The EACH Treehouse Appeal

About the appeal

Our current hospice bungalow in Ipswich is inadequate for the demands of children’s hospice care services in Suffolk and North Essex. There are not enough beds and rooms to meet needs, and there are no dedicated spaces for the specialist services required by families.

Initially intended as a pilot project in 1999 for 12 families, and with a maximum capacity of 40 families, the current hospice now cares for more than 80 families, which is why we need to move to a purpose-built hospice.

EACH has been donated a four acre woodland plot in Ipswich, located between Felixstowe Road and Bixley Road, by a local charitable trust. The new hospice will be a single storey building set in mature woodland with scenic views from each bedroom.

The new hospice will allow EACH to improve and expand services. It will allow end of life care to be delivered in greater privacy, provide more bed spaces for life-threatened children, provide private overnight accommodation for families and dedicated areas for specialist therapies including hydro, physio, music and play.

The Treehouse Appeal aims to raise £3 million to build and equip the new hospice. Buying a tile on our Mosaic website is a cost effective way of raising funds for the Treehouse Appeal and mark your support for the charity.

Go to http://www.eachtreehouse.mosaicappeal.com/index.php/mosaic/index/85 to see a picture of the new hospice and select any piece of the picture for just £10. You can either make a personal donation or buy one for friends or family - it's a great way to celebrate birthdays, christenings or wedding anniversaries, or in memory of someone special.

About East Anglia's Children's Hospices EACH care for children with life-threatening conditions and their families. We rely on voluntary support for the majority of our income. We have launched the Treehouse Appeal to raise £3 million and provide a new purpose built hospice for children and families in Suffolk & North Essex.

Contact East Anglia's Children's HospicesContact person: Amy Smith
Phone Number: 01473276115
Address:
EACH Treehouse Appeal Team
Room 23 Epsilon House
West Road, Ransomes Europark
Ipswich
IP3 9FJ
Charity Number: 1069284

Moving into Summertime

The party's over and now Felixstowe Scribblers move into British Summertime - that's if they all remembered to pur their clocks forward an hour.....
Next event, our meeting on Tuesday 6th April.

Keep Scribbling!

Our 'Social' event

As if we need reminding tomorrow night, Saturday 27th March, is the Scribblers Social evening at the Grosvenor in Felixstowe. The tables have been booked for 7.30pm so it might be worth arriving just a little earlier!

Also on the agenda this weekend are the Maureen Blundell one to one writers workshops and a group session Sunday. Should be an interesting weekend. Oh and did someone say don't forget to put the clocks forward an hour after the social???

Our next Scribblers meeting will be on Tuesday 6th April at 7.30 pm in the Library with the homework theme 'Finish' or 'Finnish'

See you at the social and anyway

Keep Scribbling

Free a 145 guide to writing fiction

Are you an aspiring author interested in writing fantasy or SF? Then there is a free resource, a 145-page guide to writing speculative fiction, free on the web at www.writingtips.com.au. All 145 pages will help fantasy/SF writers, about 100 are relevant to genre writers generally, and the last 30 pages on 'Getting Published' are relevant to anyone wanting to get published in any form.

Free really does mean free, no strings attached, a community service. I didn't produce it, but I take credit for getting the British version up on the web! The producer is Australian fantasy and SF author, Richard Harland, who has also taught creative writing and conducted workshops throughout Australia (and just happens to be my partner).

As the author of 15 published books, Richard has an author website, and, as authors often do, he put a dozen pages of writing tips up on his site a few years ago. The feedback was so overwhelming that he decided to donate some of his writing time to producing a better guide on a separate, non-promotional website. I know he never expected it would take him a whole 4 months to write!

He wrote it as a community service to aspiring Australian authors, but I didn't see why it should be limited to Australia. His argument was that he had a reputation only in Australia and it would look silly to put himself up as an expert where he didn't have a reputation. I said it was the quality of the advice that mattered, and the feedback on the quality of the advice was incredibly positive. Anyway, we avoided a divorce and I won the argument when his latest steampunk fantasy novel was sold to Templar in the UK, Simon & Schuster in the US, and also France and Germany.

