Writing Buddies - 1 June 2012

Writing Buddies met at The Art House on June 1st, 2012

** Please note change of frequency of meetings - see end of this blog.

The meeting was quite well attended, and as usual, members have been very productive.

Josephine attended a non-fiction workshop run by another member, Wendy Hughes. Josephine is still working on her book about people's loves and pet hates, and remains open to suggestions. She has been working with Park Radio; they are shortly to close down because of funding problems although they may maintain an online presence. She is reviewing some academic articles, and her book on managing meetings is close to completion.

Silma has now published her book 31 12 on Amazon; it's the story of a boy who finds access to an alternative world through his mobile phone. Silma now has a blog, and has joined LinkedIn, and she reports some recent success in having articles published.

Rowan has been enjoying producing some free writing, based on random words and phrases.

Jimmy has edited his Jayden the Goldfish story and awaits a decision as to whether it is ready for publishing. Jimmy has been advised to adjust the title, and this remains under discussion. He has nearly completed Not a Guide to Southampton for The History Press, and is reviewing the third book in his trilogy The End of the Tunnel.

New member Jean has primarily been a poet, but she is currently planning a short story.

Another new member, Phil, has written some short stories, too.

Jacqueline has entered a children's poem for a Writers' News competition and a piece of flash fiction for consideration for an anthology. She has heard that a short story written during a recent online course has been accepted for Volume 3 of the ebook series Tortured Hearts. She has also posted Jubilee-related recipes on her food blog.

Karen has been planning the structure and content of her novel. She is working with Jimmy on the artwork for his Jayden book.

Janet has been looking at her diary, and is now working on expressing its content in poetry form.

Penny's latest book, Under the Queen's Colours, is published, and she has been to signing events. It is available on Amazon's website and also Waterstone's. She has been a guest on Radio Solent's Alex Dyke's show, and went to Australia House to discuss her book and sold all the copies she had with her. Her hardback Eastleigh Then and Now will be published in September, and work is in progress on Bloody British History: Southampton. She has a ghost book being published by The Thorn Press in October.

John has entered a formal scheme to register as a professional writer, and has been working with advisers on how this could develop.

In the discussion part of the meeting, topics included blogging and how to attract readers, how to set up a twitter account, whether a profit can be made with performance poetry, and the value of taking online writing courses.

** Although Writing Buddies is a successful and lively group, for logistical reasons it has been decided to alter the frequency of meetings. We will now be meeting on the first Friday of every month, so the next date is Friday July 6th, 2012.

Blog notes from Jacqueline Pye

Writing Buddies Friday 8 July 2011

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 Buddies, 4 March 2011

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, December 17th, 2010

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.

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

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, 2nd July 2010

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

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.

Writing Buddies - 26th March

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.

Writing Buddies - the latest

Friday 31st July saw the smallest group of Writing Buddies so far, as school holidays, illness, grandchildren and non-arriving carpet cleaners played their part in keeping Buddies away. However, the seven of us who assembled for coffee and chat sure had a lot to talk about!

Simon Collins, the outgoing Deputy Manager at Borders Southampton, joined us for a brief peep into the world of book selling. He revealed that Borders, since the management buyout earlier in July, is about to enter the world of publishing. This was exciting news to a group of writers! Simon talked about the best place in the store to display books, and there was a spirited discussion of the future of e-books. He noted the growth in popularity of the 'paranormal romance,' and mentioned that at Christmas nostalgia books sell well.

Simon is leaving Borders after nine years to go into business with his father. The Writing Buddies wish him well and will keep in touch with him in the future.

Dee Williams noted that Catherine Cookson has been ousted from the top of the Public Library Lending Lists by children's writer, Jacqueline Wilson. She had been to a book signing with Jacqueline and realised how good she is with children. Understanding and bonding with the reader is all important.

Donna has written a poem and joined a new writers' group, in Hythe at the Chapter One bookshop. Readers of this blog may remember that Donna joined the group a few weeks ago not knowing what she wanted to write about. Now she has had her first experience of being given a writing task at a Writers' Circle and loved every minute!

Elizabeth has shelved her ideas of sending off Christmas stories as family life has intervened. Now she is editing her past, unpublished work and looking for markets for them.

Jimmy has withdrawn his novels from Lulu.com and is re-writing them as he feels they are not good enough for publication. His son is his sternest critic and tells him when things are incorrect. In the meantime, he has attended his first function as a new Associate Member of the Society of Woman Writers and Journalists (SWWJ). He joined several other members in the South of England at a lunch in Haywards Heath. As a result of a chat he had on the way there, he is now writing his first short story, about a middle aged man in prison looking back on his wasted life. The Writing Buddies wish him well with this enterprise.

Jackie joined us again and told us about the Slam event she attended in Winchester. She was well received but was a little disconcerted to find that the winner was the person who worked for Hants County Council (which put on the event) and who had spread her leaflets and cd on to every table in the room. She wondered if there had been a level playing field. However, she had received praise from the winner and it had been good experience. She is working on a series of children's novels about a child detective and is thinking of a compendium of stories for children.

Dee Williams is working on her twentieth novel. She made the group laugh with her tales of growing up in the 'means test' culture. The 'means test' man would come and assess the worth of items in the house, to see if they could be sold before any benefits would be paid to the poor householder. The family piano, a major asset to every home, would regularly be seen trundling up and down the road as it was moved out of the house so as not to be assessed as having to be sold.

