Formed over forty years ago, our Writers Circle is based in Felixstowe, Suffolk. Meetings are held in The Room at the Top in Felixstowe Library, normally on the first and third Tuesday of each month commencing at 7.30pm and finishing by 10.00pm. Check this weblog for details of meetings.

There is an annual November to November fee of £30, April to November is £20 and June to November £15. For members preferring to pay at each meeting the charge is £5 per meeting. To contact Felixstowe Scribblers simply email scribblers.1@btinternet.com or the Secretary, catherine.stafford1@ntlworld.com

Wednesday 30 November 2011

Xmas is coming...

When filling out your Christmas cards this year, why not take one card and send it to this address:

A Recovering Soldier,
c/o Queen Elizabeth Hospital,
Mindelson Way,
Edgbaston,
Birmingham,
B15 2WB.

If everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these special people, who have sacrificed so much, would get.

CREATIVE PRINT PUBLISHING LTD

UNPUBLISHED FICTION AUTHORS PRINT READY COMPETITION
This competition starts December 2011.
The closing date for this competition is the 31st December 2011 23:59 BST.DECEMBER 2011

YOUNG ADULT & TEEN FICTION
This is a genuine, no fee competition that stretches over 12 months.

Each month a different genre; each month a winner. Winners are offered a contract, paid royalties, and receive full promotion and marketing strategies.This is not a competition with prizes. There is no entry fee. Only Print Ready novels of genuine merit will be chosen.

Your book could be a winner.

Full details of rules, genres and how to submit,on our website, http://www.creativeprintpublishing.com/publishing/competitions.php

Last chance to write a poem about your town

Now is the last chance for a member of Felixstowe Scribblers to write a prizewinning poem about their town. Your poem could win you £1,000 in the Local Poem Competition.

It’s free to enter this annual competition and it’s open to all UK residents, young or old. All you have to do is send up to three poems about life in your own home town or area to “Local Poem”, United Press Ltd, Admail 3735, London, EC1B 1JB or visit the website www.unitedpress.co.uk and enter online, or call 0844 800 9177.

The best poem will win £1,000 cash and you can send up to three entries, which must be no more than 25 lines and 160 words each.

“The competition is designed to encourage more people to get involved in writing poetry. Your entry can be about something or someone from your home area,” explained a United Press spokesman. “We find that poems written from personal observation and experience are the most heartfelt and expressive, so we’re expecting some great entries.”

Last year’s winner was Pamela Griffiths from Sheffield and previous winners came from Bristol, Oxford, Stafford and Rotherham. Previous winning poems have been about village life, a river, a tower, a country walk and local history.

The closing date is December 31st 2011.

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Spot the difference!

A lovely social evening for the Scribblers at the Brook Hotel, Felixstowe, where they gathered for their annual Xmas meal and not a single pencil in sight!

The numbers were slightly depleted because of illnesses so we wish those who were unable to attend, a speedy recovery.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 6th December in the Room at the Top when the homework assignment is to produce up to 1,000 words on "REBELS".



Saturday 26 November 2011

Prole Poetry and Prose: Issue 6

Prole Poetry and Prose has just launched issue 6, a collection of quality and accessible fiction, memoir and poetry. Prole can be purchased here: http://www.prolebooks.co.uk/page5.html

Our second, international Prole Laureate poetry competition is now open for entries. Prole is an unfunded publication and any profit from this competition will be used to assist in the running of the journal.
Brief details are below:

Time scale
All entries should reach us by March 1st 2012.
Winners will be announced in our April 2012 issue of Prole and on here on our website 30th April 2012.
Fees
Single entry £3
Subsequent entries, £2 each

Prizes
Winner: £130, publication in April 2012 issue of Prole and on the website.
The right to call yourself Prole Laureate!
Two runners up: £25 each, publication on our website and possible publication in our April 2012 print issue.

How to enter
By email.
Your name, contact details, paypal reference number and poem/poems should be contained in the body of the email and sent to :
poetrycompetition@prolebooks.co.uk
If you want to include a short bio, feel free.

By post.
Contact details should appear on each page used.
Cheques should be made payable to Prolebooks.
Mail to:
Prolebooks, 15 Maes-y-Dre, Abergele, Conwy. LL22 7HW

Prolebooks are now publishing poetry pamphlets/chapbooks. We are not accepting direct submissions for these but would welcome queries if your members feel they have a collection that we might be able to publish.