So, I helped with developing a British version of the guide, and there's now a choice of versions if you go to the website. There's also a complete downloadable file for those'like me'who prefer to read a print-out.

The guide covers i) Good Writing Habits, ii) Action, Setting, Dialogue and Interior Thought, iii) Characters and Point of View, iv) Story, Narrative Momentum and Pacing, v) Language, and vi) the all-important art of Getting Published.

The site is at www.writingtips.com.au and it really will help!

Aileen Harland

The London Book Fair

The London Book Fair 2010

It’s that time of year again and the London Book Fair is almost upon us – the year just flies by, doesn’t it! We are very much looking forward to the LBF and the fantastic list of events and seminars they are putting on this year. You can find more information at www.londonbookfair.co.uk. If you’re going to be there, do let us know.

Our own little offering for authors is the chance to be involved with The Book Channel's broadcast interview service (at a nice little discount). Filming will take place at the London Book Fair on Monday 19, Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st April. Each writer will be interviewed about their publication by Book Channel presenter Tina Bettison, and the feature will be broadcast during the channel’s London Book Fair special, due to air on Sky and Freesat this Summer, as well as on their online channel. The price for this one-off opportunity is £795.00 plus VAT - please email us at info@floreatbooks.com if you're interested. The Book Channel's standard fee for this high quality service is usually between £1,950.00 and £3,500.00.
The service will consist of:

Broadcast quality interview featuring the author and their work
Placement of the edited film on well known sites including The Book Channel, YouTube etc.
Highlights from the interview used in the Book Channel’s ‘London Book Fair Special’ programmes
The Book Channel will professionally edit the film and provide authors with a bespoke interview that can be used for marketing purposes, uploaded to their personal website or other literary sites. Author’s can email it directly to the media or to literary agents. Those who choose this exclusive package will be in excellent company, with the many other mainstream authors who have been interviewed on The Book Channel – here you can see Penguin-published author Karen Maitland being interviewed about her book, The Owl Killers.

http://www.youtube.com/thebookchanneltv#p/a/u/0/3HnElGedKdQ

Places are limited so if you wish to book an appointment with the film crew please email us at info@floreatbooks.com as soon as possible to reserve a place.ok Channel

The UK TV show for book lovers and writers,
www.thebookchannel.tv Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday at 7.30pm

This years Coast to Coast competition details

Click on image to enlarge.

Coast to Coast Writing Competitions

It is virtually 25 years since Ouse Valley Poetry group was formed in Bedford and has since incorporated the Coast to Coast Writing Competitions that have been so popular for such a long time.

One of eight writers to form the group is Maurice James now resides in Liverpool and organises all the Coast to Coast competitions. Maurice says, that to celebrate a quarter of a century, there will be a Presentation Day at the Plaza Cinema, Waterloo, Liverpool commencing at 11.00am on Monday 19 April 2010 exactly 25 years since its inception.

Invites have been sent to all entrants in the 2009 Coast to Coast competitions and though there is an admission charge to the Presentation Day, this could be linked to a long weekend on Merseyside where some of the attractions are The Beatles Experience, Albert Dock, the Iron Men on Crosby Beach, the Victorian resort of Southport and the Royal Philharmonic Hall. It could be a fascinating time.

Because of health problems the first two Coast to Coast competitions of the year have been delayed for which Maurice apologises but hopes to be back on target very soon.

The Scribblers send their wishes to Maurice for a speedy recovery and a happy and successful Anniversary.

What other groups do....Riverside Writers

The next meeting of Riverside Writers will take place on Monday, March 29th at 7.30pm in West Kirby Library.

The theme for this month's writing project is "The Bit That Charlie Ate", in honour of Carol Falaki's puppy which munched the corner of her poem for last month's project! You're invited to write a poem or short story on this theme to share at the meeting - though if you would prefer to read some other piece of your own work, that's totally fine too. Several of us are working on novels now, and so we've been sharing excerpts from those.

