Adult Short Story Competition : Felixstowe Book Festival

2016: Gateways

Felixstowe Festival is delighted to launch our 2016 short story competition! We’re looking for short stories of up to 1000 words inspired by the 2016 Festival theme – Gateways.

What is the first thing that springs to mind?

Maybe Felixstowe Port, a gateway to Europe via the North Sea? The plight of refugees, negotiating treacherous gateways to reach a better future? Or even the tax office – death and taxes come to us all…

What about more individual gateways, the doors people must push or break open to change their lives?

Gateways may be physical or psychological, real or imagined. Fantastical or whimsical, or other-worldly. No subject or genre is off-limits. Please interpret the theme of ‘Gateways’ as creatively as you wish in your short story entry.

Dates:

The closing date is Friday 13th May, 2016.
A longlist of 15 entries will be announced on 30th May, 2016.
A shortlist of 6 will be announced on 6th June, 2016.
The 3 winners will be announced on 20th June, 2016.

Word Count:

Maximum of 1000 words, no minimum.

How to enter:

Please take or send 3 copies of your story to Felixstowe Library, Crescent Rd, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 7BY.

Your story should include a title but no other personal information. Please supply ON A SEPARATE SHEET: your name, email address (if available), contact telephone number, word count and title of story.

Don’t forget to attach your £5 entry fee. Cheques are to be made payable to Felixstowe Book Festival.

Entries that do not meet these requirements will be automatically disqualified.

If you have any questions, please email ruth@ruthdugdall.com prior to submitting your entry, using the subject line: SHORT STORY QUERY.

Prizes:

First Prize: £50 cash plus a 12 month subscription to EADT Suffolk Magazine.

The winning story will also be published by the magazine should the editor consider it suitable (you may want to look at the magazine’s website to get an idea of the type of things they publish).

Second Prize: £10 cash

Third Prize: £10 cash

The winner and the two runners up will be invited to read their stories to an audience at the closing event of the festival on Sunday June 26th. The winner and runners up will each receive two free tickets to this event. It is hoped that in entering this competition you are indicating your availability for this event.

Judges:

Ruth Dugdall: Ruth is an award winning crime novelist, and has published five novels, four of which are set in Suffolk. Her latest novel, Nowhere Girl is set in Luxembourg, from where she has just returned. Ruth also contributes short stories to Woman’s Weekly, and recently had a four part series published entitled ‘Mad Dogs & Englishwomen’. She puts her success as an author down to writing competitions, through which she gained an agent and a publishing deal.

Jeanette Hewitt: Jeanette has had two novels published independently, Freedom First Peace Later in 2010 and Worlds Apart, in 2013. Her third novel, which is her debut crime fiction, is due for release in 2016. She has worked with Harper Collins’ website Authonomy and The Front List and has also written for online fashion magazine, Offers Boutique, and literary magazines, The Jimston Journal and Spike. Her short story, ‘Ellen’s Journey’, won an award in the author vs. author competition, supported by the National Literary Trust in 2008. In July 2012 she was shortlisted as a finalist in the Marie Claire Inspire and Mentor Award, chosen by Jojo Moyes. She is also a member of the Crime Writers Association.

Liz Ferretti: Liz won an Arts Council Escalator Award for her novelSamphire Man, which will be submitted to publishers later this year. In 2014, her fiction and creative non-fiction was included in a major exhibition of painting, sculpture and writing on the Suffolk Coast. She is a professional writer and journalist, specialising in landscape, heritage and coastal management, writing for EADT Suffolk Magazine and national specialist media. She also writes stories, adapted classics and a magazine for students of English as a Foreign Language. Keen to encourage everyone to take up creative writing, she ran short story competitions for EADT Suffolk Magazine in 2014 and 2015. As part of the Windling Collective, she co-led creative writing workshops at Folk East in 2015, and will be there again in August 2016.

Terms and Conditions:

1. The competition is open to anyone aged eighteen or over.
2. All entries must be original unpublished prose of no more than 1000 words.
3. Publication of the winning entry in Suffolk Magazine is at the editor’s discretion and is conditional on the material being suitable in terms of taste, subject matter and style.
5. Winners will be notified by 20/06/2016 by the email address, telephone number or home address given with their entry. (If you have not been notified by this date, your story has not been selected on this occasion).
6. By submitting their stories, all entrants thereby grant Suffolk Magazine and Felixstowe Book Festival website the right to publish their entry in the event of their work winning the competition.
7. We would like all winners to be available to attend the reading of their work at The Orwell Hotel in Felixstowe on the evening of Sunday 26th June 2016.
8. The decision of the competition judges will be final and no correspondence will be entered into

Our Next Meeting...

Well our next meeting is almost upon us, this coming Tuesday, 2nd February, 7.30pm in the Room at the Top.

