WE WILL REMEMBER THEM... 100 YEARS SINCE THE END OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND IN ALL CONFLICTS... WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Meeting Report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on 6 November 2018

Present: Beryl, Bridget, Georgina, Liz, Derek, Tony, Hazel, Steve, Anne, Kay, Jane, Gerry and Dave.

Apologies:  Liliane, Cathy and Jim.

Business:

There was a surprise appearance this evening of Jane. It seems many a long month since she last attended but, she says, she couldn’t miss Mairead’s meeting. It was also nice to see Gerry again. The evening proved to be popular with thirteen in attendance and those who couldn’t attend really missed a fantastic evening of the spookiest creative writing.

With Cathy unwell - get better soon Cathy - Beryl undertook to read all the entries. It was a shame that Anne was unable to enter her computer let her down. Jim has just had his cataract operation so hopefully we will see him next time. Liliane has just arrived back in Felixstowe after a month ‘Down Under’ so hope to see her next time.

Beryl is hoping that her novel will eventually be published later this week. Fingers crossed everyone!

Dave reported an unearthly influence over the weblog. He has been trying to post details of Mairead’s competition as a new ‘page’. Whilst the title shows up, the content does not! Trying to alleviate this he tried posting in the side bar but nothing would show at all. In his weird and wonderful way, he just asks Mairead to let him get on with updating the weblog. Please!

Talking of the weblog there have been problems uploading images from both camera and phone. After the last eleven weeks, time has been in short supply but hopefully things will improve soon so everything can be updated.

Competition:

We seem to say the same words after every competition, and often after every meeting. The standard of our work increases dramatically. Take this evening for example. Our meeting in memory of our dearly missed Mairead.

Any one of the official entries could have won the Crystal Ball tonight but, after a lengthy spell of Beryl's expert delivery, Tony once again became the adjudicator and provided the result of our voting.

With Cathy missing Beryl buckled down to reading all the entries! What a hero! Not only that but she read an extra story when one of Dave's older works, Ticking Clock, slipped into the entry pile in error! Whoops! That one was ejected of course.

So to the results:

In third place, "The Smell of Coffee" submitted by Bridget who kindly donated the Crystal Ball.

Runner-up, "From the Deep" was by Georgina, our newest recruit, who was also runner-up in The Bill Budner Competition.

The worthy winner, "Three Books" was written by Derek, another of our most prolific writers.

Congratulations to Derek on his superb story and to Georgina and Bridget.

The other fabulous entries, in reading order, were:

London House                        by Steve

Dame Fortune                         by Gerry

Le Passage                             by Dave

Special Delivery                      by Liz

Flat Tyre                                  by Kay

Food!                                       by Tony

Night Terrors                           by Jane

Doodlebug                               by Beryl

The Night of Broomhorses      by Hazel

Every writer produced a fantastic story of ghostly and spooky happenings that Mairead would have loved. Everyone must be congratulated for making the evening a very special and memorable one to honour her memory.

Thanks also go to Beryl, not only for the reading, but also having collected the library key earlier. Thanks also to Liz and Anne for providing the goodies in the same way that Mairead used to.

Next meeting:

This will be held on Tuesday 20 November when we hold our AGM when annual subscriptions should be paid. The cost will remain at £30 again this year. (Cheques payable please to Felixstowe Scribblers.) If you have any suggestions for the AGM agenda then please let Dave know by email.. The AGM will hopefully be over in good time which should provide an opportunity for a short flash fiction session.

The Crystal Ball Award.

We seem to say the same words after every competition, and often after every meeting. The standard of our work increases dramatically. Take this evening for example. Our meeting in memory of our dearly missed Mairead.

It was a meeting with three apologies, from Cathy, Jim and Liliane. We still managed to attract thirteen members including Jane who made a welcome appearance to honour Mairead's memory.

Unfortunately a computer malfunction denied Anne her chance to submit an entry so that meant twelve stories. With Cathy absent through illness Beryl buckled down to reading the lot! What a hero! Not only that but she read an extra story when one of Dave's older works, Ticking Clock, got deposited on the entry pile in error! Whoops! That one was ejected of course.