Our New Notice Board!

Peter Hurd has been busy organising a new notice board for the group, which will be attached to one of the supporting pillars inside West Kirby Library. The board will display meeting dates, our group's events posters, plus poetry and very short stories (flash fiction.) All work must be vetted by the chief librarian - and please remember everything has to be child-friendly, as kiddies can read the board too.

The board will also display our lovely new logo, the idea for this coming from Peter Caton.

Anthology!

Andy Siddle has put a huge amount of work into the layout of our anthology, which we hope to have published in April/May. There are a few proof copies making the rounds, and everyone is invited to read through it and help spot typos. Don't worry if you've not seen it yet, as at the next meeting you'll be able to take a copy home and go through it.

Contributors are: Peter Hurd; Tim Hulme; Carol Falaki; Peter Caton; Adele Cosgrove-Bray; Andy Siddle; Eileen Brown; Catherine Evans-Hewitt; Clive McLaren.

Carol Falaki has contributed the front cover, and Peter Caton's new logo for Riverside Writers will grace the back cover. The cover itself will be pale yellow card.

We aim to charge £3 per copy. Funds raised from this will go towards publishing costs of this anthology plus next year's anthology, and any other group expenses.

Wirral Bookfest 2010

For the third year running, Riverside Writers will take part in the Wirral Bookfest. A date for our evening of readings (with audience) has yet to be arranged but the festival as a whole runs for the week staring October 11th.

However, as well as Riverside Writers' spot, there will also be Parallel Dimensions - organised by Adele Cosgrove-Bray. This will take place on Saturday, October 16 at 2pm in West Kirby Library. As with last year's Parallel Dimensions, the content will be strictly Horror, Science-Fiction or Fantasy, and will involve a number of writers reading their own work before an audience. A few people have already expressed an interest in taking part. If you are interested in joining in, email Adele at ACBwrites@aol.com

Gifts for Writers!

Discover the exclusive collection of t-shirts and merch for writers, which is only available from Spooky Cute Designs at http://www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB


Essays About Writing!

Read a growing collection of 'how to' essays about writing (and other subjects as diverse as making jam, keeping chickens and Suffolk Puffs tablecloths) at http://hubpages.com/profile/AdeleCosgroveBray

Riverside Writers' meeting dates, events & other useful information:-
http://www.myspace.com/riversidewriters

Riverside Writers' Online Forum:-
http://community.livejournal.com/riversidewriter/profile

Riverside Writers is open to all genres of writers. We're a friendly and informal group - some of us write purely for fun or are new to writing, others are published authors. We hold monthly meetings in Wirral, and have monthly writing projects. We hold public performances and have guest speakers. And now we're putting together our own anthology! Visitors and new members are always welcome.

Writing Raw from Weeb

The March 15 issue of WritingRaw.com is NOW online: Writing Raw is a FREE literary ezine dedicated to new and emerging writers. Our goal at Writing Raw 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, Writing Raw is providing the blank pages for writers to fill.

We also support other sites that help writers: www.WritingRaw.com believes in reaching out to other sites, writing groups, forums, and organizations. Contact us on how you can place a FREE banner, announcement or link on our site!

Or, use the Writing Raw Book Store to promote your novel or poetry collection: If you have a novel or collection that you would like to place in our store, we would be more than happy to do so – for FREE. Just send us a copy of the cover of the book, a brief synopsis, and a link as to where the material can be purchased.

Also, be sure to check out the NEW announcements on WritingRaw.com’s Home page from writer’s group and organizations worldwide. Discover meeting places, organizations offering fellowships, contests, and a variety of other useful websites all dedicated to writers of every level.

Report from our last meeting

FELIXSTOWE SCRIBBLERS NEWSHEET

Incorporating
the

REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD 16th MARCH 2010


Apologies: Ruth, Debbie, Ros, Angela P.

