Felixstowe Scribblers
Meeting Report for 1st July 2014.
In attendance: Beryl, Suzy G,
Mairead, Barry, Richard, Susie H, Liliane, Les, Tony, Gerry, Caz, Dave and
special guest, author Natalie Meg Evans.
Apologies were received from Derek,
Carolyn, Jane, Martin, Dick and Tom.
New Members.
This
evening we welcomed two new faces to our group, Mairead and Gerry who came
along for the first time. Mairead has had some nonfiction material published mainly on research of organisational behaviours. Gerry, who attended a
writing class with Suzy G, writes science fiction stories.
Our guest this evening.
A
surprise guest, invited by Barry who introduced Suffolk based author Natalie
Meg Evans to the group. Natalie discussed her novel, the time it took to write including
re-writes required by her publishers together with all the frustration of the
process. It meant writing up to eight hours a day seven days a week with the
end result, ‘the Dress Thief’. Natalie then read a few passages and answered
questions before staying to listen to all the Scribblers stories on ‘Sea’. Natalie
will be at a book signing at Waterstones in Ipswich at 11 am this Saturday, 5th
July so why not go along and purchase a copy of her novel.
The Anthology.
After
concerns about the cover and whether the book would be ready on time our
anthology was collected on Thursday afternoon and looks a quality production.
It went on sale at our Book Festival event in the Library on Saturday. Selling
at a very reasonable £5 it will soon be available in Stillwater Books in
Felixstowe. It will. Of course, be available at our meetings and can also be
ordered by emailing Caz at cazwilkinson2@hotmail.co.uk or Dave at scribblers@btinternet.com We need to sell all the books so remember
that they will make that special little gift for a birthday or even Christmas
(which is only a few months away).
The Book Festival:
The post mortem.
It
always seemed that out event would be an add on to the Book Festival as we were
organising and running the event ourselves although ticketing was to be
arranged through the organisers. The only slot available was the one we
accepted on the Saturday between 5 and 7pm.
Having
provided, as requested, a script and picture of the cover of our Lost Sock DVD,
this was erroneously omitted from the Book Festival programme apart from the
time of the event. Consequently we received sincere apologies and agreed to the
event being ‘free’. The Library confirmed that we could have seating for 30.
Tickets would be available at The Tourist Information Centre and Abbeygate
Lighting.
We
were then informed by the Book Festival that the seating capacity had been
reduced to 20 which led to a panic as we wanted to ensure any members who
wished to attend could do so. Initially the Tourist Information Centre said
they knew nothing about the event then found they had four tickets available. I
later found that the Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich had ten tickets available and that
ten other tickets would be sent by the organisers.
Two
days before the event the Library confirmed 30 seats were available and that
they would have the extra tickets yet when someone when along on the Saturday
morning to get one a member of staff said they hadn’t any!
To
cut a long story short we had 23 people in attendance at the showing of The
Lost Sock and, suffice to say, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks
must go to the Sea Scouts for loaning us two display boards for our event and
to Caz’s husband Karl for delivering them to the library and collecting them on
the Sunday. We are now looking to purchase some display boards that can have a
permanent display on them and be used in various locations to let people know
about our group.
Our Refreshements:
We
discovered at the event that our box had been, for want of another word,
pilfered. Our tea, coffee and sugar had been removed and our square tin of
biscuits had disappeared. Later the tea and coffee were found, both labelled
Felixstowe Scribblers whilst we discovered a round tin containing less than
half our biscuits. I have reported this to the library who will keep an eye on
the situation, just as we will.
The ‘Sea’ Homework.
Tony: Record Island:
Many
millennia had passed since the underwater volcanic eruption created the island
in the middle of the Aybee Sea. There had been attempts to invade the island
mainly from the west but it was easy to defend, the only landing point was the
tiny harbour, its entrance so narrow that only one vessel could enter at a
time. Traders from the east were welcomed. Life had been idyllic for hundreds
of years but suddenly Emperor Penkwyn Constantine the twelfth became unhappy.
He feared an invasion. Sensed a change in the air for six days. He instructed
his servant, Marcus, to have archers at the ready, rocks available for the
catapults mounted on the ramparts and kindling for the fires. Having not heard
from his allies in the East the Emperor ordered a messenger be sent
immediately. Worried about the Emperor’s state of mind, Marcus would check the
wind in the morning.
Les: The Sea Shall
Not Have Them:
Back
in 2004 the Scribblers were asked to work with a local art student named Jacqui
(surname forgotten) in providing work based on the seashore to go towards
obtaining her art degree. Against each Scribblers work was one of her own
paintings on handmade Himalayan paper. Les created a poem especially for the
project which he read out. It began ‘Way back in time. Millions of years, the
earth was one great ocean’ then continued through its evolution and on to
typhoon, tempest, giant waves that saw mere men consigned to watery graves. It
ends that we must learn to respect our planet and the only way to live with
nature is to follow nature’s laws.