Any one of the official entries could have won the Crystal Ball tonight but, after a lengthy spell of Beryl's expert delivery, Tony became the adjudicator and provided the result of our voting.

In third place, "The Smell  of Coffee" which was submitted by Bridget who kindly donated the Crystal Ball.

Runner-up, "From the Deep" was Georgina our newest recruit who was also runner-up in The Bill Budner Competition.

The worthy winner, "Three Books" was Derek, another of our prolific writers.

Other entries in reading order were:

London House by Steve

Dame Fortune by Gerry

Le Passage by Dave

Special Delivery by Liz

Flat Tyre by Kay

Food! by Tony

Night Terrors by Jane

Doodlebug by Beryl

The Night of Broomhorses by Hazel.

Every writer produced some fantastic stories of ghostly and spooky happenings and must be congratulated for making the evening a very memorable one.

Thanks must also go to Beryl, not only for the reading, but also having collected the library key earlier. Thanks also to Liz and Anne for providing the goodies in the same way that Mairead used to.

And so to our next meeting which will be held on Tuesday 20 November. This will be our AGM so, if you have any suggestions then please let me know by email so it may be included on the Agenda. The AGM will hopefully be over in good time which should leave us a little time for a short flash fiction session.

Derek receiving the Crystal Ball Award from Bridget.

Most of the happy gathering.

Most of the Bill Budner competitors

Belated picture of Tony receiving
The Bill Budner Trophy
from Derek.

Mairead's competition for the Crystal Ball.

Well Halloween has been and gone... Guy Fawkes night is tonight... but TOMORROW is the inaugural competition for the Mairead Reidy competition for the Crystal Ball so kindly donated by Bridget.

Whilst there are still problems updating the weblog we have to remember Mairead and her love for all things supernatural.

It was both a privilege and honour to have known Mairead. Such a lovely person, always with a smile, a friendly word to the newcomers to our group, a vast knowledge of virtually any historical event and a brilliant mind for stories in most genres. She especially enjoyed stories of the paranormal and often left us in awe of her words.

A member of Felixstowe Scribblers with whom she always felt so comfortable, she was also a founder member of the Orwell Writers’ League and an avid supporter and helper with the Felixstowe Book Festival. 

Mairead died in her sleep at home on 23 May 2018 and is so sorely missed by her writing groups.

Halloween was a special time for Mairead who enjoyed all the spooky tales the Scribblers produced at that time of year. A crystal ball has been presented to us by Bridget Robinson as the prize for the new annual competition in memory of Mairead. The competition will be for Halloween, ghost or supernatural stories.

Normal competition rules apply so please ensure there are no distinguishing marks on your entries which should be typed and maintain a maximum of 1,000 words.

Looking forward to tomorrow, Tuesday 6 November. It will be a special evening.

Keep Scribbling!!!

Dave

No meeting this week!

I know its late reminding you about the fact that there is no meeting this week! Too many Tuesdays in October! It means our next meeting will be on Tuesday 6 November when we hold the first competition in memory of our lamented friend Mairead. This is for a story of up to a maximum of 1,000 words on Halloween, a ghost story or something spookily supernatural. Looking forward to it already!

The usual competition rules apply - that is, typed entries that have no name or identifying mark on them. The winner, thanks to Bridget, will receive the crystal ball she has so kindly donated in tribute to Mairead.

If you believe in the supernatural then I wonder of Mairead is having a little laugh at my expense. I have been unable to post any information on our weblog about the forthcoming competition, nor, incidentally have I been able to post anything in relation to the recent Bill Budner competition. I am sorry about that but, with time limited on a personal basis, I have yet to find the time or the expertise to help me. (Don't get old - it's not worth it haha!)

Having said that, for those who don't yet know, my grandson Noah was able to leave hospital and go home - his proper home - last Friday after spending the first ten weeks of his life in Addenbrookes and Ipswich hospitals. I can't tell you how thrilled my wife and I am. Nearly as thrilled as his parents!

