On with the 'SHOW'....

I hope you all had a nice Christmas and enjoyed the festivities with friends and relations. 

We are in the final hours of this year, 2017. It has seemed such a short year with time slipping by so very quickly. Now is the time to look back at our own achievements and favourite moments of the past twelve months be it creatively or otherwise.

For me, I think stepping up to the challenge of the homework topics was something of an achievement at Scribblers. My personal writing highlight has to be winning the Orwell Writers' competition but this doesn't even come close to seeing my wife overcome two operations and improving by the day since her knee replacement.

As a group, I think we achieved much at the Felixstowe Book Festival where the bulk of the organisation has to go to the dedication shown by Ruth. I am also pleased that our Anthology has more or less sold out though I believe a few copies remain at Stillwater Books.

In a few hours all these memories can be consigned to the past as we look forward to a bright and successful 2018. At out last meeting everyone present gave their aspirations for their writing in the coming months - I hope we all achieve those goals we set ourselves.

Our first meeting of the year 2018, is on 2nd January at the Room at the Top in the Library. The homework theme is to write up to 1,000 words on "SHOW." I wonder if we have managed to find the time to write those words, if not, please bring along something else that you can read out.

One request is to provide three possible subjects for future homework themes, each written on a separate piece of paper. Once received they will go into the 'kitty' of subjects to replace the older ones.

Until then,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Please have a Happy, safe and successful NEW YEAR!

Dave

It's that time of year

From Dave 

and the 

Scribblers...

MERRY 

CHRISTMAS

To you all !!!

It's over! Well the 2017 programme is!

Minutes of Scribblers' meeting held on 19 December 2017.

Present: Beryl, Anne, Mairead, Tony, Kay, Liliane, Steve, Gerry, Jane and Dave.

Apologies: Cathy and Bridget.

Business:

Good wishes for a speedy recovery to Cathy who is a little under the weather at present.

What a lovely surprise we had when Jane arrived for the meeting, her first for some considerable time. She has had quite a traumatic year but is looking forward to writing again and coming along to Scribblers whenever she is able.

For the second time in as many meetings Steve brought along a newly published book – Ethnographic Research and Analysis in which he has a chapter published.

Gerry also had some good news – he has been shortlisted on the English Heritage ghost story competition. The story has to be based at an English Heritage site. Gerry’s story, “Bone” is set at Grimes Graves. All short listed stories can be read at

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/members-area/competitions/ghost-stories/ You can vote of the site as well. Voting closes on 1^st January 2018. We can’t suggest you vote for Gerry but who better? We wish him every success. I know where my vote goes!

Mairead also has produced two articles for publication – one about her aunt whose story she has researched and gave a lecture about her in Ireland recently.

Dave also had a bit of luck! He won the Orwell Writers’ League competition for the second time with his story “A Midwinter’s Nightmare” which he was asked to read it out at the end of the meeting.

The Homework: “Bicycle.” (A shorter than normal homework of up to about 500 words.)

Dave: The Bike.

Beryl: The Bicycle Ride.

Anne: The Bicycle.

Mairead: A Bicycle Ride.

Tony: The Pedals of Power.

Jane: The Pantomime.

Kay: Echoes.

Liliane: Xmas Recipe for Disaster.

Steve: Under Pitsea Flyover.

And what a superb collection of stories these were. They made one proud to be part of such a talented and versatile group of writers.

The Party.

To end the 2017 programme we had our usual little party. Nothing extreme except for a table full of goodies that gradually disappeared from sight!

We have to say thank you as always to Mairead for all the ‘naughties’ she supplies and also to everyone else for bringing along nibbles, savouries and chocolates etc.

A really nice ending to a rather good year!

Our Next Meeting.

The first meeting of the New Year takes place on Tuesday 2^nd January 2018. The homework theme is to write up to 1,000 words on “SHOW.” If this is not a suitable subject for you then you are welcome to bring along a story of your own.

Will you each please bring in three possible homework subjects that will allow us to start the New Year with fresh topics. You can supply single words, or very short phrases etc. Thank you!

