Soho, with writer Mo Foster. Become aroused by the alluring Femme Fatale from the avant-garde music duo, Bother. Then before you wake up, artist J.D.A Winslow will confront you in his interactive performance piece: "I'd Like To Shake You By The Hand"

For our first evening we are pleased to present writer and journalist Mo Foster. Living between Southampton and London, her provocative plays, ‘menopausal punk’ poems and the novel ‘A Blues for Shindig’ have been critically acclaimed. The latter follows the life and loves of a louche London girl in the seedy blues clubs of 1950s Soho. When people speak about the fifties as a dull monochrome time, they were perhaps in the wrong place. And certainly hadn’t met Shindig. She doesn’t go out of her way to find trouble, but it finds her… and gets a welcome. Louche Soho of 1956 is just the place for Shindig. A strange brew of dissolute characters, surround and engulf her. She adapts, but can she survive the turmoil that she’s created? And somehow we do care about this oddly endearing, infuriating bird on a wire. She wanted the blues and she got them!
To read her story this evening, we have invited the London based actress and singer Rebecca Whitbread. She trained at The Guildhall and has since worked in theatre and film. She is currently working on a one woman musical show to take to the US at the end of the summer. She also sings in two bands: the 1940s duo, 'The Bluebirds of London' and a post rock/punk band, 'Motherhood'). She produces and acts within a film production collective, making short films. She also works with various writers and poets to bring their work to the stage.

Bother is the brainchild of Adam Perchard and Ian Godden, and is a chaotic fusion of performance art and pop with a flair for the ridiculous. Born in 2008, amid despairing games of 'Exquisite Corpse' played in country pubs and gin-fuelled jams in Ian's mother's garage on their home island of Jersey, Bother's distinctive blend of film, music, satire, fashion and performance has since become a familiar presence at the Branchage International Film Festival and in the streets of East London. In 'The Dreary Mademoiselle’, Bother is blending candy-pop camp with eighteenth-century fall from grace narratives like Defoe's Roxana and de Laclos's Les Liaisons Dangereuses, 'The Dreary Mademoiselle' is a joyfully anachronistic fusion of wanton Enlightenment sexuality and MTV raunch. Watch as the shameless, proto-feminist mademoiselle, swept along on a sea of eighties montage, masquerade, melodrama and bubble-bath, sleeps her way to the top and then completely loses her head...

Coming all the way from Edinburgh, artist J.D.A. Winslow will be enacting a performance piece throughout the evening. "I'd Like To Shake You By The Hand" is based around the concept of a conversation being more life-affirming than most works of art and certainly more life-affirming than his own art. By blurring the boundaries between existence and art it emphases on the idea that mundanity is necessary. The piece celebrates quotidian and how the simplest pleasures are often only a hello away.

So it is our pleasure to invite you to the first night of storytelling at Vegas.

www.mo-foster.co.uk

www.soundcloud.com/motherhood

www.thebluebirdsoflondon.com

www.youtube.com/botherchannel

www.jdawinslow.tumblr.com

Writing Buddies, 24 June 2011

2011-07-08T07:37:00.004+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 24 June to discuss writing matters. In the absence of Penny Legg the meeting was chaired ably by Jimmy Marsh.

Eileen informed the group that her book, Miss McGuire is Missing, is now available in large print. Her second novel, Blackmail for Beginners, will be out soon. She was very pleased to inform everyone that the Canadian Publishing Company, Harlequin, have made her an offer on the paperback rights.

Rhiannon joined the Writing Buddies for the first time and hails from Fareham. She has been writing all her life and has had two short stories and one poem published. She was short listed for the Ashmore Award. She is currently working on a novel she conceived 15 years ago when she was in Sheffield.

Mo is in talks with a potential new collaborator and has a reading at an art gallery within the next month.

Jacqueline has finished the short story she was working on and sent it to Take a Break (Fiction Feast) magazine. She has entered a flash fiction competition (500 words), which closes at the end of June. Jacqueline went to the Inktastic launch, organised by Tessa Warburg the owner of the publishing company The Thorn Press, and bought a book. There is a competition in the book for a story constructed around one of the pictures contained it, the prize being the original picture. Jacqueline also has plans to start on Humble Boy and is writing non fiction articles.

Veronica showed the group a book containing photographs, which are currently on display in The Art House Café.

Lisa has been in talks with a representative from Rebellion publishing who she met at The London Book Fair. She is trying to challenge herself away from the zombie theme and would like to write more romance. Lisa feels she does not want to be involved concerning production of her novels unless she is being paid and she might possibly sell the rights.

Suneda has finished university and this is her last visit to the group. She will now start writing her book – a ghost story.

Tessa reported that the Inktastic book launch went well. Unfortunately, the interview Tessa had set up with the Echo did not take place as the author changed his address. Tessa has finished her third book, Ladybird Soar. She is preparing the contract for Ann Robert’s book, The Master's Tale, which is due for publication on 20^th September 2011.

Elizabeth has finished her second assignment for The Writers Bureau.

Laurel is still submitting her stories to competitions and she has entered 2 poems, 1 short story and 1 flash fiction for the Bridport Prize.

John advised that Apples and Snakes are offering a free seminar for poets. He has written two more reviews for the Echo and reminded the group about the email he sent to members about the Bush Green Theatre.

Jimmy has 13 books still to be published and is working on them with a view to sending them to a publisher. His published book, Growing Up in Wartime Southampton: Other People's Trousers is now on sale at Tesco's at Bursledon.

Ivor joined the group towards the end of the meeting. He is not a great fan of typeset and prefers to write in longhand. On his way to the meeting he found himself writing down his observations, viewed from the bus.

Various topics were discussed including being consistent with your writing and the need for many proof reading sessions. John was keen to learn the proper way to lay out a script and Jacqueline mentioned that even Ian Rankin has had to do re-writes due to mistakes in his writing.

The next meeting will be on Friday 8 July at 2.00pm.

Post by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies, 10 June 2011

2011-06-23T07:27:00.001+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 10 June to discuss writing matters. The meeting was ably chaired by Jacqueline in the absence of Penny.

Tessa received a telephone call from Caradoc King, who is a top agent from A.P. Watt, Literary Agency, www.apwatt.co.uk asking her if she would like to publish Ann Robert’s book about the Titanic. Tessa will start as soon as possible. She will need a proof reader and received some offers of help from Writing Buddies.

Janice had felt encouraged by her first visit to Writing Buddies and has been gathering together all her poems into a little book.

Mo was disappointed that, after her meetings with the American Director, despite his interest, she still has no contract or fee. She has gone back to writing her third novel and is considering writing a play. Mo recently attended a SWWJ meeting and found it very worthwhile going.

Elizabeth is still working on her second assignment for The Writers Bureau and has nearly completed a short story which she will consider entering into a competition.

Jimmy has been contacted by The History Press who are arranging signings of his book, Growing up in Wartime Southampton: Someone Else's Trousers, in Asda and Tesco. His blog, on his website, www.aloejimmy.com will be up and running in a few days. His third book of his trilogy is beginning to take shape and he is also editing previous work.

Jacqueline is working on a children’s novel. She has sent back the first free one of the books she is reviewing, (not as previously reported on 27 May) and found it interesting to see what mistakes other writers make. She is brushing up on three stories for schoolchildren and has written a short story which she is considering sending to Take a Break magazine. Jacqueline won a Toblerone chocolate bar on Twitter and has received two tweets from the author, Ian Rankin. She has not heard from Yours magazine so assumes that her article has been accepted.

John has sent some of his poems to Isaac Sigley who is putting together an event in Southsea. John continues to write reviews for the Echo and was pleased to inform the group that 86 copies of his book have been sold, 84 at the full price, in less than one year.

Vijay is writing flash fiction – mostly fantasy, but as yet he has not submitted his stories anywhere.

General discussion followed on various topics ranging from using google to ascertain a particular song's copyright, suggestions for Tessa's search for a 'shout line' and how to ration time for writing.

The next meeting will be on Friday 24 June at 2.00pm.

Writing Buddies, 27 May 2011

2011-06-10T07:51:00.002+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 27 May to celebrate their 2^nd anniversary and welcomed Janice, Jane and Dan to the group.

Richard is a member of the Totton branch of U3A (University of the Third Age) and edits the magazine. He also runs a discussion group.

Elizabeth is still working on her second assignment for The Writers Bureau which she hopes to complete and send to her tutor by the end of next week.

Jimmy successfully launched his book and his website www.aloejimmy.com blog spot should be up and running in a short while. He will be book signing at the Above Bar branch of Waterstones on Saturday 11 June from 11.30am – 3.00pm.

Tessa brought along the first book she has published through her company, The Thorn Press, for Andrew P. Jones. The title of the book is INKTASTIC and there will be a book launch and art display at Southampton City College on Monday 20 June from 5.00pm – 9.00pm. The Echo is writing an article on him. Tessa's third book of The Dohlen Inheritance trilogy will be out in July.

Jacqueline has finished the first draft of her children’s book and following a critique she finds she has to re-write it. Jacqueline won a set of saucepans as her prize for the star letter in the June edition of Sainsbury's magazine. The sleep article Jacqueline was writing for Yours magazine has now been completed. The magazine requested Jacqueline to include the health aspect and this she has done. Jacqueline continues to review books see www.chicklit.co.uk – she reads one manuscript a month and having read five for no payment she has been paid £10 for reviewing the next book.

Veronica writes poetry and informed the group about Amnesty International's 50th birthday party. She also mentioned Bully Boy at the Nuffield Theatre.

Tony writes about local history and brought two of his books with him. He informed the group that he was surprised that the publishers had changed the title by just one word. The History Press are still sourcing illustrations and he is currently submitting a story of the Battle of Wilton to a magazine.

Dan, new to the group, is studying law and currently writing a science fiction fantasy book. He has sent a draft to a literary consultant and received a reply back and is now working at improving it. He feels he has enough to write three books.

Janice noticed the Art Café window display advertising The Writing Buddies and was interested in what the group were about. She writes poetry and has done since school. She would like to write a book and is hoping her artistic niece will be able to illustrate it.

Jane was also attracted to the group by the window display and has written about her travels. She is not sure which direction to take yet with this.

Laurel continues to enter competitions with her short stories.

Mo visited Lisbon and had a great time. She received an email from an American Director and they met for lunch. He wants her to write her character Shindig, into his writing. The Sanctum Club asked her for 50 books to sell. Mo is currently writing her third novel.

Monica is working on a children’s novel. The author, Nik Morton, looked at it, gave her some valued suggestions and she has enlisted a 10 year old to read it. Monica mentioned that a friend has just published through Kindle and found it an easy experience. She is working on her third assignment for The Writers Bureau and has had one article published in a small local magazine.

Penny has finished The Writing Buddies anthology and it is set to be published in September 2011. She is about to sign two more book contracts for The History Press. She is to write Eastleigh: Then and Now, with publication towards the end of 2012, so as not to clash with Glen's book, Voices of Eastleigh, which will be published in April 2012. The second contract for Bloody Southampton, will be published in July 2012. Penny will be looking for anything up to WW2 and is hoping for about 30 stories.

Open discussion covered Jane's travelling experiences. Jane sold up in this country and went to New Zealand for a year to trace her family history. She found family members that she had not seen for 40 years. Mo mentioned that SWWJ were looking for travel writers and she will forward the information to Jane. Jane mentioned that a publisher is interested but she will need to put all her writing into order first before furthering this.

Penny reminisced about how she and Pam Whittington had started the group two years ago. The first meeting was held at Borders bookshop, when 10 people turned up for the first meeting. The group has grown considerably since then.

A fantastic birthday cake (chocolate, of course) was enjoyed by everyone together with a glass of wine – or two! A good time was had by all.

The next meeting will be on Friday 10 June at 2.00pm.

Writing Buddies, 13 May 2011

2011-05-19T08:43:00.005+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 13 May for a discussion dedicated to self publishing and welcomed Ann, Jan, Veronica and Tony to the group, who were joining for the first time.

Penny had invited author Martin Baum along, to talk to the group about self publishing, but before Martin began, James Marsh shared his experience of self publishing his Davie Collins series of books. They were published by Lulu. Jim explained that the company do not charge for publishing but take 20% of all sales. The author is expected to lay out the book in the correct manner, set the selling price, print size, paper weight and decide on the front cover. Lulu do not provide an editing service, so no proofs are sent to the author for checking. Jim's advice is that anyone thinking of self publishing with Lulu should take care to ensure they are aware what is expected of them before embarking on this route.

Martin addressed the WritingBuddies, explaining that he is a satirist and wrote a condensed Shakespeare book in modern language, for his son, to make it easier for him to understand. After failing to get his book published through an agent he decided to self publish. He did his research in depth and self published through Richard Fitt at Authors Online. The company charges £750 to set up and publish the book, and the author receives 6 free copies. Authors OnLine send proofs, which need to be thoroughly checked. The company charges to have any mistakes corrected. Martin emphasised the importance of proof reading '7, 8, 9 or however many times it takes,' to get your work accurate, and he advised involving one or two people to help.

Following publication, the author will need to do much leg work. This will involve a press release and Martin advised that 200 words maximum be used, with bold letters in red. When his book TO BE OR NOT TO BE, INNIT (www.yoofspeak.net) was released, it invoked upset amongst the Shakespeare purists. This led to interest from the press and Martin found himself giving interviews on television and newspapers, and much more.

Martin's sources of advertising included information gathered from either the Writers' Handbook or Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. He contacted television and everyone relevant with press releases, including local radio and the Bournemouth Echo.

Martin recommended contacting the library service and provided the group with the website address for libraries nationwide As librarians from each library meet and select books, it is advisable to make them aware of the release of a self published book. Royalties of 6p per book are gained each time the book is taken out of a library (and even photocopied), but it is necessary to register for Public Lending Right and also with The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society. Perseverance is needed as it is very repetitive contacting the libraries. Martin advised the group to be prepared to be asked questions. He also stresed how important it is important to put everything on your website.

Martin explained that although he has written short stories for magazines and had them published, together with three plays, he had been unable to get his book accepted for publication by a main stream publisher. His view is that having short stories previously published held no sway when it came to trying to get a book published. On Martin's website he gives advice see: 60 second book break. His conclusion regarding Authors OnLine is that they are an honourable company. Martin suggested using google or flickr for pictures for a front cover of a book. Martin added that he is willing to answer any questions if you email him.

Tony, new to the group, has self published books through Authorhouse and has the impression that they are a genuine company so he can recommend them, but, just be cautious. Tony decided on the price and size of his book and found that the company gave a lot of advice. Previously, Tony had set up his own publishing company; with his son setting up a website. He visited bookshops and within two years sold his books on a sale or return basis. He used to publish other writers' books, but now prefers to have a publisher and limit himself to his own work.

Penny thanked Martin for a very informative talk and sharing his experiences with Writing Buddies. She also thanked James and Tony for sharing their self publishing experiences.

The Writing Buddies display will be arranged at the weekend, 14/15 May, in the front window of The Art House Café.

Penny will be giving a talk at Woolston Library on Friday 20 May at 7.00pm. Tickets £1.00 available from Woolston or Weston Library, or by emailing carolyn.taplin@southampton.gov.uk

The next meeting will be on 27 May 2011, when the group celebrates its second birthday.

Post by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies, 15 April 2011

2011-05-19T08:27:00.003+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 15 April for a discussion on writing matters.

Elizabeth is still working on the second assignment for The Writers Bureau and has completed a little more of her book.

Sunida is studying magazine journalism at The Solent University.

Jacqueline is once more flowing with her writing and has had a letter accepted for Sainsbury's magazine. The current issue of Writers News has her short piece about World Book Night and she is about to be paid for her contribution to Peoples Friend magazine. Also, Writers Forum magazine has printed her letter. Jacqueline is currently reviewing a self published book and is finding many errors. Last but not least, Jacqueline has received an email from Yours magazine who would like her to write an article on sleep, for the July issue. The magazine has planned it out and expects 800 words by 1 June, for which they will pay £200.

Glen is continuing with her book on Eastleigh which she has been commissioned to write by The History Press. She has written about 13,000 words so far and the requirement is 30,000 plus photographs. She is finding it a little difficult transcribing her interviews but is enjoying writing the book.

Mike is a new member and is in his 3^rd year at Chichester University where he is studying Counselling Psychology. He has written prose and poetry and is currently working on his dissertation of 12,000 words.