Pam is at a standstill with her work. She is editing a manuscript for a friend but still trying to find a publisher for three novels and three short stories. She wants to put together a nostalgia book about funny stories of childhood in WW2.

I have been working on photography recently. I have posted photographs for quality checking with a stock photo site and am awaiting a reply. I have put together a series of high resolution shots for a magazine, to illustrate an article I wrote and which they are running in the Autumn. (More on this when it appears.) I have also been working on my book, Folklore of Hampshire. I have just edited another edition of The Woman Writer for the SWWJ. This magazine is available for purchase by clicking here and following the link. I am also being featured in Writers' News in November.

We discussed a trip to the Astara Centre in the New Forest. We are thinking of offering a holistic trip there to try to gain inspiration/aid research. More on this in due course.

We discussed erotica and whether sex is essential to a plot. We felt that Ken Follett was guilty of throwing in gratuitous sex just to sell his books. We looked briefly at his 1992 novel, 'Night Over Water,' which is about a thirty hour flight from the UK to America on the eve of WW2. It was felt that of the two graphic sex scenes in this book, the second was thrown in merely to titillate and did not take the plot forward. This led to a discussion of the news that Virgin Books' two erotica imprints, Black Lace and Nexus, are to suspend their 2010 lists and the news that Mills and Boon are to offer their books on mobile phones.

Added to all of this were discussions on book exchanges and book festivals in Spain, Oxfam being the biggest second hand book dealer in the country, badly written books and the value of completing BBC quizzes on the internet at The Writers Room. In all, the meeting lasted over three hours and was characterised by its liveliness!

The next meeting is on Friday 14th August, at 2pm, at the Borders bookshop, Southampton. Come and join us.

Writing Buddies still at Borders

The Writing Buddies were a little concerned to hear of recent events in the business world as Borders has just sold off its flagship shop in London and several of its other premier stores. As readers of this blog will know, Penny Legg's Writing Buddies started meeting at the Southampton branch on 22 May 2009 and we are still spreading the word of our existence. To be obliged to move now would be a bit of a blow.

I spoke to the deputy manager of the Southampton store, Simon Collins, who reassured me that all was well, as the company has been subject to a management buyout. This news will be published in The Bookseller this week, but is already online. Hopefully, this will mean that Borders and its staff will be around for a long time to come. In these difficult economic times, this is good news.

We welcomed feature writer, Jaqueline Pye, who joined a slightly smaller group of Writing Buddies to usual this week. It is holiday and illness season and so there were 11 writers at the meeting.

Pam Whittington told us of her success in Hythe at the Poetry Trust competition and Robin Dynes has started writing for a health e-zine. Jimmy Marsh has been elected to join The Society of Woman Writers and Journalists (SWWJ) as an Associate Member.

Several of the Writing Buddies were at the Lit Up! literary festival near Poole and this was discussed at length, as there were both delegates and organisers at the coffee table. The Oxfam bookshops event in Southampton, to bring local writers to the attention of local people was a huge success and will be repeated at least two or three times a year. The Writers in Southampton (WiS) meeting with Daniel Clay was very successful and those who attended were amazed at Daniel's tenacity in staying with his book for the twenty years it took to get it published.

The possibility of going to the Ashtara Awareness Centre for a day of holistic peace and quiet for writers was put forward and several of the Writing Buddies were in favour of finding out more about this. Pam Whittington will take this forward.

It was noted that the Hythe bookshop, Chapter One, is under new management.

We discussed the Winchester Story Slam, which takes place on 29th July. Jacqueline is going to take part and we wished her well. Some of the Writing Buddies offered advice as they have taken part in this kind of event before, where writers have to produce a piece of work of about five minutes to read to their peers and be judged on the spot for a cash prize.

I told the meeting about my trip to the British Library to research ghostly happenings in Hampshire for my forthcoming books, Folklore of Hampshire and Haunted Southampton. Several Writing Buddies offered advice on where to look for photographs and further information. I am currently looking for old photographs of Southampton (preferably out of copyright, but this is not essential) and if anyone reading this can help I would like to hear from them, through this blog.

Julie Musk, founder of the Roving Press, is to join us as a guest on Friday 28th August. On Friday 23rd October we will welcome Nicola Guy, Commissioning Editor for local history at The History Press and on 20th November, Dagger Award winning crime writer, Peter Lovesey, will be sipping coffee with us.

So, what are you waiting for? If you have an interest in writing please feel free to come along, pick up a coffee and pull up a chair. You will be very welcome. Our next meeting is on Friday 31st July at 2pm. We meet upstairs in the Borders bookshop in the West Quay complex in Southampton.

Writing Buddies - a message from Jimmy Marsh

Jimmy Marsh, first left in the photo below, has emailed to say the following:

The fourth meeting of Writing Buddies and what a huge sucess it was. We had the delight of our first guest, Simon Whaley. And he was marvellous. It brightened up the meeting to know someone like Simon was willing to take the time to sit and chat with us at Borders.

Again I have to say it opens new horizens for me when something like this happens and I was able to get some much needed advice about one of my characters from the Davie Collins series of books I have just finished writing. Most of the people round the table appreciated what I was trying to present with this character and gave me some very encouraging tips about presentation.

So come on all of you writers in Southampton and beyond, we are there every other Friday afternoon at 2pm. You are all welcome to join us

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!