May you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year – A prosperous one of course!

What a lovely end to the year.

What a lovely way to end the 2017 Scribblers programme with a short written exercise of up to 500 words on "Bicycle" before getting down to the serious side of the meeting - a Christmas party!

It was sad that neither Cathy nor Bridget could attend but it was more than made up by Jane who attended for the fist time in ages.

Every story was so different yet very compelling and showed, once again, the versatility and skill of our writers. It was a privilege being there!

It was time to tuck into the mouth watering spread before us meaning everyone went home feeling a little fuller as we all said:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

TONIGHT

Its our last meeting of the year tonight.  Just a 500 word story on  or about "Bicycle".

After this we will have our little Xmas party to close the book on our Scribblers 2017 exploits. 

Hope you will be there complete with a small offering and/or non alcoholic drink.

Keep Scribbling!!!

Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers' meeting held on 5 December 2017

Present: Dave, Steve, Liliane, Kay, Mairead, Anne, Gerry, Bridget, Cathy

Apologies: Beryl

Business:

Best wishes to Beryl, who is unwell.

Dave thanked Cathy for the AGM minutes.

Mairead confirmed that she is prepared to remain on the committee. She shared with us some of the highlights of her recent time in Ireland where she had been invited to give a talk - sounded as if she had a great time.

Steve brought along a copy of the book he has just had published, and we were all impressed by it - lovely content, and excellently produced by Gipping Press.

Thanks as ever given to Mairead for the selection of tasty treats she brought along for us to share.

Readings of homework: theme 'good intentions'

Liliane - Yesterday and tomorrow

Mairead - New Year's resolution

Steve - The wedding

Dave - Early morning call

Bridget - God's banker/First date

Gerry - Knock down Ginger - the piece he had written for a previous homework theme, 'third house along'

Kay read a short piece of work from the creative writing course she's doing

Next meeting will be on 19 December. Homework theme is 'bicycle', and after the readings we'll be having our Christmas party - just a few snacks/nibbles/drinks - if everyone can bring a little something in the food and drink line to share that would be great.

Good Intentions.

Tonight's meeting was quite a lively affair once again proving what great quality writers we have. Some of the stories may have been a little on the black side... but we loved them all!

It was an interesting evening with feedback and lively discussions that added to the enjoyment.

Steve has now released his book, 'Harry's son goes diving.' Printed by Gipping Press it is on sale at Stillwater Books at £9.99. 

Mairead, just back from her Irish trip proudly showed us an excellent and expensive book 'The Investigators of Arkham Horror - tales of adventure and madness.' It features a number of stories by her niece.

Our next meeting, the final one of the year takes place in two weeks time on 19 December when we are asked to write between 350 and 500 words on 'Bicycle' before our Christmas party begins.

Until then,

Keep Scribbling! 

AGM Minutes.

Minutes of Scribblers AGM, held on 21 November 2017
Present:  Liliane, Beryl, Dave, Bridget, Tony, Steve, Gerry, Dick, Kay, Di, Anne, Cathy
Apologies:  Mairead
Business:
Dave told us that the brother of Scribbler Jane Bailey has recently died; the group sends condolences to Jane.
Beryl had received a Christmas card from Caz, and read out for us the warm message Caz had sent to the group. Perhaps at some point in the future, Caz’s busy life will allow her to return occasionally!
Belinda, and ex-Scribbler, has been in touch with Caz – nice to know she still thinks of us.
AGM proper
It was good to have such an excellent turn out for the meeting.
Secretary’s report: Cathy gave a brief report, looking  back at a year which has, overall, been a good one for the group, and thanking Dave for always being the perfect ‘public face’ of Scribblers.
Treasurer’s report: Beryl’s report showed that the group remains solvent – we thank her for her work in keeping the books and providing us with her annual report.
Chairman’s report: Dave as ever gave a comprehensive report on the year – its ups and downs, successes and aspirations. A copy of this is included with these minutes as an attachment.
Weblog: Dave reported that there have been 25,000 hits since November last year – a number which increases year on year.
Cheque signatory: Cathy to replace Caz as signatory now that Caz is no longer able to attend meetings.
Election of committee members: since all committee members present were willing to stand again, the group voted unanimously to maintain the status quo, and to confirm with Mairead at a later date whether or not she is prepared to remain on the committee.
Increasing our membership: Should we advertise for new members? Consensus was that we will wait for six months, then decide whether or not to do so. During the discussion, several ideas were put forward for publicising the group, including