Hasn't it be nice not to have any homework to write? Certainly makes a pleasant and relaxing change! This time it is a flash fiction event (we have previously called it our Four Word Creative Writing Session.)   It's just the same as before but with a different title.

All you need to do is bring along four words each written on a small and separate slip of paper which will be dropped into a hat when you arrive at the meeting. The idea is to draw out four words (not your own) include each in a timed short story, then, finally, sharing your work with the group.

This kind of meeting has always been quite popular and draws out an eclectic collection of stories. Just one thing - please remember to bring writing material with you!

On the subject of short stories I see that Elodie Harper, a local ITV news reporter, has won a short story writing competition that was judged by none other than Stephen King. Her entry is online and can be read here:

  http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/30/stephen-king-short-story-competition-winner-wild-swimming-by-elodie-harper

Creative Writing Weekend

Here's a link to a creative writing weekend at the Penrallt Country House in West Wales. Details ar on their website at :

http://thepenrallthotel.co.uk/blog

The Cheltenham Prize 2016

Here's a writing competition that might be interesting for those celebrating Shakespeare's 400th anniversary... There is an entry fee but it is very reasonable and certainly worth a go...

       

Dear Felixstowe Scribblers

Cheltenham Writers' Circle is launching its first open short story competition with cash prizes totalling £150 plus book tokens.  The theme, chosen to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, is 'What You Will' - in other words your creativity has no bounds.

 

Maximum word count is 2,000.

Opening date: 1 March 2016

Closing date: 4 June 2016

Judge: Helen Hollick, author of historical fiction and  'The Sea Witch Voyages' and Managing Editor for the Historical Novel Society Indie Reviews.

Prizes:   £100 for the overall winner and £50 for the best entry with a GL postcode (the overall winner cannot take both prizes), plus  a £15 book token for the runner up in each category, courtesy of The Suffolk Anthology bookshop, Cheltenham.

Entry fee: £2 per story, maximum 3 entries.

 

In entering the competition entrants give their  permission for Cheltenham Writers' Circle to publish the winning stories and others of special merit in the Circle’s collection of writing, Hillside Voices. All rights remain with the author.

           

Submissions: can be made by email or post. Email: chelt2016@gmail.com.   Post: The Organiser, Cheltenham Prize, 2, Hayman Close, Cheltenham, GL53 9FD.  Postal entries should be on A4 paper, double spaced, in TWO copies. Email entries should be on Word files attached to a cover message headed 'Cheltenham Prize'. All entries must be in English.

 

Please submit a separate cover page with your name and contact details, including postal address, email and phone number, story title(s) and first line(s). Please ensure the story manuscript itself does not feature your name. If emailing, please send the cover sheet and your story as two separate files attached to the same email.

 

Payment is by cheque made out to 'Cheltenham Writers' Circle' (please mark the back of the cheque 'Cheltprize' and add the

title(s) of your story(ies)) to be sent by post to the Organiser at the above address. Please send your cheque by post even if you send your entry by email and be sure to give details to enable the Organiser to marry up your payment with your story.

Go to http://cheltprize.wordpress.com/the-cheltenham-prize  for more details andhttp://cheltprize.wordpress.com/competition-rules  for the rules. Any queries to chelt2016@gmail.com.

 

We hope you have fun writing your stories.

 

People sometimes ask what criteria the stories are judged by. These are fairly equal considerations:

 

1)      Originality

2)      Quality of writing; narrative drive, pace and flow, characterisation, plot, technique

3)      Quality of prose; grammar, spelling and punctuation.

 

We hope that’s helpful and look forward to receiving your entry

 

All the best,

 

Phil Jones - Chair, Cheltenham Writers' Circle

Edward James -  Competition Organiser 

MASH stories

Don't forget to check this weeks MASH newsletter for a reminder of their 500 word competition... the competition words to be used are included in the newsletter and on their website.

Comments

Here are a couple of comments about our social evening meal ...

On my behalf please.thank all those who attended the Orwell last night
The Food was superb. the Service.excellent and the company second to none.
Thank you all for making the whole evening such a success.
Also a special thanks to Andrew and Jane for ferrying Dave and me around in their cars. It was very much appreciated.
One to remember

Caz xx

It was a truly fabulous evening, everything went off so perfectly and the company were priceless. It is such a real honour to be part of such an amazing group. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made to join the group, and a real honour to know you all.

Hugs

 

Mairéad.

Last Night's Meal...

Thanks to all the Scribblers who attended last night's very successful meal at the Orwell. It was a really good and relaxed evening which we all enjoyed so much.

 

My thanks must go to Caz for the organisation, to Dick for suggesting the venue and to Jane and Roger and also Andrew, my future son-in-law, for getting me out of my car troubles and providing transport to and from the venue. Very kind. And of course to the Orwell for their excellent meals and service.