Our first two pamphlets are Nan Hardwicke turns into a Hare by Wendy Pratt, and Merlin's Lane by Robert Nisbet. Both publications have received great reviews and are available here: http://www.prolebooks.co.uk/page10.html

Brett Evans and Phil Robertson
Editors, Prolebooks

New book available very soon



Two books from author Marion Maz Mason. Her latest is due out soon and although her subject is medical, she has had the support of a consultant at Papworth Hospital along with other medical people. She has recently been interviewed on BBC Radio Suffolk advertising a week-long exhibition of the art from her first book, illustrated for children.

CPAP and Ventilator Secrets.
Available from 5 December 2011
From http://www.hope2sleep....co.uk/
Freephone telephone orders: 0800 002 9711
Also bookshops and other on-line book-stores.
Recipes by: As I Live And Breathe



Also available from Marion is
A Monkey, a Mouse and a CPAP Machine.
ISBN 978-0-9569455-0-1






















Friday 25 November 2011

Daily Mail Covers Star City Sculpture Launch

The Daily Mail will be including their coverage of the A Sporting Chance For Peace sculpture launch in tomorrows edition (Saturday). Please feel free to pick up a copy. If you are not in the Birmingham area it will be available online. You may wish to google by way of 'The Lord Mayor Anita Ward' 'Star City' 'Sculpture' and 'Donald Brown'. You should find it with that information.

Once again, thank you for all of your support and remember, the official online location to follow this project is the www.theglobalgallery.org site. Membership is completely free and all updates and announcements will be sent to you automatically by email.

There are just 21 days left to enter the Writing The Wrongs competition. Be sure to join www.theglobalgallery.org site for all updates.

Donald Brown

Monday 21 November 2011

Pen Tales






2012 is just around the corner. This is the perfect time to reflect on the years behind us and consider those ahead. You know, try to learn from the stupid things we (and others) did last year or the year before, or the year before that...


So, in the spirit of learning from mistakes, we invite you to participate in PenTales If Only I'd Have Known Story Project.


The goal is to collect stories that have life lessons for all of us. For example, we recently interviewed a New York shopkeeper who had a great tale about his 95 year-old immigrant dad, an amateur boxer in the 1930s. Among many things, we took away that it takes grit and smarts to survive robberies, rising rents, and changing times. He sums it up with: "You never know how you'll handle yourself in a time of war."


We're particularly excited about nuggets of wisdom from those people who have been around a lot longer than us. We believe that those are the stories that are the most valuable to preserve, learn from, and share. So, if you're headed home for Thanksgiving, we've got an assignment for you: interview your moody great uncle, wacky aunt, or didactic dad and ask them what they'd wish they'd known. (The stories they'll come up with are the sort of stuff you can't make up... trust us!)


As always, we're open to all sorts of media (whatever tells your story best).


+Video Interview (2 min or less)

+Audio Interview (2min or less)

+Image and caption (30 words or less)

+Text (500 words of less)


We're hoping you'll send us at least 31 Life Lessons by January 1, 2012, so we can share one with you every day for the first month of the year. That way, we're sure to be off to a good (and mistake-free) start.


Love,
Stephanie, Saskia, Ezra, Olivia, Louisa, Aswini, Maham and the rest of the wonderful PenTales crew from all around the world.


PS: Need a hobby? Shoot an email to writepentales@gmail.com and we'll loop you in!

eBook Conversion Services and Book Cover Design Services

CREATIVE PRINT PUBLISHING LTD
eBook Conversion Services and Book Cover Design Services

Here at Creative Print Publishing Ltd we offer eBook conversion services and cover design services second to none.

If you wish to expand your sales market into the ebook arena then you need a quality conversion service that replicates your hard work into a ebook version. After many hours spent bringing together your final manuscript only to be let down with a plain flat un-interesting cover, then you are looking for High quality Book Cover Design . With afordable prices and quick turn-around service to meet your deadlines.If you want your book to be stunning, and... look much more professional, and... look so unique that everyone wants to pick it up, then this will be one of the most important steps you'll ever take.

Take a look at our large selection of stunning original cover designs.
For a FREE Book Cover Design quote, please complete the quote form link at http://www.creativeprintpublishing.com/publishing/book-cover-design/free-book-cover-design-quote.php

For our ebook conversion service follow the link http://www.creativeprintpublishing.com/publishing/ebook-services.php

If you wish to ask questions then email Phillip Grizzell, Managing Director of Creative Print Publishing Ltd at phillip@creativeprintpublishing.com

Warning and disclaimer

Whilst Felixstowe Scribblers are always pleased to publish details of competitions, companies and associated information on all manner of subjects appertaining to writing and publication, we recommend that before taking up any offers or sending money for anything posted here, that it remains their own responsibility to check and research companies credentials wherever possible.

