Writing Buddies - four new members!

The Writing Buddies were delighted to welcome four new members to the coffee table on the 25th September. It was good to see so many new faces.

Writing Buddies are an industrious lot. Donna is over the moon that her poem is to be published on the Poets of Africa website as well as SF Magazine. She now has to come to grips with the technology that will enable her to download her work to the net. The step to becoming a published writer is an exciting one and Donna is slightly apprehensive, but determined! Good luck, Donna.

Jimmy has decided to make his pen name James, as he has discovered that there is an American Rap Artist by the same name. He is about to launch his own website and does not want to be confused with the singer. He is also busy working on short stories, fifteen in the last three weeks, and what was to have been a longer short story, has now become his next book. He is currently writing it as The Far End of the Tunnel a sci-fi/fantasy story.

Tessa hopes the second part of her trilogy, Hobgoblin Gold , will be out soon. She has also submitted a short story, Luxorious Odyssey, to Legend Press. This is a tale based on an Egyptian holiday and is meant for older women's interest.

Fiona's screenplay is being re-written into a political thriller but Fiona has found that the research for the book, set between 1997 and 2007, can take over her writing time. Her neighbours are benefiting from her work, as she has discovered that she gets her best ideas when she is gardening! The Writing Buddies have said that they will draw up a list of those needing a gardener if Fiona runs out of neighbours! Since the last meeting she has written her first two thousand words and has found the BBC's broadcasts of previously un-aired Agatha Christie interviews, in which the great crime writer is revealed as having to write on the kitchen table just like many other writers, a great inspiration. Fiona has also applied to be a full member of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists and the Writing Buddies wish her well with this application.

Newcomer Ash is busy working on script writing for television. He has written a two part story for Dr Who and is busy creating a new show. He also writes short stories which he hopes to expand to novel length. Ash has just joined the Southampton Writers' Circle.

Our second new member, Jacque, has been working on a novel for the last seven years, following a series of dreams which haunt her even today. She believes that 'we have to have belief in ourselves as writers' and the Writing Buddies agree. Her novel has grown and is in two parts. She has not had the confidence to show it to anyone but hopes that this will change since her decision to join the Southampton Writers' Circle and Writing Buddies. Jacque is currently looking for work in the area and the Writing Buddies wish her well with this.

Sabrina has attended the Southampton University Literary Festival, which featured publisher, MacMillan and agent, Geraldine Cook. Sabrina is working on a fantasy novel but has recently discovered just how difficult writing a short story can be.

Jacqueline has been super busy! She has submitted some pieces on the Second World War with photos to the Daily Echo but there has been no reply. She has filed all her rejected and accepted work away and has decided to rework her radio story, originally broadcast when it won 2nd prize in the South Coast Radio Solent Awards. She now considers it old fashioned and is going to make the central character more sympathetic. She is going to re-write her novel, originally written as part of a Writers' News course. Jacqueline also told the group of the value of listening to people's life stories. They can be the basis of many ideas for written work.

Pamela, our third new writer, used to work for a radio station in Uganda and is currently looking for writing work in England. She told us a little of her journalistic life and the stories she covered. She is currently writing the biography of a nun in 1970s Uganda who was the head of a boarding school where Amin's children studied. She showed no favouritism, which was a courageous thing to do at the time. The Writing Buddies wish her every success with this project and her quest for writing work.

Penny has been busy working looking through archive photographs for suitable shots for her books. She has interviewed the Bagman of the Winchester Morris Men and the historian at the Winchester Theatre Royal. She has been asked to chair a panel discussion at the Bournemouth Literary Festival in October and gave a talk on digital photography and journalism for the Hants/Wilts/Dorset region of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. She has also won the Southampton Writers' Circle Scroll Award for Best Writing 2008/9.

Lynn came shopping to Borders and heard some of our discussion. The Writing Buddies were pleased when she came over and joined us. We look forward to seeing her again next meeting.

The Writing Buddies helped Jimmy understand the submission guidelines for a short story he wished to send out. E-readers and their benefits once more featured in the chat, as did a warning about Raider Publishers, which will charge to publish work. Marketing featured strongly in discussion and various ways of marketing work were discussed. It was recommended that writers have business cards with them at all times and a web presence is essential. Ash wondered if an anthology is a good way to showcase the range of work a writer can produce, but this was generally considered to work best for those with well known names.

Tessa reminded the Writing Buddies that Writers In Southampton would meet on Thursday 1st October at the Richmond Inn in Portswood, Guests £3 or £10 for a yearly ticket.