• Using the library’s £5 per week display space to show programme/work/anthology etc
• Giving regular short readings in the library of our work/anthology stories, to develop public interest in what we do – perhaps get Felixstowe TV to be involved with filming it?
• Enquiring with local magazines like Spotlight, Flyer and Living in Felixstowe to see if they’d run an article about the group, maybe having a regular story spot for us

Structure of meetings: all present were happy to maintain current meeting structure. Agreed that at the final meeting of the year we will discard the current ‘theme’ selection, and each bring in two new themes to be used in 2018.
Programme of meetings: Dave had provided a provisional programme – all agreed it.
Planning:

• Felixstowe Book Festival (FBF). We can do another microfiction session if required by the organiser
• Anthology – not this year
• Any other events that the group might become involved with – if anybody has any ideas, please speak up
• Press release to EADT and Evening Star re anthology evoked no response at all

Social events: only the annual meal that we have in January. Agreed that we will try The Alex this time – Dave to ask Mairead if she would be happy to organise this
Any other business: None
Meeting closed at 9.10pm.

The AGM minutes

These will follow in a few days time.

The AGM

A nice turn out for the AGM with plenty of discussion concerning the future of our beloved Felixstowe Scribblers. 

The committee remain the same as before subject to confirmation from Mairead who is currently in Ireland. 

There is no doubt of the enthusiasm shown for the present meeting format and the way homework themes are chosen. It is very much a case of status quo with one or two issues to be reviewed in six months time.

The meeting ended on positive vibes leaving us all to look to a healthy future.

Both Tony and Steve are very close to publication of their books, Steve choosing Gipping Press and being very impressed with their professional and friendly help.

Our next meeting is on 5th December when the 1,000 word homework theme is "GOOD INTENTIONS".

Keep Scribbling!!!

Our Next Meeting - The AGM.

I know its late coming, but here is a reminder about our forthcoming meeting on Tuesday next, 21st November, start time 7.30pm.

It is our Annual General Meeting so I hope you will be able to attend. It is your chance to discuss how you think we can improve our group and make it attractive to some slightly younger members to help breathe fresh life into the Scribblers. If you would like to see changes then please let us know. Any thoughts or suggestions will be very welcome.

Remember Felixstowe Scribblers is your group and your ideas do help.

An agenda is printed below.

Please send thoughts to our friend Jane who suddenly lost her brother to cancer very recently. I am sure you will all wish to send our deepest sympathies.

Dave. 

THE AGENDA

1    Secretary's Report.

2    Treasurer’s Report.

3    Chairman’s Report.

4    Weblog Report.

5    Ratification of existing committee and or election of new officers and signatories.

6          6   Membership, attendances and the cost of room hire.

7   Structure of Meetings.

8                  8      Planning for the future.

.

9   Publicity to boost attendances.

1          10  Social Events.

11  Any Other Business.

Meeting Report

Minutes of Scribblers’ meeting Tuesday 7 November 2017

Present: Tony, Bridget, Mairead, Anne, Liliane, Beryl, Dave.

Apologies: Di, Dick, Steve, Cathy.

Business:

We send get well wishes to both Cathy and Steve who are under the weather at present.

The withdrawal of Jim from the Scribblers is very disappointing but we understand his reasons especially with the long drive to and from Felixstowe. He is not lost to writing for he will continue with the Orwell Writers who hold afternoon meetings thus avoiding night driving. Our best wishes to Jim.

