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

Friday 24 May 2019

Meeting Report



Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on 21 May 2019



Present: 

Dave, Tony, Kay, Liliane, Beryl, Liz, Jim, David, Carole, Gerry, Jane, Cathy

Apologies: 

Steve, Anne, Georgina, Justin, Derek



Business: 

Bank signatories – communication with HSBC is ongoing. Hopefully the situation will be resolved very shortly.

Anthology – draft has gone to printers



Flash fiction session:

Selected three prompts to work from. More than the usual number of mutterings once they were read out – perhaps confusing to have so much choice?!

  • It was no use pretending
  • Elastic
  • Oh wind blow lightly

It took us all a while to get started, but after thirty minutes we produced some cracking stories – a mix of amusing, thought provoking, emotional - a testament to our ability to rise to any challenge. Some of us even managed to include all three prompts in the one story!



Liliane – After the funeral



Jim – Untitled



Liz – Elastic Ella



Kay – Education, is it worth it?



Beryl – Time



Cathy – Suits you, Madam



Dave – On the run



David – The knighthood



Carole – It wasn’t me



Tony – Friday



Jane – So much hope



Next meeting: 
4 June. This is the author feedback session, and we will be listening to part of the novel that Dave is working on, and giving him constructive feedback. Homework (in case there is time to read out) is to be a short piece (500 words) inspired by the theme/topic ‘photograph album’.


Wednesday 22 May 2019

A terrific night of flash fiction.

What a terrific meeting with some excellent short stories all written expertly within thirty minutes of writing time. The stories could be chosen from the following subjects:

"It was no use pretending"
"Elastic" or
"Oh wind blow gently"

The well attended meeting heard much applause for so many of the completed stories which obviously brought a proud smile to the faces.

The meeting was preceded with an update on the phone conversation between Beryl and the HSBC business manager. It appears that the situation will be resolved quite soon. We'll just wait and see!

Also was an update on the Anthology which has now been sent to Gipping Press as has the cover design although we have since discovered an anomaly in the font used. We will discuss this with the printers very soon.

Liz has kindly said that she will represent the Scribblers at the Felixstowe Horizons event at the Orwell Hotel on Tuesday 11th June from 9am to 1pm.

Our next meeting takes place on Tuesday 4th June when Dave will ask for feedback on approximately 1,500-2,000 words of his ongoing novel. This will be followed (or preceded) by a 500 word homework assignment on Photo Album. 

Until next time,

Keep Scribbling!

Tuesday 21 May 2019

Writing in the Vineyards of Tuscany

IN VINO VERITAS

Creative Writing Workshop in the Vineyards of Tuscany
September 1 – 7, 2019
Alison MacLeod
(Author of Unexploded, long-listed for the Booker Prize)
Last few spots available!

In Vino Veritas is a residential writing workshop in the vineyards of Tuscany, featuring personalized encounters with teacher/writers, morning workshops, guided wine tastings, and wonderful Italian cuisine. Limited to a maximum of 15 participants, In Vino Veritas brings together a small group of international writers who work on memoirs, fiction, and poetry, learning about writing in the morning and wine in the evenings. All is accompanied by exquisite food and conversation.
The backdrop to this exciting week is the Donatella Cinelli Colombini wine estate in Trequanda, between Florence and Siena. The day begins after breakfast with a three-hour workshop—perfect for writers working on short stories, memoirs, translations and even poetry. The afternoon is free for writing, wandering, and trips to the nearby towns of Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, or Bagno Vignoni. In the evening, wine flows over long Italian dinners that include sommelier-led guided tastings and exquisite food pairings. Some star-filled evenings are dedicated to readings.
Participants stay in superbly comfortable private bedrooms in rustic buildings in the middle of the vineyards. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner feature Tuscan specialties, like the famed Chianina steak from the nearby Val di Chiana, and produce comes from local farms in the Val d’Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, or the gardens of the Cinelli Colombini estate itself (vegetarians won’t get bored!).
Please do not hesitate to contact me for an electronic brochure!
Details may be found at:  invinoveritaswriting.com
Thank you for your attention. Cin-cin! Cheers!
Suzanne Branciforte
--
Suzanne Branciforte
Director
Grapevine Experience
+39 338 6814378
www.grapevineexperience.com


Sunday 19 May 2019

Our next meeting and updates...


