Formed over forty years ago, our Writers Circle is based in Felixstowe, Suffolk. Meetings are held in The Room at the Top in Felixstowe Library, normally on the first and third Tuesday of each month commencing at 7.30pm and finishing by 10.00pm. Check this weblog for details of meetings.

There is an annual November to November fee of £30, April to November is £20 and June to November £15. For members preferring to pay at each meeting the charge is £5 per meeting. To contact Felixstowe Scribblers simply email scribblers.1@btinternet.com or the Secretary, catherine.stafford1@ntlworld.com

Thursday 27 April 2017

Suffolk Reading Festival

Tune in to ICR on 105.7fm or via the internet, tune app, and various others on Friday 28th April at 12.30-1300. for
The Suffolk Reading Festival.
On the show Friday:-

The Sword of the Kings by ADW Shearman.
(Chapter - A Short cut to Humbugs pt
Beryl Sabel reads the book.
Ryan Guilder the Brackets
Brian England is Zschiddte ver Brainnze
Alan Dix is Blivion Teck Durchnit
Andy Sindle is Clapping Lost Marbles
Stella Day is Botox Skin Grafting
Floating in the Wind by Tony Shearman
David Miller is Andy
Sheila Martin is Barbara
Angela Silburn is Carole
Peter Guilderr is Dave
The Morrison Shelter by Beryl Sabel
read by Beryl Sabel
Hope you enjoy them.
And if you miss it. Catch the repeat at 13.30 Saturday 29th April.

Cheers all
Tony

Anthology and Bill Budner's Trophy

Hi Scribblers,

ANTHOLOGY.
I thank everybody for their stories they have already sent in but must remind every else that the deadline for submissions is virtually upon us. I hope that more stories will be forthcoming to help make our publication successful.
If you would still like to send something in and have decided the deadline is too close, please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate you.
There is still an awful lot of work to do to prepare for publication but that is part and parcel of this enjoyable ‘task’. The main thing is that we must meet the deadline with our printers  

THE BILL BUDNER TROPHY.
As you will know our next meeting is fast approaching – it’s on Tuesday 2nd May in our usual meeting place. Starting at 7.30pm we will have two ‘volunteers’ to read out the stories that are all vying for a grip on the handles of the Trophy. Once again the stories can be on any subject, but must be within the 1,000 word limit. They should be typed but there must be no indication to the author of the work. It should be another enjoyable evening. There is always one question at this stage... who will be the next holder of the trophy – this time for six months.

IT’S ANOTHER BANK HOLIDAY.
Hope you have a good one!

Keep Scribbling,


Dave 

Tuesday 25 April 2017

Arun Scribes...

This morning I received an email from our friend Angela Petch. As you may have noticed earlier she has a new book available entitled  'Now and then in Tuscany' which is soon to be launched, with three other writer's books, at the Arundel Museum.

A member of the  Arun Scribes, Angela wonders if our Felixstowe Scribblers would like to be 'twinned' with them. I think its a great idea. To see their website go
to 


They came up with a novel way to get their books noticed. You can see their efforts here:


I think its great! Hope you do too.

Keep Scribbling, 

Dave

Thursday 20 April 2017

The Suffolk Reading Festival

Hi Scribblers,

        Tune in to ICR on 105.7fm or via the internet, tune app, and various others on Friday 21st April at 12.30-1300. for
The Suffolk Reading Festival.
On the show Friday:-
The Sword of the Kings by ADW Shearman.
(Chapter - A Short cut to Humbugs pt1
Beryl Sabel reads the book.
Ryan Guilder the Brackets
Brian England is Zschiddte ver Brainnze
Alan Dix is Blivion Teck Durchnit
Angela Silburn is Bangen Ollafsen
Peter Guilder is Wellused Darc Grobag
Floating in the Wind by Tony Shearman
David Miller is Andy
Sheila Martin is Barbara
Angela Silburn isCarole
Peter Guilder is Dave
Mates by Richard Payne
read by Peter Guilder
Hope you enjoy them.
And if you miss it. Catch the repeat at 13.30 Saturday 22nd April.

