To all Scribes.

A report on the meeting of Felixstowe Scribblers on the 1st February 2010.

Those present: Dave, Tony, Dick, Liliane, Beryl, Les, Martin, Gemma, Angela, Ally, Simon, Barry and a visitor/new recruit Wilf.

This was a homework evening on the subject of 'Dream'.I have been writing short stories and longer for over ten years now and have been involved with The Scribblers for at least five or six. I am constantly amazed at the width and breadth of talent that abides in our membership. We have a few that have risen above the rest through hard work and resolve to get their work 'out there'. I'm thinking of Ruth and Morag to cite but two, but among the rest of us who write principally for our own gratification and amusement there is a wealth of talent that is evident at every meeting of our humble group.

If writing groups throughout the country are endowed with the same talent and dedication then all is not lost for the English Language. It lives and breathes within us.The meeting last night was a perfect example of how one word or theme can evince such a variety of short pieces, of a quality that is seldom presented to bookshelves.

At the last meeting we had Dave, our last and long serving Secretary, whose stories of trains, motorcycles and near the knuckle journeys into our sexual psyche have entertained us for years.

Then there is Dick, an ex school teacher and Landguard Fort volunteer, with a brilliant reading voice, whose interest in history shows in the research and general knowledge he brings to his stories.

I come now to Tony, whose agile mind takes us on journeys around his own planet, with his novel reaching its final stages, each stage made up cleverly of a homework contribution. His tales take us into his world of strange creatures with strange names and even stranger occupations. We await the conclusion of his book with eager anticipation. I am convinced it will be a hit as a children's fantasy, and an equal hit with parents who read it.

Now I come to Les. As one of the elder statesmen of the group, our master stonemason and general comedian writes poetry that is clever and entertainingly funny. Each meeting benefits from his presence.

Liliane is one of our longer serving members and her Belgian accent always provides a different aspect to her stories of family life on the continent. She has written enough about her multitude of relations and relationships that it could be combined to make an amusing and thought provoking novel.

Beryl has become a staunch supporter of the group and as a recent recruit has flung herself headlong into the post of Treasurer. We have only had a few meetings to get to know her work but it has proved to be a delight of wartime and beyond, reminiscences.

Martin is another of our more recent and loyal recruits. His talent for incorporating the media world from TV to films and record production has given us many laughs in the reasonably short time he has been with us.

Gemma; well Gemma is our youngest member at the moment having been originally introduced to Scribblers by her friend, Rosie, who is at present at University. Gemma shows she has a great talent for writing involved stories but she needs only a trifle more confidence to feel less embarrassed when reading.

Angela is a member whose lifestyle dictates that she spend a certain amount of time living abroad in the family's converted watermill, set in the Tuscan hills. She is at present trying to promote this as a retreat for artists and writers alike. We wish her well in this endeavour. Her writing is of the highest quality and generally has the flavour of Italy tempting our palates.

Ally has been a staunch member of the team for years now and her gentle writings are sometimes substituted by a darkness that comes out in all our writers at sometime.

Simon has been busy of late and as another young member of the group has the ability to surprise us with writings that range from the trite to the technical.

The last member at the meeting was your secretary. My humble self, I can say nothing but the few words, I just love writing. As you can tell from this mail, and as my other half says, I can talk for England.This mail started as a simple report on the first meeting of February but I was so impressed by the quality of the writing on Tuesday ( not unusual, I hasten to add) I thought I must bring my thoughts and congratulations to the fore and say I am proud and pleased to be a member of the Felixstowe Scribblers.

The stories were:

Dave: Vision in Black
Tony: Chapter 19 of the Sword of the Rings.
Dick: The secret of the draughty room
Les: Dreams to treasure and Caesar's dreams
Liliane: Dream diary
Beryl: The railway track
Martin: No day but today
Gemma: Haunted crystal
Angela: Chapter 29, 1948.
Ally: Dreams
Simon: Drementia
Barry: The cemetery

At the next meeting Angela and Ally will each read a few chapters of their work in progress and we will spend each period giving what help and support we feel is necessary.

Thank you for your indulgence in what has been an excessively long mail but thank you all again for a pleasurable evening and know there are many more to come.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday the 15th February and the week following will be our evening meal date at The Brook Hotel.

All we need now is confirmation from all members interested in attending the dinner evening, partners included of course. This is simply a get together for all interested parties but I'm afraid the costs of the meal will have to be borne by the individuals attending.