Jimmy has just completed a short children’s book which, when illustrated, will be dedicated to his grandson. He is working on chapter 5 of his latest book. His visit to The London Book Fair was productive as he was able to get two publishers interested in his books.

Mo also attended The London Book Fair and took three chapters of her book to Black Spring Publishers. She was particularly interested in the Russian section at the fair.

Catherine is editing her novel and is currently on the second draft. She aims to complete this by the end of April. Catherine has posted an interview with the author, Margaret James on her blog and the Writers in Southampton group have asked Catherine to do a talk on blogging in February 2012. Catherine was pleased to announce that she has been long listed for the Flash 500 competition she entered.

Penny went to The London Book Fair on the final day and was surprised to find some of the stands packing up. She visited The History Press stand to obtain feed back on her book sales and was very pleased to hear that her latest published title, Haunted Southampton, had achieved sales of 1,085 between 1 February and 31 March 2011. She has four further book proposals and on 1 May her Winchester book will be released. Winchester Cathedral, which will be stocking this book, have asked Penny to host an event. Waterstones have suggested to Penny that she hosts another ghost evening talk, following the great success of the last one.

General topics discussed ranged from the importance of a correctly composed covering letter to a publisher, to the need of double checking spellings instead of just relying on the spell check facility on your computer. As previously discussed, Penny confirmed that the meeting on self publishing would be arranged for Friday 13 May, which will be the next meeting of Writing Buddies. Jimmy self published through Lulu a few years ago and will be able to give some insight into the pitfalls that he encountered. Lisa has published on line and also John has self published his book of poems.

The Writing Buddies window display at The Art House Café was discussed and Penny will check if it is booked for 14^th or 15^th May. Mo will be able to contribute a laptop plus two posters, magazines and front cover of her book. Business cards and flyers will be needed and Jacqueline confirmed that she is able to contribute. Penny asked members to think about the display and requested help in dressing the window.

New member, Mike, explained more about his counselling services and that he has a website and would like to set up a regular blog. His website is www.livingchanges.co.uk He works privately and also with NHS referrals.

The next meeting of Writing Buddies will be on Friday 13th May. The meeting will be about self publishing and author Martin Baum will be welcomed as a guest.

Post by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies 18th March 2011

2011-04-01T08:40:00.003+01:00

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 18 March for a lively discussion to share information on writing matters.

Jacqueline has received a critique for her children’s book and taken note of the comments. She has been busy editing Talking News and is working on a short story for Take a Break magazine. She is entering a humorous poetry competition and has had a letter printed in The Echo. Jacqueline has also been asked to review a book on child abuse. She also mentioned Ether Books www.etherbooks.co.uk .

Sunida joined the group for the first time. She is in her third year at Solent University and wanted advice on how to proceed with writing about the strange experiences she has encountered in her life.

Eileen writes crime books. Her second novel is ready to go to the publishers and she is working on the third. Her first novel, Miss McGuire is Missing, is being reprinted and also being published in large print.

Gunvor is from Sweden and started writing short stories and poems. She wrote a book aimed at eight to twelve year old girls and has also written a sequel. Her third book is different and she is trying to get this one published, so needs advice on this aspect.

Elizabeth has completed the first assignment for The Writers Bureau and is working on the second. She has also been able to write more of her novel.

Jacob has been working on a variety of different things. He is editing one short story and has started another.

Mo has a new reader for her book and has been requested to do a one woman show. She has been actively blogging - see www.loudwomen.blogspot.com, www.themotiononline.couk and Mo's own blog on www.mo-foster.co.uk

Penny's activities include her launch of her book, Haunted Southampton. The evening of ghost stories Penny hosted at Waterstones was a sell out, and she is considering a repeat performance. Her talk at the Civic Centre was plagued with problems. Penny overcame these and emphasised to the group the importance of ascertaining, before-hand, that the equipment provided at a venue is compatible with your own. The page proofs and cover design for her Winchester book are now through. Haunted Southampton is currently no.1 in Waterstones book listings.

Laurel is working on a short story entry for the Bridport Prize. She is also entering a ghost story for a competition in a writing magazine.

Lisa has finished her proofs for Death And The City, books one and two. A producer, from Lymington, is looking for a script based on a female security officer and is very impressed with Death And The City and has contacted Lisa regarding this. Lisa took her book, The Terrible Zombie of Oz to be passed to Andrew Lloyd Webber for his perusal.

John has written one or two reviews and two poems as a result of his visit to Bournemouth, as mentioned at the last meeting.

A general discussion followed covering various topics including the benefits of having a blog, Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn was mentioned but this is more for professionals.

Sunida was given advice on how to write about her experiences and it was suggested that whether it is written as fact or fiction, is dependent on how much material she has. Another suggestion was a plan for both fiction and non fiction. It was generally agreed that thorough research was needed.

Gunvor is having difficulty placing the two fantasy children’s books she has written, aimed at girls from age 8 – 12. She has been working her way through agents and now contacting publishers. Penny advised her to go straight to a publisher and research those who accept unsolicited manuscripts. Penny stressed the importance of the accuracy of a covering letter and synopsis when sending to a publisher.

Penny confirmed that she will organise a meeting solely about self publishing after Easter. The publication of Wordfall, The Writing Buddies Anthology, is postponed until September.

The date for the group's advertising in The Art House Café window has now been confirmed as being from 15^th May to 24^th June.

More suggestions for display included:

· Book marks

· Flyers

· Banner

· Flip-chart (stories/articles)

· Book-covers

The meeting concluded with Lisa showing members her E Touch Android Tablet, which is a book reader, not storing as many books as a Kindle, but costing less.

Post written by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies, 4 March 2011

2011-03-13T10:34:00.004Z

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café on 4 March to share information and discuss writing matters.

Jacob is still working on his board game. He is writing a poem and also considering entering a short story he wrote a while ago, and put on line, into a competition. Penny advised him to look at the competition rules as they usually state that entries must not have been previously published, in any form. He mentioned a short story competition with THE POINT, Eastleigh. www.thepointeastleigh.co.uk

Penny mentioned that Martin Hodges of Poetry 24 is actively looking for poetry. http://poetry-24.blogspot.com/

Tessa is editing the third draft of the third book of her 'Dohlen' trilogy.

Laurel has written a short story and submitted it to the Write Space competition. She has written two poems for Moving Voices and is downloading details of competitions closing in March with a view to entering her work.

Jimmy has completed the first chapter of his new book. He has visited Waterstones regarding signings of his book, Growing up in Wartime Southampton: Someone Else’s Trousers and the book launch will be held at The Riverside Club, above St Deny's Rowing Club, Priory Road, St Deny's on Sunday 8 May, 2 – 5.00pm.

Elizabeth is working on her first assignment for The Writers Bureau and hopes to complete this by the next meeting.

Lisa's book The Terrible Zombie of Oz is being sold by Amazon all around the world and is also available through Barnes & Noble. She researched e book prices and it is being marketed at £3.50. Penny confirmed that Lisa's book will be put up on the Writing Buddies bookcase on the blog site. See www.createspace.com/

John has written two reviews and five poems. He performed two poems at Moving Voices and went to Freeway Poets in Bournemouth. He will be hosting an open mic at Petersfield.

Penny's book Voices of Southampton is now finished and with the publisher. She has been accepted into The Society of Authors. The magazines she was working, Carousel and The Bulletin on have now gone to press. Her current book, Haunted Southampton is no. 11 at Waterstones, Above Bar, Southampton, in their best-seller listing.

Penny will be launching Haunted Southampton on Sunday 13 March book launch for Haunted Southampton at The Station Pub, Bitterne, 3.00 – 5.00pm. .

On Wednesday 16 March Penny is hosting an evening of ghost stories at Waterstones, Above Bar starting at 7.00pm.

Penny was particularly pleased to receive a review for Haunted Southampton on Amazon. She is thinking of possibly writing another ghost book as there are plenty of stories to be investigated.

A general discussion followed covering various topics including the closures of bookshops and the increasing popularity of e books.

Laurel expressed her frustration at not being able to get her work published. Penny advised her to write directly to a publisher rather than trying to get an agent and also encouraged her to set up her own web site. Amanda Hocking was mentioned. She is a 26 year old American author having great success with her self published books. See www.authorsonshow.com

John suggested having a guest columnist on the Writing Buddies blog, perhaps commencing with Penny. If this is to be initiated the member would need to forward their piece to Penny and she would then put it up on the blog. The blog is quite high on the wiki league. Advertising on the site was also mentioned but was felt to be time consuming and generally members agreed against this.

The next Writing Buddies meeting will be on Friday 18 March at 2pm at The Art House Cafe, Above Bar, Southampton. Everyone is welcome.

Post written by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies, 18 February 2011

2011-02-26T08:50:00.001Z

The Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café in Southampton on Friday 18 February 2011, where a slightly smaller number than usual were gathered. Regulars Jacqueline, Catherine and Glen sent their apologies.

Lisa has self published her book The Terrible Zombie Of Oz, which is available in paperback on Amazon and e-book in the Amazon Kindle store. Lisa did all the work herself including the jacket design and really enjoyed the process. See www.createspace.com/3540206. The group congratulated her on this achievement.

Tessa is looking to get her books on Kindle, however, Amazon are insisting on 35% of the proceeds.

Jimmy's article has now been published on The Motion Online publication. He is proof reading his book Growing Up in Wartime Southampton: Someone Else's Trousers and this has to be completed by 26 February and returned to The History Press. He has been informed that his book will now be in the shops mid April and his book launch will take place on Sunday 8 May 2011. Jimmy has also finished Java's Revenge and is looking forward to beginning his 15^th book.

Elizabeth has now sent off her entries for two short story competitions and is starting the first assignment for The Writers Bureau. She has also done a little more work on her book.

Jacob, at the moment, is just writing for the love of it. He is currently writing counter cards for a board game.

John has reviewed six shows and has received payment for the first four. He recently had a job interview for an Art Workshop and although he was not successful he did gather lots of information. He showed the group IdeasTap literature. See also www.artshub.co.uk

Laurel is aiming to enter the Bridport Prize writing competition. She is preparing three entries, a poem, flash fiction and a short story, which she says, she hopes will be 'off the wall.' She is trying something not already thought of. The group gave her encouragement with this.

Annette is contacting various publishers. The Editor of Scots Magazine requested that she email her ideas and the magazine would like to publish her work, for which she will be paid. Regarding the 1950's stories, The History Press like the ideas Annette has put forward. Penny advised Annette that The History Press are good at contacting so will not keep keep her waiting long for a decision. Low royalties though, perhaps only 5%.

Mo has started turning one of her stories into a play. She was at the Nuffield Theatre on Monday and has a meeting in London regarding her poetry.

Penny's latest book deadline is the end of February. The Writing Buddies Anthology is now almost finished. Penny is working on DSFA magazines and has been offered work on Twitter.
She is also considering writing another ghost book.

The next meeting of Writing Buddies is on Friday 4th March at the Art House Cafe, Above Bar, Southampton at 2pm. All with an interest in writing are welcome to come along.

Post by Elizabeth Streatfield.

WRITING BUDDIES, 21 JANUARY 2011

2011-01-28T09:26:00.004Z

The Writing Buddies met at The Art House Café in Southampton on Friday 21 January 2011 where several new members were gathered round the table.

Jimmy has received the cover for his book Growing up in Wartime Southampton: Someone else's Trousers from The History Press and is very pleased with it. Chapter 24 of Java's Revenge is ongoing, possibly continuing to chapter 25. Recently he was asked by Age Concern to talk to a group of young people from Southampton College about his experiences growing up during the war. He ran a writing workshop in the afternoon and was particularly impressed by one young man’s grasp of what life was like during the war.

Claire, a new member, wrote two non fiction books some years ago but now wants to try her hand at fiction writing. Last year she attended an Arvon Course and this led to her entering a competition with her first story of 4,000 words, set in China. As yet she has not received any results. She is also thinking of entering the Début Dagger competition.

Jacqueline entered the How-to-Books, December competition. She is still writing for Suite 101, which she informed the group has re-vamped its site. Now, statistics show how many people read the articles that week, particularly over Christmas. She has been looking at the Cats Protection Competition which is for a poem or story up to 1,000 words. The first draft of her children’s book is finished and she is now editing and this will be ready in February.

Pam has had a quiet time on the writing front but continues with her research.

Laurel, another new member, writes short stories and has written a science fiction book for children, which was turned down by the publisher she sent it to. She has recorded it for You Tube. The title is Alice and the Best Friends Forever! Jane's Secret. She has also submitted four poems for consideration with a publication and is a member of the Southampton Writers Circle where she recently won the Greensleeves trophy for a short story competition.

Mo's illustrations for her new novel are presently on hold. She reported that her Berlin interview has inaccuracies. She is re-writing her novel and has written four or five more poems.

John has been reading short poems in Bournemouth and has written four drama reviews this year. On line reviewing from Writing Buddies would be appreciated. John advised the group of a Poetry Anthology competition with a closing date for entries of 30 June 2011. To enter send three unpublished poems of no more than 20 lines and 160 words each to United Press Ltd., Admail 3735, London EC1 1JB or visit unitedpress.co.uk.

Tessa has sent the illustrations for her trilogy to Germany and is considering translating the trilogy. She has been asked to do a talk on Holocaust and Genocide Memorial Day and a reporter from the Echo has been to interview her.

Josephine has 'started to finish' her book on Meetings. She went to a Parish Meeting and realised there was no difference, but it was useful. Next step is publication as all the book is written - 163 pages plus 70 appendices. She is considering taking bits of the book for articles.

Mercy, a new member, has a poetry connection and is currently writing a novel about HIV set in Africa. She has so far completed 10,000 words. She wanted to join a group and not just be a lone writer so would welcome sharing her work for feedback.

Richard has ideas for a novel and stories but other issues are at present preventing him from forwarding these.

Annette told the group that she had recently purchased Penny's book Southampton Then and Now from Tesco's, Bursledon. She has been inspired by Writing Buddies and approached BBC Scotland regarding a script she had written about life during the last world war. They informed her that they do not take unsolicited scripts. She has poems put together that need illustration. Her family suggested she write a book set in the 1950s about her memory of Scotland. One story has already been accepted. She wrote an illustrated children’s book some years ago and is now wondering about its suitability for animation.

Fiona has finished her book Relative Truth, the editing of which took a long time. She has drawn up a list of agents who favour first time writers. The synopsis is done and she is pacing herself. She has also started her next book. The City Literature course is going well. Her partner's book is being launched 19^th February, about Racing Ace – Samuel Kinkade.

Martin, new to the group, was a columnist back in the 1980's, mainly writing about family life. He started blogging in July 2009 and has self published a poetry book through Blurb.

Catherine took a break from writing in December but is now continuing on the first draft of her novel of 75,000 words. She was very pleased that her application to the Romantic Novelist Association New Writers Scheme has been accepted. Catherine has booked to go to the York Festival of Writing in March, where she has a meeting with a publisher. She has submitted a short story for Queensland competition which is for 500 – 1,000words and closes on 28 January 2011. One hundred entries will be selected as winners.

Elizabeth has enrolled with The Writers Bureau which will give her the encouragement and incentive to continue writing regularly. A short story for a competition is well under way and she is progressing with her book, although much research is still needed.

Penny advised that the Writing Buddies Anthology has been proof read. She apologised for the delay but her software is not compatible with the publisher's and this had caused a problem. Her book Voices of Southampton is on track for end of February. Haunted Southampton is due out next week and she should have copies by 4 February. It will be in the shops shortly after that. Penny continues to mark scripts for The Writer Bureau. She was invited to The Writers' Study in Dorset to present the prizes after judging their short story and poetry competition.

Further discussion took place and Penny advised the group that she could arrange to have one Buddies meeting just about self publication. She will keep the group advised about this.

The London Book Fair will be held at Earls Court on 11 -13^th April 2011. Writers can book appointments with publishers and discuss submissions and contracts. This is an opportunity to meet publishers and test out ideas, knowing they will give straight answers. There will be workshops but you need to book the fair in advance. It is advisable to take a trolley on wheels for all the literature that is available. Details are on line now.

York Festival of Writing, 25 - 27^th March, is residential but with the London Book Fair you can do a single day.

On Friday 4 February Penny is running a creative workshop through Age Concern for the over 50s. It will be held at Cranbury Terrace, Southampton from 10 – 12 noon and the accent will be getting going with writing and making it fun. Penny emphasised that poetry will not be covered.

