The Woman Writer – Autumn issue 2017

Issue 87

AUTUMN 2017

• • • •

Society News Our New President Marketing & Fiction Focus Christmas Tea

Who’s who Printed by TandC Printers, Bromley, Kent BR1 3PU Issue 87

Autumn 2017

The Woman Writer is published by The Society of Women Writers & Journalists Editor: Carol Cannavan 10 Dury Falls Close, Hornchurch Essex RM11 3AX Tel: 01708 459376 Mob: 07947 133509 carol@aspire-editorial.co.uk Chairman: Barbara Field-Holmes BIGG-in Words Ltd Room 2, Aileen McHugo Building Westmore Green, Tatsfield Westerham, Kent TN16 2AG Tel: 01959 575031 (Wk) Tel: 01959 575936 (Home) Mob: 07814 738894 swwj@bigginwords.co.uk

Speakers: Pamela Payne Tel: 01730 892413 pamela@thebeach.com Book Reviews: Patricia Pound Tel: 01277 222446 patricia.pound@googlemail.com Competitions/ Manuscript Appraisal: Vivien Hampshire Tel: 01895 254453 vivienhampshire@btinternet.com

Marketing Coordinator: Rebecca Harding Mob: 07966 459080 Vice Chairman/Press/ rebecca@saltwhistle.com PR/Newsletter: Website: Doreen Friend Gywneth Box Tel: 020 8505 2476 Mob: 07986 613437 doreen.friend@swwj.co.uk hello@gwynethbox.com Hon. Treasurer: Benita Cullingford Tel: 01727 857388 b.cullingford@btinternet.com Manager, Writer’s Debut benitaswwj@btinternet.com Hon Secretary: Janice Grande Tel: 01268 451547 Mob: 07951 671498 grandewords@yahoo.com Minutes Secretary: Vacancy Membership Secretary/Events: Valerie Dunmore Tel: 01737 557936 swwjval@aol.com

Archivist: Sylvia Kent Tel: 01277 651062 skent32@tiscali.co.uk Chawton Liaison: Pamela Birley Tel: 020 7351 6377 bra33@btinternet.com Twitter & Facebook: Vivien Hampshire Tel: 01895 254453 vivienhampshire@btinternet.com Consultants: Martin Cort (Drama) Tel: 020 7582 5839 mcort1@talktalk.net Patrick Forsyth (Marketing) patrick@touchstone28.com Patricia Alderman (Proofreader)

SWWJ website: www.swwj.co.uk

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Patrons: Lady Howard, Lord Quirk, Sir Tim Rice, The Earl of Stockton, Simon Brett OBE

Hon Life President: The Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe DSG

President: The Rt Hon Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham OBE DL

Vice Presidents: Doris Corti,Valerie Dunmore, Joyce Elsden, Jocelyn Glegg, Sylvia Kent, Jennie Lisney, Jean Morris, Mary Rensten, Jean Marian Stevens

Welfare/Benevolent Fund If any member requires help, please contact Jennie Lisney on 01444 412087 or write to: 4 Larch Way, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3TY. Email: jennielisney@gmail.com Donations to benefit our members in times of illness or hardship should be made out to SWWJ Benevolent Fund.

The Woman Writer Advertising Rates: The Woman Writer is published quarterly.

Quarter page (60mm x 90mm) £38 Half page (128mm x 90mm) £75 Full page (128mm x 184mm) £145 (Series discounts available.)

PDF format preferred. For further details please contact the Editor.

Members can post events and items for sale and any other advertisements at £2 per line.

SWWJ members have the right to express their opinions in The Woman Writer. These opinions are not necessarily those of the Council or Editor.

Neither the Editor nor the Society accepts responsibility for errors in articles. The Editor reserves the right to amend articles submitted.

Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

From the Editor

Contents 4

From the Chair

By Barbara Field-Holmes.

5

Letters/Society news Members’ views and comments.

6-9

Society news Discover what’s happening in the SWWJ.

10

Members’ news A round-up of news and successes.

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From the archives

By Sylvia Kent.

12 - 13 Marketing

By Patrick Forsyth.

14 - 15 Drama/Poet’s corner Workshop report from Martin Cort.

16 - 17 SCRIPTORA .

The publishing arm of the SWWJ. 18 - 19 SWWJ Christmas Tea Party Come and join us!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the Autumn edition of The Woman Writer.

Thank you so much to all those people who took the time to contact me to say how much they enjoyed the last issue – it really gave me a boost.

Just take a look at the Contents on the left and you will see there’s a lot packed into this issue. The big news, of course, is that the Right Honourable Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham OBE DL has agreed to be our President! Sylvia Kent interviewed her recently and you can read all about her on page 8.

It was great meeting up with so many of you at the Autumn Lunch (see page 22) and I look forward to chatting to members coming to the Christmas Tea Party. There’s an application form on page 19 – don’t delay, book up today!

20 - 21 Fiction focus

By Vivien Hampshire.

22 - 23 Autumn Luncheon Report by Vivien Hampshire.

carol@aspire-editorial.co.uk

24 - 25 Member viewpoint Why I’m turning down a contract.

26 - 27 Writing school A visit to Swanwick Summer School.

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SWWJ competition Winner Takes All competition info.

29

Tech talk Am I a twit to tweet?

30

When I was not upon this page Stakeout, with Doreen Friend.

31

Around the regions News from Moonraker Country.

The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

32 - 34 Markets & Competitions

By Carol Cannavan.

35 - 38 Book reviews 39

Dates for your diary 2017/18 Front cover picture Inset: Our new President, the Right Honourable Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham OBE DL. See pages 8 - 9.

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From the Chair Chair types...

by Barbara Field-Holmes, Chairman I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer. Mine has been a rather busy one, but by far the most exciting news is that Floella Benjamin, Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham OBE DL accepted my invitation to be our new President. I was even more excited when she said she was able to attend our Autumn Lunch, held at the National Liberal Club, London, on 21st September.

After the sad death of the late Victoria Wood, Council decided to wait a while before searching for a new President, out of respect for Victoria. Council then began the task of looking for a suitable candidate.

We wanted someone who was outgoing, vibrant, well known for her work in writing, entertaining, nurturing and giving, someone who was passionate about their work, who would help us move forward into a whole new world of writing.

I believe we have found that with Floella, and I would like to officially welcome her as our new President. Our Archivist, Sylvia Kent, had the pleasure of interviewing Floella for The Woman Writer, and this can be seen on page 8 of this issue.

New membership category I am also delighted to report that the new membership category, the Writer’s Debut membership, was launched on 1st October.

The brainchild of our Honorary Treasurer, Benita Cullingford, the Writer’s Debut scheme will allow unpublished writers the opportunity to join the SWWJ with a view to becoming Full members once they are published. Full details can be seen on page 7.

Ideas wanted I recently received an email from a member bemoaning the cost of the Autumn Lunch 4

and asking if we can find ‘cheaper’alternatives for our celebrations to allow a larger number of members to attend. Council does work extremely hard at finding cost-effective venues and menus. The Autumn Lunch is the only luncheon event we hold, so is naturally going to cost more than a ‘tea’. Our main meeting place, the National Liberal Club, gives us a very favourable room hire rate, and our Events Coordinator, Valerie Dunmore, is very good at negotiating a good price per person on the food. We are very careful to ensure that our events are self-funding. I think £45 per head for a 3-course meal in a Central London location is quite fair, but Council would love to hear from any member who knows of anywhere cheaper, or has an idea for an alternative kind of event. We are currently looking at our Calendar of Events for 2018 and 2019; so all suggestions are welcome for consideration.

Finally...

I feel a little bit as if the record has stuck when I say this, but we do still need volunteers on Council. We have recently welcomed Rebecca Harding, who will be using her PR skills to help our new marketing sub-committee, and Janice Grande has come on board as our new Honorary Secretary.

Their help is very much appreciated, but we still need help. Our existing team is half the size it used to be, which means every member has to do twice the work, which can be difficult when fitting it into your day job and family life. If you are interested in helping, please contact me either by email or telephone for a no-obligation chat on what you could do.

As this is the last issue of The Woman Writer for 2017, I would like to close by wishing you all a very happy Christmas.

Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Letters/Society news Everyone has a point of view, why don’t you share yours here?

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SWWJ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SWWJ

Reading for pleasure

Vivien Hampshire (Vivien Brown) Email: vivienhampshire@btinternet.com Editor’s Note: If you haven’t got a Twitter account, visit page 29 and read the ‘Tech talk’ column.

Question: What do these three novels – Just for the Holidays, Lily Alone, Long Shadows – have in common?

Answer: Their authors, Sue Moorcroft, Vivien Brown and Margaret Mounsdon, are SWWJ members! The books are all on my Kindle and when I have read them I'll review them on Amazon... and tweet about them, too. If you are not already reading and reviewing our members' books I urge you to do so; there's a huge amount of good writing out there that you are missing!

Mary Rensten Editor’s Note: Excellent advice from Mary. We can all help each other to either promote work or the Society. If you would like to go on the list of readers for the SWWJ book reviews, please contact Patricia Pound (details on page 36).

Help spread the word Since taking over the Society’s social media pages, I have been making sure that the SWWJ follows as many of you as possible on Facebook and Twitter, and shares your writerly news. It would be lovely if all of you who use social media could ‘like’ our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter, then visit often so you can like, share and retweet our posts (and each other’s) too!

It’s a great way to keep in touch with other members and find out what they are doing or celebrating, and to get the very latest news and photos from SWWJ events. Tag us by adding @swwj at the end of your tweets or Facebook posts and we will be sure to spot them. If we don’t already have your details, or we don’t seem to have ‘followed’ you, please get in touch.

The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

SWWJ welcomes new members The Society of Women Writers & Journalists welcomes a new overseas member who has joined recently.