Present: Linda, Dick, Tony, Sue, Liliane, Cathy, Sandy, Angela L, Simon, Ally, Jack, Jane, Barry, Liz, Trish and Dave (chair).

It was nice to see a few ‘old’ faces at the meeting.

SCRIBBLERS NEWS

Ruth has booked tables at the Grosvenor for our social evening on Saturday 27th March with a 7.30pm start. It is the first ‘social’ since last summer so we hope it will be another nice evening.

There are still a few places available for Maureen Blundell’s 1-1 sessions at the Castle Lodge Hotel on the afternoon of Saturday 27 March and also for the group workshop on Sunday morning 28th March. Each of the sessions cost £15, the 1-1 including a critique of work and coffee and biscuits will each last an hour. The group workshop will last for two hours and also include refreshments. Interested members should book direct with Maureen at liberato@talktalk.net.

Jane and Angela P went along to the Writers’ Café at Starbucks in the Buttermarket, Ipswich on Monday and Jane thought the evening was a success. The new format of turning up and putting your name in a hat if you wished to read proved popular. Angela was one of the lucky ones and read some of her work out.

Details of the Ipswich Arts Festival were released with their annual free to enter short story competition in three categories, adults, young people and children. Information is on our weblog below.

Our friend Geraldine Rose has published ‘Feeding Strawberries to Pigs’ a short story anthology. The ISBN number is 978-1-907179-50-1. She asks a favour of Scribblers members to go along to their local libraries and request a copy of the book. Geraldine is launching the book wherever she can, currently two events in London, at the Listowel Writers Week and here in Suffolk. Best of luck with it Geraldine. Details can be found at http://originalwriting.ie/bookshop/fiction/short-stories/


After seeing our Dick appear in the local papers as The Man In Black at Landguard Fort, it was Dave’s turn with the recollections of the terrible 1953 specifically in Ipswich under Nostalgia, Kindred Spirits column. Also in the same issue he mentioned one of the six men killed by a bomb at Ransomes and Rapier in the early war years.

Have a thought for Tony whose operation was cancelled earlier this month but has now been rescheduled for the end of March. Good luck!

The Platform:

What a brilliant evening once again with our creative writing exercise that saw some really horrible words to get the imaginative minds of our members flowing.

Barry: Endurance Backward Food Tide
Ally: Marquetry Freedom Rhododendrons Highway
Jane: Teashop Crossroads Base Appendicitis
Jack: Crystal Dust Redemption Admire
Simon:* Replaced Thunderstorm Xanthippe Pernickety
Angela L:** Chanter Barcelona Train Agnostic
Sandy: Cellulite Aristocracy Shopaholic Elecampane
Cathy: Boat Windmill Needlework Devotion
Liliane: Finish Bucket Drains Creatively
Sue: Substitute Cartridge Save Organic
Tony:*** Angelic Cherub Jury Stupidity
Dick: Love Natterjack Tartuffe Parrot
Linda: Broadsheet Exhaust Gas Lace
Dave:**** Clock Muffin Depression Insomniac
Trish: Judge Verdict Delete Invigorating
Liz: Storm Rucksack Exhaustion Witness

*Simon’s work entitled ‘How the Phone Died’
** Angela’s work entitled ‘Pipe Dream’
***Tony’s work entitled ‘Publish or be Damned’
****Dave’s work entitled ‘Tick, Tock’


Our next meeting is in three weeks time on Tuesday 6th April at 7.30 pm in the Room at the Top, Felixstowe Library when the 500 word homework theme will be “Finish” or perhaps even “Finnish”. In the end the choice is yours...
The 1,500 work will be undertaken by Bill and Bert, aka Dave and Dick.

Before then of course comes the Saturday social at the Grosvenor on 27th March at 7.30 and also Maureen Blundell’s one-to-one sessions at the Castle Lodge Hotel in the afternoon and the group session the following morning.

Until then,

Keep Scribbling!