Hi Scribblers!

First let me confirm that our draft anthology has been forwarded to Gipping Press along with our cover design. Entitled 'Characters' we anticipate the copies will be with us in four weeks time.

Regarding our accounts at the HSBC in Felixstowe, the situation borders on absolutely farcical. As you will know both Caz and myself, along with Treasurer Beryl, went to the branch FIVE YEARS ago. Filled in the mandates to be appointed as signatories. The form was witnessed and accepted with the verbal confirmation from the lady employee that we were the new signatories. I have countersigned countless cheques in those five years only to find that when we tried to register Cathy as a replacement for Caz we were informed that neither Caz nor myself were signatories. What happened to the mandates that were signed that day?

Can you believe it? In those five years, with all the cheques that have been signed and countersigned, not once were we challenged over the signatures. Where, I wonder, is the security in relation to cheques drawn on our, and doubtless scores of other, accounts?

Why, when I wrote to the bank, they did not have the courtesy to acknowledge my letter nor reply to me? Instead they wrote to Beryl complete with fresh mandates that require two signatories before any change can be made? With only Beryl recognised by HSBC we are quite frankly stuffed if you will pardon the phraseology.

Despite this, when the bank refused to acknowledge their mistake or misfiling of documents, they placed £150 in our account for the inconvenience! If that doesn't ring of some kind of admission of their error then I don't know what does.

You would think that would end there and then, but oh no! Beryl wrote to them and never received a reply. She has written to the Ombudsman as the bank kindly stated that this is what we must do. With no reply from the Ombudsman, Beryl arranged a meeting at the local branch which was set for Tuesday. Only Beryl found out, via a third party, that the Branch/Business Manager doesn't visit the branches! The meeting would be in Ipswich! Only we were never told that.

Beryl tried to obtain the manager's phone number but was told we couldn't phone her. She would phone us. Which she did. She couldn't make a decision herself and had to phone her Head Office in London who, apparently, support the Branch decision to block access to our accounts.

Beryl received a recorded message to say that mandates would have to be completed along with details of our own meetings that named who was being replaced and by whom - information that had already been passed to them! Then what? Who knows.

But for the kindness of one of our members who has loaned the money to clear our Library charges, we may well have lost the use of our accommodation. And, of course we have a big bill due soon for our anthology.

I am afraid the whole situation stinks. We have lost faith in that bank but are stuck in the quagmire and can't even transfer the funds out!

Ongoing rant will continue!!!

Now, our next meeting is on Tuesday coming, that is 21st May. The start time is 7.30 when the door will be locked. So please be there a few minutes early for what promises to be another fun evening of Flash Fiction. Obviously there was no homework this time, so we await to see what subject or subjects are drawn from Cathy's collection.

Until Tuesday,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Settle Stories


Hot off the Cairns presses...



New Book Release

The Imposter: A Norfolk Romance

Chris Shaw

Historical Romance.

Available from IngramSpark, and the following Australian Distributors:


Booktopia, Fishpond, The Nile, James Bennett, ALS, Peter Pal, University Cooperative Bookshop.

Available at your favourite bookshop, and online at Book Depository, Dymocks and Amazon, plus more.

Paperback: ISBN 9780980588255
  








Friday 17 May 2019

Felixstowe Book Festival Workshops



So far we have only sold one ticket for each of your workshops and between 0 to 5 for each of the other workshops, including the session by The National Writing Centre which is mad!

There's so much on offer where are the aspiring writers?

Please can you help?


