The Woman Writer – New Year issue

Issue 88

NEW YEAR 2018

• • • •

Crowdfunding Christmas Tea Party Report Collaboration Fiction Focus

Who’s who Printed by TandC Printers, Bromley, Kent BR1 3PU Issue 88

New Year 2018

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

Book Reviews: Pamela Birley Tel: 020 7351 6377 bra33@btinternet.com Competitions/ Manuscript Appraisal: Vivien Hampshire Tel: 01895 254453 vivienhampshire@btinternet.com Marketing Coordinator: Rebecca Harding Mob: 07966 459080 rebecca@saltwhistle.com

Website: Gywneth Box Mob: 07986 613437 Vice Chairman/Press/ hello@gwynethbox.com PR/Newsletter: Archivist: Doreen Friend Sylvia Kent Tel: 020 8505 2476 Tel: 01277 651062 doreen.friend@swwj.co.uk skent32@tiscali.co.uk Hon Treasurer: Benita Cullingford Tel: 01727 857388 b.cullingford@btinternet.com Manager, Writer’s Debut benitaswwj@btinternet.com Hon Secretary and Minutes Secretary: Janice Grande Tel: 01268 451547 Mob: 07951 671498 grandewords@yahoo.com Membership Secretary/Events: Valerie Dunmore Tel: 01737 557936 swwjval@aol.com Speakers: Pamela Payne Tel: 01730 892413 pamela@thebeach.com

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Chawton Liaison: Pamela Birley Tel: 020 7351 6377 bra33@btinternet.com Twitter & Facebook: Vivien Hampshire Tel: 01895 254453 vivienhampshire@btinternet.com

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.

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

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.

New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

From the Editor

Contents 4

From the Chair

By Barbara Field-Holmes.

5-6

Letters Members’ views and comments.

7 - 11

Society news Discover what’s happening in the SWWJ.

12 - 13 Members’ news A round-up of news and successes.

14 - 15 Drama Workshop report from Martin Cort.

16 - 17 SWWJ dramatists Mary Rensten reports on ‘Scripts Live’.

18 - 19 SWWJ Christmas Tea Party .

Report by Vivien Hampshire.

20 - 21 Collaboration The International Grief Council.

22 - 23 Fiction focus Vivien Hampshire shares her advice.

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When I was not upon this page A name trick, with Doreen Friend.

25

Around the regions News from Moonraker Country.

26

Crowdfunding The wisdom of crowds.

27 - 28 From the archive The early days of romantic fiction.

29

Marketing Don’t be late!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the New Year edition of The Woman Writer.

Christmas is now a distant memory... but it needn’t be!

The SWWJ now has a Flickr page, so if you want to relive some of the memories of the Society’s Christmas Tea, just visit www.flickr.com/photos/139153628@N07/ You’ll find dozens of photos that were taken on the day – not only that, you can also download them! See page 19 for details.

This leads me nicely into a plug for the Spring Tea and Prize Giving on 14th March. Don’t forget to make a note in your diary, because it would be a shame to miss out on such a lovely event. You’ll find an application form on page 34.

All that is left for me to say is, the SWWJ wishes you all a very prosperous, creative and healthy New Year!

carol@aspire-editorial.co.uk

35 - 37 Book reviews 38

Member focus Diary of my book-signing day.

39

Dates for your diary 2018

30 - 31 Competition round-up 2017 competition winners.

32 - 33 Markets & Competitions

By Carol Cannavan.

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SWWJ Spring Tea application Book for the Spring Tea and Prize Giving.

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

Front cover picture Issue 88

NEW YEAR 2018

Inset: Marion Field took to the stage at the Christmas Tea to entertain us with a selection of songs, poems and monologues. See pages 18-19 for the full report.

• Society News • Christmas Tea Party Report • Spring Tea and Prize Giving • Fiction Focus

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From the Chair Chair types...

by Barbara Field-Holmes, Chairman By the time you read this, Christmas will be long since over and everyone getting on with a brand new year, so my first task is to wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous 2018.

Last year was a very eventful year for the Society, but before I talk about some of the successes and events from 2017, I want to offer my sincere condolences to Patricia Pound’s family following her sudden death in November 2017. Pat was a dedicated and loyal member of the SWWJ Council and writing circles in the Essex area. She came onto Council to help with Book Reviews and nothing was too much trouble. Pat will be missed very much. You can read her obituary, written by Sylvia Kent, on page 10 of this issue.

Last year saw the introduction of our new Spring Prize Giving event in March, where we announced the winners of the 2016 competitions and had the pleasure of hearing some of the winning entries. We also produced a special celebratory supplement to mark the occasion and I still have a few copies if anyone didn’t receive one.

Then came the successful AGM and Summer Gathering in June, followed by the appointment of a new President, Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham, known to many as Floella Benjamin and for her work with children’s TV. Some of you were able to meet Floella at our Autumn Lunch and I am hoping that she will be free to join us at some of our events this year.

October 1st saw the launch of our new Writer’s Debut membership category.

The brainchild of our Hon Treasurer, Benita Cullingford, we already have several members signed up, with interest growing daily. It also gives me pleasure to report that our marketing sub-committee, led by Sylvia 4

Kent and comprising Sylvia, myself, Doreen Friend and Rebecca Harding, is making inroads into advertising both the new Writer’s Debut and the Society in general. This is being supported daily by Vivien Hampshire, who, in addition to her role as Competitions Coordinator, has taken on social media (including Twitter and Facebook) and working with our website mistress Gwyneth Box to keep our website updated.

The year ended on a high with our wonderful Christmas Tea Party (see page 18), leading nicely into 2018. This year looks set to be just as exciting, if not more so, as we gear up to our 125th Anniversary in May 2019. Council has some exciting ideas, but we still want to hear from the membership with your own ideas. I cannot promise to follow up every suggestion, but I will promise that every idea will be brought before Council and given consideration.

Taken at the SWWJ Christmas Tea Party.

New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Letters Write to us Come on members, let’s hear from you.

This is your opportunity to have your say. Send your views to the Editor (see page 2 for contact details).

Looking for help I would like to tell fellow members that I will soon be putting out short blogs recounting the adventures Graham (my husband) and I had when he drove our 11-year-old VW Golf over 10,000 miles, in our epic three-month tour from our home near Liverpool, through France and Italy to Sicily and back.

We stayed mostly at B&Bs (but not entirely), and describe experiences both heavenly and horrendous. Host sites and details of memorable meals are given, but I also describe mountain roads that suddenly dropped three feet, a walk in a wood that stopped when a herd of bulls crossed our path, and, of course, countless scenic and historical places visited. Graham has inserted many photographs.

However, we cannot seem to find out how to place our blogs, having never previously done so; and nobody we know has. Evening classes on Using the Media to Promote Your Business have not yielded the answer, so I am hoping one of SWWJ's members can and will be willing to help, as I have seen 'author' blogs by some of them but there seems to be no direct access to ask the question.

ages, I would just like to say thank you for The Woman Writer. It’s been rubbish weather here in Saltdean, so I enjoyed sitting in the kitchen and reading it from cover to cover!

Ann Perrin

Same time next year...?