Ip-art competition

Click on images to enlarge

IPSWICH WRITERS’ CAFÉ - Next Monday

IPSWICH
WRITERS’ CAFÉ
Starbucks,
Ipswich Buttermarket
7.30pm, Monday 15 March 2010
(Doors open at 7pm)

The Ipswich Writers’ Café invites writers, would-be writers and anyone with an interest in writing to come along and enjoy an evening of stimulating readings - from poetry to short story excerpts, from dramatic monologues to life writing – all in the relaxed setting of Starbucks.

Please just turn up – reading places will be allocated by names being placed in a hat on the night (maximum 5 minutes per reading slot).

During the evening we will also be announcing details of this year’s Ip-art Short Story Competition.

Starbucks will be selling a range of snack food as well as hot and cold drinks and the evening is expected to finish by 10pm latest.

Creative Writing Evening

Coming up next Tuesday (16th March) is our creative writing evening at The Room at the Top in Felixstowe Library. Start time is 7.30.

It might be an idea to bring along a pencil and a notebook for this exercise and also four words, each printed clearly on a small piece of paper. These words will then be dropped into a hat and everyone present will draw out four slips of paper. The words on the paper must then be included in your story. There's nothing to be feared, in fact it is always great fun!

We hear that Tony's operation was postponed and is now set for the end of this month and so we hope to see Tony with us on Tuesday.

The New Writer centenary issue is now available and details of this together with their annual international writing competitions are available from their website at www.thenewwriter.com and also on our own weblog (scroll down)

Hope to see you on Tuesday so, until then.....

Keep Scribbling!

The New Writer centenary issue

The New Writer 100th issue
No better time to subscribe or renew
OUT NOW: the centenary issue - TNW 100

Read excerpts from the fiction in this issue and a sample of the poems selected; scroll down on this webpage:
http://www.thenewwriter.com/TNW%20100th%20Issue.htm

100 issues * 1,010 contributors * full listing at:
http://www.thenewwriter.com/RollOfHonour.htm

The New Writer magazine Special Offer
INTRODUCTORY OFFER - TAKE OUT A SUBSCRIPTION and we will add TWO FREE ISSUES to the subscription that you require, whether 1, 2 or 3 year subs, in the UK or overseas. Just click on our secure online order form: http://www.thenewwriter.com/subscribe.htm
and specify which subscription you require and we will add two extra issues to the end of your subscription and confirm the duration by email. This Offer also applies to any subscriptions taken out by post, paid by credit card, cheque, postal order while this offer lasts.

For a free recent copy of the magazine send A4 SAE stamped at 76p (Large Letter) or 2 x first class stamps (UK) whatever's easier, or 5 International Reply Coupons (IRCs) to the address below.

You can buy a copy of TNW 100 online for a fiver (includes p+p) by scrolling down at: http://www.thenewwriter.com/subscribe.htm

The New Writer email News is included free of charge in our subscription package. This monthly emailing to our subscribers covers breaking news of urgent interest to writers, important announcements that we receive too late for the next issue of the magazine, and many other useful items including market updates, competitions and calls for submissions. If you would like to read the latest email News bulletin go to http://www.thenewwriter.com/ and click on the pink box.

*

Prose and Poetry Prizes 2010
from The New Writer magazine
Closing date 30 November
Established in 1997, one of the major annual international competitions for short stories, novellas, single poems, poetry collections, essays and articles; offers cash prizes as well as publication for the prize-winning writers in The Collection, special edition of The New Writer magazine each July (back copies available on TNW website).

Further information including guidelines and entry fees at: http://www.thenewwriter.com/prizes.htm
Writers can enter online at our secure credit card server at: http://www.thenewwriter.com/entryform.htm

Or, the entry form can also be downloaded from that page on the website and sent in the post with your entry.

The winners of the 2009 prizes will be announced on this webpage after mid-March:
http://www.thenewwriter.com/prizewinners.htm

Our Social

Apologies for a grave error in the location of our social....