Mercy was hoping that someone from the group would be willing to read her work and it was suggested that perhaps she and Claire could become writing buddies.

Penny requested new members to furnish her with their blog addresses, so that they could be put on the Writing Buddies blog site.

The next Writing Buddies meeting will be held on Friday 4th February, at 2pm, at the Art House Cafe, Above Bar, Southampton. Everyone is welcome.

Notes written by Elizabeth Streatfield.

Writing Buddies - Mo Foster in Berlin

2011-01-07T10:05:00.004Z

One of the Writing Buddies, Mo Foster, is causing quite a stir in Berlin at the moment. Click to read her interview in the NPR Berlin blog.

Congratulations, Mo!

Writing Buddies, December 17th, 2010

2011-01-04T20:22:00.001Z

Despite the big chill, Southampton Writing Buddies met once again at The Art House, and had evidently put in a good deal of writing since the previous meeting.

Jacqueline is working on the ending of her children’s novel, and will go on to do a substantial edit. She has begun approaching critique services to choose one to advise once the work is ready. She has entered the HowTo Books latest competition, and pitched to publishers the idea for a small till-side stocking filler book for next Christmas.

Glen has a poem in the Portsmouth poetry book, This Island City, and she has recited her story about singing turkeys at some events – this was inspired by a soft toy. Now that the Express FM soap Conway Street, for which she was a script writer, has ended, she is in contact with The History Press about a book on Eastleigh.

Elizabeth is setting her goals for the new year, and plans to allocate time every day for her writing. Meanwhile, she has been continuing plotting and writing her novel.

Mo has completed 9000+ words of her novel, a sequel to A Blues for Shindig. She read poetry at the 451 event at The Nuffield Theatre, including two new poems; the evening was headlined by John Hegley. She is now reviewing her previous body of work which includes plays as well as poetry.

Tessa has a new computer. There were problems upgrading some existing programmes but she has found www.zinstall.com very helpful. They provide a way of installing older programmes on new computers, or of putting them on a virtual drive which can be transported to any computer. The first draft of the third book of her trilogy, Ladybird Soar, is completed and Tessa is now editing it. Agents have liked her wildflower book but have not felt able to take it on for practical reasons, and she is also trying publishers directly, but she may decide to self-publish. She is also considering a book on a food theme.

Christine has re-registered with The Writers Bureau, and has already completed the first assignment. She first registered many years ago, but they are happy for her to resume now with just a small payment for updated materials. She is editing the second book on young people’s mental health, and details are being discussed with the publisher. She may submit a piece for the HowTo Books competition, and is considering updating and rewriting a very old book on local walks.

Catherine was pleased to finish NaNoWriMo in good time, and will do further work on the book after the holiday. She plans to spend more time writing short stories again, for magazines and competitions. She has been entering competitions including one for blogs, and has so many followers that she is going to run her own competition. She is also considering joining the Romantic Novelists Association.

Jimmy is now working on chapter 22 of Java’s Revenge, and the proofs of his autobiography Growing Up in Southampton, Someone Else’s Trousers are due just after Christmas.

Lisa recently attended a crime and thriller workshop, and made many contacts. The speaker recommended the book Forensics for Dummies. She has entered short stories on authonomy, and has been blogging; her blog includes music reviews, and some links to it have started up from other sites including Facebook.

John read his poetry at the 451 event at The Nuffield, and thought the evening went well. He also read for a solo session at the Arches Bizarre event at The Bargate shopping mall; the audience at that time was small but there was a very positive response. He has entered the competition for an opinion columnist; the prize is substantial over a period of time.

Penny now has the software working for Wordfall, the Buddies’ Anthology, and it is taking shape. Richard Ashman from Southampton Central Library has agreed to proofread for us. Penny has been book-signing for Southampton Then and Now and Folklore of Southampton, including at Waterstone’s and ASDA. It was the first time ASDA had staged this sort of event; they produced a very good environment for her, and she sold an impressive number of books. She is currently working on Voices of Southampton, and is shortly to interview Carol Cunio, the city’s mayor.

Discussion followed, and topics included obtaining critiques, using #ff (forward Friday) on Twitter to recommend good people to follow, and a magazine Teller, which includes poems and short stories and is prestigious, though it does not pay writers. Marketing for our books was also discussed; it was agreed that Penny’s establishing ASDA as a signing venue could be helpful for Buddies’ future books. Various genres and competitions were also on the agenda.

This was the last Writing Buddies’ meeting for 2010; the next will be on Friday January 21st, at 2pm at The Art House, Above Bar, Southampton. Everyone with an interest in writing is very welcome. In the meantime, we wish everyone a productive and successful new year.
me, Glen, Elizabeth, Mo, Tessa, Christine, Catherine, Jimmy, Lisa, John and you), Writing Buddies, HowTo Books, John Hegley, Romantic Novelists Association, Authonomy, Facebook, Waterstone’s, ASDA, Teller.

Writing Buddies Book Sale 20th December - Cancelled

2010-12-20T10:29:00.003Z

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Writing Buddies Book Sale has been cancelled.

The Writing Buddies apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Writing Buddies authors look forward to meeting their readers in the near future and, in the meantime, wish everyone a very happy Christmas.

Writing Buddies' Book Sale - 20th December 2010

2010-12-13T10:32:00.004Z

The countdown has begun! There are only 7 days to go to the first ever Writing Buddies book sale.

If you are looking for a personalised gift this Christmas, you need look no further than Goblets, Above Bar, Southampton, between noon and 4pm, on Monday 20th December. The Writing Buddies will be there for a one-off sale of their work.

Authors planning to be there are:

Tessa Warburg - the leading authority on knitting with many books on the subject to her credit; a noted novelist, the first two books in the Dohlen trilogy are out now, and a non-fiction author.

Catherine King - the author of five novels, the latest, The Orphan Child, is just published.

J Goodman - his book of poetry, Poetic Imagery, is now available.

Mo Foster - the author of the novel A Blues for Shindig, Mo is also a noted blogger.

Penny Legg - the founder of Writing Buddies will be there with her two non-fiction titles, Folklore of Hampshire and Southampton Then and Now. She will also be taking advance orders for her new book, out in the New Year, Haunted Southampton.

James Marsh - will be there taking advance orders for his book, Growing Up in Wartime Britain: Someone Else's Trousers, which is due for publication in May 2011.

So, if you fancy coming along and meeting the authors, buying signed copies of their work, learning more about Writing Buddies, we will be happy to welcome you!

Writing Buddies Book Sale - Monday 20th December, Noon - 4pm

Goblets Pub, Above Bar, Southampton.

Writing Buddies, 3 December 2010

2010-12-08T09:12:00.000Z

Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House, Southampton on Friday December 3rd. This was in the midst of the snow and ice, but even so several members managed to make it, and there was plenty to discuss.

John has been writing more poetry. He was recently filmed reading his work in the Guildhall Square, and the film maker planned to put the piece on YouTube. On December 13th he will be reading more of his work at the Nuffield Theatre Studio at an event introduced by top poet John Hegley. There is also an event called ‘Archers Bizarre’ at the Bargate Shopping Centre on December 16th, 5-7pm, where (Buddy) John will be reading. He also continues to write drama reviews for the Daily Echo.

Mo has returned from Berlin, where she sold a good quantity of her book, A Blues for Shindig. There were two readings of her work, one in a gallery, and one in an open studio, both of which went well. She was about to be mentioned on radio and TV networks in the USA.

Elizabeth continues with work on her novel; she has spent time adjusting character names.

Jimmy is now working on chapter 21 of Java’s Revenge, with at least one further chapter to come; a grand fight is apparently imminent. He has had some computer problems which he has resolved, at least for now. His autobiography is due out in the spring, and the cover is currently being designed.

Jacqueline has had an article accepted by HowTo Books for their website, and has been entering writing competitions. Her article on Memoirs of a WAAF has finally been accepted by The People’s Friend, who plan to publish it in one of their ‘specials’. She has completed another script for the Eastleigh Talking News, and has finished the first draft of her children’s detective novel. She is considering writing a ‘till-side stocking filler’ book for next Christmas.

Penny has finished preparing her book, Winchester, History You Can See. At the New Forest Book Fair she was in the minority as a writer among second-hand booksellers. Penny has been asked to do talks on her work researching, writing, and putting books together at both the central and Woolston libraries. She recently gave a talk for the Diplomatic Services Families Association, on folklore and ‘things that go bump in the night’. There have been book signings at Waterstone’s and WHSmith, and she has been interviewing for her book Voices of Southampton.

Various discussions followed. It seems The History Press are still looking for someone to write a book about the history of Eastleigh, and would welcome any book proposals. At the moment, New Forest Book Fairs are not attracting many people, so it was agreed to postpone the proposed table at the January fair, at which members’ books and our anthology Wordfall were to be on sale. The front cover of Wordfall is now decided, and will feature a picture of the Bargate. Some advertising space has been sold, too.

The group debated whether it was worth spending a large sum for a critique of a novel. The feeling was that a critique was usually helpful, provided that the author is ready for any possible heavy criticism, but that it was not necessary to spend a huge sum. We discussed how to post an event on Facebook, and whether writers should spend much time revising the opening chapter of a book until a complete first draft was finished – the consensus was not. The London Book Fair in April is expected to be a very useful event; many international publishers attend, and there are author talks and free workshops.

Post written by Jacqueline Pye.

The Writing Buddies will be meeting again at The Art House, Above Bar, Southampton on Friday December 17th from 2pm. All writers, published or not, are very welcome.

Writing Buddies, 19th November 2010

2010-11-29T23:27:00.002Z

The Writing Buddies met at the Art House Cafe in Southampton on Friday 19th November, 2010.

JACQUI has one more assignment to write for the Writer's Bureau Course she is studying. She is finding the feedback from her tutor very helpful and wants to concentrate on novel writing rather than short stories from now on.

GLEN has finished her last script for EXPRESS FM and has sent it off and received good feedback. She brought a book to the meeting, 'This Island City' - a collection of poems by Portsmouth writers. This was looked at with interest.

TESSA is working on the third novel in her trilogy, 'Ladybird Soar'. She is also working on her wild flowers book but hasn't had much interest from publishers so is considering self-publishing.

JOSEPHINE has nearly finished her latest textbook. She is thinking about re-starting her course with the Writer's Bureau and has ideas for further books and articles, particularly on embroidery as this is something she enjoys doing.

ANNE was welcomed as a new member. She is a student with the Writer's Bureau and has finished the non fiction assignments. She has had articles published in 'Yours' magazine and 'Nursery World.' She is now studying the fiction part of the course and is considering writing stories for 11-14 year olds. She also has an idea for a book on a walk from Romsey to Lymington that could be done over 5 days.

WENDY has written 4 books this year and brought one of them, 'Haunted Worthing' for the group to browse through. Another book, 'The Story of Pembrokshire' is due out on 1st December. 'Shipwrecks of Sussex' is now finished but 5,000 words over. Wendy intends to spend next year writing fiction for a change.

JIMMY continues to work on 'Java's Revenge'. He's writing Chapter 20 and the book is shaping up to be longer than the other 2 books in the trilogy. His book, 'Someone Else's Trousers' is almost ready to go to the publishers and the proofs should be delivered shortly.

ELIZABETH is working hard plotting and planning her novel. She needs to do some research for it but she's very pleased with progress so far.

CATHERINE has written 35,000 words for the NaNoWriMo challenge. She hopes to have the first draft of her novel written by January. She has prepared a column for 'Stylist' magazine and submitted some ideas to 'Slimming World.' The SWWJ (Society of Women Writers and Journalists) has just accepted Catherine as a probationary member.

MO is off to Berlin where an actor will record her work to accompany some art work. She's been contacted by a producer in America but she's not hopeful that it will come to anything. Mo is also planning a new novel.

JOHN is busy writing poetry and has some followers on 'Twitter and 'Facebook.' He told the group of two new literary magazines to look out for - 'Five Dials' and 'Shortlist Press.' Both of these could be good markets for short stories. John did a 750 word review for a Ben Willis book on 'Twitter' and got a free copy for his efforts. He'd like to write more reviews.

LISA recently attended a crime writers discussion group at the Portsmouth Book Festival. She has booked her place on the Harper Collins Authonomy Workshop in December. Lisa is also busy working on the sequel to her book.

PENNY has done some book signings for 'Southampton Then and Now' and the launch will be held on 28th November at 'The Old Farmhouse' in Southampton. She attended a function at 'Waterstones' for local authors recently but not many visitors came into the store on the evening it was held. She asked the group if anyone had any experiences they could share for her next book, 'Voices of Southampton.'

There followed a general discussion. Anne is keen to pursue her idea for the walking book and is looking for a suitable publisher. Penny suggested she should contact Simon Whalley, who has written several books on walking. She also advised Anne to have some idea of the length of the book.

Catherine asked if anyone had joined 'The Romantic Novelists Association'. A new novelist scheme is starting in January with limited places available. Penny said it was a well respected organisation and Wendy said she had joined in 1992 and had always been pleased with the help she had been given.

The Writing Buddies blog has been noticed by 'Wikipedia' for their 'Wiki' blogs. Penny received this news by email recently. The Writing Buddies Anthology book (due out in January) has been mentioned in the Southern Evening Echo.

Post written by Jacqueline Field.

The next meeting will be held at 2 pm on Friday December 3rd at the Art House, Above Bar, Southampton. All writers, aspiring or published, are welcome.

Writing Buddies, 22 October 2010

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Many thanks to Jacqueline Pye for writing up this edition of the blog.

The Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House on October 22nd to swap news, and to discuss individual and group writing issues.

Jimmy continues with his Sundance series of novels. He has an imminent deadline for his autobiography, Growing Up In Southampton: Someone Else’s Trousers; it’s nearly ready but he is having to do more work on the photos.

Elizabeth was pleased with the feedback on her anthology entries. She has spotted a common thread, and is taking this on board to revise her work. She was congratulated by the group on announcing that the magazine Hampshire View has just accepted one of her stories.

Jacqui has just had a blog published in Woman’s Own; she happened to see the magazine while on holiday abroad, and was surprised and pleased to see her piece included. She is making progress on her Writers’ Bureau course for novel and short story writing.

Christine H has begun a writing course with Barbara Large in Eastleigh, which she thinks will be very useful.

Tessa is working on publishing the Buddies’ anthology, Wordfall, through her Thorn Press. She now has an ISBN number for it and a publication date of January 4th. Meanwhile she continues with the third book in her trilogy – Ladybird Soar – and her wildflowers book.

Mo is going to Berlin where an actor will record her work to accompany some art works.

Richard is a new member. He is interested in poetry and children’s books, and has written and filmed a comedy sketch. He has had a piece about Vaughan Williams published, but currently he’s keen to get started on a natural history book about marine life.

Sylvie is still working on her sci-fi book, as well as the publicity for the Portsmouth Chorus choir event. Since last time, she has entered the ‘Spooky Hallowe’en’ 50-word competition, and has provided a short story for the Southampton Area Talking Echo magazine.

Christine (a different one) is working on a new poem. She has entered poetry competitions before, and may enter this piece when it’s ready. She still has an academic article on hold, too.

Joe is another new member. He has been writing for years, including dark horror, fantasy, short stories and novels, but feels unsure about whether his work is worth submitting. The group felt he should be really encouraged that Random House expressed an interest, and urged him to follow this up. It was suggested that, if still unsure, he might try some of his work on writing sites on the internet.

Catherine has added a further 4,000 words to her romance novel. Slimming World magazine has published her letter in the current issue, and she has had interest in her social network project from the publishers of the Bluffers Guides. She is entering a non-fiction piece in the current competition from How-To-Books, and has been improving this blog site, including working on expanding the Shelfari element (see right).

Siobhan was welcomed back to the group. She has a wide interest in writing, from blogs to novels.

Josephine has nearly finished her text book. She is working on the subject of staff management advice for people who find themselves with responsibility for others but no formal authority. The group mentioned work by Karen Brady and also mumsnet as a possible outlet, and felt there was a market for this type of advice.

Jacqueline is ready to deliver another news script to the Talking Echo, and is planning an article on random decisions, while awaiting the outcome of two earlier pitches. She has nearly 50 articles on suite101 now, and revenue is creeping up. She mentioned a useful paperback, 50 Ways to Make Google Love Your Website.

John has written a new poem, which he read at a Candle Club open mic session at Talking Heads. He is now putting Buddies tags on Amazon, and has sent round info on this via the Yahoo Group. He also explained how this works. His poetry book has started to sell on Amazon, and he mentioned the Nielsen booklist where all new books will appear if they find out about them.