Every time I saw Gwynneth Ashby at one of our London events I promised to arrange a rendezvous with our mutual friend and SWWJ member Audrey Constant, but the years rolled by and I’m afraid I just didn’t get round to it.

Last summer I got my act together and we had a delicious lunch in the elegant Spread Eagle Hotel in Midhurst, Sussex. Audrey and I live fairly close to one another (Hampshire /Sussex borders) but Gwynneth travelled all the way from her home in Dorset – two trains and a bus, but that is nothing for this inveterate traveller! After lunch we bumped into fellow member Ginny Vere Nicoll in the car park so Audrey invited us all back to her home for tea and cake.

The writing conversation flowed and the laughs were many; a lovely day together and a mini regional SWWJ meeting, we shall do it again this year.

Pamela Payne

Jackie Usher Editor’s Note: If you have any tips about creating blog sites, please email them to me and I’ll publish them in the Spring issue of The Woman Writer.

A good read As a member of SWWJ who still pays annually but has not been up to anything for The Woman Writer New Year 2018

L to R: Pamela Payne, Audrey Constant and Gwynneth Ashby.

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Letters Go for it!

I was very interested in Vivien Hampshire’s article about brands, especially when she says: “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!”.

A year ago I read a letter in The Author from a reader who advised getting out of your usual type of book and writing a ‘child of the heart’ book. By this she meant a book you have always longed to write but which is quite different from the others.

I realised she was speaking to me. I write books and features about North Dorset where I live, but longed to write about my travels. I took her advice and my book Stalbridge to Siberia and Other Places – A Dorset Woman’s World Travels is to be published on 15th February 2018, but I don’t propose to use another name for my child of the heart book.

Hilary Townsend

Disappointed I was very disappointed in the low attendance at the last Regional Meeting in Chichester on 26th October, especially as we had such a marvellous speaker – GJ (Graham) Minett talking about his path to publication and his exciting thrillers.

I understand that it is sometimes difficult for our older members to get to meetings and perhaps the change of venue put some people off. However, the new meeting place, the parish room of St Richard's RC Church in Cawley Road, is fairly near local transport and car parks. There is even limited parking on site on a 'first come, first served' basis.

The hire charge for the new venue is much lower than the previous one and this means we could afford to go back to all-day meetings as we had in the past. There would 6

then be time in the morning for socialising, writing, chat, etc, with a speaker in the afternoon.

Since taking over the organisation of these meetings from Joan Moules (who still gives me lots of support), I have tried to publicise the meetings and contact members within the region so now it is down to you southern members.

The spring meeting will be in March and I am in the process of booking a speaker.

Details will be on Facebook and the loop as soon as I have them. I look forward to seeing you then.

Roberta Grieve

Keeping in touch...

This letter was sent to Jennie Lisney in reply to a letter Jennie sent out to several long-standing members in time for Christmas.

Now that I am no longer able to get to meetings – in a few weeks I will be 91 – it made me feel as though I still count as a member. It was very interesting to read your news, it made you into a real person and not just the woman who is our Vice President.

You may or may not know that I was 76 before my first book was published. It was an autobiographical account of how my husband, son and I moved to Shetland at the time of the North Sea oil boom. He bought a ruined croft house ‘to do up’. Needless to say, I was co-opted to help mix cement, ditch the rubbish and paint walls, etc. The book was a success.

I was 85 before my first novel, Catherine of Deepdale, was published. I had submitted it to Robert Hale, saying that it was the first of a trilogy. I confess I had no plans to write two more, I just said it because I thought it would make them take notice. Imagine my surprise when they wrote back, accepted Catherine and wanted first refusal on the New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Society news next two. I had to sit down and write them then – and I haven’t stopped writing since.

Altogether I have six published books, another with the publisher and another one coming to life on my PC. Oh yes, I’m still writing.

I was in Shetland recently to promote my latest book Sweet Sorrow, published by Endeavour Press. The weather was foul, as it often is on the islands. I lived there on and off for 35 years. Wind and rain aside, it was lovely to be back among old friends.

Millie Vigor

SWWJ Meeting at Chichester Report by Pamela Payne It was such a shame that we were just six at the SWWJ Regional Meeting in Chichester on the 26th October, because it was a good meeting with an exceptional speaker, in fact some said that novelist Graham Minett was the best yet! Two of the six were organiser Roberta Grieve and her sister Trish (on a visit from her home in Spain), who did a sterling job of serving the coffee and tea.

Held in a new location, St Richard’s Church, Cawley Road, we thought that maybe regulars might have been worried about finding it, but it was very close to our old venue and Robbie had given good directions and even put up notices pointing to the parish room at the back of the church. I hope that more local members will support Robbie’s hard work at the next meeting, especially as she finds us such great speakers!

Graham Minett is a Cambridge graduate, teacher of foreign languages and, after studying for an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Chichester, winner of the 2010 Chapter One Prize for unpublished novels with the opening to The Hidden Legacy, his first thriller. The second is Lie in Wait and the third, Anything For Her, is out The Woman Writer New Year 2018

now and in paperback in March 2018 – although both can be pre-ordered now on Amazon. Published by ZAFFRE, his pageturners appeal to both to men and women so he was advised to publish under the name of GJ Minett so as not to deter either sex from buying. Three 400-page successful crime novels in three years! Sir done good!

Graham gave us a mini masterclass in how to write a crime thriller, but his modus operandi is complicated because he starts with just a character – and no discernible plot! He has, nevertheless, greatly benefited from his many years as a teacher because he took us through the process in such an interesting and understandable way that we almost felt he was telling us a story! We were all captivated. I’m not going to say any more because, as Speakers Coordinator, I hope to persuade him to give us a talk at The National Liberal Club in the future.

One not to be missed!

Farewell to Fetter Lane After eight years of holding SWWJ Council meetings at the ALCS office in Fetter Lane, we will be moving on to The National Liberal Club in 2018. We would like to say a big ‘Thank You’ to Owen Atkinson and his team for looking after us so well.

L to R: Barbara Field-Holmes, Owen Atkinson and Valerie Dunmore at our last meeting held on 27th November.

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Society news Revd Joanna Ray, West Sussex Membership number: 740 Joanna has a degree in science education and writes on sci-fi and religion. Her books cover health, social care, disability, chemistry and biology. She also writes science fiction novellas.

Kay Seeley, North Harrow Membership number: 745 Kay has had many short stories and articles published, together with three self-published novels and a short story collection. She has been short-listed and even a finalist in a number of prestigious writing competitions.

The Rt Hon Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham OBE DL.

Congratulations!

Huge congratulations to our President Floella Benjamin on receiving a fantastic honorary Doctor of Education degree from York St John University.

Julia Thum, Berkshire Membership number: 746 Julia is the co-author of a novel published in paperback and as an ebook and has had a sequel optioned. She has completed her first children’s novel. She reviews children’s books on her website and adult writing on BBC Berkshire’s Book Club.

HONORARY Keith Taylor, husband of Floella Benjamin Membership number: 744

WRITER’S DEBUT

SWWJ welcomes new members FULL MEMBERSHIP The Rt Hon Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham OBE DL, London Membership number: 738 Floella is an actress, businesswoman, independent TV producer of award-winning programmes, author of over 30 books and children’s television presenter, best known for appearing in or presenting many iconic TV programmes including Play School and Play Away.

