Open Mic Night

Open Mic Night
25th November 2010

This is the second Open Mic Night from the Verulam Writers’ Circle. The first was an event full of magic, mystery, mirth and on occasion morbidity, and this year’s experience is shaping up to be just as wonderful.
As part of the annual Short Story Week, the event is being hosted at The Goat, 37 Sopwell Lane, St. Albans, AL1 1RN on Thursday 25th November. Arrival time 7pm the readings begin at 7:30pm expecting to finish around 10:30pm, but don’t hold us to that.

You’ll find us in the front bar, just as you come in the front door, turn left and you’ll find us. The work read will be varied as suggested above and be prepared to laugh, cry and maybe feel fear, but this is all done in short burst, hence the short story element, you will also find a touch of the poetical amongst the creative works on offer. check out their websites.
All of the authors below and around another twenty will be reading their short stories, poetry or any other material they have selected for the evenings entertainment.

Check out these websites for more information on the talent standing up for your entertainment.

Toby Frost – creator of the Space Captain smith trilogy http://spacecaptainsmith.com/
Jon Pinnock – creator of the Mrs Darcy & the Aliens www.mrsdarcyvsthealiens.com
Ian Cundell - Journalist http://www.cundell.net/
Julie Mayhew – creator of the forthcoming 16 Days Since http://juliemayhew.co.uk/
Mandy Knight – comedian & writer http://www.mandyknight.co.uk/
Jenny Barden – her upcoming novel To the Ends of the World http://www.jennybarden.com
Oscar Windsor-Smith http://oscarwindsor-smith.blogspot.com/
Sandra Norval http://www.sandranorval.co.uk/12.html
Steve Barley http://www.stevenbarley.com/
Dave Weaver http://daveweaver-unreal.blogspot.com/

Added to this we have the honour of the amazing Mandy Knight who has agreed to take time out of her busy schedule to MC for us on the night.

So put the address in your Satnav and head on over. You will be in for an evening of great amusement.

Writing a cook book

Sometimes it is good to do something different, well that is what I'm told. With this in mind, I've started writing an adult novel and even more surprisingly, I've just started writing a cook book. It isn't that surprising, as I've been going to do it for quite a while. You must understand this isn't a cook book that is going out to print, it is for family use only. I'm enjoying bringing together all the strange recipes I've put together over the years. Some like my Christmas cake won't go in the one that my son is taking to uni with him, but will be in my copy. My Christmas cake like a couple of other recipes are my secrets, well for a while anyway.

With my adult novel I'm currently working on plotting. this has to be right and as you will all know this is the most important part of the book. It doesn't matter how great the writing is, if the plot is weak, the book won't sell or even get the interest of agents or publishers. Believe me, I know that well. Spending time on this is paramount, and one of the most difficult parts, however I still find synopses the most difficult. That is why it is important to network with other writers through, writing circles, conferences and workshops. I'm very lucky to be a member of the VWC (see the link) where manuscript surgeries are of great benefit. So if you are writing and aren't a member of a writing circle, join one, you will see the benefits for yourself.

Try it out first go to a few meetings and see if you like the way it is run. How will it benefit you? Do your research. How long has it been running, who are the members, do they have a website, is there a critique group, do they have visiting agents, authors, publishers? If so go for it. The VWC also runs conferences. This year we had Barry Cunningham, John Jarrold, Jonathan Pegg along with other authors and journalists. The next VWC conference is: 20th February 2010 'Get Writing' so keep your eyes open for notification of ticket sales. Last year they sold out very, very quickly.

SCBWI Agents Party

I don’t like travelling on trains and the underground is worse. But, I braved the crowds and wormed my way around the seemingly endless tunnels and resurfaced outside Charing Cross Station. A little walk down Villiers Street, left into John Adam Street, up the stairs at the Theodore Bullfrog and relaxed.

Having been unable to attend any of the other SCBWI events in London due to work commitments, I was pleased to find this meeting fell at a time I was able to participate. Approximately 50 authors and illustrators were in attendance and all to gain knowledge from Illustrators or Authors Agents.

Each of the agents spoke about their agencies and what services they provide. Those in attendance were: Eve White from The Eve White Literary Agent – www.evewhite.co.uk and PFD were represented by Daniel Neilson assistant to Suzy Jenvey – www.pfd.co.uk For the illustrators amongst the crowd were: Mark Mills from Plum Pudding – www.plumpuddingillustration.com and Edwards Burns from Advocate Art – www.advocate-art.com

After a very informative question and answer session, a great deal of networking took place. This was not only a time for authors/illustrators and agents to chat, but for the group to socialise, meet or reacquaint themselves with other SCBWI members.

Everyone in attendance had the opportunity to win a one-on-one appointment with an agent. There were five agents willing to participate including Jo Williamson of Antony Harwood Literary Agency – www.antonyharwood.com who was unable to attend during the evening. There were three very excited authors (one of them me) and two thrilled illustrators selected for this great opportunity.

