Writing Buddies 4 May 2012

Southampton Writing Buddies met at The Art House. Attendance was a little down on the usual level, as a number of Buddies had other commitments that day. Jimmy chaired the meeting in Penny's absence.

Filming is about to start on Mo’s short story, which is exciting.

Janet continues with her nursing-based stories; she has about five on the go at the moment.

Karen is forging ahead with her novel, but she has been struck with inspiration for a new story and a new direction for her writing. The group looks forward to hearing more about this.

Tessa has downloaded a programme called Kinstant for conversion purposes, and has published her novel Spellbinderfor kindle. Her Knitted Quilts and Flounces is now available. She is also working on a mystery novel, and suggested two possible titles to the group who showed a clear preference for one of them.

Jacob is working on the text for a game-based site, as well as developing his own board game.

Paul is looking for people who would read and comment on his pieces of short fiction. He is not yet sure how to categorise them in a single genre. He has had work published on Ether books.

Jacqueline has had two of her tweets published in the June edition of Cook Vegetarian magazine, and a book review printed in Self Publishing magazine. She is working on a short story for a competition, and planning how to publish her children’s ebook.

Jimmy’s preschool stories are nearly ready but still need adjustments to language. He is nearing completion with Not a Guide to Southampton, commissioned by The History Press. He has nearly the full quota of photographs, and has agreed a larger word count with the publisher. Councillor Royston Smith has agreed to write the foreword. Jimmy is also considering ways of publishing his Sundance Gang and fantasy novels.

Discussion topics included copyright issues for photographs, setting up and maintaining blogs and web sites, formatting and publishing ebooks, pricing and returns for ebooks, and Amazon’s Creative Space for self-publishing books.

The next meeting will be on Friday May 18^th at 2pm, as usual at The Art House, Above Bar, Southampton. Anyone interested in aspects of writing will be very welcome.

Blog notes by Jacqueline Pye

Writing Buddies, 15 April 2011

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.

Twelve Writers at Writing Buddies

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 library!

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, 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 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.