There are still a few anthologies available at Stillwater Books still at £5 each. We await their payment for previous sales and also one further payment to round things off in time for the forthcoming AGM. Sadly the press releases failed to create any interest from either the Star or Radio Suffolk.

Normally a well attended meeting, our Ghost/Halloween themed evening was a little down on numbers. Having said that sometimes less can provide time for more in depth feedback and discussion. That said, as usual there were enough scary bits to keep everyone chewing on their finger nails... helped along by Mairead’s spooky display.

The Stories:

Tony: Food.

Anne: Happenings in Lime Kiln Quay Street.

Liliane: Remembering the Dead.

Beryl: The Listeners (With apologies to Walter de la Mere).

Dave: A Foggy Night in Newcastle.

This was followed by a number of personal experiences of the ghostly variety and other tales of the unknown...

Altogether a good evening.

Our next meeting will be our AGM. This takes place on Tuesday 21^st November in the Room at the Top. It is hoped to provide an agenda in advance of the meeting so any thoughts you may have on meeting structure, programme of meetings, membership levels and attendances could mean a lively meeting.

I am reminded by our treasurer that annual fees will be due at the AGM. The fees are used to cover the cost of hire of our accommodation at the Library.

Until the AGM,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Dave

Remembering them

Ghostly happenings....

As usual this annual meeting featuring ghost and Halloween tales provided some excellent stories that were enough to keep everyone chewing on their finger nails.

Although the attendance was not as high as normal and with all the stories read we relayed our personal experiences of ghostly happenings. It made for a very interesting climax to the meeting! Roll on next year!

Thanks to Mairead for providing a rather spooky display for everyone to enjoy...!

Our Annual General Meeting takes place in two weeks time (21st November) when annual subscriptions are due. These subscriptions are used to cover the cost of the room rental at the Library. We hope we can maintain a healthy membership and avoid any increase in fees. If time permits after the AGM finishes - and that would be unusual - then we might have a short writing exercise. 

Until next time,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Our spooky night meeting is coming up on Tuesday (7th). The homework theme for this time of year is GHOST or HALLOWEEN - the choice is yours! This is usually a popular evening so here's hoping the meeting will go well and not too many folk will get spooked out.

There is some sad news for the group. Jim has decided to withdraw from Scribblers which is a great shame. He is already a member of Orwell Writers who meet in the afternoons and with his lengthy and expensive journeys he needs to cut back. Jim feels happier with the afternoon meetings and so we bid a sad farewell to him. His humour and amusing tales have been a highlight of our meetings.

I have a message from Angela Petch who tells me that her two books, Tuscan Roots (formerly entitled 'Never Forget') and 'Now and Then in Tuscany' are being republished as e-books on 10 November and 8th December respectively and doubtless will be available on Amazon. Angela is a lovely writer and always makes her work interesting. These are two good reads so if you haven't got a copy yet then look out for them. 

We have a message from Lindsey of Fairlight Books who says:

You’ve previously been contacted by my colleague Urska in regards to our call for short story submissions, which we are still accepting.

I am writing today to let you know that we are also currently seeking novella submissions. We consider novellas as longer fiction and will be publishing successful manuscripts traditionally.

For more information on our submission process please refer to our website at http://www.fairlightbooks.co.uk/submissions/.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you.

Best wishes,

Lindsey Woollard

Publishing and Marketing Assistant

Fairlight Books

Summertown Pavilion, 18-24 Middle Way,

Oxford, OX2 7LG

T: 01865 957790

www.FairlightBooks.com

@FairlightBooks

Hope to see you at Scribblers on Tuesday...

Keep screaming...!

Dave.

Hi Scribblers... 

Hope you remembered to put your clocks back and benefited from an extra hour in the land of nod...! 

All our stock of 'Word' anthologies has been sold. No more on hand although there are still a few remaining at Stillwater Books. Glad to say that we have more than covered the cost of printing so that can't be bad can it? 

I have heard from Ray Foster who believes we are going from strength to strength. He misses Felixstowe and our scribbling group. Unfortunately there are no such groups in his vicinity. He couldn't even find any enthusiasm from anyone in his locality if he started one up. Such a shame for Ray. He sends his regards to everyone. 