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Tracey Fells, West Sussex Membership number: 742 Catherine Bowdler, West Midlands Membership number: 743 Christina Pishiris, Buckinghamshire Membership number: 747

FRIEND David Matthews, Hertfordshire Membership number: 739 Sharon Hoyland, Dorset Membership number: 748 Dr Ann Mary Stanton, France Membership number: 739 New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Obituary

Audrey Groom – 1923-2017

by Jennie Lisney Audrey Edith Groom, who died quite suddenly on Saturday 2nd July, was a longstanding member of the Society. She attended events well into old age.

Audrey’s daughter Deanna said her mother’s love of writing continued to the end – she was still writing poetry and tutoring for the Writers’ News Writing School until four months before she passed away. Her family have a wonderful legacy of published short stories, articles and children’s stories as well as her poetry.

The Memorial Booklet for the funeral service on 11th July contained a beautiful poem and a painting of pansies by Audrey. Her family wanted to share

Audrey’s positive outlook on life with the poem entitled Joy. Friends from the UR3 Creative Writing Group read some of her early poems, which Deanna said were very sweet and poignant. But most of all: “She was our Mum and a wonderful person.”

Joy If I can wear a smile through life And grin when things go wrong If when the skies are darkest I can laugh and sing a song If I can lend a helping hand To those who need a friend And lighten someone else’s load A breaking heart to mend If I can give my love to God My life to those around I think I need not ask for more For surely joy is found.

Audrey Groom

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

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Obituary

Patricia Pound – 1936-2017

by Sylvia Kent

I

t was with shock and disbelief that Council heard the sad news that our lovely friend and fellow Council member, Pat, died on 11th November. Always a stoic, no one knew how poorly she had previously been feeling while bravely continuing to attend London meetings and carrying on her Council Book Review tasks.

Pat loved our Society. Our member at the time, Frances Clamp, originally met Pat at a weekend seminar, recruiting her to our Brentwood Writers’ Circle. I then introduced her to SWWJ in 2005 and immediately she began attending functions organised that year. Our President then was Nina Bawden, Pat’s favourite author. We had organised an 80th birthday tea for Nina and Pat was delighted to sit with Nina and guest, old Ilfordian-historian Norman Gunby. At another event, Pat enjoyed meeting Princess Michael of Kent, Essex Girl Jilly Cooper, the Telegraph's Jan Moir and loved chatting with literary

luminaries at our functions, held mainly at the New Cavendish Club at Marble Arch.

Short stories and social history were Pat’s main writing interests and she excelled at both, winning many writing competitions.

Her books were mainly linked to her home town of Hornchurch. Her work with Allied Domecq, where she was President of the Pensioners Trust, kept her brain razor sharp. Pat worked hard for the several academic degrees she attained; she was a talented artist; loved to sing and dance, which she did on her numerous overseas cruises; and her beautiful garden was testament to her horticultural skills, as twenty-five members observed when she welcomed us all to an Essex Regional Lunch at her home one summer.

We will miss our lovely, elegant friend and offer her husband Birger, daughter Melissa and grandson Phineas our deepest sympathy and love.

⌘ ⌘ ⌘ ⌘ ⌘ Tributes to Pat...

“Patricia Pound was a dear friend and colleague, both at the SWWJ and the Brentwood Writers’ Circle. In the three years since we first met, Pat and I usually sat together at events and enjoyed sharing each other’s news. We had a lot in common and we encouraged each other with our work. It is particularly sad, therefore, that the projects she was working on – especially a book on the history of whaling – will not now be completed. I will miss Pat dreadfully and I send my sincere condolences to her husband and family.”

Amanda Thomas 10

New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Society news “I will always remember Patricia as being particularly helpful in getting my book Alice Moves On reviewed. Patricia also promised to put to the Council the difficulties for far-flung members in attending the many events always based in London. I had some lovely emails from Patricia – very kind and caring.”

Photos from the Christmas Tea

Jackie Usher (aka Debbie Darkin)

⌘ ⌘ ⌘ ⌘ ⌘ “Pat was a great friend of mine. I first met her many years ago at Brentwood Writers’ Circle when we were writing books on local history, and later took part in a joint signing in Swan Books in Upminster. She was a very positive person, always there to champion and encourage me through both professional and personal difficulties, and I hope I responded in the same vein.

Pat and I were friends outside the writing thing, meeting for coffee, having lunch out, sharing secrets – all the things that good friends do.”

Celia Pyke

⌘ ⌘ ⌘ ⌘ ⌘ “I’ve known Pat for many years. We met at the Brentwood Writers’ Circle and we both served as committee members. In fact we used to hold the meetings in her house. I shall always remember Pat for her warm and generous nature. She was held in great regard by everyone who attended the Brentwood Writers’ Circle.”

Carol Cannavan

⌘ ⌘ ⌘ ⌘ ⌘ Patricia Pound’s funeral was held at Brentwood Cathedral on 15th December 2017.

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

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Members’ news

Success!

Three in a row!

Doris Corti had a poem accepted for publication in Acumen literary journal (payment for this and request for permission to use the poem as guest poem of the month on their website). Also her U3A poetry group put up a display, including work by Doris, in her local library that was well received by the public. On top of this, Doris (for the first time) was asked to give an hour's talk on the Black Mountain poets (America) in Huddersfield University to a poetry group there.

Getting good reviews...

Patrick Forsyth, one of our Associate members, is best known for his non-fiction.

However, he does write fiction too, indeed he was placed second in SWWJ’s recent short story competition.

His novel, Long Overdue, is a light mystery (not crime), a tale that begins with the discovery of a body and follows the search that ensues for a missing person. It got some good reviews: The Good Book Guide wrote of it having ‘…a real sense of dialogue and a pulse-quickening sense of risk (with a) … thoroughly well rounded protagonist’.

Now his second novel, Loose Ends, has been published, both by Stanhope Books. Copies of both titles are £8.99, though he is happy to discount a little for SWWJ members if you make contact via his website: www.patrickforsyth.com 12

Making it ‘big’ Margaret Mounsdon has sold the large print rights to Ulverscroft for her latest book Island Magic.

Dark times...

Mari Wallace had a full-page feature on The Great Storm published in the October issue of Best of British magazine, complete with her photo. Mari’s feature is a memoir of eight days she spent without electricity and telephone on the outskirts of Storrington, West Sussex.

Gone digital Elaine Roberts is excited (and, she says, more than a little scared) to have signed a three-book contract with Aria, digital imprint of Head of Zeus Publishers. Her first World War One saga will be published in June 2018. Elaine has had previous success with short stories, but this is her first published full-length fiction, and after several years in the Romantic Novelists' Association's New Writers Scheme, she now graduates to full membership.

Poems that please Dorothy Pope’s poem Golf on the Somme has been accepted as a referenced item in the library of The Imperial War Museum (This poem is in her third oldest book A Mile of Kite String – see Daphne Schiller’s review in the Autumn issue), first prize in The Oldie’s competition and a prize winning clerihew (comic verse) also in The Oldie.

A work of art...