FULL MEMBERSHIP Helga Jensen-Forde, Dubai.

Membership number: 739 Helga writes mainly for Middle Eastern publications plus inflight magazines – Royal Jordanian Airlines, Qatar Airways and Fly Dubai. She wrote a parenting column for seven years for a Dubai magazine, Connector, and also for local Dubai newspapers. In March 2017 at the Emirates Festival of Literature she was one of the winners of the Montegra First Fiction Competition for her novel Temptation at Tiffany's.

FRIEND Janet White, London W4.

Membership number: 737 Welcome Janet!

SWWJ Christmas Tea Party!

Don’t miss out on this lovely, festive event, which takes place at the National Liberal Club, London, on Wednesday 6th December. See page 18 for full details. Book today!

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Society news

Good Housekeeping news Michelle Hather, Deputy Editor of Good Housekeeping magazine and one of our recent guest speakers, has been promoted to Executive Editor. Not only that but she is now also in charge of the Good Housekeeping Institute, which tests everything, from make-up to washing machines, on our behalf.

In her first Editor’s Note in the October issue, she writes: “I am very proud to be given the chance to edit this institution.

Good Housekeeping (and its beating heart, the Good Housekeeping Institute) has been here for my generation, my mum’s and my children’s. Good Housekeeping has survived war, sexual revolution, the emergence of female power and even 1970s fashion, and it has fallen to me to steer it safely on. No pressure then!”

We have written to Michelle on behalf of the SWWJ to congratulate her and sent her our best wishes.

Good at taking notes?

We are looking for someone to take minutes at our Council meetings, which take place five times a year in London.

Your travel expenses will be covered and you will receive an honorarium of £250.

The meetings start around 11.30am and usually finish by 4pm. If you are interested, or would like more information, please contact Barbara Field-Holmes at: swwj@bigginwords.co.uk

Digital copy?

We are now offering members the opportunity to be emailed a link to a ‘page-turning’ digital copy of The Woman Writer. This will enable you to view the publication from your computer, iPad, tablet or smart phone. Could be handy if you need to check a date or venue for an event... If you prefer, you could have a PDF version emailed to you. For members in the UK, you will still receive a hard copy in the post.

Please contact Carol Cannavan if you would like to be included on the mailing list.

Visit to the Good Housekeeping Institute Michelle Hather suggested that the SWWJ might organise a visit to the Institute. We need to gauge how much interest there would be in such a trip, so if anyone would like to go please contact Pamela Payne.

Email: pamela@thebeach.com 6

Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Society news Writer’s Debut We are pleased to announce the official launch of our brand new category of membership. From 1st October, for the very first time, new and unpublished writers have the chance to join the SWWJ! For a fee of £145, ‘Debut’ members will be able to submit a completed manuscript for advice and a full critique from an experienced published writer (in their chosen field). It can be a novel up to 90,000 words, a work of children’s fiction up to 60,000 words, a collection of poems or short stories, a play for theatre or radio, or a non-fiction project.

The Debut membership will last for one year and also brings entitlement to all the benefits of regular SWWJ membership, with the exception of a press card and competition entry. Also, they will not be able to vote at the AGM. With the right guidance, it is hoped that Debut members will achieve publication and be able to join us as a Full or Associate member at the end of their Debut year! Open to both male and female writers. Please spread the word!

An application form can be downloaded from the Society’s website – www.swwj.co.uk – or requested from the scheme’s manager, Benita Cullingford, by emailing benitaswwj@btinternet.com

Call for readers Writer’s Debut manuscripts Do you have expertise in writing in any of the following categories?

• Fiction • Novels and Stories • Non-Fiction • Children’s Fiction • Poetry • Drama The SWWJ is looking for readers to critique manuscripts submitted by Writer’s Debut members. Payment will be £100 per critique.

Please send details of your experience to the manager of the scheme, Benita Cullingford: benitaswwj@btinternet.com

Sandra Howard Congratulations to our SWWJ Patron Sandra Howard, seen here with Pamela Birley (right) launching her latest novel The Consequence of Love. The launch took place at Daunt Books, Marylebone High Street, London.

Change of address Will members please ensure you notify the Membership Secretary of your change of address, telephone number or email address so that we can keep our records up to date.

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Society news

Introducing our new President

by Sylvia Kent

W

hen The Woman Writer arrives, I turn first to the section that welcomes new members to our Society. Often, their names seem familiar and it’s lovely to meet them later at one of our social gatherings in the beautiful surroundings of the National Liberal Club.

Imagine then how delighted I was to learn of a person whose photograph was very familiar – in fact a veritable household name – who most of us will remember from children’s TV programmes circa 1976. She was presenter of that legendary programme Play School and is, of course, the Right Honourable Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham OBE DL – more familiarly known as Floella Benjamin.

It wasn’t only Play School we remember, but also Play Away. Before that, she had an avalanche of acting roles in West End theatres, with successful performances in Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Black Mikado and The Husband in Law with Kenneth Williams. Floella’s list of achievements also includes her work in numerous films, liaising with the cream of celebrated directors such as Richard Eyre, Martyn Friend, Richard Stroud, to name but a few.

Broadcasting absorbs much of her time, from working on radio programmes covering children’s education and entertainment shows to adult drama. She hosted her own current affairs programme on Radio London’s Black Londoners for many years, as well as presenting lifestyle programmes, i.e. Channel Four’s A Houseful of Plants and BBC’s Daytime Live. Floella’s 8

literary work covers more than 30 books, narration of numerous audio books and story tapes, educational and entertainment videos, voice-overs for television and radio commercials.

Music is important to our new President. Her work with the Northern Symphony Orchestra and many leading British orchestras is evidence; particularly with children in mind, she has narrated Peter and the Wolf, The Snowman, Paddington Bear and other wonderful musical arrangements for young children. She also sings as a ‘rock chick’ in the best-selling author Ken Follett’s band.

‘Rock chick’ Floella in Ken Follett’s band, taken in Positano, Italy.

Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Society news

Children are Floella’s driving force in life.

Part of her maiden speech, when she was introduced to peers in the House of Lords in October 2010, concentrated on her focus on the happiness of children. “Everything we do affects children directly and indirectly,” she said. “Childhood lasts a lifetime and every child deserves the best start in life.

That is why I am involved with so many children’s charities, including the NSPCC.” This amazingly energetic lady was born in Marabella, Trinidad in 1949. Leaving behind her idyllic Caribbean island in August 1960 with her sister and two brothers, the children boarded a boat bound for London to join their parents and two other siblings who had the previous year emigrated to England.

Floella vividly recounts that intrepid 15-day voyage of 4,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in her iconic memoir Coming to England. Written in 1995, it has never been The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

out of print. She describes the trepidation and excitement (mixed with seasickness) that were constant companions. Their mother had sensibly paid the shipping company for someone to keep an eye on her family. As they approached Southampton Docks, the children’s thoughts were fixed on seeing their parents again.

When they disembarked their mother was waiting on the quay.

“My heart pounded loudly like thunder as I climbed down the gangplank, this time not with fear, but with joy as I ran towards Marmie.”

The travails of Floella’s family when they settled in London were difficult and often distressing, but despite enduring much prejudice, they and other Caribbean immigrants found work in the NHS, British Rail and the Royal Mail. Floella’s father worked as an engineer by day and a jazz musician by night.

Last year, Floella’s epic story was chosen as the Times Book of the Month and a Guardian Book of the Year 2016. It has also been published as an educational edition and is being used to teach modern history in schools and universities.

Dozens of prestigious tributes and honours have been awarded to Floella over decades for her work in education, entertainment and politics, and now we have the honour of her company as our very own President.

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Members’ news

Success!

Republishing of novels PAMELA POPE has four of her novels, originally published by Century, being republished digitally by Endeavour Press.

The first of them, The Wind in the East, will be available on 1st September, and the other three, The Rich Pass By, Neither Angels Nor Demons and A Collar of Jewels will follow at the beginning of each month until December. There will also be print-ondemand editions available later.

Ann’s on a roll!

ANN EVANS has had a very successful year so far. She's had three more short novels for teenage reluctant readers accepted by Badger Learning, bringing her total number of titles with them to 12. Runaway and Promise Me came out in September, followed by a third book later this year.

Also she's had her first adult crime novel, Kill or Die, published by Bloodhound Books, which has attracted numerous five-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Additionally, she's had non-fiction articles published in: Collector's Gazette, Diecast Collector, Dolls House & Miniature Scene and Classic Military Vehicles magazine. She also has a short story called One Too Many coming out in The People's Friend, possibly around Halloween time.

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True life...

MARI WALLACE has written a 'memoir' piece, The Great Storm of 1987, which will appear in the October issue of Best of British magazine. Mari lived on the outskirts of Storrington in West Sussex where the cables for both electricity and telephone were overhead. The storm brought these cables down, and as a result, she was without electricity and phone for eight days. In addition to British Telecom's efforts to reconnect her, Mari even had a troop of Ghurkas arriving on day eight to help clear away the fallen trees and other debris.

True life...

MILLIE VIGOR’S latest book, Sweet Sorrow, has been published by Endeavour Press. It is available on Amazon as an ebook at £2.99 and paperback priced £6.99. Millie says: “I am proud to say that as a latecomer to publication it is my sixth book, a sequel to It is on its Way.” Sweet Sorrow is set in the early years of WW2. It tells the story of young lovers, Dorrie and Garnet, who are parted by the war, and how they cope with all the troubles life throws at them before they can be reunited.

Millie said: “I always wanted to be a paperback writer.

Dreams do come true!”

Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

From the archives Twenty years on

by Sylvia Kent Sunday 31st August 1997 is memorable. Many of us can recall where we were and what we were doing. I certainly can: I was stuck in a small museum for the morning that had opened for researchers.