Group discussions included how to approach a publisher and make use of contacts, ensuring all members knew how to get to this blog and join the Yahoo Group, and burning CDs. Catherine reminded those of us with published (or about-to-be) books that the cover can be featured on our blog bookshelf via Shelfari. She suggested passing on to her not only the cover but any reviews available. All members can put in reviews of books already on the shelf, and this helps not only people who are seeking a review, but also the author and the general Google profile of the blog site.

The next meeting is on November 5th, 2-4pm at The Art House, Southampton. All writers, published or not, are very welcome.

Nik Morton at Writing Buddies!

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It was good to see twenty people at the Southampton Writing Buddies meeting at The Art House on September 24th. We were very pleased to welcome author Nik Morton with his wife Jen who is also a writer; they had come over from their home in Spain. Nik had kindly judged the fiction entries for our recent anthology competition, and was able to give us all some advice about writing fiction and making our work as good as it can be. He also presented certificates to successful writers who had been unable to attend last time’s awards meeting.

Elizabeth is about to start further work on her novel, including decisions about the names of the characters. It’s a romance with a touch of mystery, with the plot covering about a century.

Sylvie is still working on her sci-fi children’s book, but is having to give time to the publicity for her choir’s forthcoming anniversary event.

Glen continues to write for Express FM’s soap Conway Street, broadcast three times a week from Portsmouth. She has received very positive feedback for the episodes which she writes alone. She was featured in a paragraph in September Writing Magazine, as a winner of a number of writing competitions.

Pam was glad to be back at the Buddies’ meeting after a break, and had been surprised to learn that she had won several awards in the anthology competition. The awards have inspired her to keep up her writing.

Nik had begun his serious writing by taking a course. The first of his 11 published books so far came out in 2007 – but he assured us that some were based on work honed over the years rather than in just the last three. His range includes westerns as well as other novels.

Mo has provided the first few pages of her graphic novel to her illustrator. She remains unsure whether the new man at the publishers will honour her contract to publish her latest book. She has been busy with her blog.

Christine attended a self-publishing workshop set up by publisher Antony Rowe and led by Barbara Large. It seems that the process is expensive, and the author must have edited the text to be absolutely ready to print. (Other members reported knowing of publishers who appear to be less expensive.) Christine is considering this route to publishing her book on bringing up young people in their teens.

Richard was welcomed as a new member. He has been writing since his teens, including short stories and poetry, and has one novel currently finished and one nearly done. He also produces cartoons which are published regularly, but would like to concentrate on novels.

Barbara competed for the recent Scroll Award at Southampton Writers’ Circle. She continues writing her daily diary and also writes in her local church magazine.

Tony first wrote for his school magazine. He has had short stories published since then, and was very pleased to have won the latest Scroll Award from Southampton Writers’ Circle.

Chris was another new member. He has written a sci-fi novel and is looking for a publisher. The group suggested some possible contacts who produce books in this genre.

Jimmy reports good progress with editing the length of his novel Growing Up In Southampton, Someone Else’s Trousers. It is now down to the length the publishers require. He is working on the website for his fantasy novel and his Sundance Gang fiction, and is hoping to take them to the next London Book Fair.

Tessa is working on Ladybird Soar, the third novel of her trilogy, as well as her non-fiction book for children, Forget-Me-Not. She is discussing with Penny the publication of our anthology through her Thorn Press.

Eileen was another new member. She is currently working on a novel, and attends a writing group run by Della Galton.

Monica enjoys writing stories for fun, and has submitted a children’s story for a competition. She is working on a course with the Writers’ Bureau, and writes articles on her personal health issues for a magazine. She was pleased to gain an award for a non-fiction article on this topic in the anthology competition.

John showed the group his newly published booklet of poems and associated art works, and it was mcuh admired. It is on offer to members at a reduced price. He was pleased to have already sold copies to Blackwell’s book shop.

Jen, our visitor, has written short stories and has now finished the novel which she began some time ago. It is set in Spain, and at a little over 200,000 words it needs a suitable publisher.

Catherine has sent off a proposal to How-To Books, for a work provisionally called A Writers’ Guide to Social Media. She has entered the Daily Mail competition for the first 150 words of a novel, submitted a short story to Hampshire View, and completed the first draft of a story for a Writers’ News competition.

Jacqueline was about to finish her latest script for the Eastleigh Talking News. She reported that the Talking Echo magazine will be looking for original short stories, 500-800 words, and upbeat poems. More details will follow. She is back producing articles for suite101 now that they have changed some of their terms.

Penny is fighting with her computer after updating her operating system, but is discussing with Tessa the publication of the anthology. The title has been chosen – it will be Wordfall. Penny continues with her editing job in London. She learned that she had gained a certificate in the recent Scroll Awards at Southampton Writers’ Circle, and Tony presented it during the meeting.

Other areas of discussion included computer troubles, the website www.youwriteon.com which is similar to authonomy, query letters, Portsmouth BookFest (Oct 25 to Nov 13), and learning computer skills for those who use only longhand. The magazines Freelance Market News, Writers’ News, Writing Magazine and Writers’ Forum were discussed and compared. We also reminded ourselves that, “If you write, you are a writer.”

The next meeting is on Friday 8th October at the Art House Cafe, Above Bar, Southampton at 2pm. Everyone is welcome.

The First Anniversary Writing Buddies Anthology Competition - The Results!

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Winners all! With Simon Whaley, who presented the certificates.

Excitement was high at the Art House Cafe, Southampton, on Friday 10th September. It was results day and there was a larger than average group of Writing Buddies present, all agog to know who had won what!

Non-fiction judge Simon Whaley attended and presented the prizes, as well as finding

himself press-ganged into giving a drum roll on a handy set of bongos found lying about at the venue! The Writing Buddies had not known that Simon was so talented!

There was an uncharacteristically quick zip around the table to introduce each Buddy, during which newcomer Roger Colman, a non-fiction writer and the author of a history of the 7th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment during WW1, was welcomed.

The Competition was run to celebrate the first birthday of the founding of Writing Buddies and all those who won or were placed will go forward and be published in an anthology of work, to be published in time for Christmas.

The results were:

Non- Fiction 1500 word article, judged by Simon Whaley:

First - Glen Jayson - The Taboo "F" Plan

Second - Monica Rees - Living with an Invisible Disease

Third - Wendy Hughes - Literary Cats

Highly Commended - Jacqueline Pye - Dora Carrington - Painter, Bohemian and Object of Desire

Non-Fiction 300 words filler, judged by Simon Whaley:

First - Jacqueline Pye - Let's Hear it for Lymph

Second - Catherine Miller - Can the Hashtag Bring the Writing Community Closer Together?

Third - James Marsh - The Wonder of a Belt

Fiction - 1500 word short story, judged by Nik Morton:

First - Wendy Hughes - Bringer of Dreams

Second - Pam Whittington - The Birthday Treat

Joint Third - Christine Hooper - Michael and Mrs Cartwright

Joint Third - Pam Whittington - See you on Sunday, then

Honorable Mentions:

Elizabeth Streatfield - Hooked

Elizabeth Streatfield - A New Hope

Fiona Vandersluys - Wrong Footing

James Marsh - The Haunted Hut

Wendy Hughes - An Electrifying Experience

Flash Fiction - 100 words, judged by Nik Morton:

First - Catherine Miller - Keisha

Second - Catherine Miller - Guines Fowl

Third - Pam Whittington - Life after Dust

Poetry - Non-Rhyming, judged by Doris Corti

First - Jacqueline Pye - The Parade

Second - Pam Whittington - Time's Dawn

Poetry - Rhyming, judged by Doris Corti

First - Mo Foster - Jargon

Joint Second - Glen Jayson - Afternoon Flickers

John Goodman - Robots and Fairies Our This Week’s Theme

Drama - 10 minute one-act play, judged by Valerie Dunmore:

First - Catherine Miller - Permanent Ink

Second - Jacqueline Pye - Now Wash Your Hands

Third - Elizabeth Streatfield - Enlightenment

At the end of the meeting the Writing Buddies presented Simon with an interesting-looking silver parcel and Penny Legg, who organised the event and will edit and bring the book to fruition, was presented with a bouquet of flowers and the thanks of all the Writing Buddies.

Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House on Friday 27th August.

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Thanks to Jacqueline Pye for writing these notes on the last meeting:

Elizabeth is just finishing a story to submit to Hampshire View; after that she will be revamping other short stories and submitting them. Longer term, time will be devoted to her novel.

Jacqui now has a blog – jacquelineswritingworld.blogspot.com – an interesting read. She has entered a complaints competition, and is having a letter published in Freelance Market News, available on subscription from the Writers’ Bureau - topical information, letters, market info etc. The group agreed this looked useful. Jacqui was complimented on her latest assignment returned from the Bureau.

Mo attended a poetry open mic session at the Nuffield, which went well. Her Hollywood director contact is asking her to write some scenes for a production. She has broken with her publisher, since her second book was accepted but when he took over he rescinded the contract. She is pursuing the legality of this.

Tessa has the second book in her Dohlen Inheritance trilogy out – Hobgoblin Gold – and is working on the third. She plans to write a natural world book for adults and children, and is discussing with her illustrator.

Lisa has joined the authonomy website, and had some useful feedback on her work as well as winning a book through the site. She has entered a sci-fi novel for the Terry Pratchett competition (details on www.terrypratchett.co.uk – for a debut novel, deadline Dec 31st).

Jacqueline has stopped writing for suite101, but is left with a useful bank of original work. She now has a basic website – www.jacpye.com – and is ready to submit a second feature to Best of British magazine if the fee for the already published piece is acceptable, otherwise it will head elsewhere.

Silvie is working on a story set partly on earth, partly in space. She is managing publicity for Portsmouth Chorus choir, especially as it is their 80th anniversary this year.

Catherine now has 10,000 words of her novel completed. ‘How To’ books are putting articles on their site, and she has written for it on using Twitter. She distributed some very helpful information about it to the group, and is considering writing a book on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Jimmy’s book, Growing Up in Southampton: Someone Else’s Trousers, is due to be published in May 2011. Chapter 13 of Java’s Revenge is in progress - “The war is about to start,” he says. His website – www.aloejimmy.com – includes information about his Sundance Gang novels as well as a link to his blog.

Glen is enjoying writing for Conway Street, the radio soap at express fm, and attends script meetings. She has been co-writing, but finds it easier to work solo. She has decided to self publish a book of short stories and articles, and is reading up on self publishing.

Barbara is still working on the programme for next season for Southampton Writers’ Circle.

Penny is working through computer problems. She has had book signings for Folklore of Southampton in Southampton, Lymington and Portsmouth, and will be at Chapter 1 books in Hythe on the 3rd September from 2pm to give a talk on compiling the book, and to sign copies. Her next book, Southampton Then and Now, will be published in October. Publication of Haunted Southampton is in hand.

The anthology competition judges have now given their verdicts; in addition to the top three in each category, there may be some entries ‘highly commended’ too, and the judges have kindly provided feedback for the writers. Results will be announced at the next meeting. The funds from the competition, which now include an anonymous donation, should be sufficient to allow the anthology to go ahead – Penny will be checking this.

Other matters discussed include contracts, methods of filing ideas, sponsorship for the anthology, members’ writing environments, office chairs, and the thorny problem of changing duvet covers (for some reason). Amazon’s cut was also discussed; their initial claim is 60%, but this can usually be negotiated down, possibly to 35% or so. New Writing South was mentioned; it is related to the Arts Council, and has published a booklet, ‘Word Up’ which looked interesting. They offer creative writing courses, and Fay Weldon is a patron. Website is www.newwritingsouth.com

The next meeting is at 2pm on Friday September 10th – competition results day – at The Art House, Above Bar, Southampton. All writers, aspiring or published, are welcome.

Writing Buddies, 13 August 2010

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Another busy Writing Buddies meeting was held at The Art House Cafe, Above Bar, Southampton on Friday 13 August, which saw eleven Buddies around the table for coffee and chat.

Catherine has been busy working on her entry for an Arthritis Care competition, working on her blog and writing for the six word Arvon story competition. She was pleased to announce that she had completed the set number of small projects she set herself and has now started working on romantic fiction.

Mo has had a lesson on how to tweet on Twitter. She has fallen out with her publisher and has started writing her autobiography.

Barbara is still writing her diary. She has written everyday for forty years. She is busy working on the programme for the Southampton Writers Circle for the coming year. She has booked Wendy Hughes to do an article writing workshop. Local author, Nicky Slade, will judge the Scroll Award competition this year.

Sylvie has written all twelve chapters of her children's sci-fi novel and is now editing it. She says she was 'inspired' by coming to the last Writing Buddies meeting!

Tessa's second book in the 'Dohlen' trilogy, Hobgoblin Gold, has just been published and is out now. Her illustrator, Andrew Jones, has several pieces of his work on display at The Art House Cafe.

Jacqueline is on assignment five of The Writers Bureau fiction course. She received a mixed reaction from her tutor to her fourth assignment, which was to write a People's Friend short story. Jacqueline has re-written her piece and has now submitted it.

Glen, with her Writing Buddies Anthology Competition Secretary head on, reported that there had been 7 flash fiction entries, 11 non-fiction articles, 4 non-fiction fillers, 5 plays, 5 poems and 20 short stories.

Glen has been busy working at Express FM in Portsmouth, where she has been involved with writing a soap - Conway Street. She found it an interesting assignment as she was paired with another writer - writing with a partner is new to her - and had to write for other people's characters, which she found challenging.

Eileen is celebrating the publication of her crime novel, Miss McGuire is Missing. She was looking forward to joining other writers at Selsey on 20 August, as part of the Selsey Writing Festival there. She is on the fifth draft of her second novel and half way through her third novel. She was interviewed in Writers' News this month and won a Moleskine notebook from Writers' Forum for her work. She has been invited to judge a short story competition and give a talk in Lee-on-Solent. She will be book signing in Waterstones in Fareham on 11 September and her book launch party will be in Gosport on 9 October.

Bridget joined the Writing Buddies for the first time and was warmly welcomed. Bridget is a poet who has been with the Southampton Writers' Circle for 17 years. She says she has been 'lucky' to be widely published in magazines and, in particular, in South, where she is listed as the Poet of the Year. 18 of her poems are to be showcased by this publication. Bridget tutors on poetry for workshops and also gives public readings of her work.

Jimmy has had a second article accepted by Best of British magazine. He is happy with his website and is pleased to see that his forthcoming book, Growing Up in Wartime Southampton: Someone Else's Trousers is now on both Amazon and WH Smith online for pre-order.

John is busy making corrections to the proofs of his poetry collection, Poetic Imagery, to be published shortly. This will be published using a local printer - George Man Publications. John has been looking at a website giving advice about rejections and found Query Fail useful. He also looked at the Publetariat site, which is useful for general freelance writing tips - including the value of having an agent.

Penny has been dealing with the complete crash of her computer system. As this was just before the manuscript for her book, Haunted Southampton, had to be at the publisher, she was not best pleased. Folklore of Hampshire seems to be well received by the public.

Carol Blake's book, From Pitch to Publication was discussed and was generally felt to be very useful.

There was a general discussion about backing up data on computers and the value of doing so.

The phone-in on Radio 2 on the Jeremy Vine show about self-publishing was discussed and it was noted that the increasing popularity of self-publishing reflects the difficulties of interesting a mainstream publisher nowadays.

The next meeting of Writing Buddies is at 2pm on Friday 27 August at The Art House cafe, Southampton. Everyone is welcome.

Apologies

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As you can see from the blog post below, there are a few problems with the layout of it.

Apologies, but all efforts at sorting it out have proved fruitless.

Writing Buddies, 30th July 2010

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Southampton Writing Buddies met on July 30th at The Art House in Southampton's Above Bar Street. This was a really busy meeting, constituting the deadline for submissions for our anthology competition. There were a number of very welcome last-minute entries on the day.

Richard continues to work on his poetry. He recently entered a competition in a local news magazine; his poem was highly commended, and he received a certificate which we all admired.

Jimmy now has his website up and running - www.aloejimmy.com - which gives information about his writing career and current writing activities, as well as some good links. Best of British magazine, which published one of his articles earlier this year, has accepted his latest feature on a long-gone butcher's shop in Southampton. His book Growing Up In Wartime Southampton: Someone Else’s Trousers is due out in May next year. Java's Revenge, the latest novel in his sci-fi series, is not in Chapter X.

