by gailaldwin
The Dorset Writers’ Network is running a competition for local writers. The aim is to produce an e-book with stories up to 500 words each which reflect the diversity of the county. Workshops to support new writing are scheduled at rural locations during January and February. Further details can be found here.
To celebrate the launch of the competition, Natasha Solomons has been invited to talk about her books and her writing journey. She lives in Dorset and has written novels that are set in the county. Her first novel Mr Rosenblum’s List was shortlisted for the Galaxy National Book Awards, and tells the story of an immigrant trying to settle in England after the Second World War. The Novel in the Viola is based in the now abandoned Dorset village of Tyneham, and follows the lives of service staff at Tyneford House. Natasha’s most recent novel is called The Gallery of Vanished Husbands which shares the experiences of Juliet Montague following the disappears of her husband.
This is a FREE event!
Saturday 24 January 2015 at 2:30pm
Dorchester Library and Learning Centre
Charles Street, Dorchester
Advance booking is required – please telephone 01305 224440
authors Dorset events Libraries Reading short stories writing
by gailaldwin
As part of the Dorset Digital Stories project, a series of workshops will be held in January and February 2015 at rural locations throughout the county. The idea is to encourage local writers to submit a story up to 500 words for inclusion in a new e-book. All stories will be set in Dorset so that the anthology reflects the diversity of Dorset: from the human perspective to the sense of place.
I will be delivering a workshop on Friday 16 January 2015 from 10-12 at Cerne Abbas Village Hall DT2 7GY. Everyone is welcome! To book a place please email sue@dorsetwritersnetwork.co.uk or get in touch with me through the contact page on this blog.
For details of other workshops please click here.
competitions Dorset events flash fiction writing
by gailaldwin
Last week, Dave and I travelled to Oxfordshire for the launch of Carol McGrath‘s novel The Swan-Daughter. This is the second book in the Daughters of Hastings trilogy and it’s great to be back in the company of an accomplished story-teller. Carol’s style of writing is charming, allowing readers to enter the life of Gunnhild, the daughter of King Harold and Edith Swanneck. Based on research, the novel provides a lasting impression of the lives and struggles during the early Norman period. Essentially it’s a love story, starting with Gunnhild’s escape the nunnery at Wilton Abbey and her elopement with Count Alan of Richmond.
The book launch was held at Cole’s Books in the delightful market town of Bicester. We stayed overnight in the Pentewan B&B a lovely place tucked away from the main thoroughfare – we even had a dip in the hot tub in the garden!
St Catherine’s College
The following day, we stopped in Oxford and Dave and I wandered through the grounds of his old college then spent the afternoon in the Ashmolean Museum. It was great! Now that I have membership at the Bodleian Library, I look forward to returning, research for my studies makes a good excuse.
authors events Reading Recommendations writing
by gailaldwin
Now in my second year of MPhil studies in creative writing, I face each residency with less trepidation. Last weekend was extremely positive. My creative writing supervisor, Stephen Knight, gave an analogy to the present state of my manuscript. Like a self-assembly chair, all I need to do is tighten it with an allen key. Feedback from my peers includes praise for the sex scenes (very worried about those) and agreement that the structure works (alternating narratives including the viewpoint of the main character as a ten-year-old and at 23). Phrases like ‘page-turner’ were even used!
So, with this encouragement, I press on.
visits writing
by gailaldwin
I was delighted to have a story included in ‘The Best of CafeLit 2012’. The Shallows is a short story based on the experience of losing my son on a beach in France when he was three-years-old. Although the story ends well the ‘what if’ became the starting point for work on my novel Trying to be Brave. I’m so very pleased The Shallows found a safe home in an excellent print anthology. It is available for purchase from Amazon, click here for details.
While I’ve been hard at work on my novel, I haven’t made any submissions for publication so it was a total surprise when I found I had a piece of flash fiction included in the latest CafeLit publication. (A submission during 2013 was accepted, this time a piece of short fiction about a plumber and a baby.)
You can find purchase details for The Best of CafeLit 3 here.
Happy reading!
Reading Recommendations short stories writing
by gailaldwin
With other postgraduate students, I spent a splendid day at the British Library, getting acquainted with the amazing resources that are available. I hadn’t been aware of the digital collections that are held and to handle some of the manuscripts was wonderful. While I was there I was issued with a reader’s pass (make sure you take the necessary ID when applying – proof of address and proof of signature is necessary). I also made a reader room request so that I could have access to a play script of What Maisie Knew which I hope to use in my MPhil research.
Some of the resources presented at the workshop include: Read the rest of this entry »
Libraries Recommendations writing
by gailaldwin
The email group for MPhil students at the University of South Wales has shared some helpful links recently. Here are a couple that might be of interest to you.
Locating London’s past is a new website that allows you to search a wide body of digital resources relating to early modern and eighteenth-century London. A great point of reference for historical fiction writers.
http://www.locatinglondon.org/
Submissions are sought for the Dundee International Book Prize 2014, with a £10,000 cash prize and a publishing contract with Cargo Publishing. Budding authors are invited to enter their debut novels by 3 March 2014.
http://www.dundeebookprize.com/index.htm
More locally, the Wimborne Writing Group are holding a book launch on Thursday 6 February at 6:30pm in Gullivers Bookshop, Wimborne to celebrate the publication of the anthology Grapes on the Vine. Everyone welcome.
The Bridport Prize is offering a new category of novel award entry to its traditional annual competition for poems, short stories and flash fiction. £20 entry fee.
Enjoy!
competitions Dorset writing
by gailaldwin
Grapes on the Vine is the latest anthology published by the Wimborne Writing Group. The group comprises new and established writers who meet once a month. Sessions are led by Sarah Barr who is an experienced teacher of creative writing. The anthology showcases the writing of the group which includes prose in a range of genres and some beautiful poetry. Please use the contact page of this blog to order your copy. It can also be purchased through good book shops using the ISBN 978–9559503-1-5. Click here to order through Amazon.
The Wimborne Writing Group’s first anthology, titled Crumbs on the Table, was published in 2008
Dorset writing
by gailaldwin
During the summer, I joined a collaborative short story project. The group was called ‘Hot Potato’ and it was co-ordinated by Artipeeps. Seven writers worked on the story, passing it to another writer each fortnight to take the story forward. Deborah Sheehy was appointed to illustrate the work and the final product is now available on the Artipeeps website. Click here to have a read. Another ‘Hot Potato’ project is scheduled to take place during March 2014, so if you’re interest, get in touch via @ArtiPeep.
authors short stories writing
by gailaldwin
The title of this post not only sums up how I’m feeling, but it is also the title of my new work in progress. As I continue writing the first draft of the novel with support from my supervisor Stephen Knight and other students on the MPhil at University of South Wales, I am amazed at how different the process is, when working alongside others facing similar challenges.
There are eight students on the course, two poets and six writing novels. We were asked to submit work for circulation this week and I will set aside time when it arrives to read through and comment on the submissions of others. The other big difference in writing for this course, is the research element. I’ve read so many splendid novels written from the viewpoint of a child that something of skill seems to have lodged within me. I’ve been making notes for the research and am beginning to understand why these novels are successful.
Read the rest of this entry »
Feedback Reading review writing
the writer is a lonely hunter 