Tony

Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 18 April 2017

Present:  Dave, Steve, Beryl, Mairead, Liliane, Daniel, Anne, Jim, Cathy
Apologies:  Di

Business: 
Dave reported that Jane, our winner of the Bill Budner trophy last time, will make sure that the trophy is engraved and returned in time for our next meeting on 2 May, when the BB competition will be held again. Dave mentioned that for many years now, Scott at Mr Cobbler has done our engraving for nothing. However, Dave felt it reasonable to offer a £5 payment each time, and has now done so.
Jane will be unable to attend Scribblers for the foreseeable future due to family sickness, and work commitments; she will be much missed.

Additional comment from Dave:
The anthology. Just a gentle reminder that your stories or poems should be with us by the end of this month. The more time we have to finalise the layout and order, the better it is to reach our deadline with the printers.
Additionally it was suggested by one of the Scribblers that we all submit a few facts about ourselves to be included as a kind of pen picture – and for those wishing to include a photograph then we can accept jpeg images of preferably portrait photos. There is no compulsion for photos though.
We are hoping this anthology will be at least as good as, if not better, than our last one.
Talking of anthologies, our aim is to have this one available for the Felixstowe Book Festival which is a reminder that the programmes are now available. Copies were spotted in the library last night.

Tasty snacks – as ever, thanks to Mairead for these.

Readings of homework

‘Tales from/of the past’ was the theme, and for sheer variety of interpretation, this set of readings will take some beating! From Winston Churchill to spacemen, chocolate men to peculiar goings on in historic Leiston – an exceptional range of tales. There was lots of lively feedback and debate, plus much laughter – a really good evening.

Dave: And in the beginning

Anne: Night time

Cathy: Walking in the past

Beryl: Le Chevalier de St Georges

Mairead: The Admiral takes a bath

Daniel: The healing power

Steve: Should I stay or should I go?

Liliane: Re-enactment

Jim: St Curly Wurly

Next meeting: 2 May, when the Bill Budner competition is to be held. Full details on the weblog, but just to remind everyone that the anonymous entries (up to 1000 words on any topic) will be read out by two readers – please make sure there is nothing on your work to identify you! The proud winners can identify themselves at the end of the judging.

Tuesday 18 April 2017

What a night!

Tales from the Past produced some excellent work by all the attending members. Brilliant stuff from start to finish. Some very involved research, factual work, humorous tales, and complete fiction... it was all so entertaining. A real shame the meeting had to end!

Next time, Tuesday 2nd May, is the Bill Budner Trophy, details of the competition are set out above. This is our premier competition for attending members and asks for up to 1,000 words on any subject. The entries should be typed, have a title but please ensure there is no reference to the writer. It is hoped we will have our usual duo reading each story out. Usual rules apply.

Until next time...

Keep on Scribbling...

Thursday 13 April 2017

Our next meeting and a reminder about the anthology.

Well, with Easter upon us I'll start by wishing you all a Happy Easter!

As is the case, this may be quite a hectic weekend so I thought I'd get the meeting reminder in as soon as I could.

Next Tuesday 18 April at 7.30pm. It's our Tales from the past evening which should conjure up a few interesting stories. All we ask is for up to 1,000 on the subject - but remember if it doesn't appeal to you then please bring along any story of your choice.

Whilst I am on line, I must say thank you to those who have already submitted stories for the anthology but would remind those who haven't sent anything in yet that the deadline is the end of April. So please email those stories to me preferably in Word, either as an attachment or within the body of the email.

Looking forward to hearing from you and, of course, seeing you on the 18th! Until then,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Dave

A new book and an invitation...

I've had an interesting email from our friend Angela who moved away from the area some time ago. She tells me about her new book so hopefully you will be interested in this sequel to her first book which was, to say the least, an excellent read. Here she tells of some of the problems she had when her publishers went bust.

Now I look forward to obtaining her new book and enjoying it as much as I did the first one. Hope you follow course and get a copy.

Here's what Angela says: 

I’ve been busy writing a sequel to my first book (which used to be “Never Again” but which I re-published under the new title of “Tuscan Roots”, as the publishing company I was with went bust and I lost all rights and royalties to it.)
The sequel is “Now and Then in Tuscany” and it will be available from April 15th. It took me 5 years to write – I don’t know how clever Ruth does it, publishing books with such frequency...
I now belong to a writers’ group with the U3A and four of us are having a joint launch on April 30th at Arundel Museum.