 

Yes a thoroughly good evening which I hope we will be able to repeat in the not too distant future.

 

Dave

Felixstowe Book Festival

Hi Scribblers,

Following our last Scribblers meeting, we have agreed our participation at this year's festival. We will be involved on the Sunday only with morning readings and an afternoon flash fiction event.  

This is what we submitted for the programme:

2016 Felixstowe Book Festival. 

Sunday 26 June. 10-10.30am, Furneaux Suite 
‘Start the day with a story.’ Here is an opportunity to listen to a selection of 1,000 word short stories written by the Felixstowe Scribblers. Each was the result of a creative homework assignment that highlights the value of writing groups to both published and hobby writers. 

Sunday 26 June. 4.30-6pm, Furneaux Suite. 
‘Flash Fiction with Felixstowe Scribblers.’ Flash fiction is a style of writing of brevity that allows you to create a short story in a limited period of time. Here is the chance to enjoy the experience by taking part in this style of writing and then share your story with others. 

Time to get ou thinking caps on!

Message from Ray...

Dear All,
                My nephew and I are putting together an a couple of anthologies of my short stories. The first edition will contain stories written while I was with the Scribblers - some will stay as they are while others will be extended. One of the things that I miss are those Tuesday nights but I still do 'the homework' so some of those could turn up.

Will keep you informed.

Ray

That's really good news... and looking forward to seeing some of those homeworks he's been doing since he moved away!

SUFFOLK READING FESTIVAL ON FXR

Felixstowe Radio 107.5 or via the internet.
Wednesday 28th Jan 1900-1930.

Sword of the Kings
(Freight to Port Haloo)
Alison Miller is the Book
Sheila Martin the Brackets
Alan Dix is Honions
Martin Jarvis is Joe Henley
Stella Day is Peanut Butterfly Ovluv
Brian England is Uriah Compost
Robin Saunders is Lieto Pathway

Floating in the Wind
David Miller is Andrew
Sheila Martina Martin is Barbara
Angela Silburn Silburn is Carole
Peter Guilder Guilder is Dave

A Knight to Remember
Read by Angela Silburn

All material written by Tony Shearman

Interesting

One or two items here...

Good to hear that Beryl's grandson Oscar was allowed home on Tuesday night.

There have been three emails to each of the scribblers accounts and my personal account purporting to be from dear departed Les -addressed from :lessmith485@mindspring.com. If you receive one of these I suggest you just delete it without opening.

A reminder, not that you hungry individuals need reminding, the meal is at the Orwell on Tuesday evening - 7 for 7.30 so look forward to seeing everyone who booked at the hotel.