Ginny Vere Nicoll has launched her first children’s book. The One Tree Bookshop in Petersfield, Hampshire, was heaving on the evening of Friday 10th November; the world New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Members’ news A big hit!

and his wife had turned out to support Ginny (pictured above) when she launched her very first children’s book, I Can Fly, which she illustrated and published herself.

Based on the antics of her two sweet mini wire-haired dachshunds, Marmite and the new puppy Nutmeg, it is a charming story about Nutmeg’s fascination with the Tibetan prayer flags that are hanging in Ginny’s garden. Ginny’s two grandsons, 9-year-old Milo and 7-year-old Max, were at the launch and they vehemently confirmed that magic really does happen there – apparently the fox leaves them messages under a special tree!

Ginny thanked all those who had supported and helped with the book before reading an exciting passage. Ginny’s friend, Tobiah Thomas (pictured), then sang a lovely gentle song, written especially to celebrate the new book – just another example of Ginny’s promotional genius. To her amazement, Ginny sold 51 books in just one and a half hours – Tim O’Kelly of One Tree Bookshop was, needless to say, delighted!

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

Dawn Knox has been involved in a project that has resulted in her writing a play called The Sons of Three Countries Remembered.

Stephen Metcalfe MP started the project in 2014 with support from Basildon Borough Twinning Association and Basildon Borough Heritage Group, alongside a dedicated group of volunteers from the local community and schools in the area. Since it started, the project has reached out and touched thousands of people's lives, not only in Basildon Borough but also in their twin towns of Heiligenhaus, Germany and Meaux, France.

The play has attracted enormous audiences in the above twin towns. Three individual young men are remembered: George Burnett from Wickford in Essex, Albert Kiekert from Heiligenhaus and Louis Vallin from Meaux.

We learned about this trio of militia and their families, their hopes and dreams, and we know, from archived letters, that none of them wanted to kill their contemporaries in this 'War to End all Wars'. Alas, the English and German lads died in the trenches; the French boy lived to tell his tale.

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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Drama Laughter and tears at the SWWJ Workshop

by Martin Cort Report on the Drama Workshop at the Leicester Square Reference Library, St Martin’s Street, London At the Workshop on the 23rd September our writers presented us with seven plays of varying lengths. Coming Home by Beverley O’Connor was an excerpt from her personal diary written over months when she was caring for her ill father. As with all tragedies, there were moments of humour, frustration and sadness, read beautifully by actor Mary Drake. As a monologue, in an economical way, it told us clearly the story of two months of caring. I expect most people would say, “Well! What do you expect at a Drama Workshop?” and it is true that often the full gambit of emotions is displayed in our work.

The atmosphere never stays the same, so with Justice, a stifling drama set in Mafiadominated Sardinia by Jennifer Pulling, we

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shared the existence of the ‘real-life’ two heroic judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borellino. Only a short time ago these two very brave men became determined to bring the Cosa Nostra and the Mafia to book, regretfully resulting in the loss of their lives and, through fear, the torturous confinement of their families for protection.

Neighbourhood Watch evoked ‘belly laughs’ from our audience as Dawn Knox got us to follow the reactions of three neighbours finding a naked man wearing only beads in their gardens. Unfortunately, Maxine Burns was unable to attend to hear her Family Affair read to its shocking but humorous end with a gunshot. I loved the line “Well, it looks like I’ve just inherited the business”.

Crime seems to have been a large part of the content of One of these Days by Ann Mary Stanton, the characters of The Bluebell Wood Retirement Home drawn rather too realistically for comfort. Although it was an amusing and interesting offering, it was judged to be too long. That is, of course, the useful task performed by the readings at the Workshop – the advice of the experienced dramatists and professional actors.

New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Drama The Workshop was an entertaining and helpful meeting. Actor Peter Mair brought up the subject of script layout with a plea that scripts be printed in a readable type and in the normal format to enable the actors to comfortably interpret them.

Benita Cullingford announced that the next Workshop would not be held at the usual venue as the Library is being refurbished.

(See details of the next Drama Workshop at the end of next column.)

Please send scripts as early as you like to Martin Cort, Flat F Kingston Mansions, 145147 Clapham Road, London SW9 0HP.

Sleepless Arch Theatre Sleepless Arch Theatre is looking for submissions of new plays for development with a view to production. They must be: • One act (one hour) • Written for small casts • Requiring minimal sets • Suitable for simple staging in a variety of spaces, including dedicated theatre stages and a range of more unconventional venues.

Further information can be found on their website.

They are also looking for a new play to take to Edinburgh in 2018. Please send submissions to hello@sleeplessarch.co.uk or by post to: Sleepless Arch Theatre Orchard House Primrose Lane Forest Row East Sussex RH18 5LT www.sleeplessarch.co.uk

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

Opportunities at the BBC Have you visited Writers Room on the BBC’s website?

Their twice-yearly Script Room (Comedy and Drama) offers an open door for all writers across the UK, both new and experienced, to submit a script with the promise that at least the first ten pages will be read. Promising new voices are then offered development opportunities and help to kick-start their careers.

They also have a section where you can download the latest drama and comedy scripts – an excellent way to see how professional scripts are formatted.

Advice on creating characters, scripting tips and interviews with veteran writers can be found on this site, along with lists of playwriting competitions that are free to enter. www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom

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

Helios Foundation Centre, 116 Judd Street, London WC1H 9NS Nearest tube station, St Pancras Do remember that scripts must be sent to Martin Cort at least 10 days prior to the Workshop. Send your scripts to Martin at:

Flat F Kingston Mansions, 147 Clapham Road, London SW9 0HP 15

SWWJ dramatists

SWWJ Scripts Live!

by Mary Rensten Rehearsed readings of nine short plays and monologues, written by SWWJ dramatists Benita Cullingford, Doreen Friend, Jennifer Pulling, Mary Rensten and Jane Lockyer Willis – performed by professional actors – certainly did live, and were alive with both humour and tragedy, in the two-hour TAR Entertainment Showcase at the prestigious Concert Artistes' Association club in London last October.

Our writers had been invited to take part in the show by the head of TAR Martin Cort, who is also, as you will know, the SWWJ's Drama Coordinator in charge of our very successful Drama Workshops. All the pieces presented at the Showcase had previously been read and critiqued at a workshop.

“The main purpose of ‘Scripts Live’,” Martin explains, “was to give the media, together with theatre directors and literary agents, an opportunity to hear and see snippets of this work.”

To which several theatre directors, invited

by Martin, reacted most favourably: “The monologues were wonderful, so moving”.

“There was a lot of humour’’. “Just the right length; so many writers don't know when it's too long”. “The writing showed great

imagination”. And the actors said: “I really loved my character”. “It was fun to do”. '’Great scripts”.

The audience, too, was most appreciative: “The readings by professionals did justice to good writing”. “You became so enthralled in the dramas you hardly noticed that the actors were holding scripts”, a comment echoed by several others, including actor and playwright Norma Cohen, who was full of praise for both writers and actors. “The whole show was Fabbo!” she said.

But what of our writers? How was the event for them?

JANE: “The actors – Dorothea Phillips and Peter Stenson – in my play Ping hit the right note and were a pleasure to watch”.

JENNIFER: “A great opportunity to showcase our work to a wider audience”.