Rob was visiting from Spain. He is a successful writer, photographer and editor, and is involved in managing the Torrevieja writers’ circle. He belongs to Writers Abroad, an online site for ex-pats (www.writersabroad.spruz.com ). He mentioned that Writers Abroad plans to compile an anthology of stories for November; entry is for current or past ex-pats, and work must feature something about ex-pats in up to 2500 words. There is more information on the Writers Abroad site. Rob’s blog can be found athttp://robinespana.blogspot.com, and his website at http://www.robinnes.wordpress.com

Stu writes horror mystery short stories; this is so far a hobby, but the group encouraged him to consider trying to get them published.

Catherine was welcomed as a new member. She has written fiction since age three! She was an editorial assistant for, among others, the Tesco magazine, and was involved in a current book by John Simpson in which she is credited. She has recently finished her first novel, and is now working on a historical romance aimed at Mils & Boon. She also writes short stories.

Tony is back writing again after a prolonged absence. He writes mainly poetry and for children, and had recently performed two of his poems in an open mic session in Petersfield.

Glen has been busy logging the entries for the anthology competition. She has been accepted as a writer for the ongoing ‘soap’ on Portsmouth’s radio station Express FM. She has also been interviewed by e-mail for a writing magazine’s feature on people who have won writing competitions.

Josephine writes non-fiction, and has nearly completed her book on managing meetings. She is one of the many members who have submitted entries for the anthology.

Mo is considering putting on a one-woman show at Edinburgh – this would be her own work read by an actor. The format worked well at a recent show in London. She has also written a piece for The Woman Writer, the magazine of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

Jacqui continues with her Writers’ Bureau course; she is nearly at the end of the short story modules, and will then move on to the novel writing component. She has submitted a short travel piece to The Daily Telegraph online, and has started work on a novel.

Jacqueline was just finishing a script for the Eastleigh Talking News, and her feature on early teddy bear postcards was published in the August edition of Best of British magazine. She has also had some business cards printed, and was up to 33 articles on www.suite101.com

Sylvie is another new member of the group. She is writing a sci-fi adventure book aimed at children aged 9-12 - she has been keen on writing since childhood. She has submitted short stories to magazines; although not published, they attracted individual advice, which the group thought a very encouraging outcome. She had a letter published in Writers’ Forum earlier this year, and has been asked to write the publicity for a choir to which she belongs.

Elizabeth started a book a few months ago, and plans to start working with it again. She has decided to start submitting short stories to magazines; even though the market has shrunk, there are still openings worth aiming for.

John has started writing his diary again after a gap. He has found a suitable printer for the booklet of his poems exhibited in the recent art/poetry exhibition at Goblets, and he hopes it will be ready by the end of August.

Christine was pleased to learn that the story she submitted to the Southampton Area Talking Echo was recorded for their magazine and sent out during July. She has submitted a story for a competition on Write Space (www.writespace.co.uk ). She has written a book on young people’s mental health and is looking at publish-on-demand for it. She co-wrote a published book on mental health and has been working on a rewrite for a second edition; a mainstream publisher has shown interest in her contribution.

Barbara continues to write her diary. She had prepared an entry for the anthology competition.

Penny attended a book signing in Portsmouth for her new book Folklore of Southampton, and has other signings planned. At Portsmouth she met a pagan priest who is very knowledgeable about folklore in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which was interesting as her publisher The History Press are discussing the idea Folklore of the Isle of Wight. She was looking forward to the launch party for her book two days after the meeting. Waterstone’s are stocking it, as is Milestones museum in Basingstoke. She has just seen the cover for her next book, Southampton Then and Now, due out in October.

As these proceedings were longer than usual, there was little time for discussion. However, we did cover the ethics and method of researching details of a serious crime, the Writers’ Bureau ongoing writing competition for students, and the availability of various archives and dictionaries through the library’s website. The route is www.southampton.gov.uk/s-leisure/libraries/learning then click ‘online resources’ for the list.

The next meeting of Southampton Writing Buddies will be on August 13th at The Art House.

Writing Buddies, 2nd July 2010

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Southampton Writing Buddies met again on July 2nd at The Art House. Numbers were down, due to the tennis as well as car, guest and employment issues, but there was plenty to discuss.

Jacqueline now has 28 articles published on suite101.com but still awaits her fortune. She completed their challenge to publish 20 in the month of June. She’s also working on a script for the talking news, and is pitching a feature on sleep issues to magazines. Entries for the Buddies’ anthology competition are taking shape.

Elizabeth has submitted a flash fiction entry to the Bridport Prize competition. She feels that the content could be expanded and used in another context and is making plans for it. She is also preparing her entries for the anthology competition.

Jimmy continues to work on his fantasy novel, the plot of which is taking unexpected turns. The first 10,000 words of the novel are destined to appear on the website authonomy which showcases writers’ fiction. He is working on his feature on an old butcher’s shop for Best of British magazine, and is considering a feature about the neighbouring pub, which has remained unchanged since his youth. He also is preparing his entries for the anthology. His memoirs still need reducing in length by the November deadline.

Penny has started her new part-time job in London working on and editing magazines for the Diplomatic Services Families Association. She continues with her next book Haunted Southampton, and meanwhile she is very pleased to have Folklore of Southampton now published by The History Press and available in local bookshops and from Amazon. There is to be a launch party to celebrate, and the Buddies heartily congratulated her on this. With her level of output she may need to make a regular date for launch parties ... There is to be an interview about the book posted on an online community magazine for Hedge End, and Penny’s writing buddy, Rob Innis, who lives in Spain, will be at the book launch on August 1st.

Lengthy discussions included publishing in general, taking high resolution photographs, Indian food, Bangladesh, reminiscences of Southampton, the dififculty in placing magazine features, publishing recipes, underwater photography, and travel – all with a writing slant of course.

The Writing Buddies will meet again on Friday July 16th at The Art House, Southampton from 2pm. All are welcome

Writing Buddies, 4th June

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Southampton Writing Buddies met at the Art House in Above Bar on Friday June 4th, and it seems that the Buddies have been busy.

Glen continues with her novel; as an exercise she has tried writing the last part before the rest is finished. She found this interesting, as did the other Buddies – none of us had tried this before.

Christine continues to have a brain busy with loads of writing ideas which need organising. She has, however, now finished editing her novel, and is currently typing it all.

Jimmy was disappointed with the version of his Sundance novels produced by lulu.com some time ago and so has withdrawn them. He is now working on the second of his cyber novels; he will use a slightly altered name for these. He has completed his autobiography.

Patricia has recently written a short story in English, and has started a novel in French, her first language. She has also begun collecting an archive of her family’s favourite recipes for a possible cookery book. As part of her work she has been writing up tours around local park involving maths content for children.

Jacqueline continues to contribute to suite101.com and has eight articles published. She has submitted a feature to Saga magazine; they invited submission but stressed their features are mainly written in-house. The Southampton Area Talking News (for blind and partially sighted people), for which she is an editor, are looking for short original stories to include on their magazine tapes, and a note was circulated to Buddies. Four had so far replied offering stories, and she will get back to them as soon as SATE lets her know how they would like them submitted.

Barbara was welcomed to the group as a new member. She writes poetry and short stories, but has not submitted them as yet and is considering self-publishing. She currently attends a creative writing workshop, and also assists in running a children’s creative writing group.

Mo was contacted by a Hollywood director who had seen her work, to discuss involvement in a film, possibly as an adviser on 1950s style. However, she was then asked for some details including date of birth, and contact suddenly ceased – she thinks this might be an ageist problem, and it was agreed that if so, it should be pursued. The Society of Women Writers & Journalists are expected to include the topic in the next issue of the magazine. Mo has also been blogging and has a website established –www.mo-foster.co.uk . She is sending a story for a BBC competition. In early July in London, there will be an art exhibition at which an actor will be reading some of Mo’s work.

Tessa has been away, but she has sent a novel to various agents. One said there was no space in their list currently, but invited her to be their writer of the month. She is still enjoying her Kindle e-reader, finding it easy to use. She mentioned a self publishing organisation called Quercas Publishing who are apparently able to offer a free service, and this is to be pursued as a possible route to publication of the Buddies forthcoming anthology. Tessa has, like Mo, found that giving her date of birth in relation to her work has resulted in interest or offers being withdrawn.

Penny had previously written for the Diplomatic Service Families Association's magazine, Carousel, and she has been delighted to be offered a post working as staff on this magazine and editing its sister, the information magazine, The Bulletin – the group enthusiastically congratulated her on this, and thought it was an example of Penny being able to stretch the working week at will! She will also contribute to their web presence. She is still working on her book Haunted Southampton, and her folklore book is due out in a couple of weeks. She has had a commission, too, to write a piece for Writers’ Forum on setting up a writing group.

There was then general discussion about various issues, including ageism in publishing. Penny had just attended a SWWJ event – she had gained a place in a recent competition and received her prize. At the meeting there was an excellent talk by Sheila Crowley, an agent with publishers Curtis Brown. She mentioned that some agents are starting to boycott arms of publishers who strike too poor a deal for authors. She told the audience that a website is a must for writers, and that Twitter and Facebook have huge marketing potential. Digital publishing is on the rise, especially with non-fiction, and e-book royalties are generally much higher than for printed work. Crime and thriller books are doing well just now. When submitting manuscripts, the advice is to find the name of the person to whom they are aimed; if the work is addressed just to the firm, it is likely to end up in the slush pile. The Buddies discussed this further, and most are already doing this.

This was a productive and motivating session, and the Buddies look forward to the next meeting on Friday June 18th at 2pm at the Art House. Everyone, as always, is welcome.

Happy Birthday, Writing Buddies

2010-05-31T14:36:00.004+01:00

The Writing Buddies celebrated their first birthday with a huge cake, a glass of wine and a lot of laughter. It was good to see so many of the Writing Buddies all together for the anniversary.

Pam Whittington, Penny's partner in crime when setting up the group, and Jimmy Marsh, who has attended virtually every meeting, brought a blush to Penny's face by telling the tale of how the group was set up and the strides it has made since. Penny replied by thanking them and all the Writing Buddies for the support they have given, which has made the group such a success.

The Writing Buddies welcomed several guests, including Pat Alderman and John Pye, who were made welcome.

Glen was pleased to announce that she has been accepted to the Society of Women Writers & Journalists. She is busy working on a jingle for the Blue Sky Choir and is attending a writing workshop at Chawton House.

Dee has been busy writing her 21st novel. This is about the blitz. As she put it: 'I was evacuated, I describe it first hand.'

John, former science writer for the Yorkshire Post, attended as a guest and the Writing Buddies were pleased to meet him. We hope he will come again to future meetings.

Jacqueline has submitted and been published by Suite 101. She has found getting the style required difficult. The Writing Buddies discussed Suite 101, which offers regular publication but the rate of pay is low until you have built up a large body of work.

Rich had nothing to report but was happy to be at the party.

Mo has two readings at Waterstones in London on 4th July.

Pam is relaxed about her writing at present. She is concentrating on her local history work on Marchwood. She has had a poem shortlisted and another will be published in an anthology.

Christine has written 150 words for The Guardian and has entered the Write Space competition on the theme, 'The Lie'. She will attend Winchester Writers Conference and is looking forward to the publication of the second edition of her book on child and adolescent mental health, to be published by Hodder Headline in June.

Wendy travelled up from West Sussex and reported that she has finished her book, Haunted Worthing and is busy updating her book, Story of Gower, which was first published in 1992. She is now working on a book of shipwrecks on the south coast.

Pat is an editor and writer and the Writing Buddies were very pleased to welcome her to the meeting. She sub-edits The Woman Writer magazine for the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. She worked for many years for national magazines and is now much in demand for her proofreading and copy editing skills. She championed membership of the Society of Editors and Proofreaders. Pat has just finished working on a 'Teach Yourself Anglo Saxon' book, which interested her very much as she has studied the subject in the past. In the meantime, she is looking forward to hearing the outcome of a proposal for her book of Buddhist stories, which a Hong Kong publisher has shown interest in.

Elizabeth is busy working on stories to submit to Write Space.

Silma is working on short stories and a poem. Her children's book is under consideration with a publisher, who is looking to fill their 2011 list. She is writing a short story for teenagers.

Jimmy and Penny had been out taking photographs in the New Forest for Jimmy's Sundance Gang website, which will shortly be up and running. Jimmy is now up to chapter 19 of his sci-fi novel and is busy looking for names for some of the demons he has invented for the book!

Peter has a week booked at the Edinburgh Festival, 23-30 August, for his poetry. He has experimented with Microsoft Powerpoint to make displays and presentations and hopes to trial these at his local community centre soon.

John has reviewed a play for the Daily Echo. He is also intending writing for the Writing Buddies anthology. John asked several questions about the Writing Buddies competition and this led to discussion of the competition entry requirements, as not all the Writing Buddies had understood the rules and did not want to accidently find themselves disqualified!

Barbara has decided to edit all her unpublished stories and to submit them with her application for probationary membership of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

Penny is still working on her latest book, Haunted Southampton. She had been on a ghost investigation of Romsey's Plaza theatre. This was great fun and resulted in a lot of material for the book, some of which she intends to use for an article about the theatre.

As much of the meeting was taken up with cake cutting, wine drinking and photo taking, there was not as much discussion as is usual for a Writing Buddies meeting! Subjects which were discussed were how to get into proofreading and copy editing and how the Writing Buddies meetings were inspirational as shared experience was useful to learn from.

The next meeting of Writing Buddies is on Friday 4 June at The Art House, at 2pm. Everyone is very welcome.

Writing Buddies, 7th May

2010-05-12T22:53:00.003+01:00

Southampton Writing Buddies met at the Art House in Southampton on May 7th. The meeting was, if anything, more lively and information-packed than ever.

Jimmy doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet. His book subtitled Someone Else’s Trousers is due out next May, and he is now well advanced with his sci-fi fantasy book and is working on the synopsis for it. He has also been asked to run a workshop for Southampton Writers’ Circle on writing a synopsis. He has learned that his recent feature about the Vindi Boys in Best of British magazine has generated a lot of interest in the Vindicatrix Association.

Tessa has heard from Legend Press that they are interested in her trilogy The Dohlen Inheritance, and she is currently writing the blurb for the second book. She mentioned a useful website on how to publish e-books – www.markchisnell.com (both his novels are now available as e-books).

Catherine continues to write book reviews for WHSmith on the internet after they contacted her via Twitter. She has just had an article published in a national magazine, and has submitted some flash fiction entries for the Bridport prize. She has also begun the second draft of her one-act play, and posts huge numbers of tweets.

New member Jacqui was welcomed to the group. She has enrolled with the Writers’ Bureau, and is studying fiction. She is still considering which path to take with her writing; she has submitted some short stories to women’s magazines but recognises the narrowness of the market. She had a travel article accepted by a magazine, but much later the editor changed her mind about it. The group talked about the fact that the work was initially accepted, which is a breakthrough and meant that Jacqui can clearly write publishable articles.

Christine has been asked for a second edition of her book on child mental health, and the publishers want to convert it to an e-book. She attended the London Book Fair and discussed print-on-demand for her book on bringing up teenagers. Tessa suggested chipmunka. Christine has begun a book on marital therapy; she has also sent two stories to Writers’ Forum for critiques, and both were highly commended.

Eileen joined the group for the first time. Her first novel (crime) is coming out in July, and the second is ready; Robert Hale publishers want to see the second and third books. She was originally a playwright, and submitted a script for the Orange Prize competition; from the critique she received, she decided to turn it into the novel.

Jacqueline was just completing her latest script for the Eastleigh Talking Echo. She had submitted an article to suite101 and was advised that the content was suitable but alterations to picture captions were needed.

Mo has problems with her publisher; her latest book seems not to be publicly available, and there is ongoing discussion about editing it. She feels that her writing has been slow recently but she is now keen to return to serious work.

Penny is currently working on a book, Haunted Southampton, and has been inundated with contacts via Facebook, both national and international. She has the proofs of Folklore of Hampshire, which is out in July, and is working on a book about Winchester. She has successfully joined suite101 as an author, and had already had two articles published.

There followed general discussion about Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and suite101. There are still places on the Ashtara Writers’ Pamper Day on June 26th – time 9.30-4, £35, which the group felt was good value. The newly opened Writing Buddies Anthology Competition for entries of fiction and non-fiction, poetry and one-act plays was discussed.