When I surfaced for a cup of coffee, I heard the news of Princess Diana’s car accident in Paris but did not realise the enormity of the situation. I know that most of the nation was similarly shocked.

Princess Diana was an extraordinary woman. I feel that everyone whose life was touched by her remembers the experience.

For months now, the national press has been writing non-stop about her and there is probably no facet of her life which has been left unexamined.

From our own SWWJ history files, we know that several members had met the Princess.

Ann Hancox, a writer living in Eastbourne who has been a member since the 1960s, allowed us to use her Princess Diana

The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

memory for our history book The Woman Writer published in 2009.

Ann and her husband Vic, both disabled, were moving into their new home, one of a collection of flats specially adapted for them.

Although wheelchair-bound, Ann had managed to attend some of our London lunches, which is where I met her. Imagine the couple’s delight when they heard that Princess Diana would be shortly visiting them. The Princess duly arrived and enjoyed a cup of tea, and on seeing a visitor’s book, insisted on signing it.

I had never met Lady Diana personally, but during the 1980s while working in Westminster, I often watched the start of the Opening of Parliament from Old Palace Yard. When I knew that Diana would be accompanying the Royal Family on her first Parliamentary Opening, I brought my young daughters with me. The Opening coincided with a Guiding event in London so Sally and Jennifer, in Guide and Brownie uniform, were there to watch Diana’s arrival at the Palace.

On cue, Diana, dressed beautifully, complete with tiara and seated in her royal coach, arrived at Westminster. As we were just a few feet away, she caught sight of the little girls and leant out to give them a special smile and wave. I managed to catch this magic moment with my camera, Speed forward fifteen years and again I was working in London, but this time the atmosphere was so sad. As I left Westminster, I fought my way to the station through crowds of people, some carrying flowers to lay at Kensington Palace.

Another poignant memory!

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Marketing

With a little help from your friends

by Patrick Forsyth

O

ne of the reasons people belong to a body such as SWWJ is presumably for support, particularly to learn from others and perhaps to extend their writing expertise and success. So a natural topic here seems to be that of collaboration, headed by a phrase from the Beatles.

Writing collaboratively is an option that can extend market opportunities. It can make you more money. We all have a certain range in our writing, but working with someone else – co-authoring – can mean that we can sometimes do more than we might do solo. Various arrangements are possible. Things can be done on a fifty-fifty basis or with each person doing different things and one being the major player; for a book the contract must reflect this precisely.

Sometimes it is possible to collaborate in a way that presents little problem: we know the other person, they live or work down the road and organising the necessary liaison is entirely straightforward. On other

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occasions we may reject the possibility of a potential collaboration because circumstances seem to make for difficulties, though modern communications certainly ease this. I have not pursued some such opportunities because of apparent complications.

I have participated in co-writing projects several times without problem (for example on Essay Writing Skills [Kogan Page], which I wrote with Jacqueline Connelly). However, even extremes can be accommodated.

Following a chance meeting in London with someone who lives and works in Australia, we evolved a project on which we could work jointly. I arranged publication of a book with a UK publisher and we worked on the manuscript together. Messages, thoughts and ideas whisked across the globe to and from our respective computers. So too in due course did chunks of draft text.

A clear – and agreed – brief meant that with little or no hassle we reached the point where a final manuscript was sent to the publisher. The only problem was the visions of beautiful beaches and wonderful weather that came into my mind every time I pressed ‘Send’ to email my colleague on the other side of the world on a dreary winter morning. I just wish the finances of the project had allowed a visit! It was a profitable collaboration, and one that made me think differently about such things thereafter.

One caveat: it is important to consider productivity. For instance proofreading can be simpler and more accurate with two pairs of eyes. More seriously, you need to be in broad agreement about things – long arguments can take time, which makes such Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Marketing

COPY DATE FOR NEW YEAR 2017 ISSUE

collaboration unprofitable – and I have found too that it is sensible to have one person in overall charge. If stalemate should be reached on something it is decided, in advance, who will make the final decision.

Not only can co-writing work and work well, making a project viable that might be impossible solo, but it can teach you something too (teach both parties that is) and perhaps extend the range across which you are able to write permanently.

There is a final point too: writing is normally a solitary process, and this approach changes this. It is useful and different working with someone else. In one instance, a collaboration with someone I previously did not know at all led to a friendship and a number of additional and useful projects. My experience is that it can also be fun. Now is anyone out there looking for a collaborator?

I am sure SWWJ can find a way of bringing people together.

The deadline for the next issue of The Woman Writer is Thursday 30th November 2017.

Please ensure that all copy and images are sent to the Editor, Carol Cannavan, on carol@aspire-editorial.co.uk using Microsoft Word or pasting the text into an email. Please do not embed images into the document; always send images separately.

Always use the prefix **WW in the subject line (for example, **WWsuccesses). This helps to identify submissions. Please do not send copy as ‘read only’ PDF files.

Copy can also be sent by post to the Editor, 10 Dury Falls Close, Hornchurch, Essex RM11 3AX United Kingdom, but should be typed rather than handwritten.

Images should be high resolution (300 dpi) and a good size. Photographs are acceptable but not photocopies of book covers. If you are submitting a photo that doesn’t belong to you, please make sure you have permission for it to be published. * NB: These deadlines cannot be changed and any late copy will be published in the email newsletter or held over for the Spring 2018 issue of The Woman Writer, deadline Monday 5th March 2017.

Items for the email newsletter should be sent to Doreen Friend on: doreen.friend@swwj.co.uk

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Drama SWWJ dramatists do it again!

by Martin Cort Report on the Drama Workshop at the Leicester Square Reference Library, St Martin’s Street, London – 3rd June 2017.

The latest SWWJ Drama Workshop session showed once again the imaginations of our writers, covering subjects as various as the ‘Great War’ and a trio of modern young girls going ‘clubbing’.

We were fortunate to have a guest author and dramatist Nicolas Ridley to join us, taking a break from developing his one-man show depicting the life of his famous father Arnold Ridley of Dad’s Army. The session opened with a sketch by Benita Cullingford titled On a Roll. Annie Rutter and Luke Francis brought this amusing misunderstanding to life, which was followed by another duo, Kenneth Michaels and Jane Sheraton, in a tale by Martin Cort called Tuesday Tryst. Madge and Joe have to face up to what to do with the product of their liaison. The Rectory Ghost by Jane Lockyer Willis was beautifully read by Rosemary Macvie, Peter Mair and Peter Stenson. Next, another of Benita’s sketches, One Up, with Mansel David and Peter Stenson, sharing Albert and Clive’s bragging session, amusingly topped with Clive’s one up.

This was followed by Now, by Doreen Friend, who was unable to attend but was keen to have the Workshop members’ reaction to her ‘Shall I go on’, read by Luke Francis. Questions sprang from the listeners.

They wanted to know: ‘What had happened?’, ‘Did the father die naturally?’, ‘What was the meaning of “Did you turn the light out when you left Jimmy?”’ The reactions were a perfect answer to the question, ‘Shall I go on?’ – you must!

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Mary Rensten being presented with a copy of ‘Godfrey's Ghost’ by guest author Nicolas Ridley.

The Other Side of Peace by Dawn Knox is already planned for production. It is a dramatic and horrendous description of World War One in the trenches and as a result, the harsh peace conditions created in Germany, France and Britain: food rationing, lack of work for the men who had returned battered and wounded to find that women had taken their places at work and lack of understanding of the psychological damage from their war experience and the physical damage created by the use of gas.

By the time you read this report, the next Workshop will have taken place on Saturday 23rd September 2017.

Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Poetry Are you interested in poetry?

Photos from the Autumn Lunch

The SWWJ is looking for someone to develop a poetry section in The Woman Writer. If you are interested please contact the Editor. In the meantime, please keep sending in your poems.

Cock Pheasant

by Millie Vigor Silent he comes, noiseless, save for slither of feathers on folding wings.

Sun glints and copper plumage turns to gold.

The summer’s his, freedom to mate and strut the open places.

In my garden, unafraid, he looks me in the eye and I am sad.

He’s been reared by man for man to come and blast him from the sky.

Come Spring and he may not be here.

NEXT DRAMA WORKSHOP

Top: Barbara Field-Holmes and Baroness Floella Benjamine. Below: Sylvia Kent and Baroness Floella Benjamine. See page 22 for full report.

The next Drama Workshop will be at 11am on Saturday 3rd February 2018 at:

The Reference Library Leicester Square, 35 St Martin’s Street, London WC2H 7HP Please note it is St Martin’s Street not Lane. The Librarian is Rossella Black.

Do remember that scripts must be sent to Martin Cort at least 10 days prior to the Workshop. Send your scripts to Martin at:

The deadline for the next issue of The Woman Writer is Thursday 30th November 2017.

Flat F Kingston Mansions, 147 Clapham Road, London SW9 0HP The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

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SCRIPTORA

The story behind SCRIPTORA Mary Rensten explains how the SWWJ's 'assisted' publishing began – and what it now does for our members.

In 2004 my first novel was accepted for publication. What a thrill! After nearly thirty years as a journalist and playwright, I had tackled a new genre... and found success!

I began a second novel and jotted down ideas for further ones; nothing could stop this roller-coaster. Ah... what was that saying about pride coming before a fall?

The publisher went out of business... and my manuscript went back to the drawer, where it sat for a couple of years; I went back to writing drama, rather than experiencing it.

Forget it, Mary, you are not a novelist.

Hang on, though... the book was accepted, therefore it must be good enough for publication. The problem was... no other publisher seemed to want it. So, what now?

Vanity, in connection with publication, was a dirty word; but how about self-publishing?