DOREEN: “Watching an actor ‘be’ my creation was an amazing experience, something I found very moving, especially Paul Antony-Barber's performance in the monologue Men's View”.

BENITA: “Great to see two terrific actresses, Annie Dodd and Sophie MorrisSheppard, bringing Full Frontal to life, even The full cast salute the writers

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New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

SWWJ dramatists personally after the event. Literary agents and theatre directors need your work as much as you need their interest!”

We owe it to Martin to take his words on board, and make 'Scripts Live II' an even greater success.

Photos courtesy of Paddy Gormley Robin Marchal and Annie Rutter in Jennifer Pulling's ‘Waiting’.

playing the characters – Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell – as children”.

MARY: “So good to see my written characters become 'real', sometimes in unexpected and exciting ways that encourage development of the script”.

Everyone gave 'huge thanks' to Martin for setting up the show, with, as one writer put it, 'such aplomb'. Our thanks, too, to Terry Perkins, who enhanced the show with appropriate music.

Although pleased with the event and gracious in his acceptance of the praise, like any good director Martin wants to build on the Showcase's achievement. “The best way that another event like this can be useful,” he says, “is if the writers themselves participate not only by creating more good scripts but by inviting agents and directors to attend, and also making contacts Dorothea Phillips and Peter Stenson in Jane Lockyer Willis's ‘Ping’.

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

Writer’s Debut We have had a good response to our new membership category for unpublished writers and we hope to encourage more to join. So if you know of someone who might be interested, please let them know about Writer’s Debut.

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 17

Report on Christmas Tea

Candles, crackers and seasonal songs Vivien Hampshire reports from our annual Christmas Tea Christmas Tea, the year before last, was beset with cold winter fog and the threat of nationwide rail strikes, but for the 2017 party the weather was kind to us, the trains ran on time, and nothing stood in the way of a highly enjoyable and successful gathering at The National Liberal Club in London.

There was a fantastic turnout, and a glorious array of posh Christmassy outfits on show, with plenty of time to mingle and enjoy a pre-tea drink from the bar, and to browse the gift and book tables. An introductory speech from our Chairman Barbara Field-Holmes then formally welcomed everyone, reminded us of our successes during 2017 and looked ahead to some new and exciting events to come as we enter 2018 and head towards our 125th anniversary celebrations in 2019. There was time for reflection and sadness too over the recent death of our Council member and friend Pat Pound, who always worked so tirelessly for the Society. Sympathies were extended to her family and also to another Council member, Doreen Friend, whose husband had recently passed away.

And then it was time for tea!

The staff worked their usual magic, seamlessly flitting from table to table, producing a lovely selection of sandwiches, 18

scones, mince pies and cakes, and as much tea as we could drink, against a background of white tablecloths bedecked with fresh red roses and flickering candles. Huge draped windows, massive chandeliers, and framed portraits looking down at us from the gleaming tiled walls all added to the grandeur of this magnificent venue. The room buzzed as members and guests met up and chatted with friends old and new, took photographs, pulled Christmas crackers and laughed at some of the terribly corny jokes found within.

After tea, we had been promised surprise entertainment, and a surprise it most certainly was! Long-time member, writer and professional actress Marion Field took to the stage, with a selection of intriguing props laid out beside her, and gave us what can only be described as a ‘one woman show’!

Starting with a John Betjeman poem, called simply Christmas, which she recited wordperfectly from memory, Marion moved on New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Report on Christmas Tea

Marion Field

to a selection of seasonal songs (bravely sung solo and without any musical accompaniment) and monologues in which she played the part of the fictional Mrs Brown in a series of witty encounters with her friend Ethel and various other ‘invisible’ characters.

Marion’s on-stage costume changes raised a few laughs, as she slipped into a new skirt or pair of shoes to match each new performance (“different shoes help you get in the mood” she told us), even at one point donning a headdress and veil to become a young bride, seemingly comical at first but sadly doomed to die in a sealed chest from which she had been unable to escape, as Marion acted and sang us through the ballad recalling the tragic legend of The Mistletoe Bough.

The show ended with a familiar seasonal song, On The First Day of Christmas (perhaps

Time for tea!

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

better known as A Partridge in a Pear Tree), with the audience joining in the singing of the most familiar verses one to five. But even here Marion surprised us with a short sketch showing us just how annoying it might become for the recipient of so many unusual Christmas gifts. After all, just what can a girl do with all those milkmaids, drummers, geese and swans, and lords a-leaping when she lives in an ordinary flat in town?

As the last cakes were snaffled from the plates and we began to say our goodbyes, the afternoon closed with the customary raffle and promises to meet again soon. It’s our Spring Tea next, on Wednesday 14th March, where all our recent competition prize winners will be awarded their cheques and trophies, and our guest speaker, Australian novelist Janet Gover, will be telling us about her writing career ‘from outback to paperback’. We very much hope to see you there.

Sylvia Kent

SWWJ Flickr account There’s only enough space to include a few of the photos taken at the Christmas Tea, but now you can see them all on our Flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/139153628@N07/ Just click on a photo and it will take you through to a different screen – in the bottom right-hand corner you should see a downpointing arrow, click on that and it will show the different sizes you can choose, click on the size and it will download to your computer.

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Collaboration

The International Grief Council

by Daniela I Norris

W

hen my brother Michael died in a freak drowning accident in May 2010, a week before his twentieth birthday, I was devastated.

Michael was my baby brother, eighteen years my junior. I had a family – a husband, two young children – and a busy professional life in the areas of international relations, journalism and writing fiction. But when Michael died everything came to a halt, and my life took a 180-degree turn.

I grieved, researched and wrote On Dragonfly Wings: a skeptic’s journey to mediumship, published in 2010. I also connected, through mutual friends online and offline, with two other women who wrote books about death and grief.

Lo Anne Mayer, in her early seventies, is an American living in New Jersey. Following the death of her mother, and later her daughter, she wrote Celestial Conversations: healing relationships after death – a guide to transpersonal journaling as a way of communicating with deceased loved ones through writing. At the time we connected she was giving talks and workshops to help other grieving people cope with their loss.

L to R: Daniela Norris, Lo Anne Mayer, Uma Girish.

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Uma Girish, an Indian writer in her late forties, lost her mother in India to cancer soon after she moved to Chicago with her husband and daughter. Ever since, she has been working with the elderly and now with women trying to turn their pain of loss into purpose. She wrote Losing Amma, Finding Home, published by Hay House India, and she interviews guests on an online podcast called Grammar of Grief.

The three of us got together first through Skype, and then Lo Anne suggested that we all come to New York to give some talks together. It was an exciting idea, one that would, of course, require some investment – both financial and organisational.

And so, after many weekly debates through Skype, we called ourselves ‘The International Grief Council’, put up a simple website and took the plunge and booked our plane tickets to New York.

Exactly a year after we first met online, we encountered each other in person for the first time at Lo Anne’s house in New Jersey.

We immediately felt as if we were long-lost sisters, spent many pleasant hours together and gave successful talks at three different packed venues in New Jersey and New York.

This was followed by invitations to speak in New Mexico, and so we met again the following year in Albuquerque. We travelled together to Santa Fe to give more talks about our unusual methods of dealing with grief, and these were met by enthusiastic feedback from participants. It made us realise that what we’ve created together is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.