The best advice is :

"When in doubt - don't!"


This follows a report by one of our Scribblers who researched Ashgrove House Publishing Ltd
and was linked across to the previous company by the Book Publishers whose comments can be found at
http://www.kinglakepublishing.co.uk/

Sunday 20 November 2011

10th ANNUAL WOODBRIDGE XMAS HOLISTIC CRAFT & HEALTH FAYRE

From 10am to 4pm Saturday & Sunday 19-20 November
Community Hall, Station Road, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4AU

Fantastic stage and workshop programme - Enjoy a “feel good day” at our Xmas family fayre!

Admission:
To celebrate 10 years since the event began, all this is at the original 2001 admission price of just £2!
So it’s concession time for everyone, plus 16 and under come in for free Plus 1st 50 each day get in for FREE!

For more information about the Woodbridge Xmas Craft & Health Fayre and natural healing courses in East Anglia
go to http://www.lifearts.co.uk/

Chris Cozens - Life Arts

4 Days To Go

There are just 4 days to go before the launch of the A Sporting Chance For Peace sculpture at Star City in Birmingham at 12 noon. For those of you who are able to attend, I look forward to seeing you there.

The First Writing The Wrongs Competition
There are 27 days to go before the closing date for the first Writing The Wrongs competition. (December 16th) Please note that for Members of the www.theglobalgallery.org site this competition is completely free to enter. Membership to this site is also free. The top 10 quotes will be posted on the site for the Member’s votes and the winner will receive a cheque for £100.

The Second Writing The Wrongs Competition
Please wait for the date to be announced before submitting a new quote for the second Writing The Wrongs competition. Entry for all Members will be free.

For more information visit www.theglobalgallery.org site.

Donald Brown
Founder

Thursday 17 November 2011

Meeting of 15th November 2011.

Those of you who didn't attend missed another really entertaining meeting.

Members present were; DAVE DICK CAROLYN, RAY, LILIANE, TONY, MARTIN, BERYL, SARAH, LES, SANDY, SALLY, CATHY BARRY.

Angela e mailed and said she was back in the country but unfortunately could not attend. There will be further news on a writing course being held by Maureen Blundell at Angela's Villa in Tuscany when I have the details.

The homework subject was a story with a connection to the place or the word 'ARIZONA.'

RAY suggested the word Arizona last meeting so we heard his rendition of NOBODY COULD MAKE IT UP first. This began with a writers convention in Phoenix and a blonde called Sherry asking a writer if he could handle a gun, then going on to recount a meeting with aliens who sucked up zombie like creatures from Phoenix then sent them back as unsuitable thus saving the earth from colonisation.

DICK gave us an insight into the Apache nation with THE MAIL MUST GET THROUGH and how the man in charge of the Pony Express convinced Cochise to allow the mail riders free and unhindered passage through their territory.

CAROLYN gave us a poignant story of A ROAD TRIP TO ARIZONA when she really wanted to be in Paris. Told of her friend Monique who she never met until recently, having corresponded for many, many years. This was when Carolyn finally made it to Paris.

LILIANE told of THE FLAGSTAFF STONE. This was a story of a young girl selected by a Hopi Indian ghost to be the one who steals the stone from Flagstaff and return it to the Back Mesa.

TONY entertained us with DARK STAR, the story of a low budget film by that name and its connection to a garage in Benson Arizona. Not forgetting his own rendition in song!!!!

MARTIN had a piece called ARIZONA IS THE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. This was a section of a play he is at present writing. Very well written and we wait for some more.

BERYL told us about VISITING HER BROTHER, a trip she will always remember when she traversed many states and National Parks while visiting her brother in Boise, Idaho.

SARAH read us her moving story, written in a novel way with the first person narrator being the battleship ARIZONA. We had the story told in her unique fashion of the life and eventual death of the ship in Pearl Harbour at the time of America's entrance to the second world war. Moving stuff!

LES was a true entertainer with his extremely funny piece SUNG, yes, he sang the piece to the tune of 'Rang time cowboy Joe. Everyone loved it and for me was the highlight of the evening.