Liliane: Wouldn’t You
Like to Come and Live by the Sea?
A
tale from Liliane’s stories on the family. Tara visits her Grandma Edda by the
sea. Edda told Tara that she always loved the sea, but was ever wary of its dangers,
and did so from the time she used to go for seaside holidays with her own parents
through to the time she and her husband Eric moved to the seaside. Edda now wanted
Tara to go and live with them, to leave home but Tara was adamant she would
never live with her grandparents. Edda was very upset.
Susie: Misty Dawn:
The sea rises and falls like parachute silk,
so alight with the golden dawn, embracing the day, dazzling, enchanting,
effervescent waters. Tranquil and
floating free, finding peace in the sea. The gentle swell, then whales,
dolphins and sunfish swim past. The ocean appears as a lover in tango with the
wind. Then turned into a whipped frenzy. Heaving breath upon the shores;
flotsam and foaming froth. Evening golden alchemy, blending, balancing energy.
Under a full moon distorting shapes, phosphorescence from the depths, nourished
by rivers and rising like Venus, iridescent again in the morning. The
changing patterns and the emotions of the ocean
Richard: Sea:
The man opened the drawer and took out the pad
of writing paper. In the left hand coner he wrote ‘27’ and on the other side, approaching Freemantle, 27 May 1959.
What should he write? Nothing of note had happened since letter 26. Then he
looked at the photo on the wall of Shirley and their two young boys, young David
and James. He missed their births. Knew he should be at home with them.
Promised he would try to change his job, maybe into pilotage. He’d been with
the same company for thirty years, right through the war, doing the same
routines every day. Looked forward to informative letters from Shirley. He
relieved the Second Mate in the chartroom and thought he must talk to Shirley
next leave. It would be odd, giving it up.
Barry: Beach Huts:
Dolly and Dave sat outside their beach hut
looking out to sea. It had been a beautiful day as they watched the sun
sparkling on the gentle waves and listening to seagulls soaring across the
water. They reminisced about their lives together and eventually Dave dozed off
so Dolly placed a travel rug across his legs. He looked so peaceful yet as the
sun set he hadn’t moved. She called his name and nudged him but no response. She
feared the worst and tears trickled down her face as she fell asleep herself.
She awoke with a start as someone touched her face. It was Dave! ‘It’s time we
left for home,’ he said. They locked up, climbed aboard their mobility scooters
and he said ‘Race you home...’
Suzi G: The Seven Seas:
‘Look ‘ere, young un. What d’you think’s in
this bottle?’ Grandad asked. ‘Sea water, my lad. Have a taste.’ ‘Ugh it’s
salty!’ I complained. Grandad said the sea was salty everywhere. He knew
because he’d sailed the seven seas. He’d seen octopuses trying to pull a sailor
down and merrymaids combing their hair. Grandad said he was afraid of the great
mountains of ice but recalled the tropical maidens in their grass skirts eating
coconuts. ‘Why do you have the sea water in the bottle?’ I asked. ‘It was a
memory toy from the King of the Seas,’ he answered. Just then Mum came in and
spoiled the fun. We had to catch our bus home and as Mum tucked me up in bed I
told her everything Grandad had said. She laughed. ‘Your grandad has only seen
the sea once, on a Sunday School outing to Bognor when he was six!’
Beryl: Convalescing - Summer 1910:
For an Eastender like myself, Felixstowe was a
breath of fresh air. The view from the Stern, as it is known, takies in the
whole wide bay with nothing but sea to the horizon. In Felixstowe I can
breathe. There are six of us in the TB unit in the Stern, three men and three
women and we’re mostly Jewish. One day Harry entered the lounge carrying a book
and I asked if he wanted to change with mine. He refused. His was in Yiddish, mine
in English. I said I would help him read English. Thus began an evolving
friendship. Apart from books we talked about everything especially on our long
walks. Sometimes we’d call in a tea room. And we never stopped talking.
Dave: Out in the Void:
Zed could not swim, had never been to sea
before but accepted a trip out on his friend’s fishing boat despite his wife’s
dire warnings. All was well as they went beyond the headland and headed out to
the fishing ground. That was when the weather changed and the wild storm hit
them. The calm sea grew violent, giant walls of water crashed down on the
vessel which turned turtle. Zed’s desperation to survive but all is lost...
Our next meeting...
...is
on 15th July when the geographical homework theme is to write up to 1,000 words
on a place of your choice, anywhere in this world or even outer space! The
choice is yours!
Hope
to see you there.
Until
then,
Keep
Scribbling!