Other people, quite reputable writers, were now doing it. It was worth a try. I dug out the manuscript, freshened it up, took it to a printer. Two weeks later I collected the fifty copies I had ordered and brought them home in the boot of my car. My local independent bookshop, now sadly no longer there, agreed to stock the book and gave me a launch, to which the local press came.

My photo, and a lovely plug for the book, appeared in the weekly newspaper The Hertfordshire Mercury and it was reviewed very favourably in The Woman Writer.

16

I had by now garnered some very useful information about publishing, which would be helpful when I set out to get my second novel into print. But that was yet to come: I was only about halfway through! In the meantime, though, perhaps I could use my new-found knowledge to benefit others in the SWWJ, members who were seeking publication in a genre new to them, or poets who were finding it difficult to get their work published in book form.

I drafted out a plan for this venture, giving it the publishing name I had used for my own book, and presented it to the SWWJ Council. They liked the idea... and the name. SCRIPTORA (SWWJ) was born!

You won't find the word in any dictionary, well, not yet anyway! It is derived from scriptor, Latin for writer. Published writers back then being, as far as we know, male, there was no need for a feminine form of the word. No problem: add an 'a', and you have it – SCRIPTORA! We published our first book, After The Battle, a volume of poems by prize-winning Sussex writer Fay Marshall, in 2010, and in 2012, Susato, a semi-autobiographical, lyrical novel

by Liverpool poet Alfa, which has since been translated into German. We now have ten titles on our list, and six more – four novels, a book of poems and an autobiography – Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

SCRIPTORA currently awaiting publication. Yes, it's a small concern, but it is a growing one, and our authors can be proud to have their work published by us, knowing that, before being accepted, it has gone through a rigorous vetting process by professional readers, as with any submission to a commercial publisher, making this an 'assisted' publishing facility, rather than a self-publishing one.

So, how does SCRIPTORA work? Members send for an Application Form and Notes for Writers, then submit their work, together with the names of two people of literary standing who will endorse it.

The manuscripts, preferably sent as email attachments (although hard copy is acceptable), go to two readers. If both consider the work worthy of publication, it will move on to the next stage, which may well involve some 'tweaking' and/or rewriting; that done, the manuscript has a second round of reading, and if it passes that, it is then prepared for the printer.

Throughout all this the writer has help, advice and general mentoring from our experienced editorial team, who will ensure that our publications, whether paperbacks or ebooks, meet professional standards in content and presentation. The only charge for this service is, at the moment, an admin fee of £15! The bulk of the cost, though, aside from the ISBN, is paid by the author. He/she pays for the readers' assessments – at a special rate to SWWJ members of £12 per hour, with £50 The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

for an initial critique – and then for the printing and any artwork for the cover.

As with all publishers, the writer has to play his/her part in publicising the book; here again we give assistance, through the SWWJ press and social media contacts. Blogs, together with Twitter and Facebook, are proving to be a wonderful, far-reaching, and generally free, way of spreading the word about new work.

Writers are, for the most part, retiring, modest people, but we are learning not to be so... and this beguiling, easy-to-use 21st century technology is helping us no end to overcome our shyness!

Alfa's Susato has had very good sales, particularly in Germany, poet Doris Corti's much praised Avenue of Days has sold out, Alex Rushton's dystopic novel Sunrise at An Lac has had brilliant reviews, and my own novel, the book that started the SCRIPTORA ball rolling, was republished commercially two years ago as Letters from Malta and became an ebook best-seller in Australia!

I am so pleased that I took that first step into publishing: I love to see other writers being successful and it's good to think that SCRIPTORA is contributing to their success.

For more information and contact details go to www.swwj.co.uk and click on 'About Us' and scroll down to SCRIPTORA. This article was first published in August 2017, in the online magazine for writers and publishers ‘Words With Jam’.

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Christmas Tea Party Come and join us!

There’s nothing better than catching up with old friends (and making new ones) in the festive season. The SWWJ’s Christmas Tea Party on 6th December gives you the opportunity to network, relax with friends and to have a very enjoyable afternoon.

You can bring books to sell at this event, so that must be a bonus. There will of course be a raffle (offerings appreciated) and a ‘bring and buy’ table to help boost Society funds.

A ‘pay’ bar will be set up in the room, for that little bit of extra Christmas spirit. On top of that, there will be a scrummy selection of sandwiches, cakes and pastries.

So, put it in your diary, complete the form opposite and get it in the post before you forget.

See you there!

The National Liberal Club is a lovely setting for the event.

Photos from the Autumn Luncheon at the NLC

See page 22 for full report.

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Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Christmas Tea Party

Christmas Tea Party Wednesday 6th December 2017 at The National Liberal Club, London SW1A 2HE Arrive 1.30pm for 1.45pm (Application form can be photocopied) Name ……………………………………………….

Membership No. ……………

Address .….…….…………………..………………….…………….……….…………. ………………………………………………. ……

No. @£18.50 ...…..….

Postcode …………………….

Guests @£19.50 .…..…… Cheque amount ……………

Name of Guest(s) ………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………

Any dietary requests: (Please ensure you list all dietary requests. These cannot be provided without notice.) ……………………………………………………………………………………………

BOOKINGS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 27th November. There can be no refunds after this date. Please send completed form with any dietary requests, together with a cheque made payable to SWWJ, to: Benita Cullingford, 5 Cunningham Avenue, St Albans, Herts AL1 1JJ. Receipts are available on the day. Tickets are not being issued. If you would like an acknowledgement please add your email address below.

Email: ......................................................................................................................................................

The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

19

Fiction focus

Know your brand, sell your book Vivien Hampshire shares her advice.

W

hen a new author sets out to write a novel, they usually have a pretty good idea of who their characters are and what is going to happen to them but, enthusiastic as they may be and exciting though their story may sound, that just may not be enough to get it noticed.

It is vitally important in the modern world of publishing to know, even before you start to write, just where your novel is going to fit in the market, if stories of that kind are currently popular, and who its readers are likely to be. Knowing how to sell a novel, and an author, is just as important these days as knowing how to write the book itself. So, when you approach an agent or publisher, be prepared to answer these very important questions:

Who are you?

This is your chance to sell yourself as a competent writer with something unique to offer. Where do you live? What jobs have you had? Do you have an unusual hobby?

And, more importantly, is any of that relevant? Does it inform, illuminate or

improve your writing? If not, cut it out!

What is your writing history? Have you a track record in journalism or short stories, or won any writing competitions? Don’t worry if it’s a No. Introduce yourself as someone who will be professional and easy to work with, and your book as something they simply must read!

Who are you like?

It helps an agent or publisher to picture where you might slot into an already crowded market if you can compare your writing to that of someone already famous and selling well. Are you a cross between Maeve Binchy and Agatha Christie (cosy crime set in Dublin)? Are you writing laugh-out-loud rom-coms like Milly Johnson, with a touch of the sinister thrown in? Or is your heroine a female teenage spy, in the style of Ian Fleming meets Jacqueline Wilson? Don’t be shy about it, but try not to boast that your book is going to be an instant bestseller either!

What is your brand?

Authors all tend to have a ‘brand’ or Unique Selling Point these days. Whether it’s ‘The Queen of Chick-lit’, ‘Racing’s Number One Storyteller’ or ‘The Master of Edwardian Crime’, it helps readers recognise at a glance just what it is they are getting when they open every one of your novels that they may not find elsewhere. Okay, you cannot yet claim a literary crown, but you can exploit your insider knowledge or

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Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Fiction focus specialist topic and try to categorise yourself in a way that immediately tells potentially interested parties what you have to offer: Criminal underworld exposed, Tragedy in the trenches, Behind the scenes at the Palace, Victorian raunchy romps… but if you later decide to change tack and write a totally different sort of book you may well have to create a new brand and use a new name!

What genre is your book?

Genre is the broad category into which a story falls. It’s a way of labelling the story (not necessarily the author) which helps publishers to target the right readership, and helps booksellers ‘pigeonhole’ it on the right shelf. Genre is the type of story. Examples might include: horror, science fiction, romance, thriller, crime, erotica... Not every story falls neatly into one specific genre, so many smaller sub-genres have developed, eg historical romance, political thriller, World War Two saga, etc. Novels which cross the barrier between two very different genres are notoriously difficult to sell to a publisher as they don’t know how to market them, i.e. which group of readers to target.

Does it have a theme?

to help you with that terrifying 30 second ‘elevator’ pitch you might have to deliver at a moment’s notice!

Now, tell us the plot The plot is the real nitty-gritty: what actually happens in your novel. It’s the series of events which lead the characters through the ups and downs and twists and turns of the story, towards the conclusion. In a longer story there may also be several smaller strands or sub-plots, to give more interest and depth, to give the minor characters some storyline of their own, and in some crime-based stories to introduce a few red herrings. All sub-plots must link in to the main plotline and be relevant to the overall story. If you’ve come this far and managed to sell yourself and your story idea, the final hurdle is when the agent or publisher agrees to read the opening pages so they can judge your writing style, and you have to explain the rest of the plot, succinctly but without leaving anything important out. Enter the dreaded synopsis (just a page or two), which lays out all the main characters and events, including the ending. Crack that, and you just might get a deal!

Theme is what the story is about. The theme can be as simple as revenge, the struggle against poverty, the destructive power of jealousy, or the strength of maternal love. Or there can be an overall message or lesson implied throughout the story, sometimes a moral one, such as: crime doesn’t pay, good triumphs over evil, or the early bird catches the worm. Not every story has a clearly recognised theme in such obvious terms, and there may be more than one underlying theme, especially in a longer story, but it’s a great way of pinning the story down to a short pithy phrase when you don’t have time for lengthy explanations, or The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

21

Autumn Luncheon

A great success!

Report on the Autumn Luncheon from Vivien Hampshire.

I

n the grand but comfortable surroundings of the National Liberal Club in Whitehall, around thirty members and guests gathered on 21st September to enjoy a delicious three-course lunch and to meet our new President, Baroness Floella Benjamin, for the first time.