I had a message from a former member of ours, Alex Price who kindly sent the following information. Thanks Alex!

Keep Scribbling!!!

Dave

Free Writing Workshops

hosted by Quay Place

	NOV6 Tues15:00 NOV13 Tues15:00 NOV20 Tues15:00
	Quay Place Key Street, IP4 1BZ Ipswich, Suffolk

Details

As part of National Novel Writing Month Quay Place is offering a FREE space for you to find time to write.

It's as part of NaNoWriMo, an international project to encourage you to write a novel between 1 and 30 November.

This is an opportunity to work on a current project or start something new, share your work with others or find inspiration for that first sentence.

Quay Place Writer in Residence, writer and mentor Liz Ferretti, will be on hand to help.

Every Tuesday in November, 3pm - 7pm. No booking needed.

Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on 16 October 2018

Present: Dave, Tony, Beryl, Steve, Liz, Kay, Jim, Derek, Georgina, Cathy
Apologies: Anne, Liliane, Bridget, Hazel, Gerry

Business:

Meg Reid, organiser of the Felixstowe Book Festival, has some guest authors for 2019 who have written books about WW1 and WW2. She wondered if Scribblers could mull over any ideas for incorporating the wartime theme into their session/s at the festival. Currently Meg has nothing specific in mind; it might even be that this element isn’t expanded on, but she just put the idea out there for us.

Beryl’s novel – one or two IT hitches to overcome, but she hopes it will be printed very soon.

Competition:

Good to report that there were nine entries for the Bill Budner trophy. Beryl and Cathy did the readings, and as the evening rolled out, it became obvious that it was going to be extremely difficult to select just three for the top three places – such a variety of style, content and topics!

However, select them we did, and Tony kindly worked out the results.

Tony scooped first place with ‘Stacey Burnett’, beating Georgina’s tale ‘Sanctuary’ by just one point. Derek followed up in third with ‘The chimes of Big Ben’, only two points behind Georgina. This must be the closest run thing for a long time.

Remaining stories were:

Beryl – Takeover

Kay – Dog’s breakfast

Dave – Ticking clock

Liz – The drop in

Steve – A day at the office

Jim – Every Saturday night

After the usual photos of the winner being presented with the trophy, then a group picture, the meeting came to an end.

Next meeting: 

6 November. This is also a competition meeting, this time in memory of Mairead. A tale of Halloween, ghosts, magic, or spooky goings on where we will be competing for the crystal ball trophy that Bridget so generously purchased for the group. It will be a poignant meeting for all of us who knew and loved Mairead – she always wrote such superb tales on these themes – perhaps we can emulate her talent!

It's that man again!

This evening's Bill Budner Trophy meeting was another captivating competition. Each entry, read by Beryl and Cathy alternately, captured the attention of those present and caused so many headaches at the final hurdle - choosing a winner.

Each story was worthy of the top spot - in fact every story gained  several votes, it was that close.

In the end, after a period of suspense whilst votes were counted and refreshments taken, the top three stories, in reverse order, were:

3rd place, Derek with "The Chimes of Big Ben."

Runner-up, new member Georgina with "Sanctuary."

Winner, by a single vote, Tony with "Stacey Burnett." Hot doggity, that man has done it yet again!

A technical fault means no photograph can be included at present.

Our next meeting is in THREE weeks time on Tuesday 6th November when we will hold our very  own atmospheric competition for the Mairead Reidy Crystal Ball which has so kindly been donated by Bridget. Mairead sadly passed away earlier this year and is greatly missed by members of both Felixstowe Scribblers and the Orwell Writers' League.

The competition will be run on similar lines to the Jack Wilkinson and Bill Budner, meaning no identification marks on your entries. Up to 1,000 words please, on Halloween or some spooky ghostly story - all the creepy kinds Mairead would have loved. There's an extra week to create something really scary... looking forward to it already!

Remember Keep Screaming!!!