Short Story Competition

Dear Felixstowe Scribblers,   At the outset, we must express our sincere gratitude for your help in spreading the word for the Aestas 2016 Short Story Competition. When we had reached out to the various writing groups/workshops, we had frankly not anticipated the massive increase in our submission count - most certainly it would not have been possible without your support. We therefore take great pleasure in announcing that the second prize winner Jeffrey Cravens and a Special Mention entry by Andrew Cotten first heard of us through their writing groups. There were sixteen stories selected for the anthology, and another seventeen were awarded a ‘Special Mention’ on our website. Standard of submissions was very high, and our judges (Literary agents Clare Wallace and Sandra Sawicka and authors Brett Sanders and Joanna Ezekiel) faced a very challenging time deciding on the top submissions. Full results are available at www.fabulapress.com.   Aestas 2016 is now officially concluded, with winners individually contacted and payments made. We are now working on the anthology which should be launched by February 2017. If your members hold physical meetings / reading sessions and you are interested to obtain a copy for such sessions please let us know; whilst sending out paperback editions will be logistically and financially challenging, we can send out a pdf copy absolutely free of cost.     Work has also commenced on our summer short story competition Nivalis 2017, and once again we seek your help to spread the word. The contest opened on 01Jan2017 and we will be accepting submissions till 31Mar2017. Should authors from your circle/group choose to participate, kindly also request them to duly fill in the "where did you hear about us" section in the submissions page - we try to give due credit on our social media platforms to the various writing groups/workshops whose authors are featured in our anthology or where there are many entries from a group.   Contest details are as below:   Dates: Contest opened on 01Jan17, and submissions will be accepted till 31Mar17. Tentatively, the results will be declared in mid-Jun17.   Prizes: The contest carries the following prizes: First Prize      :   US$250 Second Prize :   US$150 Third Prize     :   US$100  All longlisted entries (top 15-20) will be published in an anthology, and the non-prize winning published entries will be paid US$50 each. Also, at the sponsors' discretion additional prizes may be declared for ‘Editors’ Pick' category (in the last edition of the contest two such prizes of US$75 each were declared).   Theme: None. There is no restriction on genre either, and we are happy to read literary fiction, historical fiction, mystery/suspense, horror, etc. However, for consistency of presentation we cannot accept children’s stories, fantasy, young adult or chick lit; likewise hardcore science fiction is not something we are looking for, but are open to science based / alternative history based literary works. In case of doubt, it is best to query the editorial team.   Word count: Minimum 1500, maximum 7000. At editors’ discretion some latitude may be allowed on both minimum and maximum word counts for stories of exceptional merit.   Entry fee: US$10.   Judges: The panel of judges includes literary agents, authors and essayists.   Detailed guidelines are available on our website, but do let us know should you need more information.   Hoping to receive your support,   Kind regards,   Anirban Ray Choudhury Fabula Press www.fabulapress.com

Reminder...

Just to remind you that our next meeting is not until Tuesday 7th February when the homework theme will be "Anything but beige..."

Our social evening meal is now pencilled in for Tuesday 28th February at the Orwell. Menu details will be forwarded soon.

A couple of things which might interest you: 

A short story competition:

 Writers Bureau short story competition

The other item is in the next post.

Playwriting competition

Reminder!

www.theatreroyal.org/shows/leaving/

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Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 17 January 2017

Present:  Dave, Liliane, Anne, Daniel, Jim, Mairead, Steve, Mel, Cathy

Apologies: Beryl, Dick, Di, Jane, Tony

Business: 

We briefly discussed menu choices for the group’s meal out at the Orwell, to be held on Tuesday 28 February – thanks to Mairead for making contact with the hotel over this. Further details, menu options etc to be provided by email within a week or so. Anyone attending the meal will be expected to pay a deposit before the booking is made – probably £5.

FBF – Dave confirmed that Scribblers will be presenting a Flash Fiction event on Sunday 2 July in the Furneaux Suite, Orwell Hotel.

