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!!!