SANDY was troubled, having to follow Les and his song but her piece proved to be another very funny story called COWBOY HUNT. A story of Di going to Arizona intent on finding a true life cowboy to woo her off her feet. Unfortunately she discovered the cowboys were all intent and in love with themselves and their mounts so she decamped to Los Angeles where things were six time the cost and decided she was better off back home in England.

SALLY told of a young girl deciding to go against her father's wishes and row a boat to THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAKE where she met and fell in love with a tall, handsome Indian warrior.

CATHY. Her story, PUBLIC LAW 503 told us of the hardship and injustice meted out to a mainly innocent part of the public in America during the war, when people of Japanese descent were interned in what turned out to be nothing but prison camps during WW2.

BARRY. My own part in the meeting was through a story called RICHARD PAXTON McCULLOCH, an entrepreneur who bought the old London Bridge in the 1960's and transported it to Arizona, and Lake Havasu, brick by numbered brick.

Finally DAVE gave us TAKEN, the story of Geronimo, Yet another example of a minority people being oppressed and transported from their homes onto reservations where the American military were surprised to find that the Native Indians were less than happy with their lot.

Please excuse the brevity of the comments to some of the stories and if small details are reported wrongly then put it down to old age.

The evening was a resounding success once more and was peppered with fact, fiction, faction and prose then a song by Les. All in all a brilliant evening.

Thank you all for coming and as I asked before, could all those not already booked, please contact me by the 19th if you wish to come to the evening meal. At £9.50 a head for a really good carvery it is well worth it.

The next meeting will be on the 6th of DECEMBER when the subject word is REBEL or REBELS.
Good scribbling and see you at 7.30 at the Brook on the 29th of this month.

Barry.

Grace Dieu Writers' Circle 2012 Writing Competition

Our 2012 Writing Competition is now open. For 2012 we have increased our prize pot and have a £500 first prize for both our Short Story and Poetry Competitions with total prize money of £1,850. Details below:

Poetry Competition: A poem on any subject – maximum 40 lines
1st Prize: £500; 2nd Prize: £200; 3rd Prize: £100; 4th Prize: £75; 5th Prize: £50
Entry Fees: £4 for one poem or £12 for 4, £3 for each additional entry over four

Short Story Competition: A story on any subject – maximum 2,000
1st Prize: £500; 2nd Prize: £200; 3rd Prize: £100; 4th Prize:£75; 5th Prize: £50
Entry Fees: £5 for first and £3 for additional stories

Closing date: 28th February, 2012.

Full details and entry forms can be found on our website at www.gracedieuwriterscircle.co.uk

Tony Gutteridge
Competition Organiser

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Three weeks to our next meeting...

November is one of those months with an 'extra' Tuesday in it, meaning, for Scribblers, there is a three week gap to our next meeting which will be on 6th December. With only two meetings left this year it seems that time has flown by at a considerable pace.

This year has seen the quality of our creative homework assignments increase enormously making each our meetings the place to go for some of the best entertainment you will find anywhere.

We may be a significantly small group by others benchmarks, but its the quality that counts. And we've got it! Proud to be amongst so many talented writers, bless 'em!

So here in Suffolk we say, and mean,

Keep Scribbling!

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Arizona Homework Assignment

Another fascinating meeting at Scribblers. Subject, set by Ray at the previous meeting, was Arizona. Who thought it would be all Cowboys and Indians? Actually it was a real mixture of factual and fictional creations and even song from not one, but two of our writers. There was laughter a plenty coupled with sadness, emotion and shock at the injustices to a nation....

Brilliant subject, fantastic work from the wordsmiths of our Felixstowe Scribblers!

Keep Scribbling!

Summer is going....




... but look what dear Les calls a balanced meal - an ice cream in each hand!

Multi Story.co.uk

We thought perhaps our site may be of interest to your writing group members.

www.multi-story.co.uk is a site spotlighting fiction in all genres. Aimed primarily at short story writers there is still plenty to interest the novelist too. The site, which is run by published writers, features interviews with, and articles by, a range of publishing professionals. We always welcome news and comment on our Have Your Say page.

We will be hosting competitions for stories of different lengths on a bi-monthly basis. Closing dates: last day of February, April, June, August, October, December

We are currently hosting a competition for flash fiction pieces of no more than six hundred words. It is open-themed, the entry fee is £5 for one story or £8 for two and the closing date is 29th February 2012.

