The Child's Creative Bone.

All children have a creative bone, but, all too often it is crushed due to many reasons - issues around them and very little time to experiment with their written work.  I'm considering creating a children's writing club that would meet on a monthly basis and encourage children to discover or rediscover their creative bone.

Would this interest your children? If so, would you encourage them to pursue it? Would you be willing to pay for it?

There would be many facets to the club, which would not only develop your children's writing ability, but would also boost their self esteem.

I'm keen to have feedback from parents.  So if you have thoughts on this please comment.

VWC writers & visitors.

What a fun night at 'The White Hart' public house in St. Albans. The VWC or Verulam Writers' Circle to the uninitiated were holding their biweekly manuscript meeting. There were a some wonderful pieces of work. The readers ranged from visitors to the president himself. The work being produced by the group as a whole is quite amazing, going from strength to strength.

So what is a visitor?

Visitors are writers keen to know more about the VWC. They pop in to see if the writing circle is what they are looking for and they are always welcome. There are two different types of meeting. White Hart meetings are free, but visitors may have to wait for paid up members to read first before they get the chance to read and get their material critiqued. However, if you want to get a "full taster" then paying the £3 visitors fee (£5 if we have a speaker) at St Michaels is the way to go. But becoming a member is the best value of all. As a member you get to read, enjoy critiques and get first dibs on the special events. Always a good thing. 
And here is a gentle reminder about 'GET WRITING 2012' visit the http://www.verulamwriterscircle.org.uk/getwriting2012.php and book your place now.

What a Fantastic Weekend.

I had an amazing weekend at the Festival of Romance.  I was there to run the book stall, which was fascinating on its own, but this also gave me a chance to learn much more about the genre.  I discovered I was very naive and during the process I met some wonderful writers.
I have to at this point mention the food. It was delicious. I have been to many conferences and festivals over the country and the food has been reasonable, but this was in a different league.

©Martin Smith - www.silver-images.net

The Saturday programme, much like the Friday programme was full of interesting sessions, lots of networking, and special events! I was rather partial to the cup cake tasting. Was it because it the cakes were handed around by a fine specimen of a shirtless, well honed, young man. It was a delightful lift towards the end of the day.
At the end of the days events delegates nipped off to put on there evening gowns and together with their partners or husbands strolled down to partake of the Rouge Champagne Party, held in the lobby. From there people moved through to have their photographs taken, the image shown is Heidi and Laura from (Total-E-Bound Publishing), with me, in the middle.  Then everyone took up their seats at the dinner tables for the charity ball.. The fun and games began. Awards were given and photo's taken, the  jazz band struck up and the dancing commenced. And before we knew it the time had raced away and we all headed off to sleep.
Congratulations to the organisers of the first, I'm sure it won't be the last, Festival of Romance. A great success.

Festival of Romance

The first day of the Festival of Romance kicked off at around 9am this morning and was a buzz by 9:20 & it didn't stop there. There were talks, Q & A sessions, book sales, author signings and networking galore. There were opportuities to mingle with editors, publishers and agents, oh, and I mustn't forget the book sellers.
I found all the developments with e-books fascinating and I didn't realise how vast the e-book market has now become.
I've made a few new contacts and I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I get to do it all over again.