As three women writers from different cultural backgrounds (Lo Anne American, New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Collaboration Uma Indian, Daniela Israeli-Canadian), we’ve encountered some disagreements on how we should plan, conduct and organise our events. Lo Anne is passionate about angels, Uma about chanting, and I – coming from a background in political science and international relations – about keeping my talks as ‘down to earth’ as possible. Several of these discussions took us late into the night, and many cups of tea and coffee (and glasses of wine!) were emptied before we managed to agree on our joint presentations and the way to go about our collaboration.

The financial investment was not major but always split three ways, and now we’ve created our own ‘gofundme’ page to help us with costs of travel.

Lo Anne, as a Catholic-born American, had one way of looking at life. Uma, as a Hindu, had another. I, Daniela, born-Jewish, turnedatheist, turned-spiritualist, yet a third, sometimes fourth way of seeing things.

However, despite the geographical, cultural and sometimes ideological gaps, we found that working with one another enriched our lives, our writing and our work. We realised how fortunate we are to find other likeminded women writers who are interested in similar topics – in our case, helping the grieving deal with their loss in an unusually inspiring and uplifting way. In fact, it can be life-changing.

And so, we continue our collaboration, giving talks, workshops and retreats – and keep growing together as writers, speakers, presenters, teachers and as women who help each other to go farther in doing what they are passionate about: helping others overcome loss and grief through different inspirational techniques.

The International Grief Council will be offering its first UK residential retreat, titled Finding Hope after Loss, on 30th August to 2nd September 2018, near Oxford. More details on www.internationalgriefcouncil.org The Woman Writer New Year 2018

Welfare for members

by Jennie Lisney The SWWJ Benevolent Fund takes care of members who are sick and/or fallen on hard times. Decisions as to whether a member is entitled to such help are taken by three of our Vice Presidents: Val Dunmore, Joyce Elsden (Treasurer) and myself, Jennie Lisney. All three of us are long-standing members of the Society.

Joyce is the longest serving, while Val and myself are past Chairmen as well as being members for over 40 years.

The SWWJ Benevolent Fund is funded through donations and legacies and the Gift Stall at the Christmas meetings.

The welfare of members is critical in this day and age, with many writers still working well into their 70s or 80s, if not beyond.

I look after the practical side of things, like sending flowers and cards when a member is unwell, in hospital or a loved one dies.

We try whenever possible to attend funerals and send donations to a specified charity when a member passes away.

Perhaps the most important function of the Benevolent Fund is to provide small grants to any member (they must be a member for at least two years) in times of hardship or trouble, especially if they are alone without family support. See my details on page 2 of The Woman Writer as the first port of call.

Finally, when a member becomes elderly, has a diminished income or is no longer able to write to support herself, or too frail to come to meetings, we step in and pay for a copy of The Woman Writer each quarter, including postage, to go to them.

Those ‘specials’ no longer pay for their membership but want to keep in touch with their fellow writers.

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Fiction focus

With a little help from...

Vivien Hampshire shares her advice

I

n this issue I am going to look at just a few of the many writing courses, workshops, online resources and how-to books that are out there, all offering to help you learn how to write, improve and ultimately sell your fiction.

Let’s start with the women’s magazines. Both Woman’s Weekly and The People’s Friend have been delivering regular workshops for a few years now, not only in London but in various venues around the country. Lasting a day, costing in the region of £85, and using the fiction editors and some of their most popular writers as tutors, these courses offer practical exercises and useful talks and advice to help writers crack the short story and serial markets. What better way to find out exactly what a magazine is looking for than

to attend a course run by its own editorial staff? But a word of caution… The magazine fiction market is shrinking fast, with the majority now closed to new writers, so even if they agree to look at your work you will be competing for page space with many established and already successful writers.

Go along to enjoy the experience, but don’t expect preferential treatment or guaranteed sales to the magazine as a result!

For many, there will be the chance to learn their craft much closer to home. Look out for local council adult education programmes and learn at your leisure, at weekly afternoon or evening creative writing classes, alongside like-minded fellow students. I was a tutor myself for five years, with several students who went on to find success with their

Sue Moorcroft (top) ran the SWWJ Workshop in October.

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New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Fiction focus fiction, but my local authority later decided to concentrate its funding on courses that led to employment rather than on leisurely pursuits, and no longer runs writing classes at all. Of course, you may find one-off author talks or workshops in libraries, or private classes/writing schools available, like The Write Place, run by SWWJ member Elaine Everest in Kent, but in the end it will be luck that decides what’s available in your area.

If you have the time, and can afford to go, there is a lot to be said for a few days away. The Arvon Foundation in England and Scotland, Writers Holiday or Ty Newydd in Wales, and Arte Umbria in Italy, to name but a few, provide courses and retreats that manage to combine learning with holidays, so you can benefit from the guidance of tutors while also socialising with other writers 24/7, enjoying the local scenery and maybe even soaking up some sun! Swanwick, Winchester, and the National Association of Writers Groups have also been hosting successful annual writing conferences for many years, with delegates returning year after year.

Some people may prefer to learn online or by correspondence course, meaning they can fit their writing lessons around a busy work schedule or family life, and work on their assignments at home and in their own time. Take a look at the Writers Bureau, Curtis Brown Creative or some of the courses run by Writing Magazine/Writers Online if this is your preferred option. They are not cheap, but all have convenience, a considerable reputation and longevity on their side.

Maybe what you are looking for is more specific help in say marketing, submitting or selling your book, rather than in The Woman Writer New Year 2018

writing it. I want to take the opportunity here to talk a little about the workshop the SWWJ held in October, with the wonderful Sue Moorcroft as our visiting tutor.

Concentrating on commercial fiction rather than the more literary kind, Sue’s advice was all geared towards books (like her own) that sell – keeping your eye on the market and what is currently popular, writing to a specific genre, finding your own unique selling point, pitching your opening chapters to the right agent or publisher, and the value of having exactly the right cover. I know that our delegates found the course invaluable as it gave them the chance to look at the potential saleability of their own novels in a new way and to ask all the questions no online course or how-to book could ever cover in such an immediate and direct way.

If you would like the SWWJ to organise more writing workshops in the future, please let us know!

Which brings me, last of all, to books. Can you learn all you need to know about writing fiction from a how-to book? Which are the best, and which are nothing but a waste of time and money? There is certainly a place for them, especially for the beginner looking for such things as plot, characters, story arcs, conflict and all the other ‘buzz words’ to be explained and illustrated. Of course, you won’t be getting any feedback, as you would when you have a tutor on hand, but books are a cheap option and are always handy to have at your side when you have a burning question or want to dip into the experience of an already established writer. Read the reviews from other readers before buying, but if you want to read about the writing life as it really is, warts and all, you can’t go far wrong with On Writing by novelist Stephen King, Wannabe a Writer? by Jane WenhamJones, or the late great literary agent Carole Blake’s perennially popular and very useful submission guide, From Pitch to Publication.

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When I was not upon this page...

A name trick

by Doreen Friend Working as a reporter entailed meeting and interviewing lots of different people from politicians to TV personalities, from local businessmen to police officers and sports-people.