Dave mentioned that Ruth and Jeanette would be holding a pre festival event at the hotel at 3pm on 18 January; also mentioned that Ruth sent her regards to Scribblers.

Anthology – we discussed whether or not to invite work from ex-Scribblers, and how best to select work to be included, bearing in mind the quote we have for printing the anthology is based on only a certain number of pages. Dave suggested that we allocate one ‘homework’ (the one for meeting on 7 March) to preparing our pieces - either writing something fresh or tweaking something we’ve already done. The usual 1000 word count applies. If we end up with insufficient stories (unlikely!), or too many, we’ll have to decide at that point how to proceed.

Thanks as ever to Mairead for supplying foodie treats for us.

Flash Fiction: business over, we got down to the task in hand. The one word theme/topic drawn was ‘missing’, so we all settled down to write for 20/30 minutes, to see if we could produce appropriate stories.

Despite the muffled groans on hearing the topic, we all managed to produce complete tales – ranging from the search for a missing prosthetic hand to a commentary on a ladies’ football match in Scotland – and pretty much everything in between. What imaginations we all have!

Next meeting: This is in THREE WEEKS TIME, i.e. Tuesday 7 February. The theme for the 1000 word homework is ‘Anything but beige …’. 

Suffolk Reading Festival

Tune in to ICR on 105.7fm or via the internet, tune app, and various others on Friday 20th January at 12.30-1300. for The Suffolk Reading Festival.

On the show Friday:-

The Sword of the Kings by ADW Shearman.
(Chapter - A Rainy day in Plankton pt1)
Angela Ashby reads the book.
Ryan Guilder the Brackets
Sheila Martin is Eimer Deville.
David Miller is Sam Wunnells
Brian England is Zschiddte ver Brainnze
Alan Dix is Doctor Armin Trubbell
Debbie Coveney is Deepli Konserned
Martin Jarvis is The Post

The Road Hill House Murder by David Morrison
Robin Saunderss is Foley
Alan Dix is Samuel Kent
Brian England is Whitcher
Martin Jarvis is Williamson
Peter Guilder is Dr. Parsons

Morning Sunshine by Tony Shearman
Read by Peter Guilder

Hope you enjoy them.

Tony

Flash fiction success!

An evening when the temperatures dropped below zero, some of the roads were icy, the 'attraction' of the Lincoln v Ipswich cup replay on TV and sickness all added to the list of imponderables. Despite this the turnout was excellent.

With discussions on the anticipated Scribblers meal, now set for Tuesday 28th February, and the proposed 2017 anthology, the meeting had plenty of bite. But the main event was the flash fiction and the subject drawn out was 'Missing.'

It was a subject that set the creative minds whirring into action and after 30 minutes of frantic (in some cases) writing we set about reading out the results. From the very first to the last, the work was amazing and even gripping. It is surprising how we all worked within a time frame. That pressure added to the fun and the excellent results.

Well done everyone who took part and thank you for making the evening such an enjoyable success.

Our next meeting will be on 7th February when the 1,000 word homework assignment is "Anything but beige..."

Ruth and Jeanette at the Orwell tomorrow

It would be lovely to any Scribblers on Wednesday 18th January. It's at 3pm in the Furneaux Suite at the Orwell Hotel where Ruth and Jeanette will be talking. Anyone is welcome, though they'd be expected to join the Friends of the Festival on the day, which then means other free events and first dibs on tickets. It costs £20 for a year's membership.

Please say Hi to the Scribblers for me!

Ruth

Flash Fiction at the Library... TONIGHT!!!

Tonight, Tuesday 17th January, we hold one of our popular Flash Fiction sessions in The Room at the Top. The meeting will start at 7.30pm. 

Just to clarify, all you need to bring is some writing equipment as the subject for the evening's 'task' will be drawn at the start of the meeting. 