Angela Petch also sent her wishes to the Scribblers. She should now be back in England for a few months. She is a member of Arun Scribes and you can follow them on Facebook and at https://arunscribes.wordpress.com/. 

It is that time of year once again... Halloween is creeping ever closer and will possibly give you some ideas for our next meeting which takes place on Tuesday 7th November at the Library. By a quirk of fate the homework theme is a spooky one, either GHOST or HALLOWEEN. This is usually a popular meeting so hopefully there will something to scare you rigid... 

I might not be able to attend the meeting though I sincerely hope I will. My wife goes in for her knee replacement tomorrow and hopefully all will go well. She's expected to be in three days but its the aftercare that will probably keep me on my toes for some time. 

Here is a message from Meg Reid with news of an exciting event taking place at Felixstowe Library. 

Meg says: 

Just to let you know about an event we are holding:

 

Crime at Christmas.

Felixstowe Library 9 Dec 2-4 pm. £5 including tea or coffee and a mince pie 

The Felixstowe Book Festival presents two of its favourite authors in a special celebration of crime at Christmas.  

Nicola Upson's new novel, Nine Lessons, is the seventh in her bestselling series featuring the Golden Age writer Josephine Tey. Set in the winter of 1937, and featuring a series of baffling murders inspired by M.R. James's famous ghost stories, the book takes readers on a gripping journey from King's College, Cambridge to the bleak, atmospheric coastline at Cobbold's Point, where one of James's greatest tales is set.  

In The Ghost of Christmas Paws, Mandy Morton creates a magical Christmas story in which her feline detectives, Hettie and Tilly, set out through snow and storm to solve an age-old mystery. Their dark, humorous and sometimes perilous journey takes them to Jam Makers Inn, where all is not what it seems, and eventually to Crabstock Manor on the Cornish coast, where the curse of Christmas Paws is about to wreak havoc with terrifying consequences. 

Nicola and Mandy will discuss the delights of creating murder and mayhem for the festive season. Pull up a chair, reach for a mince pie, and prepare to be deliciously scared in this seasonal treat.  

Both authors will be signing copies of their books at the event. 

Tickets on sale from Felixstowe Library 13th Nov 

-- 

Meg Reid 

Director Felixstowe Book Festival 

www.felixstowebookfestival.co.uk 

Until next time, 

Keep Scribbling!!! 

Dave 

Our anthology 'Words'

How nice it is to tell you that we have sold out of the copies we held and have more than broken even on the cost of printing.

There are still a few copies available at Stillwater Books in Felixstowe and are very reasonably priced at £5.

'Words' is a good read and includes up to forty short stories and poems from Scribblers new and old. If you're looking for a small inexpensive gift or stocking filler for Christmas, then look no further. You can't do better than this!

Keep Scribbling!!!

Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers’ meeting Tuesday 17 October 2017

Present: Dick, Beryl, Jim, Bridget, Liliane, Tony, Mairead, Dave.

Apologies: Anne, Steve, Cathy.

Business:

It was nice to welcome Dick back to the fold this evening and also Mairead. Thanks again to Mairead for bringing in the treats! Often overlooked, in the thank you stakes, we must thank Liliane for her continued help with the library key.

Cathy is unwell at present and couldn’t make the evening although her husband did deliver the Bill Budner Trophy to us – long story as Steve, the holder, was unable to make the meeting and had passed it on to Cathy. Oh boy, it never seems simple does it?

The anthology press releases were delivered to the Ipswich Star and Radio Suffolk but, to my knowledge nothing has come from them which is a shame. The good news for us is that there are just five copies left on hand whilst we are still to check with Stillwater books how many they hold. At least we have more than broken even!

Angela Petch one of our former members wishes to be remembered to the Scribblers and has one of our anthologies now winging its way to her. Her second novel, ‘Now and Then Tuscany’ has received some excellent reviews. Well worth a read.

