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.

Writing Buddies Book Sale 20th December - Cancelled

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

The Writing Buddies apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

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

Writing Buddies' Book Sale - 20th December 2010

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

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

Authors planning to be there are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Goblets Pub, Above Bar, Southampton.

Writing Buddies, 3 December 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Post written by Jacqueline Pye.

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

Writing Buddies, 19th November 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Post written by Jacqueline Field.

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

Writing Buddies, 22 October 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nik Morton at Writing Buddies!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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