In all it was an action packed meeting, with many of the writers present having much to say. This is just what Writing Buddies is all about! If you would like to join us, our next meeting is on Friday 9th October at the Borders Bookshop in Southampton. We look forward to welcoming you.

Writing Buddies, lots of new faces!

The latest meeting of Writing Buddies, on Friday 14th August at the Borders Bookshop in Southampton, was characterised by the number of new faces joining the chat and coffee sipping. This, during the height of the summer holiday season, was a real surprise. It was great to see so many around the table.

The new Borders Deputy Manager, Caragh Waite, has taken over from Simon Collins. She came along and introduced herself, which was great. Our meetings at Borders have been characterised by the helpfulness and friendliness of its staff and this is one big plus for our meeting here.

We welcomed Rob Richardson from Portsmouth, who is a writer, musician, the organiser of Write on the Night, WriteInvite and Write on Site as well as evenings for writers at Rosies wine bar in Southsea. He also hosts a spot for writers about writers on Express FM (93.7FM). He told the group about how his writing competitions work and how popular the evenings were at Rosies.

Catherine King, best selling novelist from Fareham, came along too. She has been interviewed by Rob on his programme. She told the group about how she got into serious writing five years ago, after over twenty years of writing and holding down a 'proper' job. Now she has three best selling novels out, with the fourth coming soon. She brought along the proposed cover for her fourth novel and the group were struck by how well illustrated it, and her other book covers, were. She tries to write one book a year and has a systematic approach to writing. She lectures at the Winchester Writers Conference and will be at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick in September. She stresses that to be a success at writing novels a writer needs to be business-like about it.

Pam has decided to give herself a one month respite from writing or sending out work after receiving a short story rejection. She has lots of work under consideration but is a bit depressed by the whole business at present. All Writing Buddies wish her well and hope that she is able to feel better about her writing soon.

Newcomer Patricia, whose English with a delightful French accent was miles better than all of our French put together, is a maths teacher who is writing a Maths Trail around Southampton. She hopes to get inspiration and advice from those around the coffee table.

Jimmy has been busy. Best of British magazine has asked to see a synopsis of an article idea he has had and he has decided that he will take some of the funny stories from his Davey Collins Gang books, children's books for adults, and re-write them for children. He has enlisted the help of the librarians at the Southampton library and is shortly to visit there to look at children's literature, to get a feel for the way this genre is written.

Cass has abandoned his novel after 120, 000 words. He was struggling with time lines and viewpoint and had asked for advice at one of the early Writing Buddies meetings. He is now on a second draft of a book for twelve year olds set in the future.

Janie has had a lot of problems at home to sort out and has been helping husband Cass with his novel. She is therefore running late with Flair News, the publication for members of Flair for Words and her tutoring services. She hopes to catch up with both in the near future.

Another new face, Richard, has been writing as a freelance journalist and poet for twenty five years. He moved from Cambridge to the New Forest via a long stint living in a motorhome, which experience the Writing Buddies think should be written up into a book for everyone to enjoy. He 'went commercial' while in Cambridge, writing, printing, framing and selling poems. As he explained, 'People put their money where their mouth is. If they liked the poem, they bought it.' He has joined the Writing Buddies looking for stimulus. He is a member of the U3A in Totton and has tried to start a writers' circle locally, without success. He was formally a member of The Mad Writers in Cambridge.

Donna has now written several poems and a short story. She has also contacted South African magazine, Promo, which is looking for writers, and has offered her services. The Writing Buddies hope that she is successful.

Barbara has made some changes to her award winning short story, 'The Spiral', with a view to submitting it for publication. She still continues to write her diary every day, which she has been doing for over forty years.

Feature writer and member of The Society of Authors, Jackie, has been re-working the short story she wrote for the Winchester Story Slam, for submission to a ladies fiction magazine. She is continuing to submit work and her children's writing is ongoing.

Penny has been offered a tutoring position with the Writers Bureau and had just received her first batch of students' work on the day of the meeting. Janie, who also tutors for the same distance learning organisation, wished her luck with the new challenge. Penny has also been offered her fourth book contract with The History Press, a photographic 'then and now' book in colour, of the city of Southampton. She is looking forward to going to Cornwall to interview the owners of a 'living collection' of war memorabilia for a magazine. She has been busy working on the next edition of The Woman Writer for the Society of Woman Writers and Journalists (SWWJ).

