Felixstowe Scribblers Meeting Report for 6th May 2014.
In attendance: Caz, Barry, Tom, Tony, Derek, Richard, Beryl, Liliane, Suzy G, Martin, Dick, Jane, Les and Dave
Apologies were received from Aidan, Katy and Carolyn.
Sorry for the delay in sending these notes round but circumstances have left little time or energy to complete them. Keep hoping the situation will ease over the next few days - fingers and everything else crossed.
News Items
Sheila: There has been a communication from the USA from a person who stayed with one of our former Scribbler friends, Sheila Nea who lived in the Harwich area. She’s a lovely lady who used to drive to our meetings but, with advancing years she did not like night driving so her attendance was restricted to the summer months. To begin with we thought she swam across from Harwich to make our meetings...! Yes a lovely lady. If anyone has news of her or where she is living these days, please let us know at the usual email address.
Jan: Good news from Jan our one time On Line Scribblers organiser. She has just been published in the current Suffolk and Norfolk Life magazine and you can see her very professional article on pages 50-53 inclusive. Some great photography and an excellent article too
Ann: We also hear news of another former member, Ann Pearce that she is continuing her work as the Education Officer at Landguard Fort where Dick continues his scary ‘Man in Black’ duties.
Linda: We are sorry to learn that one of our newest members has, after a great deal of thought, decided to stop attending our meetings but instead aims to get guidance and feedback for her writing from some on-line contacts. Whilst she enjoyed the evenings, Linda cannot see how she can improve without constructive criticism and/ or discussion and says Felixstowe Scribblers fails to offer this type of support. A general response was given explaining that with the growing number of people reading their work means a reduction in time for lengthy feedback, an issue we have tried to overcome many times in the past but without success. Sadly we cannot please all the people all of the time. We are sorry about Linda’s decision but clearly understand her position and wish her well in the future.
The Anthology.
Caz has worked hard in the background to ensure we can cover the costs of publishing – which is great news. We should also have something left over for some display boards that can be exhibited at the Book Festival and in various places in the future. Hopefully these will add information to the general public.
We have arranged a meeting with our printers to finalise details of the anthology but please remember, short stories (or poetry) preferably around the 1,000 word mark should be emailed to Dave at scribblers@btinternet.com by 14th May.
This is an appeal for those who have yet to forward their contributions to do so as soon as possible please. Effectively it will make even our hobby writers into published authors.
The Bill Budner Trophy.
We now have the new trophy donated by Bill’s widow Maureen and supplied by our good friend Scott at Mr Cobbler in Felixstowe. The original trophy – providing we can persuade Jane to return it! – will be presented to Maureen who in return will present the new trophy to the competition winner. Details of the competition and more importantly some words about Bill, appear on our weblog.
Good News?
News filtering through is that there is hope yet for the Spa Pavilion as a potential new owner has been found. Reports suggest that the theatre could be open as early as spring next year – all of course subject to agreements, contracts and improvement works. Here’s hoping negotiations are successful and Felixstowe will once again have their historic seafront theatre back in operation.
More stories please.
Can you help Tony with a story or two for the radio slots on Felixstowe and ICR radio stations? The Scribblers work is broadcast on both ICR Felixstowe Radio stations and is a good way to hear how your stories sound when read by other people/.
Now the homework!
It is always appreciated when copies of your homework assignments can be loaned to enable a legible précis of content to be included in the notes so thank you all.
Les: The Girl on the steps: A young woman sat on the church steps, nearby a little girl played with her teddy bear and sung in a foreign language. I thought I would speak to them but tripped on the first step and banged my head. The woman leapt up and came to my aid. I didn’t look well and fainted so she called an ambulance. In hospital I discovered my wallet was missing and thought the woman was a thief. Later the same young woman visited me with her daughter to see how I was feeling. We chatted for a while. She was called Arête and her daughter, Rosa. She worked in a restaurant. Suddenly she pulled out my wallet from her bad and handed it to me. Now I await anther visit, this time at my home.
Tony: Professionally orated a tale about his sister, the red light in our window, so many ‘friends’ arriving and the sound of a cash till...
Beryl: You: An absorbing story line about Mummy and baby me. Comfort and a lullaby, tickling, laughing, hugs. Daddy shouted ‘Don’t throw food!’ Mummy changing my nappy. Bath time. Standing on my own two feet. At two years old I could not walk. Playing ball on the park, Mummy understanding but Daddy did not. Swings at the playground. Then nursery school. I look in the mirror, hate my round face and break the mirror. Cut my hands. Mummy is sympathetic. Daddy shouts at Mummy, Mummy shouts back. I hate it. At big school I come home. Daddy not there. Mummy says he’s gone. It’s just her and me now. She explains and I misunderstand ‘egocentric’ and we laugh. I give Mummy a great big hug.
Barry: It was not me: A childish prank by young Andrew making finger marks on the wall above the stairs led to mother blaming me, stopping my well-earned trip and sending me to my bedroom without television either. I was mad at being blamed for something my young brother did. In my room I had everything I needed except for food. I packed my rucksack, dropped it out of the bedroom window then climbed down the drainpipe. It started raining as I made my escape, hiking cross country to the campsite. I pitched my tent at the far end of the field and went to sleep dreaming of eating bacon. In the morning I could smell it. Outside the tent my Uncle Paul gave me a plate of bacon sandwiches. Back home I relented and told Andrew that he could come with me next time if mum and dad agreed.