After a welcome from our Chairman Barbara Field-Holmes, Floella took to the microphone with a short but inspiring speech in which she paid tribute to the SWWJ as an all-embracing and forwardthinking society. As women writers, we are blessed to be able to write, and words are powerful, she said. They can change people’s lives, embrace all colours and backgrounds, and make people feel they belong. We should always write, not just for financial reward, but because it is the right thing to do. Women know how tough it is to be a woman, and as such, she believes, we should take the emphasis away from how we look, and instead nurture and support each other.

As writers, we can do this not only through our actions, but through our words and the emotions they can evoke.

Baroness Floella Benjamin

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Nicola Beauman

Floella has a strong interest in children and believes that everything we do affects them, how they feel and how they view themselves.

Having recently judged a children’s writing competition, she was impressed by the imagination, quality and freedom in the many entries from young girls, and feels that the writing of the future is in very good hands, but that it is up to us to pave the way for them. As our new President, she is very much looking forward to being part of that journey.

With her husband Keith beside her, and several male guests in attendance, Floella also reminded us that the SWWJ was founded by a man, and expressed her gratitude for the men who work beside us and support us – not as ‘them and us’ but in partnership – before leading us in a round of applause for the men in our lives.

After our meal, served as ever by the friendly and helpful waiting staff of the NLC, Pamela Payne introduced our speaker for the afternoon, Nicola Beauman. Nicola gave us a brief overview of her experiences as a young woman at Cambridge in the 1970s and her growing interest in the many unsung and unappreciated women writers of the past.

Women’s fiction was not being read and was Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Autumn Luncheon not represented on the curriculum and, when she decided to write a book about women writers, she was told she couldn’t ‘because they aren’t any’!

After receiving a crushing report from a publisher’s reader for her first three chapters, Nicola abandoned her book for many years in favour of the expected path for a woman – marriage and children – but she knew things had to change when she realised that waiting for the arrival of the second post had become the highlight of her day!

After filling her time with a library course and writing mini-biographies for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography for virtually no pay, Nicola made the decision in 1998 to found her own publishing company, specialising in reprints of books by women writers, and Persephone Books was born in a Clerkenwell basement. She published 12 books in the first year, but sales were slow as nobody had heard of the company and newspapers refused to review reprinted books, so Nicola made the move to mail order, took a stand at Country Living, and slowly began to build her business. And then… a bestseller! Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, a 1930s novel by Winifred Watson, sold its initial run of 2,000 copies and there have been reprints ever since. Persephone Books left its basement office and moved into a shop near Great Ormond Street, where it is still based today with 125 books to its name, three staff, an annual turnover of £500,000 and ongoing profits.

So, what makes a book gripping? Why do some books, and some authors, succeed while others disappear? Her own criteria (and she admits to being picky) are that a book must leave her feeling gutted and ‘wrung out’ when she gets to the end.

There needs to be a plot, so she feels the book is actually ‘about something’, and she has a deep interest in women’s lives, especially from the interwar period when so The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

much was changing for them. She publishes a few male authors but the main focus has always been on women.

As to production values, Persephone use the same grey binding for all their books, varied only by the individual end papers, which reflect a design from the period when each book was originally written. Twelve of her titles now also appear in the ‘classic’ range, with colour pictures on their covers, which attract a slightly different clientele. She has never introduced a redesign, having set the ‘look’ in 1998 and never felt the need to change it.

There are other things on offer too: a twiceyearly magazine, free catalogues, a mailing list, events, and a monthly book group with bread, cheese and Madeira. And, with Christmas coming, Persephone offer wrapped box sets of six books likely to appeal to mothers, children, chefs, etc, which make lovely gifts. Nicola answered a few questions from the floor, with Floella being particularly curious about the range of books available for children, and then retired to the book table, where she was able to show off and sell some of her beautiful books. There will be an open day at the shop on 7th December, with free gift wrapping for all purchases. Why not pay them a visit?

Find out more at the website: www.persephonebooks.co.uk

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Member viewpoint

Why I’m turning down a contract

by Dr Penny Grubb

I

’ve been in a long-running conversation with a publisher. It began when they contacted me eighteen months ago and offered me a contract to write a book. I turned them down.

The book was to be on a topic that I find fascinating, that I’ve written about before, that had the potential to do some real good, and was a sure-fire global best-seller. That ‘No’, on the face of it, looks perverse.

It was not an easy decision, made less easy by them returning several times to ask me to reconsider. After all, authors tend not to reject publishers. It’s usually the other way round.

What they wanted was a new edition of a textbook. Along with a co-author I’d written the first edition back in the nineties and the second edition in 2005. In the world of software engineering, a 12-year-old book is way past its sell-by date, little more than a museum piece. But ours hadn’t gone that route and is still very much in use. We didn’t write a technical manual; we went all out to focus on underlying principles, to foster understanding, to dig deep, to cover the major topics while avoiding undue focus on fads and fashion. In that respect we’ve stood the test of time. But although our book is still actively used in universities and colleges on five continents, it has grown long in the tooth. Theories have developed, the field has moved on, major strides have been made in the last decade, and our book predates them. And last, but by no means least, my writing skills have improved.

The last time I saw our book used as a major source for an article was Summer 2017. I read that article with interest, but 24

while a proprietorial smile played at my lips, there were moments where my whole being shrivelled into that unstoppable spasm of biting unexpectedly into a lemon. No, I wanted to shout, that’s not right. We never meant you to infer that. I dived into the book and thumbed through to see if it could be interpreted the wrong way. Uh-oh, yes it could. How could I have missed that? The answer is that today I wouldn’t miss it, but twelve years ago I did, and so did my coauthor. Just another reason that third edition is sorely needed.

Many times over the months, my fingers have itched to email the publisher. We’ve changed our minds, I want to say, we’ll write the third edition.

Only it’s not that simple. I don’t work in engineering anymore; I work in healthcare.

Say ‘scrum and sprint’ to me and I’m more likely to think rugby and athletics than Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Member viewpoint software engineering. ‘Scrum and sprint’ is just one of many techniques that have been developed and honed since I was in the field – brilliant concepts, theoretically sound and practical, catching the loose ends from some of the methods we struggled with; new ways to get things done and get them done right.

But it’s the tip of a very large iceberg.

I could catch up again. It would mean a lot of focused reading – that’s fine, as a writer, I know how to read. I still have contacts in the relevant fields. I can even play the email, Skype and telephone tennis necessary to collaborate with my co-author. Many years ago he applied all the material we put into the far-off first edition and founded a multinational company on the back of those resilient principles. He now routinely commutes between continents, has no spare time and is a difficult guy to pin down. Yes, I could get back up to speed, but where is this going to fit? The time and focus needed do not accord with a day job; the subject matter no longer matches the role I’m employed to carry out. It would take the best part of a year. Even supposing I could negotiate the time, it would be unpaid. Is that a problem?

I’ll end up with a share of a global best-seller.

Won’t that cover the bills?

Ah well, here’s the rub. As an academic writer, it’s part of my job to write. I get a salary so I’m not reliant on royalties. The first edition of the book was well received, garnering some prestigious and constructively critical reviews that helped to shape the second edition into the worldwide success that it became. It was the second edition that went digital, and having gone digital it plunged into a black hole labelled bootleg, brigand and buccaneer. Never mind covering me for a year off work, the royalties from legitimate sales wouldn’t keep me in coffee for a week.

When I was still an engineer, the writing and researching time was directly paid for as part The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

of my academic day job, but it still chafed to have written such a successful book and seen so little financial return. It’s not just the money; it’s the effect on my motivation.

It would be an enormous amount of hard work, it would earn a lot for the pirates, but next to nothing for its authors. That’s a huge demotivator.

“I keep sending out the take-down notices,” says one of my other publishers, “but it’s whack-a-mole territory. For every one I hit, another dozen pop up.” Books that are worth pirating, some say, will anyway earn their authors a lot of money. That might hold true for popular fiction – not that I’m saying it does, and nor do I agree with the underlying premise that theft in these circumstances is ok – but it doesn’t hold for textbooks.

I didn’t jump directly from engineering to healthcare. I spent a decade in between fighting the good fight for authors’ rights.

I know a lot of about piracy and the quantifiable harm that it does. Yet it has taken this experience to bring home to me that significant benefit is being lost from books that will never be written. That ‘No’, regretfully, will remain a No. 25

Writing school

Swanwick Writers’ Summer School

by Julia Underwood

Y

ears ago a dear friend told me about Swanwick, the annual writers’ summer school in Derbyshire. It wasn’t until this year that I decided to go.

It didn’t hurt that a friend from my writing group also wanted to go and, best of all, she was prepared to drive.

People on their first year at Swanwick are known as White Badgers (not albino animals!). Everything possible is done to make them welcome and make sure their experience is positive. Next year will be Swanwick’s 70th anniversary and many of the people I met have been going for years – some as many as thirty!

We could not have been given a warmer welcome. Everyone we encountered was friendly and helpful. They generously guided us through the process of settling in and finding our way around the complex of buildings.

The site, the Hayes Conference Centre, can hold up to 400 delegates. We were 285.

The large main house, built in 1850, has been a Christian Conference Centre since 1911.

During the Second World War it was requisitioned and used as a prisoner of war camp for Germans and Italians. The house has been extended over the years and a sprawling complex of buildings has been added with accommodation, catering and teaching blocks. All this is set in 100 acres of beautifully tended grounds and gardens, including a lake.

All this took a little getting used to. But within a day or two of our seven-night stay we were no longer becoming lost and managed to turn up to most things on time.