News often happened in an instant and back in the day there was no Internet and Google to refer to, in order to check out details of the person to be interviewed at short notice, whether you were speaking to a Miss who turned out to be Ms or a Mister who was actually a Sir. And then there is the confusion over whether someone has an OBE, MBE, CBE or a BEM. Carrying out research into the who, what, where and why of the subject about to be interviewed often took precious time, with the result that important details such as individual name spellings could not always be confirmed before the face-to-face meeting took place.

Some years ago I was sent to interview the star of a popular TV programme; the problem was, I had never seen the programme and had no idea who the ‘star’ was. Luckily the photographer with the newspaper I worked for was with me. I did what any good reporter would do, I asked the photographer if he knew the star’s identity then hid behind him until Rob, the actor approached me with a grin and asked me what did I want to know. The interview went like a dream.

Some personalities and slightly famous people assume that you (me) have intimate knowledge of them and don’t always introduce themselves. I found the easiest way to avoid any embarrassment is to smile and ask, “How did you spell your name again?”

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This ploy works whether the name is Smith/Smithe Green/Greene/ Jones/Jonns, and so on. Discussing the various ways of spelling common names such as Brown /Browne does two very important things: (1) it enables the person (Brown) to feel that you (me) are interested in them and the provenance of their name, and (2) the person (Brown) feels superior to you (me) as you don’t know how to spell such an ordinary name.

It really doesn’t matter what the interviewee feels so long as you have the correct spelling and that makes your editor happy.

HAIKU Biting winter wind arctic sourced, reddens my cheeks and sucks out my soul.

by Valerie Dunmore New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Around the regions News from Moonraker Country

by Dee La Vardera A few years ago while I was researching for The Little Book of Wiltshire, I came across Leonard Raven-Hill (1867-1942), Punch cartoonist and illustrator of Kipling's Stalky & Co who lived in Bromham near Devizes (1896-1912). He also designed First World War propaganda posters. He came to my mind again at the opening of a new exhibition in Devizes.

The Winds and Words of War, an exhibition of First World War propaganda posters from the San Antonio Public Library Collection, Texas, is on a two-year European tour. Fresh from its four-month stopover in Reims, France, it is now at the Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, until 22nd April 2018.

This is the only UK venue so it's quite a coup for the museum, and for the county.

There are forty lithographic posters from a collection of over 600 – re-discovered in the vault of the Texana Collection of the San Antonio Public Library, and not on public display since 1933. Vibrant colours and impassioned words create powerful works of art, as well as records of social and political history at this critical time when US President Woodrow Wilson took his country to war in April 1917.

As I walk into the gallery, I am greeted by the beautiful Wake Up, America! by James Montgomery Flagg, and opposite his famous Follow the SWWJ on Facebook!

Members are invited to ‘socialise’ on the Society Facebook page.

Check out swwj.facebook and ‘like’ the page.

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

poster I WANT YOU FOR THE U.S. ARMY – his representation of Uncle Sam (based on the artist). Flagg 'borrowed' the idea from Alfred Leete (also a Punch man), whose front cover for London Opinion, 5th September 1914 became iconic: BRITONS – picture of Lord Kitchener pointing his finger – Wants YOU. JOIN YOUR COUNTRY'S ARMY. God Save the King.

It's interesting to look at some of Raven-Hill's work: Recruiting-Sergeant Punch in To Arms, The Watchers of the Seas and, in particular, his 1919 cartoon of Uncle Sam in The Gap in the Bridge.

Who influenced whom?

Follow the SWWJ on Twitter!

Find out about the latest news and events by following (and retweeting) @SWWJ. Help to spread the word about our Society!

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Crowdfunding

The wisdom of crowds

by Julia Thum

I

had never heard of crowdfunding until my co-author and I wrote our first novel, Riverside Lane. Now, having raised £9,000 through Kickstarter, I cannot believe this egalitarian, democratic form of publishing passed me by for so long. But it’s not for the faint-hearted!

Having dreamed up and co-written a novel, honed our social media skills and developed the Ginger Black brand, we had no idea that the most challenging part of the journey to publication would be setting up and running a successful crowdfunding campaign. Along with much of the population, we barely knew what crowdfunding was, and therewith stood our first problem.

Stripped down to the bare essentials, crowdfunding involved asking friends, family, colleagues and contacts to pre-order our book. Most understood this and wanted to help, were bamboozled by online jargon.

They were not ‘buying’ but ‘pledging’, the novel wasn’t a ‘book’ but a ‘project’ for which, instead of a purchase price, they were offered an escalating menu of ‘pledging options’ ranging from £10 for a paperback to £1,500 for ten hardbacks, launch tickets, etc. Then, like a sponsorship form (but less altruistic), there was the potential embarrassment of putting their name to the lowest level ‘pledge’, a measly tenner beside a neighbour’s very public £200. Or the awkward option of anonymity, risking the assumption they hadn’t joined the fun at all.

From our end, we rode the emotional roller coaster of friends and colleagues from decades ago reaching out with kind words and pledges-a-plenty and some nearest and dearest avoiding the campaign like an embarrassing plague. For me, this was the

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hardest part and I was grateful to have the other half of Ginger Black by my side.

Together we smiled through occasionally disingenuous promises from friends and family who did not understand that, ‘beneath the bonnet’ of the campaign, we were privy to every penny pledged... or not pledged as the case might be.

With a hefty £9,000 to raise in forty-five days, our contacts were never going to be enough. We spread the word through our website and social media and, as Riverside Lane is set near where we live, involved local press and businesses as well as leafleting residents. And all the while, like a digital thermometer, the funding gradually crept up.

Crowdfunding platforms vary, but Kickstarter pledges are only called in if the target is reached. We nearly fell short, but a last minute interview on BBC Berkshire generated the last few pledges we needed New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

From the archive and Riverside Lane was on the map. There was a hardback, a party for pledgers, and a paperback launch earlier this year.

It was hard work, dispiriting at times, and, though I’m by no means an expert, I would offer the following advice to anybody considering crowdfunding their novel: • Build a social media profile in advance and plot a busy campaign across all the platforms, including researching the most effective hashtags.

• Educate friends and family before you start and have them lined up to ‘pledge’ the moment the campaign goes live – crowdfunding is like the proverbial rolling stone and those first pledges are the hardest to get.

• Clear your diary then refill it with a focused PR campaign, remembering you’ll be against the clock so, if you can, schedule radio interviews, Facebook events, library appearances, etc, then support them all on social media.

Gaynor and I are now halfway through our second Ginger Black novel and I have just finished my first children’s novel. When people ask if I would undertake crowdfunding again the answer is a resounding no, but I am extremely glad that I did it and incredibly proud of what we achieved.

The early days of romantic fiction

by Sylvia Kent I’m always interested to hear news of how our friends at the Romantic Novelists’ Association are getting on.

Members of both our societies often meet and exchange news and respective views and our Chairmen have enjoyed each other’s The Woman Writer New Year 2018

special events and celebrations over the years since the RNA was founded on 12th January 1960.

The task of setting up new writing groups was never a problem for our Society officers in the past. Council members had, after all, assisted in the creation of the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School in 1949 and several of our members had also helped in the founding of various writing groups across Britain, including Brentwood Writers’ Circle in 1941, of which Vera Brittain was a Vice President.