Tom: I have not gone: A moving poem written for Renee and Frank and one that is difficult to do justice to. Poignantly the poem deals with dementia, someone who says ‘It is still me with the faulty brain’. Words provide the explanations of how his eyes unglazed from time to time and you can see the one you knew. It must be hard to see me so, yet in my world you cannot go then empty eyes gaze from his shell. Remember the person you knew is still here, struggling to cope with the confusion and fear. I have to live in a twilight place and don’t always recognise your face. I have not gone I still remain; it is still me with the faulty brain.
Richard: Father: A journey through time the ages. The Locarno Ballroom Streatham, 1930, seeking romance, a Quickstep and Excuse me. Carshalton, Surrey 1935, taking the role of marriage seriously and posing with your first child. Epsom Surrey 1941 Sheltering under the stairs with the family, unspeakable, unmanly fears. Guildford Surrey 1960 measuring progress in pennies and halfpennies, scourge of the small man. Epsom Cemetery 1975 I wonder how in our shared years we never came to know each other. Ipswich 2014 Children, the opposite of grown-ups, when can we tell them our innermost stories?
Liliane: Lunch date: Beata and her mother met for lunch in the City. Her mother suspiciously wanted to know what was on her daughter’s mind. Beata’s husband Steven had told her that he had a son before they met. Steven was not married at the time and was unable to marry the mother as she already had a husband. The dilemma arose that the 18 year old out-of-wedlock son wanted to meet his real father. Beata wondered if either her mother or father also had secrets from the past. Soon Steven’s son arrived and Beata knew that her husband’s past had finally caught up with him.
Derek: Kind and Gentle Were They: I enter the lounge, a room I know so well and sit on the settee feeling lonely and lost. Three days earlier I had returned from Mother’s funeral with the room full of family, friends and neighbours. Now I have to go through Mum’s personal possessions as I prepare the bungalow for sale. Mum was always there to comment on my clothing, longer hair and the girl friends I brought home and Dad would chat to me or take me to Portman Road. They both grew old. I turned the pages of the photo albums, reminders of the past. Tears blur my eyes. When the home is empty my wife takes my hand as we walk towards our car.
Dave: Dark Days of Childhood: Written in the wake of the Jimmy Savile revelations, this concerned a young girl abused by her father, a former guitarist in a pop group who lived through a diet of free sex. When he was arrested on historic sexual charges all the heartache and torment was reawakened. How, at the age of ten, she was first abused; how she escaped to Yorkshire with her battered mother. So much pain losing friends and possessions and how her life had suffered from the abuse. She detested men but eventually met her female partner who persuaded her to end her torment and tell all to the police.
Dick: Childhood memories of Dad: I was always closer to father than mother especially after he was turned down by all three forces at the start of the war. Whilst on holiday in Bognor he surprised me with a cricket bat followed by a game of beach cricket whilst at the indoor funfair we heard Neville Chamberlain declare we were at war with Germany. Dad sometimes took me to watch Spurs and their great goalkeeper Ted Ditchburn. At home in the breakfast room hung a cane on the wall facing me which reminded me to behave. My schoolwork was always pretty poor but in the last year I worked very hard to get a pass in every subject. Dad could not believe it and went to the school to check my results were correct!
Caz: Parenting: A very personal and true account of the revelation of her pregnancy; her first antenatal classes where she was told her mood swings were hormonal rather than menopausal; of the doctor who suggested she ‘considered her options’ due to her age. Through the moments her waters broke at 3am and the concern that the baby was coming. After breakfast Karl padded out the car with blankets and towels in case baby came en route to hospital, but baby didn’t arrive until the early hours next morning. They whisked him to the special care unit for two days before Jack was in her arms and the bonding began...
Jane: The Parting (extract from novel): Richard couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Karen in designer clothes. She was worried they couldn’t afford them but as they entered the room they felt warmed by the chatter and conviviality. Richard went to find his mother who sat by herself in front of the bay tall windows. The main area was too crowded for her and she, too, was concerned about the fortune the event was costing. Richard mentioned Nan in the care home but soon had to go and lead the guests in to the meal.
Martin: The Man and the Woman: A play about the man and the woman, their life together and the child they lost. It contained a smattering of sexual content but was a superb work that Martin read in his own inimitable style. This had been entered in one competition without success and is now being entered in a second competition. The play would have benefitted from two people each reading a part but other than that, fantastic.
Suzy G: Flash Fiction: What a superb idea from Suzy. She has a collection of words from her friends and, each morning, she draws out four words and spends five minutes writing on them. This is very similar to our creative word exercises. She drew ‘parents, sardine, new and mint’ that influenced a short work on a fish and chip shop. ‘Coal, cement, parents and strong’ provided a tale of boasting children. ‘Handkerchief; pepper, parents and musical’ about parents who had retired.
Our next meeting is in TWO WEEKS time on Tuesday 20th May when we have the prestigious competition for The Bill Budner Trophy. Details of the competition are on the weblog whilst further information on the meeting is included earlier in this report. We do ask that your work is no longer than the 1,000 word limit.
Hope to see you there next time, so
Keep Scribbling!