Food was served buffet-style and eaten in 26

photographer - Allison Symes

two dining halls. Sometimes the noise was deafening; 285 writers talking can make a lot of noise. Tea and coffee were available at all hours and the bar was open at lunchtime and in the evening, giving the night-owls the opportunity to make merry.

The tutorial programme is extensive and changes each year. This is just a taster of the courses available to us: • Writing Popular Fiction with Sue Moorcroft • Fiction for Children and Young People with Jon Mayhew • Scriptwriting with Paul Dodgson (also Life Writing) • Non-Fiction with Jacqueline Jeynes • A Year in Poetry with Alison Chisholm • Short Stories with Della Galton And many more, as well as several workshops. Of course, it wasn’t possible to attend everything, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t try. By the end of the week everyone was in a state of exhaustion, especially the Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

SWWJ competitions newbies – we’ll know better next time.

On most evenings, after dinner, we had a speaker. These included Stephen Booth, crime writer, Sophie Hannah, psychological crime thrillers, Cathy Cassidy, children’s author, and Imogen Cooper, Senior Children’s Editor.

We were entertained further by a quiz night, a fancy dress disco, a busker’s night and poetry and prose open-mic sessions.

The delegates had been invited, in advance, to submit short plays for page-to-stage performances, which turned out to be very entertaining. On the last evening there was a party and then speeches and music to wind up the week.

For my first experience of this writers’ conference I can only say that I enjoyed myself thoroughly. How lovely it was to chat with friendly people with the same interests.

I haven’t talked so much in months. One thing about writers – they’re never short of something to say. Oh, and I sold one of my own books in the Book Room. Result!

Congratulations!

Writing for Children Competition winners First place went to Marilyn Pemberton for her fast-paced adventure story Target Practice.

Our judge, Ann Evans, was impressed with the well-defined characters, the way the narrative ‘painted pictures’, and the quirky surprise ending. Marilyn has never tried writing for children before, so was especially thrilled with her win!

In second place was Beryl Fleming, with The Nativity Play, a funny, rhyming story that would appeal to children and adults alike.

Third place went to Benita Cullingford, with Hen Friends, an extract from a play for children, with dialogue and stage directions that the judge described as ‘faultless’.

Patrick Forsyth’s fairy story, Twice Upon a Time, was awarded a Highly Commended certificate.

If any member would like to see a copy of the judging report please email: vivienhampshire@btinternet.com

The Elizabeth Longford Poetry Competition 2018 This competition is for a poem written in any style. Maximum 40 lines

Theme: Water First prize: £100 Second prize: £50 Third prize: £25 to be awarded at the Spring Tea in London on Wednesday 14th March 2018 Competition judge: Claire Dyer Closing date: 5th January 2018 Entry fee: £5 per entry, or £12 for three entries Please send your entries to: Vivien Hampshire, 16 Abingdon Close, Uxbridge, Middx UB10 0BU Please read the competition RULES on the SWWJ website – www.swwj.co.uk – before submitting your poems.

The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

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SWWJ competitions Meet our competition judge...

Margaret Mounsdon was the winner of our second Winner Takes All competition in 2016, where the brief was to write a complete story starting with the six words: ‘I never knew why she left’. Having ‘been there and done that’, Margaret has kindly agreed to read and judge the entries this time around. Here’s what she has to say about herself and her writing life: “I have been writing since we bought our first home computer in 2000 and I ‘retired’.

I have to say that I now have what I consider to be one of the best jobs in the world. I write short stories for the popular women’s magazines as well as pocket novels for People’s Friend and My Weekly. To date I have had thirty-one pocket novels published, all of which are available on Amazon and in large print. On a personal level I had a varied

career before I took up writing. I worked for a barrister in London, then as a bilingual secretary in Europe.

I also worked as a customer relations officer at Gatwick Airport before I wound up in a nursing home for the elderly – on the front desk I hasten to add. By the time I gave up the day job my mind was teeming with ideas. When people ask where I get my ideas and how they can get published, I always say think about your own life. It may seem dull to you but things happen to all of us and if you draw on your own personal reserves it’s surprising what you can come up with.”

You can find out more about Margaret and her work at www.margaretmounsdon.co.uk

SWWJ ‘Winner Takes All’ Competition Theme: RED You can write whatever you like: fiction, fact, prose, poetry, a whole story or just an intriguing extract - but it MUST feature something RED! Maximum 250 words (excluding title) The winner receives a cash prize equivalent to total entry fees received.

The more entries we receive, the bigger the prize!

Competition fee: only £2 per entry No limit to how many entries you can send. Entry open to SWWJ Full and Associate members only. Entries will be judged by Margaret Mounsdon.

Please send your entry, with your name, membership number and contact details on a separate page, with a cheque payable to SWWJ to: Vivien Hampshire, 16 Abingdon Close, Uxbridge, Middx UB10 0BU, to arrive by the closing date: 31st December 2017.

Please read competition RULES on the SWWJ website – www.swwj.co.uk (You may include a stamped self-addressed postcard if you wish us to acknowledge receipt of your entry.) Winner to be announced and prize presented at the new SWWJ Spring Tea on Wednesday 14th March 2018. Please keep the date free in your diary!

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Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Tech talk Am I a twit to tweet?

by Carol Cannavan If you had asked me that question a couple of years ago, I probably would have said yes!

The way I saw it was, what could you possibly accomplish with only 140 characters to work with? Well, you only have to look at tweets by Donald Trump to realise you could bring about a nuclear war!

I’m still relatively new to Twitter, but I now understand why it can be a powerful tool when it comes to self-promotion. It’s simple to use and over 90 million people are accessing it every month!

Where do I start?

It’s pretty straightforward to open a Twitter account. Go to https://twitter.com/signup – enter your full name, mobile number and a password, then click ‘sign up for Twitter’. You will be sent a SMS text message with a code.

Enter the verification code in the box provided, then you will be able to select a username.

I have to admit, it took me ages to think of a suitable ‘handle’. I guess it’s not a problem if you are just using your name, but I wanted to be identified with what I was doing.

Every single username I put in was rejected because it was already in use. I nearly gave up. Eventually I put in @PlumbCareer, which was accepted. My sole reason for opening a Twitter account was to promote my book A Career in Plumbing. You will appreciate, this type of non-fiction book isn’t at the top of the ‘must read’ list, so I need all the help I can get.

I do know that Twitter is working for me, because there is a correlation between promotional tweets and selling books.

Earlier this year I was contacted by one of my ‘followers’ and asked if I would like to The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

write a blog for a careers’ website. That also gave me a boost in sales. You never know who is reading your tweets, or what opportunities it might bring.

Once you have an account, you can download the Twitter app to your mobile, iPad, tablet or computer. Usually, once you are logged in that’s it, every time you open the app you’ll be able to use it (unless for some reason you log out).

Don’t panic!

There isn’t enough space here to explain how to get the best out of your account.

However, there is a lot of easy to follow information on the Twitter website, including short videos, to help you get started. If there is something you don’t understand – Google it!

You’ll need to build a list of followers, and to do that you will follow others that you think are interesting. Oh, and don’t forget to include a link to your website/book/blog, it doesn’t take up too many characters – images don’t have any characters deducted.

So, one of the first things you need to do is... ‘follow’ me – @PlumbCareer – and I will follow you back. Also, follow @SWWJ to keep up to date with all the latest Society news. This is where you can do your bit to retweet events/news, etc.

All that is left for me to say is good luck and happy tweeting!

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When I was not upon this page...

Stakeout

by Doreen Friend I went on a stakeout with a pair of detectives who were after a very nasty villain. As chief reporter on an East London newspaper, I jumped at the chance of spending an evening with two of CID’s finest, on the trail of a man who had carried out a number of serious assaults on women.

I arrived at the nick (police station) at the appointed time and waited in the foyer for ‘the lads’ to come and get me. While standing there rubbing shoulders with a couple of criminals on report,* I imagined relaxing in a sleek black patrol car with soft leather upholstery, as the daring duo sped through the streets with a diamond blue light flashing and loud sirens filling the soft evening light with a warning to law-breakers everywhere.

Anyone who has ever watched a cop show on TV knows that eating on patrol or immediately after making an arrest is an essential part of a police officer’s remit. I rehearsed my order in my head: ‘salami on rye, double cheeseburger, fries and pretzels, steaming cups of black coffee and mugs of hot chocolate’.

Reality hit me so hard that it felt like a blow to the head. The patrol car arrived, a grimy, grey middle-aged Mondeo that had seen better days. This was not upmarket upstate New York where the police rode in limousines; this was downtown East London where only the chief of police owned a car less than a decade old.

Detective Inspector Mick and Detective Sergeant Dave (not their real names) told me to sit on the back seat, don’t call out of the window and be prepared to make my own way home if the culprit became violent.

It was vital to catch the attacker in the act so Mick drove to a small piece of waste land 30

at the rear of some buildings, one of which was a ladies’ toilet block where the bad guy had assaulted women inside.

Mick parked the car yards from the rear of the block and the stakeout began. We waited for what seemed like days but the attacker never appeared.† It was getting cold, the heater was broken and the only heat came from the tremendous amount of hot air that Mick and Dave let out as they talked non-stop about their wife, kids, boss, aches and pains and the villains they almost caught.

My first police stakeout ended after Dave went to get something to eat and drink. My mouth watered at the thought of coffee and hot dogs. Sadly, Dave returned with a bag of stale doughnuts and three cups of cold tea. *Criminals on probation often have to call in (report) to the desk sergeant once a week. †The attacker was caught some weeks later, was convicted and sent to prison.

Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Around the regions News from Moonraker Country

by Dee La Vardera I've been looking at old graffiti on my travels around Wiltshire, scrutinising brick walls and stone facades for initials and dates, taking photos to look at later and think about the people behind the carvings.