There are cash prizes of £300 for first place, £100 for second, £50 for third and the winning entries will be published on the site. The judge, Lucy Floyd, had eleven novels published before turning to writing screenplays for film and TV and remains a regular contributor of short stories and serials in magazines around the world. Her work has been translated into thirteen languages.

Helen Foley

FREE Sample Chapters of The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts

I always think it rather unfair to ask people to buy my fiction without actually providing a reasonable sample to get their teeth into. In bookshops, of course, the book can be lifted off the shelf and the first few pages, at least, read – but on the Internet, it isn't always as simple as that.

With my latest novel, The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts (now available for pre-order) I have therefore decided to try something quite new. Instead of simply placing the samples on my website, as I have in the past, I wanted to try to give a little something back in the process and, yes, also generate a little additional interest.

So this is the deal and how it works: I'm offering all those interested THREE FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS of The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts – delivered directly to their e-mail inboxes. Each sample sent out will include a personalised message from me ON THE SAMPLE ITSELF and will have a unique number.

In order to qualify for this, all you have to do is forward this e-mail to at least five people who you think might be interested in receiving samples themselves – making sure that you also send the e-mail, with the recipients visible, to me. (So that means you will actually be sending it to 6 people – your five friends and gary@garymurning.com .) This offer, of course, applies to EVERYONE WHO RECEIVES THIS E-MAIL. If it's been forwarded to you and you do indeed want your free samples, simply follow the instructions.

I could make things right again…

For Sonny Moore, writer and family man, chance discovery and the force of untethered past are about to impact on his life in ways both unimaginable and profound. Faced with events he cannot explain, and those he does not even wish to contemplate, his world and the worlds of those closest to him spiral down into a realm of need and hurt, where ghosts walk – and occasionally resemble those closest to him.

"A book that refuses to be comfortably straight-jacketed into one genre, The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts takes the reader into a complex supernatural thriller that, at its heart, reveals a satisfying, thoughtful literary novel. Murning is a storyteller from the old school, where language and character are paramount, and the cast of characters take us from past to present, through love, suspicion and finally to resolution. Lyrical and thought-provoking, this is a novel to be savoured."
Ruth Dugdall – author of The Woman Before Me and The Sacrificial Man.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Your patience is, as ever, appreciated and I look forward to sending out your FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS.

Gary

Monday 14 November 2011

Tuesday's meeting

The meeting starts at 7.30 in the usual place, the Room at the Top. I suspect many of you will have travelled there via Arizona - the subject for the 1,000 word geographical assignment.
See you there - the Room at the Top that is!

Friday 11 November 2011

We will remember them




They shall grow not old,
As we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Writing The Wrongs Competition Update

For your clarification - it will be necessary for you to become a member of www.theglobalgallery.org so that you will be kept fully informed about the Writing The Wrongs competitions. Membership is free. The tggwtw@gmail.com email address will be for the submission of quotes only for the competition.

The latest blog on www.theglobalgallery.org site is:

Writing The Wrongs Competition Update

The date for the launch of the A Sporting Chance For Peace sculpture is November 23rd 2011. This will coincide with the promotion of Writing The Wrongs competitions and will be a joint event with Trading Standards Institute - http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/policy/index.cfm

Venue Star City in Birmingham UK

Time 12pm to 3pm

The Writing The Wrongs competition will run alongside the creation of the A Sporting Chance For Peace sculpture throughout 2012.

In light of the launch date you are all now welcome to submit your quote for the first Writing The Wrongs competition.

Entries to tggwtw@gmail.com and include your name

Good luck to you all.

This and other updates and announcement of competition winners will be made via www.theglobalgallery.org so please be sure to join.

Donald Brown
Founder

Next meeting

I hope you have all been on a long trip to 'Arizona' and readied a piece for next Tuesday.

I have a request for you that all who are interested in attending our meal on the 29th of November please let me know by the 19th, that is ten days from now, to let the hotel know how many are intending to come.

I believe the meals will be approximately £9.00 per person and it is open to all, partners included of course.

Barry

Tuesday 8 November 2011

BBC writersroom newsletter.