The talk about the table ranged, as usual, from one point of the compass to the opposite. The merits, or otherwise, of some distance learning courses were discussed, with the consensus of opinion being that the Writers Bureau offered one of the best products on the market in terms of honesty of feedback and the amount of assistance given. Rob gave us an insight into the intricacies of putting together the entries for the readings at Rosies on the first Monday in each month, when ten writers read their work for adjudication by their peers. Pam gave details of the proposed visit to the Astara Centre next year, when a Day for Writers will be run in the tranquility of the New Forest surroundings. The book, Writing From Life, by Lynne Hackles was recommended as useful reading and the use of language, and its deterioration, was once again brought up. The advantages of using Googlemail and sex and violence in stories rounded up a good and varied exchange.

The next meeting is on Friday 28th August at 2pm at Borders Bookshop in Southampton. The Writing Buddies look forward to welcoming you.

Writing Buddies - Rob Richardson, our next guest

The Writing Buddies are looking forward to welcoming Portsmouth based, Rob Richardson, Express FM host and founder of WriteInvite, to the next coffee and chat session at Borders, on Friday 14th August.

If you are in Southampton at about 2 o'clock, please pull up a chair and join us. We never know what we will be chatting about and half the fun is in finding out!

Writing Buddies - Simon Whaley, our first guest!

Simon Whaley (second from left) joined us for a cuppa for our fourth meeting and a very lively, laughter filled meeting it was too!

A dozen writers gathered to discuss successes and hot topics. Chief amongst these was how to break in to, and have success in, the short story market, with many of the group offering tips and advice on how to approach different publications. It was agreed that the best way forward was to target a publication, read several copies and then attempt to produce stories in the same style. Never send the same story to another publication unless it has been re-written to suit the second's style. Time management techniques for writers also came up. Simon suggested that having a writer's diary, which records not just what has been accomplished in the day, but also how well the writing has gone, was useful.

There were several successes reported and it was great to hear of them.

Robin Dynes (back row, dark blue top), has a new book, part of a long running series for therapists, 'Instant Session Plans', coming out soon. 'Instant Session Plans for Essential Life Skills: Relationships,' is due out in September. To pre-order it click here.

Mo Foster (back row with black scarf), has 'Words Fly' coming out in June 2010, to add to her considerable repertoire of published works.

Pam Whittington (back row, second from right, green top), was Commended at the recent Hythe Festival for her poem, 'A Fall at the Gym.'

Barbara Dynes (back row, fourth from left), has a double page spread in July's Writers' Forum magazine. Her piece is entitled, 'Recruit six honest serving men' and offers advice on how Rudyard Kipling's poem can 'provide a useful checklist' for stories.

Donna Steward (front row, second from left), has just completed an Open University course, 'Understanding Human Nutrition,' and is now full of enthusiasm and ideas to begin her first piece of writing. The group look on Donna as their first project, as she has only recently decided to start writing. Writing Buddies will offer on-going support and advice to Donna in the coming months and we all wish her well with her endeavours.

Penny Legg (back row, third from left, in white), has revamped her website and now offers editorial and writing advice to new writers, students, job seekers and the unemployed, in addition to her freelance journalism and photographic services.

Other news was also in abundance.

Barbara Jackson (front row, first on left) reported that the Southampton Writers' Circle has asked Society of Woman Writers and Journalists' (SWWJ) Chair, Jean Morris, to adjudicate the Greensleeves Award for a short story, in November. The SWC's next meeting is on Wednesday 15th July. Contact Barbara for details through the above link.

Tessa Warburg (front row, second from right) told the group of the previous evening's Writer's in Southampton (WiS) meeting, where Hedge End based author, Daniel Clay, was the guest speaker. 'Broken' was Daniel's first book, after having had two poems and three short stories published in twenty years of writing before his book was published to much acclaim. It has been published on two continents and in three languages and has been shortlisted for two awards. The BBC have also optioned the film rights. It would be great if Daniel could make a Writing Buddies meeting one day.

It was also reported that Writers' News, the magazine for subscribers to Writing Magazine, has a piece on the launching of Writing Buddies. This really is good news. Our little group is now on the map.

In all, it was a fun-filled, lively, advice-ridden and laid back meeting. Writing Buddies thanks Simon Whaley for coming and we hope he enjoyed the afternoon as much as we enjoyed having him join us.

Our next meeting is on Friday 17th July at 2pm, at the Borders bookshop in Southampton. Everyone is welcome.

Writing Buddies - Taiella, a new blog

Tessa Warburg, one of the Writing Buddies, has started a new blog following our discussion of blogging and its many and various merits at the last cuppa and a chat session in Borders.