The next meeting, on Friday May 21st at 2pm at the Art House, marks the first birthday of the Writing Buddies. To celebrate, there’ll be wine and cake! New members welcome, too, of course.

Writing Buddies - 23 April 2010

2010-04-24T10:46:00.005+01:00

The latest meeting of the Writing Buddies saw 11 writers at The Art House Cafe in Southampton on Friday 23rd April.

Glen, fresh from a break on the Isle of Wight, had been to a New Forest Writers meeting, where she was tasked to write a piece on the subject of 'the lady'. She is now looking for a market for the resulting piece. Glen has also applied for membership of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

Elizabeth has had to reschedule her trip to Spain, due to the volcanic ash in the atmosphere. She is making the best of it and is busy working on a short story, that has grown from the original 1000 words and will now be much longer.

Jacqueline is still awaiting feedback from her query about a sleep article which she has pitched to three magazines. She is also working on the outline of an article about improving memory. In January she sent a hard copy story to Weekly News and, as she had heard nothing, decided to call the magazine. She was told that a 'typed story' will take at least six months to receive a reply. It is a quicker by email. Jacqueline has also won a prize for her limerick sent to the Hedgehog Preservation Society. She wonders if she is now a 'Hedgehog Laureate'!

Tessa, also suffering from the volcanic ash as she should have been in America, has uploaded her novel to Authonomy and has found the whole thing 'depressing'. There are thousands of entries and she is convinced there are too many for hers to be found. She thinks it a 'mutual appreciation society' as you have to spend a long time reading other people's work. Tessa has launched her own website and one for The Thorn Press.

Kate has posted her Twitter list of 50 publishers as promised. She is now writing book reviews on behalf of WH Smith, who send her the books to review. Kate is also working on the rough draft of a new One Act Play, which is a new departure for her as she is used to working to word counts in short stories, rather than timings. She told the group about the TV channel, Alibi, which is running a competition for the first line of a crime short story. The winning line will be written into a book by crime writing duo Nicci French. Kate is busy blogging and is awaiting her article to be printed in Pick Me Up magazine.

Peter has had one of his poems accepted by Forward Press. It will be published with his bio. Peter has a week-long 50 minute slot at the Edinburgh Festival to present his poetry. He is now thinking about how best to present his work and the Writing Buddies suggested various options to consider, including how he could incorporate powerpoint and video into his show. In the meantime he has copyright issues with the photographs he is using for his booklet. The Writing Buddies suggested that he track down the copyright holders of the photos for permission to use the shots. The merits of Flickr were also discussed.

Jimmy has signed a contract with The History Press for Someone Else's Trousers. He has to edit it by ten thousand words and sort out the photographs, whose copyright lies with the Southampton City Archives. He has contacted Keith Hamilton at the Daily Echo and wishes to publicise the fact that he would like former residents of Belgrave Road and former pupils of Portswood School to attend the book launch next year. He is about to launch his blog and website. He has joined Twitter and Facebook. He is busy organising the first of his Sundance Gang books ready to send to Legend Press and The Far End of the Tunnel for Authonomy.

The Writing Buddies welcomed Siobhan to the meeting. Siobhan writes fiction and blogs. She is one of Mo's former pupils. It was good to meet her.

Christine says, 'She has lots going on in her mind!' Since her last Writing Buddies meeting she has decided to make her book fiction and is thinking about her characters. She has also ideas for a sequel to the first book and another book, which will appeal to both the US and UK markets. It was noticeable that her confidence has grown a lot in the short time since she was last at Writing Buddies. She is now thinking of a blog and website.

Mo loves blogging! She has also joined Facebook but is less enamoured with it. She has been offered the opportunity of reading her work at a London art show, 'Art and Publicity'. She is looking forward to the re-launch of her book, A Blues for Shindig, by Exclusively Independent. Mo has recently been offered readings at Houseman's and other radical bookshops in London.

Penny delivered her latest book, Southampton Then and Now, to the publisher just before Easter. She attended the York Festival of Writing , where she was part of a contingent of SWWJ Ambassadors talking to delegates about the Society, and she also co-presented a workshop, 'Writing Groups To Get You Published' with Silja Swaby and Jay Cole. Penny was at the London Book Fair, where she spoke to several publishers about ideas she has for future books.

Discussion around the table covered the question of confidence and women's reticence, which was seen as a drawback to a writer. You have to believe in yourself and your work. It was also felt that some educated writers were too analytical of their work, which held them back.

Writing routines and the point at which excitement takes over was also discussed. Many at the table found activities such as walking, swimming and gardening helped them to overcome problems in their work, giving them time to think their work through.

Peter commented that it was difficult to set up book signings for his self published booklet of poetry. Mo mentioned that it was easy to get book readings in Berlin when she was there recently.

The value of local writing events was discussed and it was hoped that the Poole Lit Up! event would be held again this year.

As Writing Buddies is about to celebrate its first birthday the group would like to publish an anthology of work by group members. A Writing Buddies competition was discussed at length and terms were agreed. The top three writers in each category would be published in the anthology. Penny would edit it and design/lay it out to keeps costs down. Quotes to print and publish it were to be sought. As the competition would only be open to members of Writing Buddies, it would only be a viable proposition if enough members took part. It is hoped that the book would be ready just before Christmas.

The visit to Ashtara for the Writers' Pamper Day is looming - Saturday 26th June 2010. The programme is as follows:

09.30 Meet and greet with tea/coffee

10.00 Talk with Andrew Hobbs on inspirational writing

10.30 - 12.00 10 minute taster sessions - with a medium or Tarot card or Angel card reading

30 minute Holistic Therapies - choose from Indian head massage, Crystal mini facial massage, feet treat, moisturising hand massage or Crystal Back massage

12.00 - 13.00 Lunch - bring your own or finger buffet for £6

13.00 - 15.00 10 minute taster sessions - with a medium or Tarot card or Angel card reading

30 minute Holistic Therapies - choose from Indian head massage, Crystal mini facial massage, feet treat, moisturising hand massage or Crystal Back massage

15.00 - 16.00 Interactive talk with Barbara Saph on EFT

The cost is £35. Contact the Ashtara Centre, near Beaulieu in the New Forest, to make a booking.

The idea of this day, open to both sexes, is to allow writers to have a day where they are free of their normal worries and can relax, whilst trying out therapies which may help to inspire. The day will give space to think and to meet other writers to chat. There is a pretty garden, which will be open to participants. It promises to be a day writers will not forget!

Writing Buddies would like to wish The Art House Cafe a very happy birthday!

The next meeting will be on Friday 7th May, at 2pm. Everyone welcome!

Writing Buddies - 9th April

2010-04-13T21:45:00.002+01:00

In Penny’s absence, Jacqueline has written these notes.

The Writing Buddies met once again at The Art House on Friday April 9th, with, as usual, a wide ranging discussion and some interesting writing activity to report.

Tessa is publishing the second book of her trilogy in June. She is currently working on establishing her website - www.tessalorantwarburg.com - “justhost” seems a good basis and is reasonably priced, although some of the information and directions use American terms and need decoding. She is still thinking of exploring the possible audio-book route in Hamburg.

We welcomed Catherine on her first visit. She produced a good amount of writing while at university, and wants to increase her output. One of her short stories was published in Hampshire View, and a short piece for a competition was also published elsewhere. Another work has been accepted by Pick Me Up weekly magazine, and Catherine is currently converting one of her short stories into a one-act play. She has a blog – katyslittlemeows.blogspot.com – it is really interesting and informative and well worth a look (my comment, not hers!). She is a keen Twitterer (as Catherine Miller), and reports that the main publishing houses are on Twitter and not only do they give an idea of what they’re up to, but they apparently scan writers’ tweets as well. She is set on converting all the buddies to Twitter!

Nathan was also welcomed to the group for the first time. He has written poetry and sci-fi short stories, as well as features on specific interests such as snowboarding, and he mentioned enjoying writing parodies of films among other things. He has a wide range of interests which might inspire further work.

Elizabeth is returning to Spain soon for a short time, and plans to work on short stories she is currently rewriting.

Jimmy has had his autobiography accepted by The History Press for publication in May next year, subject to a reduction in length and resubmission by November. It now has a working title “Growing Up in Wartime Southampton – Someone Else’s Trousers”. Legend Press want to see his Sundance novels, too. He is now on Facebook as James Marsh.

Glen has been sorting out a huge amount of written material from over the years, and is amazed by the quantity. Some she may discard but other work may be useful.

John had his poetry/artwork exhibition extended at Goblets. He showed the group the basis of a booklet made up of the pictures and his own poetry, and hopes to get a print run with a view to sales. He mentioned www.cutepdf.com as a free downloadable program for printing of pictures and text. He may look for a sponsor to advertise in the booklet, and the group discussed this. Tessa mentioned that Lulu self publishing can offer work produced in different sizes. John has also written a play for the artists’ group to perform.

Jacqueline is just completing her latest script for Eastleigh Talking News. She has managed to terminate her webhost contract with streamline.net early, as she kept getting messages that her browser wouldn’t support their system despite having followed instructions. She is maintaining just her blog with a link to her writing CV for now. She has an outline for a sleep-related feature and is pitching it to health magazines; the group suggested one or two other possible homes for it.

We discussed outlets for poetry; Apples and Snakes have open readings ar venues such as Soul Cellar and the Nuffield Theatre – contact is pete@applesandsnakes.org – and Moving Voices runs at the Art House once a month. For novellists, the site authonomy.com invites authors to post up the first 10,000 words of a novel, and the Yeovil Literary competition for novels, poetry and short stories was mentioned. We also discussed the online ‘employers’ suite101, the problem of practical issues getting in the way of writing plans, unusual spooky incidents, computer crashes, domain parking, and the wide variety of Peter Lovesey’s work.

Finally, although members often have plenty to report, we very much welcome new writers, published or not, to our meetings and discussions. Our next meeting will be at the Art House on Friday April 23rd (auspicious as Shakespeare’s birthday!) at 2 pm.

Writing Buddies in Writers' News

2010-04-09T07:24:00.004+01:00

The Writing Buddies are featured in the May 2010 edition of Writers' News.

Writing Buddies - 26th March

2010-04-07T13:54:00.004+01:00

Two guests joined us for the last meeting of Writing Buddies, on Friday 26th March. They were Mari Nicholson and June Elford, both having come across from the Isle of Wight for our meeting. They were warmly welcomed.

It was, once again, a lively meeting with attendance into double figures.

The Writing Buddies also welcomed new member, Christine, who is undecided about the direction for her latest work. This was discussed at length and advice given.

John gave feedback about his poetry show at nearby Goblets gallery. He had learnt a lot from this, his first such venture in collaboration with local artists.

Tom had finally sent off his first assignment to the Writers Bureau and was now waiting to hear news of his tutor allocation.

Jimmy was still waiting to hear if The History Press are interested in publishing his memoirs.

Penny was deeply involved with finishing her book, Southampton Then and Now, which had to be with the publisher the following week.

The discussion around the table was about the state of the market for freelancers today (generally difficult), the benefits of writing for Suite 101 as Mari does, naming characters and how important it is to get it right, and writing circles and their benefits.

The next meeting is on Friday 9th April at 2pm. Everyone is welcome.

The Writing Buddies at The Art House

2010-03-16T13:04:00.002Z

Thanks to Jacquline Pye for these notes:

The Writing Buddies met once again at the Art House, on March 12th; it continues to be a good venue for us.

Richard attended an open mic event at the Art House recently and read some of his work; he was happy with the audience reaction.

Mo is currently writing publicity material for a group of artists in London. Her book “A Blues for Shindig”, about Soho in the 50s, is being brought out again by Exceptionally Independent Publishers. (N.B. Amazon’s UK website stocks this; at the time of writing they had just one copy in stock but were expecting more – the book had top rating by all reviewers.)

Glen continues to write the newsletter for Hamwic Speakers. She recently read one of her poems at a party, and found it was well-received.

Elizabeth received the critique for her story from WriteSpace. It has been very helpful, and as a result she is rewriting the story with a new slant.

Jacqueline has pitched a feature idea to a newspaper’s weekend magazine, and has just finished her latest script for the Eastleigh Talking Echo. She received the critique for her story from Writers’ Forum, which pointed out some details of the plot that needed explaining. She plans to rework the story and submit elsewhere.

Jimmy has sent off his autobiography and awaits a response. Legend Press has invited him to send the first instalment of his novel. He is also working on a short story to be entered in a competition, and the group discussed some of the detail he had included. He is currently struggling with computer problems which he hopes to resolve very soon.

Penny has been taking more photographs for her forthcoming book “Southampton Then and Now” - the publisher’s deadline is close. She has a contract on the way for another book for the History Press; this means she expects to have three books published next year – the group chided her for slacking! She has just been appointed as the official photographer at the Swanage Armed Forces Weekend in June.

Lewis joined the group for the first time. He has been writing for some years, including both poetry and short stories.

In the general discussion, Peter Lovesey’s recent talk at Southampton Writers’ Circle was discussed as being very enjoyable and informative. Many of the group had heard him speak at various venues. The issue of choosing names for characters in fiction threw up a number of ideas, though Jimmy would take the prize for the most inventive names.

Jimmy had thought of a feature idea on his way to the meeting; the group had some fun with this, and possible markets were debated.

A new bimonthly literary magazine was mentioned, Platinum Page, available only on subscription. It does not currently pay authors, but hopes to in the future. Poems and stories may be submitted. It has a mention in the April issue of Writers’ News, and there’s a blog - platinum-page.blogspot.com

The next meeting of Writing Buddies is on Friday 26th March at the Art House. Everyone is welcome.

Our latest meeting

2010-03-12T07:17:00.004Z

When the Writing Buddies met on 26th February we were a merry bunch. All of us had a lot to say, which is great, and we had been working hard, which is even better.

Pam has been working on her research in Marchwood for Waterside Heritage.

Jacqueline has had an article on postcards accepted for 'possible publication' by Best of British magazine, has pitched to Saga on how to get to sleep at night - ways that work, and is busy working on the Eastleigh Talking Echo.

Christine is working on a story possibly destined for The Lady and a book on why marriages don't work. Her book Child and Adolescent Mental Health has sold out of its second edition.

John is involved in an exhibition of art based on his poetry between 17th and 30th March (see previous post) and has spent a lot of time working to get everything sorted out for a smooth running exhibition. He is actively looking at marketing, which takes up a lot of time.

Silma is revamping stories she wrote for Writers' Magazine competitions and is also working on a children's book. The article accepted by Woman and Home some time ago has still not been published and so she is considering looking at it from a different angle to make it more publishable.

Tom was welcomed to the group. He is currently working on the Writers' Bureau Comprehensive Course and has been writing for most of his life. He has lots of ideas and is very enthusiastic. It was good to see him at the meeting.

Peter is happy with his website and blog and now has 2 followers. He has been doing open mic sessions in Petersfield, Portsmouth and Swindon but would like to find venues for his longer poems. He is producing a booklet of his poetry, The Nails of My Grave and brought along a draft copy for the Writing Buddies to look at.

Glen has been writing short stories and attended a blogging workshop. She has lots of projects to get on with but needs motivation.

Penny had given a talk, on how much fun you can have writing articles, to the Southampton Writers Circle; had run a blogging workshop; was working on her book, Southampton Then and Now and had been kept busy by the Writers' Bureau with a flurry of new students who were eager to pursue New Year Resolutions to write.

The discussion around the table touched on the Winchester Writers Conference and how difficult it was to gain appointments with the experts of your choice. It was commented how long it took to get refunds if you were unable to see who you wanted to see. The 'cliquey' nature of the event was also mentioned and the general consensus of opinion was that the organisers should look at their speakers carefully. The lack of parking and the fact that it was considered to be too big and had outgrown its format were also discussed.

Swanwick and Earnley both won praise for their services to writers, in particular the fact that top named writers attended and it was possible to talk to them.

Different ways to market or publicise work were discussed. Various options were offered around the table, including local radio, small community publications and printing poems and selling them as gifts (as one of the Writing Buddies has done successfully in the past).

Peter marked National Poetry Day by attending an open mic session where Simon Armitage read his work.

In all it was a lively meeting at The Art House, whose staff, as usual, welcomed the Writing Buddies warmly.

The next meeting is Friday 12th March at 2pm. Everyone is welcome.

JPF Goodman at Goblets Gallery

2010-03-03T10:17:00.002Z

Writing Buddy, John Goodman, is proud to announce the exhibition of work inspired by his poetry. With eight artists involved, John is looking forward to welcoming friends old and new to the exhibition, where works will be on sale.