Dave

Five fascinating facts about Peter James He’s written 28 brilliant novels, been labelled ‘the king of the police procedural’ and has sold 16 millions books worldwide, so it’s no wonder that Peter James has been awarded the 2016 CWA Diamond Dagger. Loved by readers and fellow writers alike, Peter isn’t just a great author but also a real champion of crime writing in general. His most-loved character is Detective Sergeant Roy Grace, a Brighton-based sleuth whose adventures are heavily influenced by the on-the-beat research Peter has undertaken with the Sussex Police Force. But enough of what you do know about Peter, here are some facts that prove the man himself has a life every bit as compelling as his characters. 1. Peter was once a cleaner for Orson Welles. He may be a bestseller now, but there was a time when Peter needed to make some money and decided to turn his hand to cleaning, despite having no experience. He replied to an advert from a Mrs Welles, who needed someone to clean at her Fulham home, just around the corner from Peter’s abode. What he didn’t know was that his new work premises were home to a rather famous resident. “On my second day, I was on my knees cleaning the skirting board in the hall when the morning post fell through the door, and I saw all those letters addressed to Orson Welles,” Peter told Shots Magazine. “I wondered if there had been some kind of error by the postman! A short while later the front door opened and in came the great man himself. I stared up at him in shock and awe, suddenly realising that a golden opportunity had presented itself. If I could get him to like me, maybe I could get a huge leg-up my future career path! I was a bag of nerves. He looked down at me with an amiable smile, the kind of smile he might have given to a funkily-shaped dog turd, stepped past me with a cursory, ‘Good Morning’ and vanished up the stairs as I gasped out a strangled reply. Later that day he left for the US, and I never saw him again! Two weeks later, Mrs Welles very sweetly told me she didn’t think I was really cut out for this job. I had to agree…” 2. Peter’s writing regime is super-cool He’s a man of great flare but also deeply dedicated to his work. So it won’t surprise you to know that even Peter’s writing regime has a trademark element of cool. Mind you, no writer gets to be as prolific as Peter without taking their work seriously, and he does that just. “I try to ensure that, whatever I’m doing, I leave myself time to write 1000 words, six days a week,” Peter told writing blog Jaffa Reads Too... “I have offices in my Sussex and Notting Hill homes, but I can write anywhere – airplanes, the back of the car, hotels. My favourite writing time is 6-9.30 in the evening. I got used to that when I was working full time in film and TV, and made this my ‘me’ time. I have a stiff drink – often a vodka martini, with four olives, put on music and get in the zone. I really love this time of day.” 3. Peter wrote two books inspired by his own stalker Fame and fortune come at a price, as Peter learned when he became the target of a stalker. The experience was a traumatic one and even resulted in Peter having to move house when his stalker sent him a photo she’d taken inside the grounds of his property. “The plot for Not Dead Yet was actually partly inspired by my own stalker,” Peter told the Bournemouth Echo. “It started when I saw this woman at a book event in Glasgow, smiling as if I knew her. Then I started seeing her at events all over the country. Soon I got a weird email praising what I was wearing and thanking me for smiling at her. I did reply, at first, but then stopped. She seemed harmless until she sent me a photograph of her Peter James shrine complete with burning candles. It had all my books, but also secret photographs of me getting into a car or coming out of a restaurant. So I decided to write a book about my experience.” 4. Peter has a large collection of police memorabilia Thanks to his meticulous research and strong links with the Sussex police force, Peter has a great reputation with the police all over the world. He’s endlessly fascinated by talking to officers and detectives wherever he travels and has been gifted with a lot of collectables along the way. “I’ve met police all over the world, from Moscow to Australia," he told The Telegraph. "Everywhere I go, I’m given police memorabilia; truncheons, handcuffs, badges. I’ve built up a collection over the years, and all these objects now sit pride of place in my office where I write my novels.” 5. Peter is the owner of a haunted house Detective Superintendent Roy Grace has an interest in the paranormal, and that’s something he and Peter share. Peter’s last book, The House On Cold Hill, is a supernatural thriller, and he is very open about the fact he believes in ghosts. He’s also had the misfortune to live in not one, but two haunted houses – including the Brighton property he resides in today. “It is built on top of a burial ground from the Battle of Lewes (1264), and we have a whole host of ghosts,” Peter told Shots Magazine. “I keep leaving my computer on at night in the hope they might finish my next book for me, but so far I’ve had no luck! But seriously, I did have to move from my original study in the house as I could not work in it – for the one and only time in my life I had complete writer’s block. A clairvoyant we brought in said it was built over the grave of a soldier, and I was disturbing him! Not half as much as he was disturbing me, I thought. But I moved to a different part of the house and then I was fine again – and the clairvoyant cleared away the soldier’s spirit. So he’s probably now bothering someone else!” Congratulations to Peter! Copyright © 2016 The CWA, All rights reserved.

Oxford Author Mary Cavanagh, here. I am writing to you with details of my new self-help book for authors, Calling All Authors, and I'd be grateful if you can circulate this info to your writers group members. Written from my own experience as a novelist it is packed full of useful guidance towards presentation, publication (including eBooks), the book industry, and sales and marketing. Do let me know if you would like me to send you some publicity book marks. See my website for further details  Mary Cavanagh   Amazon sales: PB, £7.99 (and less) and eBook, £2.99

Calling All Authors        

ISBN 978-1-78507-547-6

Calling All Authors really has to be the most detailed, informative and insightful guide for authors on the market

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Everything the author of fiction and non-fiction needs to know about the road to publication, understanding the book industry, and how to sell that book!

  Over the last five years, due to the advent of self-publishing and media marketing, publication is actually easier, but it’s infinitely more difficult to get a mainstream contract. Thus, whatever method you aim for, you must have immaculate manuscript presentation, sound knowledge of the book industry, and dogged determination to make sales.

Mary Cavanagh, a successful novelist and short story writer, has had first-hand experience of all publishing methods, the jungle of the book industry, and the many successful methods of making sales. In Calling All Authors she aims to demystify all the necessary processes in a concise, lively, and highly readable way, with some very useful contributions from a wide range of other successful authors. 

‘A fantastic book . . . a wealth of information and some brilliant advice for book types everywhere’

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‘An invaluable resource of information for all authors, even those who are, as yet, unpublished

                                                                                   Deborah Lawrenson - author ofThe Lantern 

Mary Cavanagh

My latest publication is Calling All Authors

'Calling All Authors really has to be the most detailed, informative and insightful guide for authors on the market.'   Caro Fraser - Author of the renowned Caper Court Series

All three of my novels are now available on Amazon Kindle at £2.99. The Crowded Bed, The Priest, His Lady and The Drowned Child, and Who Was Angela Zendalic?