Welcome to the New Writing Talent Search: Heartlands
--------------
Passionate about writing television drama for the BBC and live in the 'heartlands' of England?BBC writersroom and the Doctors team at BBC Birmingham are searching for exceptional new and emerging writers from the Midlands who want to write drama for television. Heartlands will provide an industry training and development opportunity for writers with some of the most experienced producers in the country. The talent search opens on 14th November - find out how you can enter:http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/heartlands_new_writing_talent_search.shtml

Heartlands Launch event
--------------
To mark the launch of Heartlands, BBC writersroom will be hosting a very special Q&A event at the Library Theatre, Birmingham on Monday 14th November at 6pm.
Will Trotter (BBC Executive Producer, Drama Series) Peter Lloyd (Senior Producer, Doctors) and Paul Ashton (Development Producer, BBC Writersroom) will be on hand to answer your questions.
Book your FREE place at the Heartlands launch:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/heartlands_launch_event.shtml

Scripts
-------
Our scripts are in PDF format - if you can't read them, download Adobe Reader from http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/categories/plug/acrobat/acrobat.shtml?intro

Hidden - Episode 1 by Ronan Bennett
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/downloads/scripts/hidden_ep1.pdf

Merlin - The Wicked Day by Howard Overman
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/downloads/scripts/merlin_s4_ep3.pdf

Outnumbered - Series 4, Episode 5 by Guy Jenkin & Andy Hamilton
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/downloads/scripts/outnumbered_s4_ep5.pdf

Torchwood - Miracle Day: Episode 1 by Russell T Davies
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/downloads/scripts/torchwood_miracle_day_ep1.pdf

Don't forget you can browse through all of the scripts in our script archive.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/script_archive.shtml

Submitting your script to BBC writersroom
-----------------------------------------
Want to write for the BBC? Find out what to send us on our script submissions page.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/writing/submissions_writersroom.shtml

Blog----Death in Paradise writer Robert Thorogood shares his advice on securing your first TV commission, top tips on how to submit a short story for the forthcoming Opening Lines series from Radio 4's Gemma Jenkins, and an update on the Salford Sitcom showcase.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/writersroom/

Opportunities
-------------
Marza Storycircus competition
Deadline: 15 November 2011Global search for high-concept stories to be developed into animated feature films.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/marza_storycircus_2011.shtml

Everyword Festival: BBC writersroom workshop
Deadline: 18 November 2011
Book a free place on our script writing workshop at the Liverpool Playhouse.http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/everyword_2011_workshop.shtml

Immersive Writing Lab Competition
Deadline: 21 November 2011
Create a cross-platform storyworld and win a £6k development fund.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/immersive_writing_lab_2011.shtml

Brockley Jack Studio Theatre: Write Now
Deadline: 25 November 2011
New writing festival in SE London which gives emerging playwrights the opportunity to see their work performed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/brockley_jack_write_now_2011.shtml

Cahoots Theatre Company
Deadline: 26 November 2011
Opportunity for writers in the Midlands to have their play produced and performed at the Century Theatre, Leicestershire.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/cahoots_2011.shtml

BBC Comedy: Jesting About 2
Deadline: 28 November 2011
Are you a writer, performer or comedian? BBC Comedy are searching for the next generation of comedy talent.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/jesting_about_2.shtml

Write for EastEnders: E20
Deadline: 30 November 2011
The EastEnders: E20 Writers School is now open to applications from writers aged 16-22.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/e20_writing_school_2011.shtml

New Writing Talent Search: Heartlands
Deadline: 02 December 2011
Want to write drama for television? BBC writersroom and BBC Birmingham are searching for exceptional new writers from the Midlands.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/heartlands_new_writing_talent_search.shtml

BBC Radio 4: Opening Lines
Deadline: 02 December 2011
The BBC Radio Drama Readings Unit welcomes unsolicited submissions for their annual series, Opening Lines.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/radio_4_opening_lines_2011.shtml

Steyning Festival Theatre Trail 2012
Deadline: 02 December 2011
Steyning Festival Theatre Trail 2012 is seeking 6 new plays from playwrights in the South East.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/steyning_festival_theatre_trail_2012.shtml

TC Brian Way Award 2012
Deadline: 09 December 2011
£6,000 prize for a play that stimulates the imagination of young audiences.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/tc_brian_way_2012.shtml

The BBC Writersroom Future Talent Award for Writers
Deadline: 15 December 2011
Opportunity for north-based student/recent graduate drama writers to access development opportunities and mentoring from the BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/future_talent_award_for_writers.shtml

Circalit: Get your film made
Deadline: 15 December 2011
Submit a 3-5 minute original comedy script and have it produced by award-winning filmmaker, Jason Wingard.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/circalit_get_your_film_made_2011.shtml

New Writers Awards for Playwrights 2012
Deadline: 19 December 2011
Bursaries and professional mentoring for emerging playwrights based in Scotland.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/new_writers_awards_scotland.shtml

Theatre Trail Writers Competition 2012
Deadline: 31 January 2012
Have your play performed at next year's Arundel Festival Theatre Trail.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/theatre_trail_2012.shtml

One Act Playwriting Competition
Deadline: 31 January 2011
The Drama Association of Wales' One Act Playwrighting Competition is now open for submissions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/one_act_playwrighting_comp.shtml

Saturday 5 November 2011

Hung, Drawn and Quartered

This post has been removed to "Short Stories" - see the tab at the top of the page.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Best Magazine

Caz is featured in this week's issue of Best Magazine ...