The whole event was well organised and ran smoothly. It is through networking like this that we writers/illustrators keep abreast of trends, and get to chat with likeminded people. In this way you pick up tips and contacts that help you move forward in your work. It is also a chance to keep up with current trends and things to avoid writing about.

I guess trains aren’t that bad after all. Without them I wouldn’t have had such an excellent evening.

Writing Retreat

Having never been on a writing retreat before, I was unsure of what to expect, I needn’t have worried it was great fun. This was the British SCWBI children’s writing retreat held at Pendrell Hall, Nr. Wolverhampton. The writers-in-residence: Julia Golding http://www.juliagolding.co.uk and Shoo Rayner http://www.shoo-rayner.co.uk The weekend started on Friday night with a wonderfully tasty meal and then in to a critique session. We were split in to two groups the 5+ and 8+. During these sessions we read, commented and developed ideas to develop each other’s work. I for one had missed a few changes with POV which were corrected and now I’m working through the MS to check for any more slips. After our two hour session, we met up with the other group and enjoyed a well deserved drink from the bar. After that sleep was easy coming.

Waking early, Saturday morning with many ideas on how to improve my MS I set to work. Making notes and scripting lines. Breakfast was the full English, as it turned out to be each morning. For a girl who normally only eats a small bowl of cereal to start the day this was a great indulgence. I had to put thoughts of my waist line out of my mind. After breakfast we had time to write before we went for our first work shop with Shoo Rayner. There were two with Shoo, both of which were informative. I’ve since written up mind maps for all my books and this technique added to my own trusted method has improved my understanding of plotting and character development. I was interested in the software ‘FLASH’ that Shoo uses to add elements to his illustrations. I’m going to see if I can save up for this. I liked the way he produced online books for his website. I think this would be great for the children at school to try and for me to produce my own online books for children to look at on my own website, once I’ve built it. Between the writing, workshops and food it was a very productive day. The food was delicious and they were kind enough to cater to everyone’s needs. The evening was spent writing then a quick drink at the bar before bed.

The following day, Sunday, I set about writing before breakfast then again after. Before our first workshop we met up for coffee/tea then went in to listen to Julia Golding, another inspiring writer. How she manages to do so much, I’ll never know. Again Julia shared her plotting, character development stages along with many other fabulous tips. She got us to work on our own pitch. This was to sell ourselves to agents or publishers. To start with I found this daunting, but after taking a moment to think, It came to me in a flash. After that we had to encapsulate our novel in just a few words. For the novel I was working on was easy, but for others I’m sure it won’t be that easy. We read some out and Julia gave us guidance on where we could alter and improve our pitches. We played a game of top-trumps with the characters from her current book; I was the slave with shackles. Yes real shackles - okay plastic look-a-like ones. The whole day was one of learning or reinforcing knowledge. After dinner we met up to read our reworked pieces. Thankfully everyone thought my piece was much better and heading in the right direction. Everyone’s work had improved some amazingly so. One member of our group had written a completely new piece – oh to have such talent. We all met up for a drink before bed.
On Monday morning, we had to check out by 9:30 then we set about writing in one of the upstairs rooms. This was quite a powerful session. A room full of writers, writing. There was an aura of creativity flowing through the air which made the writing seem more focused. After morning coffee/tea we joined Tessa Strickland from Barefoot Books http://www.barefootbookstore.co.uk She is a lady with vision, direction and drive. You couldn’t help being impressed and inspired by her. She chatted about the state of publishing in general, and about the direction Barefoot books are heading. We learnt a little more about booksellers and distributors along with the difficulties publishers have. It was quite illuminating. Then she told us exactly what she was looking for. Yippy! A publisher saying what they want. I can’t tell you what that is, but I am going to be writing something for her as will the other members of the retreat - quite a few of us really. Tessa wrapped up with a question and answer session and once again I was scribbling notes.

This was a wonderfully inspiring retreat, one I would do again.

Writers' Circle in St.Albans.

If you are looking for an excellent writers' circle in the St. Albans area then the Verulam Writers' Circle might be the right one for you. It has been running for over 50 years with many published authors. Everyone is willing to support new fledgling writers as well as offer constructive guidance for the brave who read their work aloud. (Not a requirement of membership)

They meet at twice a month at:
The Church Hall, St Michaels Church, St Michaels Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL3 4SL
Additionally, they meet at
The Goat, Sopwell LaneSt Albans,(about half way down)
The Goat is one of the city's most historic pub and at the worst you will have nice beer in a pleasant environment. We have increased our Goat evenings from once a month and now alternate with the regular, more formal meetings at St Michael's.
All meetings last from 8 pm to 10 pm.

To find out more click on this link and browse their website.
http://www.verulamwriterscircle.org.uk/index.html