How about the early 17th century names carved on the life-size alabaster effigy of Sir Roger Tocotes in the Bayntun Chapel, St Nicholas Church, Bromham – where, incidentally, the Irish poet Thomas Moore is buried. T WILLIAM declares it is 1641 and TIMOTHY RICHARDS 1621. You can run your fingers over the deep cuts in the monument and think of the choirboys and Roundhead thugs, presumably, who had time on their hands.

And what about F Holmes 1887, who inscribes her name on a wall inside The Duchess of Somerset Hospital, at Froxfield, near Marlborough, former almshouse built in 1695 for widows of the clergy, now sheltered housing. Life revolved around the Chapel and rules were strict – even into

The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

the 20th century. In 1938, it is recorded – 'An application from Mrs Spicer to have an electric iron was not permitted'.

I have just come across Chantel Summerfield, an arborglyph reader, who studies inscriptions engraved into tree trunks by troops during the two World Wars. She traces the military and family history of the soldiers involved – including those stationed on Salisbury Plain. I'd love to look at some of those now.

We all want to be remembered. As writers, we spend our days creating stories to be read by others – making our marks on paper rather than on someone else's wall or tomb – I trust!

Visit Dee’s new website and blog: https://dewfall-hawk.com/

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Markets & Competitions Writing opportunities

by Carol Cannavan Here’s a round-up of markets and writing competitions to keep you busy!

Although every effort is made to gather correct information, it is best to contact individual publications and ask for the current writing guidelines.

It’s very important to study your market, it can make all the difference between acceptance and rejection.

UK markets Fairlight Books has a mission to promote contemporary literary fiction and quality writing, whatever the genre and however it is published. They aim to bring together a community with a shared passion – a love of books and great writing. Novels and novellas are published in print and digital formats, and authors receive royalties. They only publish a small amount of books each year, but are looking for submissions. For longer fiction send 10,000 words and a one-page synopsis. Include a cover letter introducing yourself and your writing. They also have short stories on their website.

Take a Break are on the lookout for tips for their Brainwaves section. They pay £50 if they use your tip and photo. Material can be emailed or uploaded to their website.

Email: tab.brainwaves@bauermedia.co.uk Website: https://takeabreak.co.uk/contact/send-usyour-brainwave/ Andrew Lownie Literary Agency says it is always looking to take on new authors but only accepts submissions by email. About half their list consists of previously unpublished writers and the agency takes considerable trouble assessing the several thousands of submissions each year.

Their website has information on submitting material – they are looking for fiction and non-fiction books, but there is a special emphasis on history and biography. You can subscribe to their monthly e-newsletter, which has book publishing tips and news.

For all non-fiction submissions and queries, please email: mail@andrewlownie.co.uk For fiction, please email: david.haviland@andrewlownie.co.uk Website: www.andrewlownie.co.uk

Email: submissions@fairlightbooks.com Website: www.fairlightbooks.co.uk Writing Magazine offers a copy of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2018 for their Star Letter each month. They are looking for a maximum of 250 words. Include your name and address when emailing letters and make sure they are original. Alternatively, post to Writing Magazine, Warners Group Publications plc, 5th Floor, 31-32 Park Row, Leeds LS1 5JD. Email: letters@writersnews.co.uk 32

Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Markets & Competitions Overseas markets

Competitions

New Haven Publishing is looking for nonfiction book proposals from around the world. They particularly enjoy books that cross boundaries, look at topics from a new angle or have personal insight or new information on popular topics. They tend to go for non-fiction in the music and entertainment business, but won’t turn down a good book if it doesn’t fit the bill.

New Haven accepts unsolicited material and manuscripts sent via a literary agent or scout. They are growing fast and the time to get through submissions can take up to six months, so they urge authors to be patient.

Writers’ Forum Poetry This monthly contest from the glossy magazine Writers’ Forum is for poems of up to 40 lines on any theme.

Prize: £100 and a Chambers dictionary. Visit their website to download a postal entry form.

Entry fee: £4 each, or £6 if you want a short critique (enclose sae for the critique if entering by post).

Email: submissions@newhavenpublishingltd. com

Website: http://www.writers-forum. com/ poetrycomp.html

Website: www.newhavenpublishingltd.com Delta Sky is looking for expertly executed stories about travel, lifestyle and business.

Features range from 600–2,000 words. They also use very small 100-word pieces to longer 500-word columns. If your pitch is accepted, please remember to include sources for fact-checking.

Destinations should be a mix of domestic and international locales, and they should be of interest for a specific reason. Perhaps a place epitomizes a new trend in traveling.

Or maybe there is a fascinating but obscure event every year that makes the trip worth it. Visit their website for guidelines.

Website: www.deltaskymag.com Counter-Narratives welcome non-fiction, fiction and poetry. Both flash and long form (up to 5,000 words) are accepted. They have a proclivity for stories composed by marginalised voices that speak to the realities of the Southwest (USA).

Website: www.counternarrativesanthology.com The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

Closing date: Monthly. Entries arriving too late for one month automatically go forward to the next.

Ink Tears Short Story Short stories between 1,000 and 3,500 words.

Prizes: £1,000, £100, four prizes of £25 for highly commended stories. Full rules for submissions on their website.

Entry fee: £7.50 Closing date: 30th November 2017 Website: www.inktears.com Congleton Playwriting Congleton Players are proud to announce their acclaimed One-Act Playwriting Festival for 2017/18. The short-listed plays will be performed at Daneside Theatre on Saturday 7th July 2018 and members of the audience also get the opportunity of voting for their favourite play of the evening.

Prize: £150 Entry fee: Free Closing date: 30th November 2017 Website: http://congletonplayers.com

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Markets & Competitions Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Looking for full-length novels, 30,000-80,000 words, suitable for readers aged 7-18.

Prizes: Publication deal worth £10,000. All long-listed writers receive an editorial report.

Entry fee: £15 Closing date: 18th December 2017 Website: www.hebatescompetition.org.uk

HE Bates Short Story Short stories up to 2,000 words.

Prizes: £500, £200, £100 and £100 for best short story by a Northampton writer not winning another prize.

The Head Judge this year is Tony Klinger.

Tony has worked in the film industry for many years as a producer and director. His work includes The Avengers TV series in the sixties and the film about The Who, The Kids Are Alright. The prize-giving will be in Northampton in February at a date to be announced.

Entry fee: £6, £10 for two Closing date: 4th December 2017 Website: www.hebatescompetition.org.uk The Writers Award Man Booker winner, Anne Enright, to chair the judges. They are looking for between 20,000 and 30,000 words of a work in progress by a first-time author. Check website for entry details.

Prize: £10,000 Entry fee: Free

Ruth Rendell Short Story Short stories up to 1,000 words.

Prize: £1,000 and commission to write four further stories for InterAct Reading Service over the course of one year. Visit website for further details.

Entry fee: £15 Closing date: 22nd December 2017 Website: www.interactstrokesupport.org Fiction Factory Short Story All types of stories are welcome (excluding children’s and young adult fiction). Maximum length of story 3,000 words.

Prizes: £150, £50 and two merit prizes of £25. The competition is UK based but international entries are welcome! Further details can be found on their website.

Entry fee: £6 (optional critique: £5) Closing date: 7th January 2018 Website: www.fiction-factory.biz

Closing date: 13th December 2017 Website: www.deborahrogersfoundation.org 34

Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Book reviews A Daisy Blossoms

by Cecilia Pyke Published by: New Generation Publishing ISBN: 978-1-908775-88-7 Reviewed by Kay Seeley A thoroughly enjoyable read. The opening takes us immediately into 1850s Victorian London and introduces us to Daisy and her family. Vivid descriptions of the setting and people Daisy meets on her rounds selling cress leave us in no doubt about the sort of world Daisy lives in. When she finds her family have gone into the workhouse, Daisy is left to fend for herself on the streets. She meets up with other street children who befriend her but life on the streets is tough for a naive young girl like Daisy. Determined to better herself, Daisy is a compelling character and I found myself rooting for her when her trusting nature leads her into increasingly difficult situations. Eventually Daisy does find some good friends she can rely on and who don't let her down, but most of Daisy's good fortune comes through her own efforts.

Well written, honest and believable, the story romps along with many ups and downs for Daisy until it reaches a happy and satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended.

The Consequence of Love

by Sandra Howard Published by: Simon & Schuster ISBN: 978-1-4711-1139-6 Reviewed by Vivien Hampshire

all-consuming love and its life-changing consequences. Her characters inhabit a privileged world of wealth and high-powered politics, inherited houses, holiday villas, hired help, and lunch at The Savoy, yet their problems and emotions remain very real.

Pakistani journalist Ahmed has foiled a terrorist bomb plot and saved many lives, but the extremists are out for revenge and he has had to flee the country, assume a new identity and disappear. The story begins seven years later. Not knowing if Ahmed is dead or alive, his lover Nattie has hastily married ex-drug addict Hugo and settled into a comfortable, if passionless, life with him and their two young children. When Ahmed suddenly returns, Nattie’s life and emotions are thrown into instant turmoil.

Readers like to feel empathy with a main character, and I feel that Sandra Howard has taken a big risk in creating a heroine like Nattie, so quick to fall straight back into Ahmed’s arms (and bed), abandon her vulnerable husband to his misery and addictions, move her children in with a man they have never met, and ultimately put their lives at risk. Where is her willpower, her loyalty, her maternal conscience? Is her immense love for him reason enough?

As Ahmed’s enemies track him down and danger closes in, will newly pregnant Nattie take Hugo’s children and run with her lover, or sacrifice her own passion to keep her family together and safe?

Sandra keeps us guessing to the very end.

A sub-plot involving the perilous attempted rescue of a young Pakistani girl from an enforced marriage (freedom to choose vs oppressive family duty) provides obvious echoes of Nattie’s own plight. A powerful story, but definitely controversial.