Meeting report for the 1st November 2011

As 'Ghost stories' was the subject of our homework for tonight I suppose one could say it was a horror of a meeting. In truth the meeting was full of what I expect with our group. Packed with pieces that show how talented everyone is. As a group we all seem to gel perfectly now, we have writers with a talent for humour, some for stranger than fiction, some for true life and others for dramatic content. All these were present last night and it was a privilege to take notes and in some small way take part in a brilliant meeting.

So now for the nitty gritty.

Members present were: DAVE, DICK, BERYL, TONY, CAROLYN, LILIANE, RHANI, RAY, MARTIN, SALLY, SANDY, CATHY, LES AND YOURS TRULY.

Welcome back from Oz to Carolyn, from sickness to Cathy and adios to Robyn, away to Turkey. We wish you and Turkey the best for the future.

Apologies from Pamela who will not be attending for a while and from Caz.

Now for the important stuff.

RHANI began with her story entitled 'PRINCE OF DENMARK. EARL OF MARCH.' This was a piece concerning battle field mapping in the present day and a horse called Hamlet, and the appearance of a ghostly rider in the yard.

RAY gave us a trip down 'ROUTE 66' in the mind of an old biker. Thinking of his dear departed friend and the ghostly ambulance of Wrotham Hill in Kent.

BERYL with 'A FITTING REVENGE' related a very clever spoof rendition of Hamlet by Will Shakespeare and the ghostly presence of Hamlet's father tormenting Gertrude for marrying Claudius.

MARTIN and 'THE LEGEND OF HONESTY ISLAND' was all at sea with a tale of the disappearance of the good ship Majestic in piratical times and its eventual discovery.

SALLY had us on tenterhooks with 'THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT.' Her story was so gripping with Jimmy and his sleepless night alone.

SANDY had some 'UNINVITED GUESTS' and told of how the party with old friends descended into dark revelations resulting from a seance with an upturned glass.

CATHY'S title was a simple 'ECHOES', Jakes solitary holiday in a cramped holiday let and his foray to the local pub and videos of a mysterious old man and a melodeon.

LES regaled us with his customary humour in 'TIGOR, THE TRANSPARENT, TRANSYLVANIAN TRANSVESTITE' a ghost with a bent for silk underwear and his seduction lessons for Ben.

BARRY. My modest piece was a story of young men bullied and murdered then exacting a terrifying revenge entitled 'THIN ICE'

DAVE kept us in a ghostly atmosphere with 'FOOTSTEPS' the story of Sophie and her windswept journey home and eventual ghostly evening indoors.

DICK held our attention with 'TIMESLIDE' a story of the ghostly appearance of a train driver and fireman which halted a train and stopped a calamitous collision with a landslide..

TONY's 'A LOCKED ROOM' was a quirky story of a young offenders Academy and the school for lockpickers where the instructor gets locked in with a vampire.

CAROLYN was back from a trip to Australia but due to fatigue and her husband's sudden illness (not serious, thankfully) she had been unable to present a story tonight.

LILIANE was the final reader and by no means least we had a story of girls and 'THE GHOST OF THE OLD QUARANTINE STATION' where ghostly presences from the days of early settlement in Sydney made for a memorable journey back in time.

Finally I would say that we all had a memorable journey on the night and my thanks to all who attended. It would be great for all those that cannot attend to sometimes see the quality of literature produced here and a half page synopsis of each story at each meeting would be challenging for me and would still only tell part so I apologise to our writers from all the meetings if my report does not seem to do them justice.

The next meeting will be on the 15th of November when we should all have done our homework and produced another memorable piece on 'ARIZONA' picked by RAY.

Until the next time
Your hon. sec.
Barry.

Scary, Scary Night...