Thoughts for the AGM – is there any kind of group project we can work on? It could be a really interesting theme. Any thoughts? Also any thoughts on the structure of meetings, the homework assignments or anything that might help with our enjoyment and writing skills?  

Meeting:

The Bill Budner Trophy was up for grabs again. Thanks to Beryl and Dick for their great reading skills in conveying the stories to us and helping to remember our much missed and departed colleague Bill. Apart from the written words themselves their clear and precise delivery added to the atmosphere of the evening.

In order of reading:

Margo’s World by Liliane

Suffering by Dave

Fates Destroying Angel by Tony

Cape Cod by Jim

Sleeper by Dick

The Box (2^nd Draft) by Bridget

The Force by Beryl

These stories produced one of the closest results in this competition. There was a mere four votes separating the top from the bottom story which is quite remarkable. In the end the result was a tie for second place between Bridget and Dick whilst the winner on the night was again:

Tony! His story just topped the chart and more than that it was his fifth time winning the trophy since it began in 2007.

Next meeting: 

This is in THREE weeks time on Tuesday 7^th November, when we hold our annual GHOST/HALLOWEEN evening with spooky tales of up to 1,000 scary words...

Just a note that I may be unable to attend as my wife should have had her knee replacement operation so my duties may lay elsewhere for a while.

Keep Scribbling!!!

Dave.

And the winner is...

What a remarkable meeting full of excellent stories that provided a conundrum in selecting a winner - in fact there only a mere four votes separating the first and last places!

First a word of thanks to Beryl and Dick who shared reading out the entries - and what a good job they did once again.

Secondly thanks to everyone who entered and kept us all riveted on some fantastic words... the BBC ought to think about coming along and recording a meeting in the future similar to the one Rachel Sloane did with us a number of years ago now.

Back to the competition.

In joint second place were Dick with 'Sleeper' and Bridget with 'The Box (2nd draft)'

And the winner?

He's done it again for the umpteenth time, our good friend Tony with 'Fates Destroying Angel'

Well done Tony!

Tony receiving the Bill Budner Trophy from Mairead,

Our next meeting is in THREE weeks time on 7th November when we have our annual 1,000 word GHOST/HALLOWEEN story. A scary evening is sure to be had...

Keep Scribbling!!!

Disarm meeting.

Tonight's meeting was something of a revelation. Most writer's found that the homework assignment was quite difficult to write about, but, having said that, the stories that were produced were well written and in some cases, eye opening.

The next gathering will be in two weeks time, 17 October, when we return to competition time - The Bill Budner Trophy is again up for grabs. It is a competition for attending members only. Up to 1,000 words maximum on any subject. No names should be shown on the entries. Two "volunteers" will read out the entries before the new holder of the trophy is revealed. Full details are shown at the top of this weblog.

Good luck so it's time to

Get Scribbling!!! 

Our next meeting

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 3rd October when the homework assignment was drawn out as 'DISARM'. An intriguing subject so I wonder what delights everyone will produce. Don't worry if the subject doesn't suit you then please bring along another piece of work but please remember to adhere to the 1,000 word limit.

I hope everyone who attended enjoyed Caroline Foster's interesting talk last time. Caroline has emailed to say how much she enjoyed the evening and of course she beat me to writing to thank her for coming!

I've sent round three items which might interest some of you - so fingers crossed there's something to whet the appetite.

Looking forward to Tuesday, see you in The Room at the Top... 7.30pm.

Keep Scribbling!!!

Meeting report.

Minutes of Scribblers’ meeting Tuesday 19 September 2017

Present: Steve, Gerry, Liliane, Lara, Dave, Anne, John, Mairead, Bridget, Di, Cathy

Apologies: Beryl, Kay, Tony, Dick.

Business:

Our thanks as usual to Mairead for bringing in treats for us to enjoy.

Meeting:

Dave introduced our guest speaker, ex-Scribbler Caroline Foster, who gave us an interesting and insightful talk about her writing journey. She spoke about her experiences in gaining an agent and publisher, teaching creative writing, the challenges experienced writers of non-fiction can face when they decide to write fiction, and many other topics.