To read her blog click here. As you can see, it is interesting and entertaining. I wish her luck with it.

The next meeting of Writing Buddies is on Friday, 19th June, at 2pm at the Borders Bookshop in Southampton. See you there!

Writing Buddies - Our first guest...

I am pleased to announce that Simon Whaley, author, writer, photographer and traveller, will be coming for a cuppa and a chat with the Writing Buddies on Friday 3rd July. As usual the group will meet at 2pm in the Borders Bookshop in Southampton. Everyone is welcome.

Writing Buddies - From One of Our Writers

This has come in as a comment from one of our members, James Marsh.

Hi

just to say how much everyone seemed to enjoy the second meeting of writing buddies. A new member turned up and obviously enjoyed the experience. I have gained so much from the first two meetings of this group.

Listening and talking with other writers, many of them published authors. It lets me know I am not alone as I sit and pound out my ideas in the seclusion of my home.

Turning up at Borders and enjoying a cup of coffeee with these people lifts me up to another level.

So why not come along to the next meeting on the 19th of June and enjoy the afternoon with all of us. You will be made very welcome indeed.

Jimmy Marsh

Thanks Jimmy. There has been a flurry of comments on this site from our writers recently. After two meetings, we are going strong!

Writing Buddies - A Great Meeting of Literary Minds...

One of our writers, Julia Painter, has summed up today's meeting, our second, at Borders. This is what she says:

'A great meeting of literary minds took place this afternoon at Borders! Wonderful to be able to link up with other writers - published and aspiring - representing a multidude of genres. This afternoon we talked latest news writing-wise, including competitions, writing conferences and other local groups. What is good about this new group is its informality and the participants' desire to share information, news and hot tips. Looking forward to the next session! And another Starbucks Caramel Latte and Chocolate Cake...'

Come and join us. It really is fun! the next meeting is Friday 19th June at the Southampton Borders bookshop at 2pm.

Writing Buddies - A great success!

Well, here we are, the first Writing Buddies. As you can see, there were 10 of us, 8 published writers and 2 aspiring, all with great plans and lots of interest in all aspects of the writing business.

Subjects discussed included the loneliness of the isolated writer, markets - which I will be exploring for the group and bringing suggestions to further meetings, writing associations and societies and a resume of the writing accomplishments of each of the group.

Two ladies from WiS - Writers in Southampton - turned up and told the group about themselves. WiS is a group of published writers who meet on the first Thursday of every month at the Richmond Pub in Portswood. The group is open to all published writers, who receive news of local literary events and can participate in discussions and hear guest speakers. Please contact me if you are interested in details of this group and I will put you in touch with them.

All agreed that having coffee and a chat in Borders was a good idea and there was much laughter amidst the more serious talk.

The next meeting is in two weeks time, on Friday 5th June at 2pm, at the Borders bookshop in Southampton. Join us, you will be very welcome!

Writing Buddies will launch this afternoon!

Yes, today is Writing Buddies day! Can't wait! I will be taking my camera along and recording the event for posterity, so watch this space for up to the minute news of the first meeting.

It will be interesting to see who comes along. As the group is aimed at anyone with an interest in writing, I am hoping that the first participants will be an eclectic mix of personalities.

More later!

Writing Buddies on Borders' website!

Writing Buddies is now being advertised on the Borders website. This is good news indeed. As the days rush by to the first meeting, interest is reaching epic proportions. I hope that come Friday, we have a nice sprinkling of interested writers just ready for a cuppa and a chat.

I'll have my camera with me to record the event for posterity and this blog. I look forward to meeting YOU there!

Welcome to Penny Legg's 'Writing Buddies'

Welcome to this, the first blog on the new Writing Buddies blog site.

I have had to call the site Penny Legg's Writing Buddies because someone else had already got the Writing Buddies blog name. Shame, but no hard feelings!

So, what is this all about? Penny Legg's Writing Buddies are a group of professional and aspiring writers who meet for an informal cuppa and a chat at Borders bookshop in Southampton, every other week. Our first meeting will be on Friday 22 May 2009, at 2pm.

We are not a writing circle and so we do not read our own work, nor do we offer critique or proof reading services. Instead, we chat about anything writing related, from market news to current successes, problems to overcome, plots to move forward and successes to share. Anything in fact that the writers meeting that week want to talk about.

It will be fun and free. So, if you find yourself in Southampton and want to join in, pull up a chair and enjoy!