A good turnout for the Scribblers Ghost Story meeting with some excellent scary stories... roll on next year!!! Well done everyone! Now I have to try and go to sleep....

November 2011 issue of WritingRaw.com is now online

“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons.
They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing.
All they do is show you've been to college.”
Kurt Vonnegut

WritingRaw is a monthly literary magazine dedicated to new and emerging writers. Our goal at WritingRaw is simple - to serve the literary community with the opportunity to have their work online and out in the world. In this world of disappearing literary magazines, WritingRaw is providing the blank pages for writers to fill. To view someone's writing, click on the link and a pdf version of the piece will open in your browser.

· Besides the New York Writers Workshop providing a column, we are starting two new ones this month: Self-Publishing: How We're Doing It by Martin Willoughby and Book Awards Column by Mary Greenwood. These columns are sure to provide some valuable information concerning how a writers group formed their own publishing company and a description of many book awards won by Mary Greenwood in her amazing career. We are always up for more… drop me an email and let's talk about starting your own column, weeb@writingraw.com

· Drop Us A Line: Let us know what you think of the site, or about something you've read, or promote something through a letter to the editor. Next month we would love to start a "Emails to the Editors" section of WritingRaw. In the subject line, write "Letters" and send to weeb@writingraw.com

· FLASH FICTION REVIEWS: Send us your flash fiction book reviews - no more than 250 words per review. Send to weeb@writingraw.com

· This month's contest winner is Suzanne Little, based on the outdated expression: "The cat's pajamas." December Contest: Write a 500 word or less piece using the following first line: "The candle flickered... then died." The deadline for this will be November 25. The winner will receive a $20 gift certificate from Amazon.com and be posted on WritingRaw.com.

The Staff of WritingRaw.com (Ditch, Weeb, Rib)

New in this issue:

FICTION:
· A Lost Weekend by Derek G Rogers
· The Annoying Office Plant by Kristopher Miller
· Last Chance by Alice Baburek
· Laura by Patrick J Stephens
· Paper Cut by Kristopher Miller
· Providence by Nadine Ducca Deharbe
· Ripping Blues From Your Womb by Stephanie Renae Johnson
· Strikeprice by Andrew McGregor
· Terminal Virginity by Paula Schonauer
· The Boy and Grandfather by Katherine Dalton
· Waiting To Be Called by William J Fedigan

POETRY:
· Almost a Sonnet for the UberModels In Their Underwear by Tonn Pastore
· Bid Me My Love; I Will Hold Thee by Naseeha Mahir
· Boxes On The Shelf by Gina Hickman
· Confuse Me by Pearanotta Ransome
· Cowgirl Dreams by Tandy Belt
· Darkest Before Dawn by Lo-Arna Collins
· If It Wasn't For Your Love by Angela Stevenson Ringo
· Picture, Cap and Gown by Michael Lee Johnson
· Roxy by Jessie Rose
· Spectrums by Shalisa Spence
· The Tree by Niko Sheffield
· Vows by Juliette Beswick Pokletar
· Womb Sunrise by Andy N
· Words by Shelby Thomas

ASSORTED:
· Artist of the Month: by Brittany Vandegraft [Fae/Lexi]
· I Call Bullshit by Joshua Hess
· The Reading Fee by Frank Joussen

INTERVIEWS:
· Joanna Bourne
· Melinda Leigh
· Jack McDevitt
· Robin Perini

REVIEWS:
· Allbooks Review
· Between the Sheets: The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
· Flash Reviews


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WritingRaw.com

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Tuesday 1 November 2011

TONIGHT

Hope you weren't too frightened last night with all the Halloween trick and treating.... so why not come along to Scribblers tonight and be really scared...with our Ghost Story theme.... It will be a real treat.....to see and hear all the ghoulish stories.

The "fun" begins at 7.30.

Keep screamin'

The Scribe.

ps please leave your broomsticks outside.....

Charity quiz night

Date: Saturday 19 November 2011
Venue: Ipswich Wanderers football ground, Humber Doucy Lane IP4 3NR
Entry fee: £5:00 per head, maximum 4 in a team.
Prize money to be won.
Light buffet included.
7:00 pm for 7:30 start.
Licensed bar available.
Contact: Gordon 01473 729103 Robin:07899987540 Pat 07771743440 Rita:07832523794 Roger 07863716021
Monies raised will go towards underprivileged children in the Philippines.
Children of Pulilan Foundation Charity Reg No1105367
www.thechildrenofpulilanfoundation.co.uk