In her most recently published work, ‘Write from the start’, there is a vast amount of useful information for both non-fiction and fiction writers – several Scribblers purchased a signed copy from her on the night, and over coffee and cake we all enjoyed a lively discussion about almost every aspect of writing – the highs and lows, hopes and dreams – altogether a truly delightful evening. Our thanks must go to Caroline for her excellent presentation – I think we all came away inspired to work harder!

Next meeting: Tuesday 3 October, when the homework topic for our 1000 word piece is ‘disarm’. The originally selected topic was ‘how to train a norovirus’, but we were all overwhelmed by the potentially hopeless challenge this presented, so drew a second option!

An excellent evening with Caroline Foster.

Members of Felixstowe Scribblers and the Orwell Writers enjoyed an excellent evening with author Caroline Foster. Her talk was informative and gave extremely helpful advice to help towards plotting, planning and researching from the start to approaching publishers.

It was a really enjoyable evening and sincere thanks and appreciation must go to Caroline for giving up her time to travel to Felixstowe.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 3rd October when the 1,000 word homework subject is "Disarm."

Until next time,

Keep Scribbling!!!   

Our next meeting: An author talk with Caroline Foster...

Our next meeting is almost upon us. As you will know we have Caroline Foster coming along to talk about writing and publishing.

Caroline, who has recently published her book, "Write From The Start",  has enjoyed a freelance writing career spanning more than 20 years, writing for national and regional publications on a variety of topics. In 2006, Caroline was selected for Writer’s Bureau ‘Writer of the Year Award,’ and by 2008 she was one of the founding partners of a successful Copywriting, PR and Digital Marketing company based in the East of England.

I hope you will be able to come along and enjoy an evening with Caroline.

The meeting begins at 7.30pm this Tuesday 19th September.

Keep Scribbling!!!

Dave

Remembering Jack

Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 05 September 2017

Present:  Liliane, Beryl, Dave, Mairead, Bridget, Anne, Tony, Rani, Kay, Cathy
Apologies:  Steve, Jim, Gerry, Dick.

Business:
Ross, one of our newest members, has had to opt out of the group due to his family commitments, but wishes us all well, and expects us to go on to great things! We'd all enjoyed his company, his gentle humour and excellent writing; we will miss him.

Press release for local media re our anthology – Dave is working on this.

The new back door bell is finally fitted and functioning – thank goodness!

Thanks again to Mairead for providing delicious treats.

Readings:
The homework topic was ‘Tales of place’, and what a terrific variety of stories was forthcoming. From Barcelona to the Barents Sea, ancient cave paintings in France to Chaucer’s connection with Ipswich – so much to enjoy!

An evening of good listening, and interesting discussion.

Beryl – A great place to live

Liliane – A day in Barcelona

Anne – The Schnauzer Silhouettes

Rani – The Angel Seas

Kay – Another time, Another place

Dave – The Barents sea

Bridget – 96 St Andrews Road

Tony – We’re all going on a …

Mairead – The Belltower

Next meeting: 19 September, when we have ex-Scribbler Caroline Foster with an author talk. Her knowledge is excellent and she will be able to help and guide us through short story writing and publication too.

Tales of Places.

A well attended evening produced many very different stories under the Tales of Places theme. It is marvellous with an open option to write on anywhere at all that we ended up with every - and I mean every - story producing fantastic tales of places near and far. Feedback for the stories seemed to be virtually the same, the words being both fascinating and conjuring up some very vivid and visual images.

An excellent evening and one that we may savour for a long time...

Our next meeting is on 19th September when we host former Scribbler, author and freelance writer Caroline Foster who has just published 'Write From The Start'. The meeting will start at 7.30pm.

Until then,
Keep Scribbling!!!

Our next meeting is nearly with us - Tuesday next, 5th September when the subject is 'Tales of Places'. Up to 1,000 words please... the meeting starts as usual at 7.30pm. Hope to see you there.