In the meantime – and in an effort to drum up some publicity – we are having what is known as a Virtual Launch!!! A chance to have a virtual party launch for those who can’t be present at Arundel. What you do, is click on to our Facebook page which we call Arun Scribes: https://tinyurl.com/ltpqtpk
Click on April 18th at 19.00 hours (until 21.00 hours if you want) and there should be some fun and chat to be had. There’s also an opportunity to win some books – there will be simple competitions throughout the evening – as well as music and virtual food and drink!!! (I can see you scratching your head at all this!!). See attached invite!

It will be another chance to get in touch with other writers too. There will be a prize (amongst others) from your friend and mine, Ruth Dugdall too!!!

If anybody clicks on that evening, just mention who you are and introduce yourselves – just as you would at a real party!!! I’m sure there are lots of new members since I left, but I hope to recognise some of you. We have friends from America, Canada, France, Italy and who knows where else, joining in!

Many thanks.

And if any of you are interested, take a look at our Arun Scribes blog page. Maybe we could twin each other???


Happy writing!
All the best


So there we are folks! One downside is that I have spotted is that the Virtual Launch clashes with our Scribblers meeting... Oh dear!

Dave



Suffolk Reading Festival

Tune in to ICR on 105.7fm or via the internet, tune app, and various others on Friday 14th April at 12.30-1300. for The Suffolk Reading Festival.
On the show Friday:-
The Sword of the Kings by ADW Shearman.
(Chapter - Climb any Mountain pt3
Stella Day reads the book.
Ryan Guilder the Brackets
Brian England is Zschiddte ver Brainnze
Alan Dix is Dr. Armin Trubbell
Angela Silburn is Toofgib the Itey and the Voice
David Miller is Sam Wunnells
Debbie Coveney is Deepli Konserned
Robin Saunders is Allirog
Four Paupers and a Villain by Tony Shearman
Angela Silburn is Laura Biding
Martin Jarvis is Joe King
Alan Dix is Squire Practiss
Sheila Martin is Mrs Vauxhal
Becci Clarke is Rita Biding
Brian England is Tim Biding
The Amber Light By Beryl Sabel
read by Beryl Sabel
Hope you enjoy them.
And if you miss it. Catch the repeat at 13.30 Saturday 15th April.

Tony

Tuesday 11 April 2017

Competitions and Library news

There are just over 3 weeks left to enter the  2017 Bristol Short Story Prize.

Here are some details in case your members may be interested.  

The closing date for entries is midnight (BST) May 3rd 2017. The maximum word limit is 4,000, there is no minimum.
Stories may be on any theme or subject and entry can be made online or by post.
There is an £8.00 entry fee for all stories submitted and entries must be previously unpublished.
20 stories will be shortlisted and published in Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 10.
The winner and 2 runners up will be selected from the shortlist and announced at an awards ceremony
which will be held in Bristol Central Library on October 14th 2017.
1st prize is £1,000, 2nd prize is £700, 3rd prize is £400. 17 further prizes of £100 will be presented
to the remaining shortlisted writers. All shortlisted writers will receive 2 free copies of the anthology.
Prizes will be sent to any writer on the shortlist who is unable to attend the awards ceremony.
The judging panel will be chaired by writer, Tania Hershman. Tania will be joined on the panel by the writer, Roshi Fernando;
Simon Key, owner of the award-winning Big Green Bookshop, and Juliet Pickering, literary agent at Blake Friedmann.
For full details and rules on the 2017 Bristol Short Story Prize please click here.
www.bristolprize.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/bristolprize

Join us on Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bristol-Short-Story-Prize/132147373648?ref=mf


Details of the 2017 Winchester Poetry Prize competition can be found at here


Felixstowe Library April Newsletter

Easter Weekend
We hope you are enjoying the first signs of Spring and are looking forward to the Easter period. If you have children you might be interested in our Easter Egg Trail on Saturday 15th April, all day in the children's area. Solve the clues and claim a prize at the end. It's free to enter and there will be other puzzles and activities you can do as well.
While you're here you might like to borrow a book from our lovely display -  see above.
Remember, we regularly have new children's books in so there's always something fresh to see.

Our opening times over Easter are as follows:
Good Friday: Closed
Saturday: Open 9-5
Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday: Closed


Tell us what you think!
Suffolk Libraries is planning for the future and we want to hear from you, our customers, as to what is really important to you and your community.  We are conducting a short survey to help us evaluate priorities, so please visit us at the library, or complete it online atwww.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SuffolkLibraries 2017  


Words Book Group
We're really pleased that several local book groups regularly borrow books from the library. Included is the long established Words Book Group who would like to welcome new members. They meet every second Thursday in the month, 11-12, in the Room at the Top here at the library.  If you would like to come to the next session on 13th April you are welcome to call in and borrow a copy of the book they are currently reading (Nutshell by Ian Mckewen).