The latest from The Writing Buddies

2010-02-15T07:47:00.002Z

The Latest From Writing Buddies - thanks to Jacqueline Pye for writing this in Penny's absence.

On February 12th, ten members met at the Art House, and once again the meeting was lively, interesting and enjoyable. Founder Penny was unable to join the group this time, and was greatly missed.

Christine had sent a short story in for the regular Writers’ Forum competition; she received a critique which was very favourable, and which said the story should find a market. A story has also been submitted to Write Space, and she had read at the short story slam held at the Discovery Centre in Winchester. She continues to look for a market for her book on bringing up teenagers, and wonders if it is too long; possible markets were discussed with several ideas suggested. Christine also mentioned that Writers’ Forum magazine is welcoming its new fiction editor currently by offering free entry to their short story competition and a free critique – well worth a try for anyone working on short stories.

Elizabeth continues to write short stories, and is concentrating on competitions and also – for now – smaller circulation magazines. It was generally agreed that the national magazines provide only very limited markets for short fiction these days. Elizabeth has also been writing poetry of late.

John has written many poems over the past year, and has recently been to a number of open mic poetry evenings. He has been meeting with artists who are producing work inspired by his poetry; an exhibition of both is planned to open on March 16th at Goblets, which is just a few doors away from the Art House.

Richard has been asked to edit the newsletter for the Totton branch of the University of the Third Age. He is confident with this, as he has previously edited similar publications, and he plans to contribute the odd poem or short piece of his own. He talked a little about his poetry and how he presents and frames individual poems.

New member Sharon was warmly welcomed to the group. She is keen to write and be published. She works in complementary therapy, and already produces information on this in written form for interested groups, so this is an area she would like to develop more widely. She also feels drawn towards writing children’s fiction.

Glen has now set up her blog and is keeping it up. She has read one of her poems at a recent meeting, and this was well received.

Jimmy still awaits payment for his feature in January’s Best of British magazine. He sent his autobiography, to the History Press; they recommended reducing its length and resubmitting, and he is working on adjusting it to the required word count. Meanwhile he is working on a short story with a paranormal theme. Nicola from the History Press discussed with him the possibility of a book on the history of Eastleigh; the group noted that this had been done a number of times by other publishers, but the History Press still seem interested.

Marsha was another new member, and again the group were very pleased to welcome her. She is currently working on a book which was outlined to the group, and possible approaches, markets, and sources of information on agents were discussed.

Pam distributed leaflets about the Ashtara pamper day for writers on Saturday June 26th, 9.30am-4pm. Any writers interested can e-mailpam.whittington@btinternet.com Pam attended the central library talk by Gordon Griffin and his publisher about his work recording audio books. Gordon has a long and distinguished CV as an actor and has recorded around 500 books – the full unabridged texts. Pam has learned that two of her poems were read out in Coventry cathedral just before Christmas, and one of these she knows has been sent from person to person all around the world. She is thinking of having more copies of her booklet of poems printed as she has sold almost all of the first print run.

Jacqueline had also been at the talk by Gordon Griffin, and found it interesting and enjoyable. Gordon works often in Hamburg, where audio books in English are popular, and he agreed to provide contact details for another member of the group who attended his talk, and whose work is proving popular there. Jacqueline has had her feature on comic teddy bear postcards “accepted for possible publication” by Best of British magazine. They will not commit to what payment might be if the piece were used, as apparently “the editor decides on publication”.

The group discussed areas such as the legal implications of using slightly altered but possibly recognisable names of friends in books, even with written consent, and the desirable length of novels, as well as possible markets for individual members’ work. Unhelpful website hosts were given the ‘thumbs down’, and other hosts mentioned, and the difference between blogs and websites was again of general interest. The meeting was lively and very positive – with hopefully more of the same next time – Friday February 26th, 2pm.

Twelve Writers at Writing Buddies

2010-02-07T23:39:00.005Z

The Writing Buddies meeting at The Art House on Friday 29th January was an interesting one. Twelve Writing Buddies turned up, including three new writers who were welcomed into the fold.

Fiona had been enjoying the Creative Writing course run by Kate and Greg Mosse at West Dean, near Chichester, Sussex. The first of three, this one was on plot and characterisation and was, Fiona said, a 'huge revelation'. She said that the course had taught her some hard lessons and she was now going to undertake a massive revision of her novel's 30,000 word skeleton.

Jacqueline has set up her own blog and has been busy practising. She has also started working on setting up a website, but has had trouble with the host and is in the process of trying to sort this out. In the meantime, she has been busy and has sent off an article idea to Best of British magazine, about her collection of teddybear postcards. She has also submitted two poems for critiquing by Writers' Forum magazine, receiving mostly positive feedback. She has also written a memoir and submitted it to a publisher for possible publication.

Tessa was pleased about a very enthusiastic review of her book,

The Dohlen Inheritance, in a German newspaper. German readers, she said, love the book. Legend Press want to see it and she is currently working on the second book, soon to be published in the UK.

John was welcomed into the group. He has recently started to write poetry and is 160,000 words into a trilogy. He has a column writing drama reviews for a local newspaper.

Elizabeth has submitted short stories to Write-Space and to Hampshire View.

Bethyn, another new Writing Buddy, writes short stories, poetry and novels. She commented that when she recently reviewed her work over the last five years, she noticed that her style of writing has changed.

The Writing Buddies welcomed Wendy Hughes as a guest. Wendy has been writing since 1989 and has had over 1700 articles published. She is currently working on her next book, Haunted Worthing. She has recently set up her own website and blog, following her move to Sussex from Walton on Thames, where she founded the Walton Wordsmiths.

Jimmy has sent his autobiography to The History Press, at the request of commissioning editor, Nicola Guy, who was a recent Writing Buddies guest. He has also now finished his sci-fi story, which has twenty chapters and 92,000 words.

The Writing Buddies welcomed Carina, an IT teacher in Southampton. Carina has been writing about British history for a Russian language magazine published in London. Her first book, Legends of World History will be published in Russia in March/April. She has also been commissioned to produce a novella on Boudicca's story, the Queen who revolted against Roman occupation. Carina noted that there was keen interest in history and historical fiction in Russia and the New States.

Penny is busy working on her next book, which has been renamed Southampton Then and Now. She asked the Writing Buddies if any of them had archive photographs of any aspect of life in Southampton, or if they knew of any groups which might be able to help. Several suggestions were forthcoming, which she was grateful for.

The Writing Buddies discussed the local newspaper and its limitations. It was felt generally that it was not sympathetic to writers. It was noted though, that times are hard in the publishing world and advertising revenue is vital to the continued survival of many local papers. Other local publications were also discussed and it was felt generally there there was a shortage of arts coverage in the area.

It was suggested that the Writing Buddies might like to put together an anthology of its work, as a vehicle for publicity, with a local launch. This was discussed but will need much further discussion to make a decision as to whether or not it is viable. Wendy said that this was what Walton Wordsmiths had done and it was very successful. This led to a discussion on self-publishing, copyright issues on the internet and the value of Google alerts.

The subject of website publishing was discussed again. Fiona mentioning that she was very happy with the fact that she had entrusted her site to a professional, which meant that she did not have to worry if there was a problem. It would be taken care of for her.

In all, it was a lively meeting. The Writing Buddies would like to thank our guest, Wendy Hughes, for coming to join us and for the staff at The Art House for having us.

The next meeting is on Friday 12th February at 2pm at The Art House, Southampton. Everyone is welcome.

Writing Buddies at The Art House, Southampton

2010-01-25T12:00:00.009Z

The first meeting of Writing Buddies in our new home, The Art House, in Southampton, was a complete success! Phew!

Ten writers turned up and all agreed that the new venue was a good one. The fact that the coffee is particularly good and it is brought to the table thoughtfully reserved for us, was a huge bonus!

Christine has been a busy girl! She is busy updating her book, and is working on the WriteSpace short story competition for a 1500 word story on the subject of 'Lost Love'. The closing date is 31 January and the Writing Buddies wish her well.

Mo has been to Berlin reading poetry. She loves the city and has found outlets there for her books, which has pleased her. The fact too that she has just been accepted by the Society of Women Writers and Journalists is cause for celebration too.

It was good to see Elizabeth back again. She has started writing short stories once more and is now also writing a novel.

Glen is waiting to hear if her play will be put on at the Romsey Plaza or if it will be used as a workshop there. She is working on a newsletter, which she has enjoyed interviewing for and editing. She has an agent interested in her novel.

Tessa is still busy editing her second novel. She has been to Germany to promote the first and has received an 'ecstatic' response there. The Dohlen Inheritance was reviewed in a German newspaper and she is now looking for a German publisher. She is seriously considering setting up a website in addition to the blog she has already established. In the meantime, she is wondering what to do with the huge amount of information on knitting she has collected, including garments that she made to illustrate her work. She has published thirteen books on the subject. The University of Southampton, the only academic institution in this country which views knitting as an academic subject - an aspect of topology, the study of knots, are thinking about it.

Jacqueline wrote a ghost story for her grandchildren and told it to them on Christmas Eve. She says the best way to keep on track is to tell someone else you are going to write something and then you have to do it! Jacqueline is also going to send poems to Writers' Forum magazine and is working on her children's detective novel. She badly needs a new chair, as the one she balances her cushions on when she writes is giving her a bad back. Several other Writing Buddies empathised.

Jimmy announced that he was sending the manuscript of his autobiography to Nicola Guy, our guest from The History Press just before Christmas. He and his son are busy editing it now. Jimmy has also been talking about a book on the history of Eastleigh with Nicola and is awaiting news on this. He has sent in entries to the Riptide Competition he read about in The Woman Writer magazine. He was rejected by Legend Press but was very pleased with his article, on his time as a Vindi Boy, which appeared in the January edition of Best of British magazine.

Peter is very happy with his blog and website, which he recently had set up for him. He is now going to have some business cards printed. He is off to Portsmouth and Petersfield, to open mic sessions at the end of January. He is looking at self publishing some of his work and has been to see a printer about this. Peter won first and second prizes at an internal poetry competition at the Poole Poetry Group, which he says was both 'a boost and chastening' at the same time.

The Writing Buddies welcomed Silma to the meeting. She lives in New Milton and is working on a fantasy story for 7 - 9 year olds. She has written several unpublished short stories. She has had an article accepted by Woman and Home but, as yet, has not seen it published. She asked the group's advice about this and there was a discussion on kill fees.

Penny had finished her Folklore of Hampshire book and delivered it to the publisher. She was busy working on The Woman Writer magazine for the SWWJ and had started working on her next books.

As usual the chat over the excellent coffee was of a varied nature. Tessa had been given a Kindle for Christmas and reported that it was difficult to load it with new material as the formatting was lost. Books have to be specifically aimed at the Kindle for it to accept them properly. It was, she said, easy to read from. She can makes notes on it but could not edit her own work.

In the wake of the closure of Borders, it was noted that Waterstones is reported to be struggling.

Christine was off to the Short Story Slam in Winchester and those who had taken part in this kind of event offered advice. All seemed to think they were good fun.

Marketing, its difficulties and how those authors about the table went about it took up a large part of the discussion. The traditional publishing versus self-publication debate continued, with Print on Demand generally felt to be the way publishing was heading. The importance of the web in marketing was discussed and there will be a workshop on setting up a blog at a Writing Buddies meeting soon.

Carole Ann Duffy, it was felt, had raised the profile of poetry generally by bringing it into the public eye more. Elizabeth noted that there was a poetry competition coming up at the Southampton Writers' Circle in March.

In all, it was a lively meeting, in a good venue and all the Writing Buddies enjoyed it.

The next meeting is at 2pm on Friday 29th January at The Art House, 178 Above Bar Street, Southampton. Everyone is welcome.

The Writing Buddies have a new home!

2010-01-14T08:45:00.004Z

It is with great pleasure that I announce that the Writing Buddies are about to move into their new home.

As readers of this blog will know, Writing Buddies were happily meeting at Borders in Southampton. This arrangement came to an abrupt end when the chain collapsed at the end of 2009. Since then we have been homeless. The central library stepped in and offered us a temporary home, which we gratefully accepted for our last meeting of the year, when Nicola Guy, Commissioning Editor from The History Press, joined us. Now though, it is time to sort out a more permanent arrangement.

We had offers of a home from several venues and it is with real gratitude that I thank all those who offered their premises to host our meetings. The final choice was difficult but I am pleased to say that, at last, Writing Buddies has a new home.

The next meeting will be tomorrow, Friday 15th January 2010, at 2 pm at The Art House Cafe, 178 Above Bar Street, Southampton, SO14 7DW. Telephone number 023 80 238582. This venue offers vegetarian refreshments (please note that it does not take cards, only cash), is close to public transport links, is free and can accommodate us at the time that we wish to meet.

The next meeting will be on Friday 29th January at 2 pm at The Art House Cafe as above, when we will be welcoming prolific author, Wendy Hughes.

If you fancy joining in the chat over a refreshing cuppa, please do come along to Writing Buddies. You will be very welcome.

Writing Buddies at the library!

2009-12-14T10:57:00.006Z

Following our enforced move from our home at Borders bookshop, we held a meeting at the central library in Southampton. The room was great but very chilly and so we are thinking about our options for the future. Watch this space...

In the meantime, it was a small band of Writing Buddies who turned out to welcome our guest, Nicola Guy, the Local History Commissioning Editor for The History Press. Nicola came armed with some great advice for all writers, 'Make sure you have a web presence in this day and age.' Several of the Buddies have either webs or blogs, some both, and several others are in the process of setting up one or the other. All agree that it is an invaluable marketing tool.

Poet Peter joined an open mic session in Swindon recently, which is now on YouTube. You can listen to two of his poems here. He is currently working on a proposal through a poets literary agency and will be at both Poole and Wimborne poetry groups in the near future.

Tessa distributed Writers in Southampton bookmarks to all the Writing Buddies. These she has been involved in designing. She is still working on the second book in her trilogy, to follow The Dohlen Inheritance published earlier this year.

Jacqueline P has started a voluntary job in Eastleigh working for Talking News, which brings the news to those with sight problems.

Chris has written a short story and now has to decide on her market. She is also undecided as to what to do with the manuscript of a book on bringing up teenagers which she has taken four years to write, in conjunction with a co-writer. The script is too long as it stands and she is wondering how to take this forward. Various options were discussed.

Philippa has been to the Second Light Network for older women poets. She had previously met a Rumanian poet there and this led to her poems being translated into Rumanian. Philippa has just finished work on bringing Rumanian poetry into a readable English format, which she admitted was difficult. She has just judged the Christmas Poetry Competition at the Society of Women Writers and Journalists and she also discussed letters she has which she may offer to the Imperial War Museum or the British Legion as they were written during the Second World War by a friend.

Jimmy is busy waging war in a parallel universe in his sci-fi novel. He has sent in an entry for the Biscuit Publications International Fiction Competition and looks forward to the feedback he will receive from this. He is about to launch a Davy Collins and the Sundance Gang blog to publicise his ten novel series on the adventures of a group of boys growing up in the 1950s. He has also put part of one of the novels on Authonomy and is keeping his fingers crossed.

The Writing Buddies welcomed Nicola, who said that The History Press were looking for authors to take on various projects, including writing the history of Eastleigh, writing on the Second World War and in particular, on its effects on Southampton, crime history and genealogy. She said too that the 'Voices of ' series is popular.

Penny is just coming to the end of her work on folklore and will be forwarding the manuscript to The History Press soon. She has been tutoring for The Writers Bureau on both their non-fiction and their proofreading and copyediting courses and has just completed a PTLLS teaching certificate.

In all the meeting was short but packed with interesting information. The Writing Buddies are a busy group of diverse talents.

The Writing Buddies would like to thank the staff at the Central Library for stepping in to provide us with a home at short notice. It is appreciated.

Watch this space for details of the next meeting, in January 2010.

The photo shows Jimmy Marsh, Nicola Guy and Peter Farr.

Writing Buddies is Moving!

2009-12-01T19:58:00.002Z

Following on from the announcement that Borders is closing down, I have looked for a new venue for the meeting scheduled for Friday 4th December.

I am pleased to announce that the meeting will take place at 2.30 at the central library, behind Southampton town hall (look for the clock tower if you are coming from out of town).