Hope you can make it,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Hi Scribblers,

Looking forward to next week’s meeting? I hope so. It’s one of our Flash Fiction evenings so until then you’ve no homework to do. The theme for the evening will be drawn out on the night so we will all start on a level playing field. Actually the meeting is on Tuesday 17^th in The Room at the Top with a 7.30 start time. Hope to see you there.

There are a couple of things you might be interested in, the  first  from Tony:

Just in case anyone is interested in two brilliant nights out. 

The Bicycle Shop - Norwich 17th Jan 

MC Hansen (nominated for Danish songwriter of the year 2015) and Jacob 
Chano Lundby. With support from Carly Dow as part of their UK tour. 

Tickets will be approx £10. 


St Peters at the Waterfront - Ipswich 23rd Feb 

Lewis and Leigh 

Marty O'Reilly 

tickets £11, I think. 

Let me know. 

Tony 

Then there is this:

The next Ipswichwriters' cafe is happening in a fortnight:

* on Monday 23rd January

* starting 7:30pm

* at La Tour Cycle Cafe on 17 Tower Street

See you on Mon 23rd Jan,

Ed

@ipswriterscafe

Until Tuesday,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Meeting report.

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 3 January 2017

Present:  Dave, Tony, Liliane, Anne, Jane, Daniel, Di, Jim, Cathy
Apologies: Beryl, Steve, Mairead, Dick

Business:
Beryl’s recovery: Dave reported that Beryl hopes to be well enough to join us for our next meeting.
Press release: Dave will be dealing with that in the near future.

It was good to see a reasonable turnout for the evening, despite the bitter cold.
The homework theme for this session was ‘A day in the life …’. Some members had worked with the theme, whilst others had brought along different pieces. This made for a really interesting evening – the breadth of topics and variety of tales showed just what we can all do with 1000 words!

Anne: A day in the life of a small country pub

Dave: A day in the life of a travel centre manager

Daniel: Just dessert

Jim: Cowboy Babies

Liliane: A big undertaking

Cathy: To sleep, perchance to dream

Jane: An evening in the life of ….. (an extract from the novel she is currently writing)

Tony: Song of the day

Because the readings finished early, we enjoyed a fifteen minute flash fiction session before winding up. Thanks to Di for suggesting the topic of ’29 Cavendish Grove’. Each of us managed to produce the nucleus of a potentially good story – perhaps we’ll see some of these ‘beginnings’ returning as full works later in the year?

Next meeting: Tuesday 17 January. This will be a full on flash fiction session – something to look forward to!

Listen to the radio......

Tune in to ICR on 105.7fm or via the internet, tune app, and various others on Friday 6th January at 12.30-1300. for The Suffolk Reading Festival.

On the show Friday:-

The Sword of the Kings by ADW Shearman.
(Chapter - Snakes on a Plain pt4)
Angela Silburn reads the book.
Ryan Guilder the Brackets
Sheila Martinn is Eimer Deville.
David Miller is Sam Wunnells
Brian England is Zschiddte ver Brainnze
Alison Miller is Sally Vate
Peter Guilder is Bugg Roffe
Alan Dix is Doctor Armin Trubbell

The Road Hill House Murder by David Morrison
Robin Saunders is Foley
Angela Silburn is Elizabeth
Su Stedman is Sarah Cox
Tony Shearman is Urch
David Miller is Holcombe

A Voice in Her Head by Dave Feakes
read by Debbie Coveney

Hydrazoid by Jack Wilkinson
read by Su Stedman

Hope you enjoy them

A good evening was had by all.

The first meeting of the New Year was a very entertaining affair. The subject, 'A day in the life...' provided a plethora of fascinating stories each which kept us spellbound.

The second half of the meeting was devoted to a short flash fiction session when Di suggested the theme should be '29, Cavendish Road'. This provided even more enthralling tales from a mere ten minutes of writing. We all agreed this was a fascinating subject which produced stories that could be enhanced, built on or even developed into a longer tales.

All in all a good start to the New Year.

The next meeting is on Tuesday 17th January at 7.30pm when we will hold a flash fiction evening.

Until then...

Keep Scribbling!!!