Sandra Howard’s latest novel examines the destructive and often reckless nature of The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

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Book reviews Gold Digger

by Sue Benwell Published by: Mardibooks Price: £10.00 ISBN: 978-1-9092-2795-8 Reviewed by Roberta Grieve Journalist Kate Hartley goes to Snowdonia to interview gold prospector Tom (Digger) Johns. However, things do not work out in quite the way she’d imagined when she meets famous Hollywood actor David Evans, who is back in his homeland seeking a reliable ghost writer to write his biography.

This wonderful opportunity goes sour almost immediately when Kate’s detested stepsister arrives on the scene. Intrigue and mystery follow as the protagonists are caught on the mountain during a violent storm.

The story moves at a great pace, with Kate unsure who is friend or foe as they fight not only the weather but among themselves.

The vivid descriptions of Snowdonia and its beautiful but sometimes treacherous landscape add to the drama.

I am not usually a fan of present tense narratives, but I soon got caught up in the story and the style faded into the background. An exciting, intriguing read with an interesting afterword about Welsh gold.

(Sue has been selling the book in aid of Reverse Rett, a charity researching a cure for Rett’s Syndrome, a little known condition which her granddaughter Sophie suffers from. She has set up a ‘just giving’ page.)

Please send all books for review to: Patricia Pound, Apple Tree Cottage, 15 South Weald Road, Brentwood, Essex CM14 4QZ. Tel: 01277 222446 36

Legacy of Van Diemen’s Land

by Shelagh Mazey Published by: Troubador ISBN: 978-1-78462-306-7 Reviewed by Celia Pyke Legacy of Van Diemen’s Land is the third in the Heart of Stone trilogy.

The book is set in the mid-1800s and we follow the nefarious Nathan Meakins when he’s transported to Australia, having raped his sister and murdered their child. He vows revenge on the man who was responsible for his conviction, Lord Joshua Dryer of the Manor of Alvington. The latter has adopted the illegitimate child of a young woman ill-used by Meakins, hence the feud.

Meakins tries to behave reasonably while serving his sentence but his true character emerges and he becomes hated and feared by his fellow prisoners. He shows no respect for anybody, and in his determination to wreak vengeance on Dryer, he commits more heinous crimes before managing to escape and return to England.

Once back in his homeland, Nathan learns his father has left the family estate to Olivia, his sister, so with the gold he has stolen, he purchases a house that he promises to leave to his daughter, whose affections he tries to win, unbeknown to her adoptive parents.

The story is set in the lovely countryside of Somerset, where its inhabitants, both poor and rich, lead a nostalgic way of life where heart-warming incidents of friendship, loyalty and trust are the norm. This contrasts with the harsh climate and lifestyle in the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania.)

This book will appeal to readers who enjoy historical novels that embrace family sagas.

Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Book reviews Lily Alone

by Vivien Brown Published by: Harper Impulse ISBN: 978-0-00-825211-3 Reviewed by Natalie Kleinman Lily Alone begins with a tension that in no way abates as the story unfolds. I was enthralled from the word go, eager to know what had happened to mum Ruby and then, with no respite at all, what had happened to Lily. My heart was in my mouth as threeyear-old Lily had to cope with the terror of being left alone, her only comfort her teddy bear Archie. The degradation as her situation worsened; the courage as she tried to cope; her fear of things her mummy had told her she mustn’t touch; touching them anyway. It was heart-rending.

And Agnes, in the ground floor flat below, lonely and in her own way as frightened as Lily, trapped in a home not of her own choosing. The young and the old, fighting their own demons, and several others thrown into the mix, each with their own part to play.

I liked the structure of this book, moving from one scene to another but never losing the thread. Every character is well drawn and I will remember them as individuals, not combined together as part of a whole.

But most of all, as the book reaches a satisfactory conclusion, I will remember Lily.

(Vivien Brown is better known to SWWJ members as Council member Vivien Hampshire.)

The Great War

by Dawn Knox Published by: Amazon Fulfilment ISBN: 978-1532961595 Reviewed by Patricia Pound The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

This book is a tribute to the men and women of all nations who lived and died during the First World War – The War to End All Wars. In recent times we have seen a plethora of books out for the centenary year of this war. This one, by our member Dawn Knox, is constructed in a brilliant way, she writes 100 stories in 100 words from voices of 100 yeas ago. The great range of stories from those who were living then, from darkest despair to the bravely humorous, sometimes horrifying, sometimes heartwarming and often at times so truthful they excite the reader’s empathy, make the heart ache, causing tears to fall.

Having read war diaries myself, written by men who fought, died and sometimes survived to tell their tales while others would never speak of those days again, I feel that Dawn's book has the ring of truth about it. These 100-word stories recall a time and the conditions they were called upon to suffer, the demand upon those who had loyally given themselves to fight for King and Country being so great. It was a different world in the days of the Great War, and men and boys volunteered with no notion of what they were going to.

For those who did survive, their experience had changed those men and boys for life.

After mutilated bodies, gas attacks, blindness and mental illness, they sadly did not return to 'a land fit for heroes'. Many never spoke of what they had seen and suffered. This book in small glimpses brings alive the tragedy of war. These stories bring home the feelings of the lost generation, their sacrifice still relevant today, so it is prudent that 100 years on we do remember them. A thought-provoking read.

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Book reviews The Ishtar Stratagem

by Guy Blythman Published by: New Generation Publishing ISBN: 976-1-78507-726-5 Reviewed by Patrick Forsyth This author has written several thrillers and this one brings to mind the phrase ‘thumping good read’ as it consists of well over 500 pages of intrigue and daring-do. Alternate history is a recognised genre, one that assumes something different happened in the past and imagines what that might have meant. Often the something is a major issue – Germany won the Second Word War maybe – and then you would expect things to be a bit different. Here the difference is smaller, yet no less history-changing: imagine Saddam Hussain really had processed weapons of mass destruction. What then?

An Iraqi farmer starts the ball rolling with a mysterious find; following this, US spy satellites spot something curious being constructed and one response to that involves our own SAS. Disaster looms and the route to sorting matters out is far from obvious. Suffice to say that the book merges other genres with that of thriller, and has a plethora of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing – even the weapons have some surprises attached. Occasionally books are described as thin, not physically but in terms of plot. This is thick with both pages and plot, a matching addition to this writer’s previous works.

A Mile of Kite String

by Dorothy Pope Published by: Dorothy Pope ISBN: 978-0-9542719-2-3 Reviewed by Daphne Schiller 38

Dorothy Pope’s third book demonstrates her proficient use of poetic forms, eg sonnets, limericks, parodies.

There’s both pathos and humour in The Shop That Isn’t There – (Madame Wilson’s Corsetiere). The last verse describes its fate – ‘Sedate, dim shop with pinging wire, to whizz the change back down, complete, has disappeared with its attire. So has my school. So has the street.’

Some poems have intriguing titles, eg I Do Not Collect Owls and Nostalgiad, which ends: ‘Bring back Fuller’s Walnut Cake!’ Others tackle serious issues with sensitivity and courage. Love is expressed in A Fortnight, Not Seen Through Apple Boughs and other moving poems.

The variety of subject-matter and the skills on display make this an enjoyable collection to read and re-read and I heartily recommend it.

Essex at War 1939 - 1945

by Frances Clamp Published by: Pen & Sword ISBN: 978-1-4738-6041-4 Reviewed by Sylvia Kent Frances’ career as a history teacher has ensured an impressive knowledge of Essex, compounded by years of broadcasting weekly historical programmes on local radio.

As a child living in Southend at the start of WWII, the author has unique memories of that terrible time. Watching the barbed wire being erected on Southend beaches; the start of rationing; building Anderson shelters; evacuation of friends and family: all these and other recollections have been included in her new book. She has integrated many stories from people who Autumn 2017 The Woman Writer

Diary dates not only survived but somehow remained cheerful during those difficult years.

The devastation of World War II affected everyone. Children’s lessons were regularly interrupted when the frightening air-raid siren sounded and Frances has captured the atmosphere of the time, including many tales of bravery, defeats and setbacks both at home and overseas.

When America entered the war in 1942, a new, different type of invasion entered the Essex countryside, when the GIs arrived in large numbers. On the whole they received a warm welcome from the authorities, and particularly the women!

Memories, photographs and poignant letters belonging to some of the families affected are included in Frances’ narrative. She sums up her meticulously researched book as follows: “Great Britain is now a very different country from the one that went to war in 1939. The old bomb-damaged sites have disappeared, as have most of the installations that were erected to protect the Essex coastline. Essex men and women, both at home and in the forces, bravely played their part in the war and their contribution can be remembered with pride.”

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2017/18 27th November: 30th November: 6th December:

SWWJ Council Meeting, London.

Copy date for New Year 2018 issue of The Woman Writer.

SWWJ Christmas Gathering (Tea), National Liberal Club, London.

31st December:

Closing date for Winner Takes All Competition.

2018 5th January: 15th January: 3rd February: 5th March: 5th March:

Closing date for Elizabeth Longford Poetry Competition.

SWWJ Council Meeting, London.

Drama Workshop, London SWWJ Council Meeting, London.

Copy date for Spring 2018 issue of The Woman Writer.

The Woman Writer is published four times a year: New Year (January), Spring (April), Summer (July) and Autumn (October). Copy dates are listed above. Send your copy to carol@aspire-editorial.co.uk The SWWJ Newsletter is published four times a year towards the end of February, May, August and November. Copy that misses the WW copy dates will be passed to Doreen Friend for the Newsletter on doreen.friend@swwj.co.uk To receive the Newsletter, please make sure we have your current email address.

Regional meetings take place at the advertised venues. Council meetings are held at ALCS new offices – Barnard’s Inn, 86 Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1AD. The Woman Writer Autumn 2017

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