Meanwhile we have had a message from our friend Chris all the way down there in Cairns who has some glowing 'words' about ' our anthology. Chris wishes to be remembered to all his friends here.

Just had this competition arrive and it might interest some of you... it's  a Writers' Bureau competition cheap to enter and despite being flash fiction the closing date isn't until the end of November... so plenty of time to flash your ideas into an entry. I've forwarded the information separately

Good luck and keep scribbling!

Our next meeting

Hope you are all enjoying the bank holiday...!

This is really to remind you that there is no meeting this week - our next gathering is on Tuesday 5th September when the homework theme is 'Tales of Places' - this could be anywhere, locally, nationally or internationally although I guess there are no real boundaries. It can also be either a story or factual. The choice is yours. So good luck everyone.

Next as another reminder, we have Caroline Foster with an author talk on 19th September so I hope we will give her a lot of support. I know her knowledge is excellent as will be able to help and guide us through short story writing and publication too.

So our next meeting is on 5th September for the Tales of Places theme.

See you there!

Three recent publications:

 As many of you will know, there are now two writing groups in Felixstowe.They are of course, our own Felixstowe Scribblers and the Orwell Writers' League.

Both groups released their anthologies in time for the recent Felixstowe Book Festival. Each contains a selection of short stories and some verse by current, and in the case of the Scribblers, many past members of the group.  Locally these are available from Stillwater Books or direct from the writing groups themselves. Each costs a very reasonable £5 for hours of enjoyment.

There was also the recent release of Reflections, a book of short stories from former Scribbler and good friend Ray Foster. This is available on Amazon and is a really good read.

If you enjoy short stories but haven't got your copies of any of these collections, then I suggest you do so... you won't regret it!

Alteration to programme - Caroline Foster author talk.

Our meeting on Tuesday 15th September, originally listed as a Flash Fiction evening, has now been replaced with an author talk by a former member of Scribblers, Caroline Foster.

Caroline comes along to inspire and help us with our literary ambitions. Her talk will begin at 7.30.

Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 15 August 2017

Present:  Liliane, Beryl, Dave, Ross, Jim, Mairead, Bridget, Anne, Cathy

Apologies:  Dick, Di, Rani, Steve, Tony

Business: 

Rani let us know that despite being unable to attend tonight’s Jack Wilkinson Memorial trophy session, she was thinking of Jack and Caz.

Dave gave the sad news that Dick may not be joining us for many meetings in the future, if any, as he has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. We all signed the ‘good wishes’ card that Dave had purchased. For those of us who’ve known Dick for a long time it was especially painful to hear of his situation. He’s been a stalwart of Scribblers, and his imagination, good humour and exceptional talent for reading aloud have provided us with much joy over the years. I’m sure he’ll miss us as much as we’ll miss him; let’s hope he’ll occasionally feel well enough to join us.

Ruth Dugdall will remain as our Honorary President, despite having recently moved to the USA for two years, where her husband has taken up a work placement. All the group wish her well – no doubt she’ll use her time there to work on ideas for a future novel!

A new doorbell is finally on order for the back door at the library – good news for those of us who’ve recently had to bang and shout to get let in!

Thanks as usual to Mairead for providing delicious treats for us again.

Readings:

A good turn out for the competition in Jack’s memory – eight entries.

Beryl and Cathy (in Dick’s absence) did the readings, and the stories were immensely varied – some entertaining, others thought provoking, all interesting. Judging was difficult – and seems to get more so every time this competition is held. However, the results were as follows:

First place to Anne, with School Sports Day

Second place to Bridget, with Brothers

Third place to Jim with Old Greedy Guts

Other stories were:-

Mairead – The Rescue

Cathy – Mind the cracks

Dave – What could I do?

Liliane – The blue house

Ross – Legacy

The obligatory photograph was taken with Jim, our previous winner, presenting the trophy to Anne.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable night.

Next meeting: This will be on 5 September (THREE weeks away). The homework theme is ‘Tales of places’ – will we write about a Greek Island, next door’s garden, or maybe the Alps? The choice is ours!