There is a coffee shop, so please pick up your cuppa and then go into the library and look for the help point (on the right as you walk through the main entrance doors. The word HELP is printed on the wall). Let the staff know you are there for the Writing Buddies meeting and they will direct you to the conference room.

Our guest will be Nicola Guy, commissioning editor for The History Press.

The Writing Buddies would like to thank publicly the staff at the Southampton branch of Borders for their hospitality over the months since we started meeting there. It is such a shame that the shop is closing. We hope that everyone will find new jobs soon.

If you have any queries about the arrangements for Friday 4th December, please email Penny on penny@pennylegg.com The meetings are free and are open to anyone with an interest in writing.

Peter Lovesey at Writing Buddies

2009-11-30T13:29:00.004Z

The Writing Buddies meeting on Friday 20th November was a well attended affair, when the Buddies welcomed crime writer Peter Lovesey to share coffee and chat at Borders bookshop. We also said 'Hello' to several writers who joined us for the first time.

Fiona had sent off a manuscript for the Harry Bowling Prize, had enrolled on three courses at West Dean College in Chichester and had been approached about speaking at school on her writing experiences.

Glen has seen her script rejected by the BBC and is currently working on amateur dramatics in the community.

New Writing Buddy Diana turned to writing after ill health forced her into early retirement. She has had numerous letters, articles and a biography published and is working on her first novel, which is currently under consideration with an agent. She is a graduate of the London School of Journalism.

Mo is busy writing articles for magazines and newspapers.

Dee had come straight from Waterstones, where she had been stock signing.

Tessa is looking for an editor for her second book. She is busy designing a bookmark for Writers In Southampton, who are holding their next meeting on 3rd December in Portswood.

Ex-teacher, Peter Lovesey, took up writing in 1975 and, as he put it, 'does enough to keep going and make a living.' Peter's overseas sales help considerably to making writing a worth while proposition for him. He is currently writing book number 32.

Jimmy is busy writing a sci-fi novel and has just started a war in the future!

Patsy reported that her proofs have come through from the publisher and she really must check them. Life is hectic though and finding time is difficult.

Pam has been involved recently with the Poetry Trust.

Poet Peter is looking to publish a series of poems he wrote some years ago. He has been going to open mic events and will be in Swindon at the White Hart soon.

There was a discussion of various open mic sessions and their value. Mo revealed she is also a performance poet. The sessions run by Rob Richardson at Rosie's Wine Bar in Portsmouth were mentioned.

Barbara is still writing her diary, into its 40th year. She has been busy preparing a workshop for the Southampton Writer's Circle, and writing her pages for the Church magazine.

Chris, another new member, writes short stories and has an idea for a novel, which she is working on. She has previously published a book on child and adolescent mental health, which is in its second edition. She was a social worker and family therapist.

Penny had been interviewed on Express FM and the interview would be broadcast on 1st December. She is coming to the end of writing her book, Folklore of Hampshire.

Peter Lovesey outlined his approach to writing. He said he takes about six weeks to produce a detailed synopsis and then writes the book. There are no drafts although he acknowledged that sometimes the characters get larger as they evolve. 'It's exciting when it happens,' he said. For Peter the synopsis is the most creative part of the whole writing process.

Dee said that her synopsis is usually a paragraph long. She commented that she is expected to produce a book set within the period 1900 - 1960, which encompasses 2 World Wars and a depression, so she has lots of scope. She writes in chapters, and prints off each with the date as she goes. She stressed the importance of getting the period right.

The group discussed the importance or otherwise of character names. Peter L said that he looked at the surnames of a cricket team 100 years ago and chose names from that. It was pointed out that a common name was a good thing, as readers could identify with the character.

The question of celebrity writers was discussed at length, particularly in light of Lynda La Plante's comments at the Crime Writers Association Dagger Awards Ceremony a short time ago. She urged publishers and agents to turn back towards the ordinary everyday writers and to ditch the 'celebrity writer' who did not write their own book. It was generally acknowledged that Katie Price's book was dumbed down. Ghost writing gigs can often be lucrative though it was commented.

The question of whether Carole Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage were blanked by the BBC was discussed. They had been billed to appear on Late Night Review and at the last moment it was announced that they would not appear. Several of the Writing Buddies felt that there was some kind of conspiracy going on behind the scenes and speculation was rife as to what this could be.

It was commented that rhyming poetry was on its way back and it was cool for boys to write poetry again, particularly if was then used as a rap, to music. It was noted that the Birmingham Poetry Slam evolved out of rapping.

Both Fiona and Peter F were congratulated on their recent success as they had been elected to membership of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

In all it was a lively meeting. The next meeting will take place on Friday 4th December. In light of the problems Borders are currently experiencing, the venue will be announced shortly. Nicola Guy, commissioning editor at The History Press will be our guest at this meeting.

If you are interested in joining us at the next meeting, please email Penny on penny@pennylegg.com for the latest information.

Writing Buddies Carries On!

2009-11-10T08:14:00.003Z

After last meeting, when the tables on the Borders shop floor were in use and there was nowhere for the Writing Buddies to go apart from in the noisy coffee shop, I am pleased to report that this time we had a spot back in the relative peace and quiet of the shop itself.

Nine Buddies turned up and it was good to meet two new additions to the group.

Jimmy, as usual, has been very busy. He has sent off competition entries to Legend Press, Bridge House, McKitterick, the BBC My Story Competition and the Southampton Writers' Circle and now had his fingers crossed as he waits for the results. In the meantime he is writing chapter 11 of his latest book, a sci-fi/fantasy and is editing the first three chapters of his first Davy Collins novel so that it can be sent out to a publisher.

Richard has not been writing recently but was happy to join in the group again as he can only come along every so often.

Tessa has been busy editing her second novel.

Donna reported more success, this time with the Poets of Africa Institute. She is now working on a collection of short stories, to be illustrated by her husband. She has tried her hand at the Hythe writing group 250 word exercise, which was challenging.

The Writing Buddies welcomed Jenna, who writes fantasy fiction and James, who wants to write scientific articles or crime stories.

Patsy is busy editing her latest book on dog training. This will be her fourth book. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association new writers scheme and has submitted twenty thousand words to them for appraisal. She is waiting for feedback. In the meantime she is studying with Sophie King through Writers' News and is a member of the Chandlers Ford Writers' Group.

Barbara had been six days with out a computer thanks to a hard drive failure. This had caused a lot of stress and we all noted how our lives have changed since the advent of the home computer.

Penny went to Manchester to meet other tutors at the Writers' Bureau head office. It was an interesting insight into the college and a chance for her to meet some of the other tutors. In the meantime, she is busy finishing her book, Folklore of Hampshire, which has to be at the publisher soon. She has been asked to appear on the radio, on Rob Richardson's show on Express FM on Wednesday 18th November, which she is looking forward to. She is busy trying to think of suitable music for the show.

Peter and Jacque R both sent regrets as they were sick. Philippa was swamped with work, as was Dee. They all said 'Hi' and hoped to be along to the next meeting.

The discussions this meeting were as varied as usual. The question of e-books and the Kindle book reader came up again. It was noted that the e-book readers were getting better in terms of quality and the price had come down considerably. It was felt that the chief advantage to having one was when travelling, when instead of dragging a heavy book around you could have a whole library in one lightweight unit.

The Writing Buddies were interested in proof reading and copyediting courses and Penny noted that she had just been sent the latest such course offered by the Writers Bureau, with a view to tutoring that course in addition to the non-fiction courses she currently covers. The merits of learning about proof reading were discussed and it was felt that this was a vital skill for any writer.

The merits of the new Windows 7 as compared to Vista were also discussed. Some of the group had already made the jump, whilst others were waiting to see what bugs there were to be ironed out first.

Richard had brought along an advertising piece from a publishing agent and the group talked about such advertising and the merits of agents looking for writers in this manner. It was felt that companies have to start somewhere but it was wise to research what they were offering before plunging in.

In all it was another information and advice packed session.

If you fancy coming along and joining in you are most welcome. The next meeting is on Friday 20th November when we will be welcoming crime writer Peter Lovesey to the coffee table. The meeting is at 2pm in the Borders bookshop in Southampton.

Writing Buddies Correction

2009-10-28T11:19:00.003Z

Philippa Lawrence has emailed the following correction to the last post:

Writing Your Self is due out next month sometime and Myra will let me know about it. Their previous book, excellent, which I have, is Writing for Self-Discovery, ISBN 9 781843 330455, £8.99 Vega 1998, 2002, (Element Books 1998), and How To be Well Versed in Poetry, Edited by E O Parrott, Penquin 1991 (Viking 1990) ISBN 0-14-011275-8. £5.99 - out of print but available on Amazon for £1 or so. It's a brilliant demonstration of different poetry forms through parody - the best I've met.

Many thanks, Philippa.

Writing Buddies on 23rd October 2009

2009-10-25T11:53:00.001Z

Thanks to Jacqueline Pye for writing up the meeting on the 23rd October:

The group were moved this week to a corner of the Starbucks coffee shop in Borders, where we’ll probably be found each time until after Christmas. Apologies received from Penny Legg who was at a meeting up north; Pam presided for us.

Peter, a new member, has been writing a good deal of poetry, but has not yet submitted it for publication. He is considering various options including self publishing, and plans to join a group in Bournemouth. Other members recommended the groups Flair for Words and New Forest Poets.

Jimmy has been to the Bournemouth Literary Festival – he picked up some good tips and advice. The first part of one of his novels is almost ready to submit, and he is also well into work on a sci fi novel.

Glen has been tidying up her office! She mentioned that the BBC short story unit has changed its system; from now until the end of November only, they will consider short stories from new writers – info available from the BBC website.

Patsy is currently working on the proofs of her latest book on dog training, and also writing another. She is keen to write fiction, and is currently studying on two courses to this end.

Fiona J belongs to Wyvern Writers, who meet on the second Friday of each month (see below). She writes training materials professionally, but also poetry and various types of fiction for her own interest. She recently had a poem published in one South African magazine as well as a short story in another – there are plans to make her short story into a film in S Africa – the group was impressed, and we congratulated Fiona on her success.

Phillippa has been promoting her latest book of poetry since our last meeting. She recommended to the group the book “Writing Your Self” by Maria Schneider and John Killick.

Fiona van der S has now completed 10,000 words of her novel, though she finds the work will need adapting if she is to submit for the Harry Bowling prize – apparently it needs more romance! She has formally applied to join SWWJ.

Donna has written more poetry since last time, and is working on refining it – it sounds as though she is a natural.

Pam has returned to working on her novel, taking into account some advice given earlier. She mentioned that a short story for children written in the past was described by a critic as being more an adult book, and she was uncertain which way to jump on this. Other members of the group identified with this problem and we discussed it for a while.

Jacqueline has now written up the plot for her children’s detective story, with chapter-by-chapter detail.

Other points and recommendations which came up include:
• novelist Alan Tate is running a workshop for Wyvern Writers at Chandlers Ford library on Nov 13th -
details of content from fiona@train-ink.com

• fiction guidelines for The Lady were circulated, and can be requested from editors@ladyco.uk – note
they require submissions on CD

• Pam’s ‘slim volume’ of poetry was printed for her by Louis Ross in Totton quite reasonably. Info from
www.louisross.com

• Motivation Reaction Units were mentioned as a source of inspiration for fiction – Google has various
sites

• some writers have found that pitching their work directly to celebrities or their agents was often
effective, bypassing the ‘doorman’ and leading to acceptance or at least further useful contacts. We
also discussed the usefulness of creating a monologue by our fictional character to flesh it out

• the 2010 Hampshire Poet competition is running until December 11th – two poems to be submitted,
with a personal statement – prize is four paid commissions with local relevance. Applies to those
living, working or studying in a Hampshire CC governed area (likely to exclude So’ton and Pompey).
Info from www.hants.gov.uk/arts-service and click on Hampshire Poet 2010.

Southampton Library Reading Groups

2009-10-16T14:36:00.003+01:00

Richard Ashman has been in touch with a link to the reading groups he runs. Please click here for more details.

Writing Buddies welcomes Richard Ashman

2009-10-16T09:54:00.003+01:00

A record number of Writing Buddies turned up at Borders in Southampton to welcome Richard Ashman, the Manager of the huge Central Library in the City.

Richard was able to give us an insight into the library's policy on buying library books as the library 'tries to have a representative collection'. Several of our members were somewhat shocked by the news that readers do not often borrow books of poetry from the library. Richard also told the group about the changes to the library service that new technology has brought. Many people now research online and only come to the librarian when they need expert advice. Richard also told the group about the reading groups he runs.

The group had a lively discussion on the topic, 'What is the essence of a good story'. Opinion was divided and this could be revisited on a later occasion. The importance of taking criticism on the chin also set heads nodding amongst the group.

Fiona had taken advice given at the last Writing Buddies meeting and ordered some business cards. She has now written the first 9,000 words of her novel and said that she had been 'inspired' by the Writing Buddies group. 'I'm on a roll,' she said. She attended the latest meeting of Writers in Southampton.

Ash too was inspired by the previous Writing Buddies meeting and is now working on a marketing idea based on his work. He has signed up for workshops at Guildford Literary Festival.

Jimmy has had positive feedback about one of his Sundance Gang books, which he was pleased about. He is now busy polishing a sci-fi story.

Pam has written two poems recently and presented them to friends. She has also been in discussion with the owner of the holistic centre in the New Forest about the Day for Writers there to be held in June.

Tessa is busy editing the second book of her trilogy and writing the third one.

Richard said that apart from writing angry letters to his MP he has not written anything recently. He has decided to join The Plaza Theatre in Romsey, as they need volunteers.

The Writing Buddies welcomed Glen, who came along for the first time. Glen says she 'will have go at anything', which is just what the Writing Buddies like to hear! She is waiting to hear if her poems will be in a Portsmouth anthology and is currently re-writing a stage play following advice from Stella Duffy.

Donna has decided that Fiona's tip from last meeting, that of gardening to gather your thoughts together, is for her, much to her garden's appreciation. She has had her first poem published and this has spurred her on to write more. She has also now launched her own blog.

The Writing Buddies also welcomed Philippa Lawrence to the coffee table. Philippa is a poet and a member of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. Her latest work, From Memory's Wardrobe has just been published. She told the group that she found taking to free verse 'difficult, but I think I've got it now.'

Jacqueline P told us of her new idea to gain inspiration for her work. She chose a novel and then particular page numbers, line numbers and word numbers. This led to a list of words which she used towards a short story. She is currently working on this. She is also thinking about writing a pantomime.

Jacqueline R told the group that she has enjoyed her second visit to the Southampton Writers' Circle. She had enjoyed the writing exercises there at the first visit. The Greensleeves short story competition is coming up and that she said was to her a 'scary zone'. The Writing Buddies wished her luck and await reading some of her work on the group's email loop.

Barbara had been writing her diary, as she has been doing for more than forty years. As Secretary of the Southampton Writers' Circle she has been involved in setting up the Greensleeves competition.

Penny has been working on her Folklore of Hampshire book, she won the Scroll Award at the Southampton Writers' Circle and is working on the next edition of The Woman Writer magazine for The Society of Women Writers and Journalists. She gave a talk to the Society's Hants/Wilts/Dorset regional meeting on digital photography and journalism. She is about to chair a Panel Discussion on getting into print at the Bournemouth Literary Festival.

In all, it was an action packed meeting! The Writing Buddies send their thanks to Richard Ashman for taking time out of his busy schedule to come along and join in the writing talk.

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I (Penny) was touched when Jacqueline P gave a vote of thanks to me, on behalf of the group, for my work with the Writing Buddies. She made me promise to minute this on the blog, so I am being good and doing as I was told! Thank you, Jacqueline.

As an aside from the above meeting notes, I think that the way this group is blossoming is marvellous. When I started the group, with Pam's valuable assistance, I had little thought of the long term effects it would have on those who came along. I hoped they would see some benefit, even if it was just to get them away from the computer for a while and actually talk to other writers, rather than sit in a lonely garret. What has come of it is far more. Beginner writers have gained confidence in their ability to write, writers are trying new genres and widening their horizons, the meetings are acting as a stimulus to producing work to tell the group about, we have pooled our experience to help those with problems, we have shared successes, made new friends and realised that there is life out there beyond the garret! We have attracted professional writers who have shared tips and inspired us and our guests have completed the picture, with advice and insider knowledge that has been invaluable. I can only say a big 'Thank You!' to all those who have come to the Writing Buddies meetings and made all of this possible. Long may it continue!