Felixstowe Book Festival
We are always happy to promote our local book festival especially as all the children's events are held in the library.
Included in the fabulous line-up this year are Stella Rimington, Tracy Chevalier, Louis de Bernieres, A L Kennedy, Alison Weir, Terry Waite and Esther Freud.  The children's programme includes Jane Hissey and Piers Torday.  These are just a selection of the many writers who will be coming.  Look out for workshops and an open mic night too.   The programme is now online so do have a look herehttps://felixstowebookfestival.co.uk/events
Tickets go on sale from 21st April (or earlier if you are a Friend of the Festival).
New for this year, tickets will also be available at limited times here at the library.
So if you would prefer to purchase your tickets over the counter a ticket desk will be here every Tuesday morning between 10am and 1pm starting Tues 25th April until Tues 27th June inclusive.

Please note it will be cash only and we won't be able to issue tickets outside these hours because the desk will be run by Book Festival volunteers.

Suffolk Libraries Presents

EXHIBITION
The Artist’s Garden      
Fri  28 April   
Two showings:  3pm and 7pm     £7.50

Following the smash hit Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse, comes this new film based on the hugely popular exhibition The Artist’s Garden: American Impressionism and the Garden Movement 1887-1920.  Taking its lead from French artists such as Monet and Cezanne, American Impressionism followed its own path which over a thirty year period reveals as much about America as a nation as it does about a much-loved artistic movement.  A mesmerising film that is a feast for the eyes.

 
THEATRE
The Railway Children  
Fri 26 May  7pm     £7.50

Filmed at the National Railway Museum, York.
Features the original locomotive from the 1970 film.
Roberta, Phyllis and Peter, three sheltered siblings, suffer a huge upheaval when their father, who works for the Foreign Office, is falsely imprisoned.
The children and their mother, now penniless, are forced to move from London to rural Yorkshire, into a cottage near a railway line, where they befriend the local railway porter, Perks, and embark on a magical journey of discovery, friendship and adventure.  But the mystery remains – where is Father, and is he ever coming back?
"A fantastic family show" The Stage 


Looking Ahead to May

Book Mountain
We will be holding another Book Mountain on Saturday 6th May, 10-3.  Donations of good quality books are gratefully received; drop them off any time during opening hours.

Local author Book Launch
We are delighted to tell you that local author Ruth Dugdall will be launching her latest book here at the library on Saturday 6th May, 6-8pm.  No need to book, just turn up and join us in raising a glass to Ruth to celebrate the publication of "My Sisters and Other Liars." Ruth is a great speaker and will be giving a talk on the evening.

Lego Builders
Interested in being part of a lego club for all ages?  Why not join us for a free taster session on Saturday 27th May, 2-4pm? Register by phoning us on 01394 694880.

Medieval May
Calling all 5-12 year olds for some Medieval mayhem at Felixstowe Library! We are having a Medieval Crafts event on 31st May from 10am 'til 12pm. Learn about a mystical time gone by through crafts, puzzles and games! Create your own castle, learn to play a real medieval game, find out what medieval words and phrases mean such as 'wind-sucker' and 'bubble-bow'?! Contemporary fancy dress is not essential but there is a prize for the best one! Tickets are £2.50 per child and can be purchased from the 24th of April. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Orwell Art Group Spring Exhibition and Sale
Saturday 20th May 10am-5pm
Sunday 21st May 10am-2pm


Wishing you all a Very Happy Easter
From the staff at Felixstowe Library
 

Friday 7 April 2017

Meeting report

Minutes of Scribblers meeting held on Tuesday 4 April 2017

Present:  Dave, Tony, Steve, Beryl, Mairead, Liliane, Di, Cathy
Apologies:  Jim, Dick, Anne

Business: 
Dave reported that
  • Mel has, at least for the time being, left Scribblers. We wish her well – Cathy had already suggested to her that she might find an online group/forum to support her in continuing with her writing, if she is unable to attend ‘live’ groups at present.
  • Dick plans to return to meetings in May, when the warmer weather is here.
  • Ruth Dugdall has a book launch for her newest title, ‘My sister and other liars’ at the library on Saturday 6 May at 6pm. This is a free event, and should be very enjoyable. No doubt several of us will be attending.
  • Jeanette Hewitt (ex-Scribbler) book ‘The hunger within’ was published in 2016, and her latest title, ‘The eight year lie’ is due for publication this year.
  • Ray Foster, (ex-Scribbler) has published a collection of short stories, ‘Reflections’.
These three authors all have their work available on Amazon.