Ruth has booked the Grosvenor for our social gathering which will take place on Saturday 27th March with a 7.30pm start.(and not the Marlborough as circulated in the Report). Old age creeps on!

Keep Scribbling!

Meeting Report

FELIXSTOWE SCRIBBLERS NEWSHEET

Incorporating
the

REPORT OF THE MEETING HELD 2nd MARCH 2010

Apologies: Ruth, Debbie, Ros, Sue, Angela P, Les.

Present: Dave, Dick, Simon, Ally, Liliane, Shaun, Linda, Tony, Jane, Rosie, Liz, Trish, Peter and Barry (chair).

It was nice to welcome Liz along to the Scribblers. Liz used to write stories for her children and at Christmas was reminded of one of them by her son. With some gentle family persuasion Liz decided to come along and subject herself to the ordeals of a Scribblers meeting! She intends to spend time writing short stories from now.

SCRIBBLERS NEWS

As one new face appears so we learn that Shaun is now moving on, down to Plymouth in fact. Seems as if he likes the sea air as he moved to Felixstowe from Southend and is now going down to Plymouth where, malicious rumour has it, that strong looking men are still being press-ganged into the Navy… Anyway, best wishes to Shaun for his future.

Tony was due to go into hospital on Wednesday for an operation, so we all wish him well and hope that he makes a speedy recovery.

Ruth has booked the Grosvenor for our social gathering which will take place on Saturday 27th March with a 7.30pm start. It is the first social gathering since last summer so we hope it will be another nice evening.

There are still places available for Maureen Blundell’s 1-1 sessions at the Castle Lodge Hotel on the afternoon of Saturday 27 March and also for the group workshop on Sunday morning 28. Each of the sessions cost £15, the 1-1 including a critique of work and coffee and biscuits will each last an hour. The group workshop will last for two hours and also include refreshments. Interested members should book direct with Maureen at liberato@talktalk.net.

Don’t forget the Writers’ Café at Starbucks in the Buttermarket, Ipswich on Monday 15 March starting at 7.30. There is no need to book a place – just turn up. Names of those wishing to read will be drawn from a hat but there is a time limit of five minutes per story or poem. Admission is free!

Don’t forget the ‘Writing Holiday in Italy’ that is being organised and arranged jointly between Caroline Foster of Creative Writing Groups and Angela. Details are posted on this weblog.

The Platform:

The 1,500 word assignments

Liliane: Send-off
Barry: One Price

The 750 word assignment on ‘Opinions’.

Dave: Opinionated Old Woman or Oow! For short.
Simon: Led On Very Early
Ally: Gob Shy
Dick: Nobody Needed to Drown
Shaun: Extatential Nightmare
Linda: You Asked For It
Tony: Ambush
Jane: The Opinions of Karen Carstairs
Rosie: Daisy, Daisy
Trish: A Lady of Quality
Peter: Opinions

Another eclectic evening that seemed to have had an adult influence in some of the work. Still, another evening when Scribblers creativity shone!

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 16th March at 7.30 pm in the Room at the Top, Felixstowe Library when we hold another creative writing exercise.

Until then,

Keep Scribbling!

March issue of WritingRaw now available from Weeb

The March 1 issue of WritingRaw.com is NOW online: Writing Raw is a FREE literary ezine dedicated to new and emerging writers. Our goal at Writing Raw 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, Writing Raw is providing the blank pages for writers to fill.

We also support other sites that help writers: www.WritingRaw.com believes in reaching out to other sites, writing groups, forums, and organizations. Contact us on how you can place a FREE banner, announcement or link on our site!

Or, use the Writing Raw Book Store to promote your novel or poetry collection: If you have a novel or collection that you would like to place in our store, we would be more than happy to do so – for FREE. Just send us a copy of the cover of the book, a brief synopsis, and a link as to where the material can be purchased.

Also, be sure to check out the NEW announcements on WritingRaw.com’s Home page from writer’s group and organizations worldwide. Discover meeting places, organizations offering fellowships, contests, and a variety of other useful websites all dedicated to writers of every level.