An Autumn Meeting - Writing Buddies 1 November 2013

14 Writing Buddies were gathered for the afternoon's get together at the Mercure Dolphin Hotel. 

New Writing Buddies discovered our group discovered in various ways, including the new Writing Buddies page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writingbuddies?fref=ts  We're still looking for a long term administrator for this important means of Buddies exchanging information, sharing and promoting and, for those who administrate it, gaining valuable experience.

SHABNEEZE, who started writing as a school project in Mauritius, (from which she relocated to Southampton just three weeks prior to our meeting!) found Buddies thanks to Penny's invaluable blog: http://pennyleggswritingbuddies.blogspot.co.uk/ . Shabneeze's writing project was born as part of a project at Dr Maurice Curé High School, and it involves working on 10 stories, with illustrations by Shabneeze herself, and her mother.  Shabneeze feels nervous about completing this first writing project, and would appreciate support, tips and advice from Buddies.

DEBORAH has recently self published her first book - Mouse and the Dragon Crystal, published in July, available here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mouse-Dragon-Crystal-Deborah-Tipp-ebook/dp/B00ATT31MG and here: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/deborah+tipp/mouse+and+the+dragon+crystal/9962721/  The Print-on-Demand edition was produced by http://emp3books.com/, a company Debbie found via the Writers and Artists Yearbook. She found the cover artist on Twitter. Setting up a Kindle edition was costly. Debbie has hit a "brick wall" as to how to market further.  Responses to this focussed on social media, with discussion of the advantages, pitfalls and demands on writing time of such an approach.

JILL inherited her father's work and correspondence, and now hopes to edit this and trace the people who wrote to him during the 2nd World War years, as youngsters and teens; fascinating material! As individuals and a group, the Buddies will no doubt have many suggestions and more to help Jill with this quest.

LINDA has travelled, written poetry, humorous articles and life writing.  Now she is considering her future career as a writer and poet. Perhaps she will venture into the world of spoken word artistry!

A warm welcome to these new Buddies, and please let us know if any of their contact details and linked pages have been left out or recorded erroneously!

JAMES MARSH chaired the meeting. His next book, A 1940's Childhood - From Bomb-sites to Children's Hour is scheduled for publication in May, with illustrations including photos sourced via Kent's War and Peace Archives. He is still on the look out for photos featuring http://www.outdoored.co.uk/BewerleyPark/Contact.aspx

LISA received warm congratulations, as she has completed her latest manuscript (at 2am!) ready for further consideration by Harper Collins' Commissioning Editor, who may accept it or pass it to their Harlequin or Carina Presses, the latter being an ebook platform. Now she's waiting for a phone call to discuss the next stage, or rejection by email, which HC can at least be relied upon to furnish with good feedback. In the latter case Lisa, whose skills we know and admire, is ready to publish herself!

JIM (whose The Illustrated History of Southampton's Suburbs is still available) told us about his outside broadcast with Radio Solent, relating the fascinating information that the Great Train Robbers first thought of having a go at the gold stored regularly in Southampton by the Bank of England at that time. One sight of Jim and they no doubt decided that a train would be easier to "turn over"! The branch of Waterstones located in Above Bar Street should not feel "railroaded" into accepting ten copies of Jim's latest book - Southampton's Lucky Jim   - for Sale or Return, but grateful for the opportunity!

Many thought Waterstones had given up on local authors altogether, but Jim's success shows that it's always worth trying locally.

MARKET STANDS: Only recently explored by the group, with appearances by Writing Buddies themed stalls at several local markets, have achieved sales and good publicity for the group already. There was only one real wash out (apologies have already been received from those who organised but did not adequately equip a day in Winchester) and James and Penny enjoyed a really good day at St Mark's Church Hall in Archers Road. 

Future chances to represent the Buddies as a whole and sell the work of those involved include

NOV 17TH (Sunday) LYNDHURST - Penny, Jacqueline, Eileen and James will be venturing to this and would love it if any Buddies showed up on the day to support their effort.  This market will appear next on December 15th, and the group look forward to meeting local readers there once again.

DEC 6  LEE ON SOLENT No word back from the organisers of this event yet, but keep a look out!

DEC 16, 17, 19, 20 and 21 MARLANDS SHOPPING CENTRE Plenty of chances to meet the public here, and this has been a lucky venue for our group so far, so please contact Penny if you'd like one of the places still available on Dec 16 and/or 17.

EGG HEADS Yes, it's the BBC TV quiz show we're talking about here. James is a great fan and would love to lead a Writing Buddies team to victory over the brainy panel, whose defeat could mean a big cash prize! James knows the panel's weak spots, so the chances look good. Penny, James and Lisa are in our team already, with two more needed plus one reserve.

CREAM TEA CELEBRATION This is for the Buddies to exchange seasons greetings and enjoy a friendly teatime treat together (non dairy alternatives will be available on the day) 13th December, 2pm in the Mercure Dolphin. Tickets for this event are £5.95 per person. 

Notes by JP Goodman

Writing Buddies, January 13th, 2012

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.