Meg Reid
Director Felixstowe Book Festival
www.felixstowebookfestival.co.uk

Here's hoping Felixstowe Scribblers and their friends can boost the Workshop programme - not forgetting our own involvement - see final page of the programme (page 4)



2019 V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize

The V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize 2019
The Royal Society of Literature’s annual prize for unpublished stories is open for entries. There is a prize of £1,000, and the winning entry will be published in Prospect online and in the RSL Review. Stories must be written in English and between 2,000 and 4,000 words. Entrants must be resident in the UK, Republic of Ireland or the Commonwealth. The closing date for entries is Friday 28 June 2019.


·         The @RSLiterature V.S. Pritchett Prize for unpublished short stories is open for entries. Deadline: Friday 28 June 2019. The RSL is committed to increasing accessibility. There are 50 free entries for low-income writers based in the UK.  Full details>> http://bit.ly/VSPPrize

·        #ShortStoryWriters! The @RSLiterature V.S. Pritchett Prize for unpublished short stories is open for entries. Deadline: Friday 28 June. There are 50 free entries for low-income writers based in the UK.  http://bit.ly/VSPPrize

·        Enter the £1000 @RSLiterature V.S. Pritchett Prize for unpublished short stories. 2000-4000 words. Deadline: Friday 28 June 2019. http://bit.ly/VSPPrize





The Royal Society of Literature is a registered charity: 213962

Follow us on Twitter: @RSLiterature

Subscribe to our e-newsletter 

Saturday 11 May 2019

Meeting Report


Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on 7 May 2019

Present: Dave, Tony, Kay, Steve, Liliane, Justin, Beryl, Liz, Anne, Georgina, Hazel, Jim, Derek, Cathy

Apologies:  David, Carole


Business: 

Bank signatories. No progress. Currently we are unable to access any of our funds. On the advice of HSBC, Beryl has written to the banking Ombudsman about the issue. Dave suggested that a meeting with the Manager of the local branch be arranged.

Anthology – Dave, Beryl and Georgina are in the final stages of preparation. 

Competition time:

A fabulous thirteen entries for the Bill Budner trophy – might this be a record number?!

Beryl and Cathy read out the stories for judging, and Tony kindly counted up the votes afterwards. The standard of work was extremely high, with every story having tremendous merit.

Judging between them all was a challenge, to say the least, but the final results were:



In first place, Beryl, with her moving tale ‘The Visit’. An extra special evening for her, since this is the first time she’s won the trophy.



Derek came second with ‘Serafina’,



and tying for third place were Georgina, with ‘Fair exchange’, and Tony, with ‘City of Shadows’.



Other stories were:

 Jim – The waiting room

 Kay – Tale weaver

 Liz – The allotment

 Anne – Tipping point

 Justin – Jesus wants me for a sunbeam

 Liliane – Valerie and Vivian

 Steve – The sinner

 Hazel – A chance meeting

 Dave – Around the corner



Next meeting: 

21 May, when it is our flash fiction meeting – writing to a topic selected from our ‘stash’ of themes/topics.

Wednesday 8 May 2019

In Memory of Bill Budner.

What a brilliant turn out for this long running competition! With Beryl and Cathy sharing the reading of some thirteen stories, they should be applauded for their excellent efforts.

The stories were gripping, humorous and sad. It was so difficult to choose a winner, but choose one we did!

In reverse order, in joint third place were:

Georgina with her story "Fair Exchange" and Tony with "City of Shadows."

Runner up was:

Derek with "Stefania."

The winner, for the first time in this competition was:

Beryl with "The Visit."

Once again, a terrific evening!

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 21st May when we are holding another flash fiction evening which means there is no homework this time. The subject for the flash fiction will be drawn on the evening.

Until then,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Sunday 5 May 2019

Competition time!

Hope you're having a lovely bank holiday weekend...despite the weather!

Well, the next instalment to win the Bill Budner Trophy takes place on Tuesday. It's a meeting to look forward to. I am certain there will once again be some fantastic entries and all in memory of Bill.

Full details of the competition rules are available at the top of this weblog page.

The meeting starts at 7.30 when the door will be locked.

Until then,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Dave  

ps … I must go, 'Line of Duty' begins shortly!