Anthology – Dave reminded the group that he needs stories for submission by 28 April at the very latest, to give him time to format the entire anthology. Work has been invited from ex-Scribblers as well, and in response, best wishes have been received from Chris Shaw, in Australia, Ruth, Jeanette, Ray, and Suzy Griffith. Chris and Ray have sent their offerings already.
As usual, many thanks to Mairead for a cake feast – we are so spoiled!

Readings of homework on the theme ‘seduction.’
Some very interesting interpretations of the theme – and all of them thoroughly enjoyable to listen to.
Steve: The Prisoner
Mairead: Seduction in the wind
Liliane: Folly of Spring
Beryl: The balcony
Tony: The happy world of the quantity surveyor (retired)
Dave: Sarah

Next meeting: 18 April, when the theme for 1000 word homework is ‘Tales from the past’. Do remember  that, as always, if the theme doesn’t appeal to you, you’re free to write whatever takes your fancy and bring that along instead.


Thursday 6 April 2017

The Suffolk Reading Festival

Tune in to ICR on 105.7fm or via the internet, tune app, and various others on Friday 7th April at 12.30-1300. for The Suffolk Reading Festival.
On the show Friday:-
The Sword of the Kings by ADW Shearman.
(Chapter - Climb any Mountain pt2
Stella Day reads the book.
Ryan Guilder the Brackets
Brian England is Zschiddte ver Brainnze
Robin Saunders is Allirog
Peter Guilder is Lord Drofgnol
Angela Silburn is The Reporter
Tony Shearman is Undercover Traveler
Four Paupers and a Villain by Tony Shearmann
Angela Silburn is Laura Biding
Martin Jarvis is Joe King
Alan Dix is Squire Practiss
A Frosty Night by Suzi Griffiths
read by Su Stedman
Light by Jack Wilkinson
read by Angela Silburn
Hope you enjoy them.
And if you miss it. Catch the repeat at 13.30 Saturday 8th April.

Tony

Tuesday 4 April 2017

Tonight...

The thought of a meeting of seduction possibly didn't suit everyone's pallet, but those who did venture into the arena were treated to a thoroughly entertaining meeting with the story of the night from Tony all about a retiring surveyor... It was a real laugh.

The mix of stories was again quite incredible with, ironically, very little sexual content considering the seduction theme. It was a very entertaining evening though.

Our next meeting will be on 18 April when the theme will be 'Tales of the Past' which should open up a plethora of opportunities for some fascinating stories...

Until next time,

Keep Scribbling!!!

Monday 3 April 2017

Good news!


Its nice to have some good news. It's from our friend Ray Foster who had to move away from Felixstowe a while ago. Whilst we miss him at Scribblers its good to hear he is still writing and has just had  an anthology of his short stories published. 'Reflections' is the title and it contains some of the stories that he wrote during his time with the Scribblers. 


It's something I'm looking forward to getting and reading. Glad to say it is available on Amazon - Reflections by Ray Foster will surely be a worthwhile read.

Talking short stories, and anthologies in particular,  our release should coincide with this year’s Felixstowe Book Festival. Before that though there is some hard work for one or two of us to do like gathering everything together, formatting and preparing for the printers. Whilst we will read through the stories we will not make any alterations to the text.

First irrespective of whether you are a current member or someone who has been one of our illustrious group in the past, I hope if you will be interested in supporting us by sharing one or more of your stories for inclusion.

We are looking for stories of up to 1,000 words on any subject and if you are interested then I would ask that your work be sent to me at scribblers.1@btineternet.com  Please send in Word either within the text of your email or as an attachment.

Deadline is Friday 28th April.

I really hope you will consider this and share your stories with us. 

And now another little reminder about tomorrow's meeting (4th April). The homework is for up to 1,000 words on 'Seduction'. Wonder who thought of that one? Should be interesting so come along. The meeting starts at 7.30pm

Keep Scribbling!!!

Dave