As the RNA’s 50th birthday appeared on their committee’s agenda, the Editors of their anniversary book – Jenny Haddon and Diane Pearson – asked us for historical help in finding material linked to their earliest days. Much of it was discovered by delving into our own rather dusty newsletters.

Eventually, their super book Fabulous at Fifty – Recollections of the Romantic Novelists’ Association 1960-2010 book was published.

It was a pleasure to join in the RNA’s golden celebrations in Piccadilly’s Royal Air Force Club and raise a glass on their special birthday. Their President, Katie Fforde, looked so glamorous in her lovely golden jacket.

But let’s stop here and take a peek at those early years.

Much discussion, research and hard work was inevitable as the RNA project evolved.

Eventually, the RNA’s inaugural meeting took place at the Royal Overseas Club on 12th January 1960. Although our Society of Women Journalists (now known as the 27

From the archive

Katie Fforde

SWWJ) had been involved with every nuance of writing, including journalism, broadcasting, poetry, film and playwriting, since1st May 1894, some of our members had felt for a long time that a rather more focused direction, concentrating on romantic fiction covering novels, short stories and articles, was needed.

In spring 1960, the national press, including The Bookseller, reported that Denise Robins was to become the first President of RNA, with Netta Muskett and Barbara Cartland following as their first two Vice Presidents.

Alex Stuart, regarded as the brains behind the formation of the RNA and strongly associated with our own Society, reported that the embryo Association had already received 115 applicants for membership and our own officer Helen McGregor worked hard on the plan to award an Oscar for the best romantic novel of the year. The Book League, which was so popular in the early 28

60s, mounted a touring exhibition of romantic novels in conjunction with the launch – an exciting prospect for those who had been writing in this genre for many years.

From its very beginning, the RNA has enjoyed support and affection from some of the world’s most famous authors and entertainers, including Mary Burchell, Marjorie Proops, Mary Howard, Berta Ruck, Marie Jospeh, Catherine Cookson, Joanna Trollope, Barbara Pym, Rosamunde Pilcher, Joan Hessayon and Katie Fforde – the list is endless!

As we know, romantic fiction covers a wide range, from short stories, through category romance and much of women's fiction, to the classics. The nature of romantic fiction means that most of these novels are written and read by women. The RNA, however, boasts a number of very successful male authors amongst their membership.

In 2019, our own Society of Women Writers & Journalists will be celebrating again – this time our 125th birthday. Long may our two Societies reign.

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 New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Marketing

Don’t be late!

by Patrick Forsyth

I

t was the late Douglas Adams who famously said: “I love deadlines, I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”

He was evidently successful enough to get away with it, but for most writers deadlines really matter.

I have had a good deal published, millions of words in books, articles, in print and online, and each piece of commissioned work has had a deadline. I have never, ever missed one (well, the single exception was a book written with two academics who were two years late with their contributions! The publisher gave up and I had to find a new one). This column, like so much else in life, has a deadline. Nearly missing it this issue made me think. Publishers are busy people.

Their job is a giant juggling trick with many projects on the go, and at different stages, at any one time. Unless you are a guaranteed best-seller, they will, in part at least, choose you, and in particular come back to you, if you are easy and hassle-free to deal with.

One way of impressing them is to deliver; with a capital D. And one way of doing that is to hit deadlines: all deadlines, spot on (or earlier), every time. Never become complacent and think that someone you have come to know well will forgive. They will notice and they won’t like it.

This is easy enough, or rather with a little organisation it should be easy enough.

With the motivation of knowing that it will impress your editor it will be easier still.

Opportunities occur throughout the publishing process. For books it has a certain complexity. Even something like a magazine article fits similar principles.

First, there are deadlines for initial contacts.

Do not neglect even ‘little’ ones: promises to

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

ring them back or send something. Soon – all too soon – there is the big one: delivering your manuscript. Then there will be deadlines linked to revisions, proofs, more proofs, and a possible host of details from approving the copy for the jacket to that for a launch flyer. Hit them all.

Two specific points are worth noting here.

First: by all means negotiate deadlines; in doing so it is wise to build in some contingency and certainly you should never agree to hit a deadline that you know will cause problems. But once the date is agreed, you must stick to it. Secondly: do not let the fact that editors are themselves often seriously disorganised put you off. If they are late, fail to return your calls – whatever, so be it. It is because they find it difficult that someone who reliably does precisely what they promise is certain to impress.

Now, when is this column next due?

Editor’s Note: Patrick is best known for non-fiction; however, he has just had his second novel, ‘Loose Ends’, published. One more deadline hit. See page 12.

The deadline for the next issue of The Woman Writer is Monday 5th March 2018.

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Competition round-up

A look ahead to our prize-giving ceremony

by Vivien Hampshire

I

have had a fantastic time administering the Society’s competition programme for the last couple of years – seeking out suitable judges, deciding on word counts and themes, looking at the entries as they arrive, checking nobody has broken the rules, and (best of all) contacting our winners with the good news!

The Spring Tea is the SWWJ’s newest event, one that we introduced to our calendar last year especially to bring all our winners together, and which we will now be holding as an annual event. So, this year’s tea will be on Wednesday 14th March, and it’s our chance to celebrate all the winners and runners-up who have triumphed in our writing competitions since last year’s event.

The judges will all be there, telling us who they have chosen and why, and then presenting the prizes. We hope lots of you will be coming along to cheer them on and to hear some of our most successful writers reading extracts from their prizewinning entries.

So, let’s remind ourselves of which competitions we will be celebrating and what prizes are on offer, perhaps inspiring you to have a go yourselves when we announce our upcoming competitions programme for 2018 and beyond.

Winner Takes All! We introduced this new members-only competition in 2016 as an occasional bit of fun. It’s very cheap to enter, at only £2 a time, and we choose themes that mean absolutely everyone can have a go, whether you are a poet, fiction writer, journalist or 30

playwright, and no matter who your audience might be. Basically, within our very 250 tight word limit, just about anything goes! Our judges are volunteers, so with no admin or judging fees to pay out, the winner really does take all – the more entries we receive, the higher the prize! So, there is no trophy for this one, just cash. This, our third such competition, themed ‘red’, is being judged by our previous winner, Margaret Mounsdon. At the time of going to print, even we don’t know who has won.

Writing for Children Competition 2017 We hadn’t held a competition for our children’s writers for a very long time, and some members had been asking for one.

Prolific children’s author Ann Evans took on the judging role and chose Marilyn Pemberton’s story Target Practice as her winner, with runner-up places going to both a play and a poem – so again a great opportunity for writers in all genres. We have retrieved the very lovely little Junior Literary Cup from our trophy cabinet for this one, and were quite surprised to see it was last presented way back in 1953! There is also a £100 cash prize, with monetary prizes for both runners-up too. We may offer similar competitions again at some time in the future.

The John Walter Salver Competition 2017 This is one of our most popular annual competitions, alternating between a short New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Competition round-up story and an article from year to year. This time we asked you for a short story themed ‘the weather’ and our judge Janet Gover chose a poignant winter tale, World in a Carrier Bag, from member Beryl Fleming as our winner, meaning that Beryl takes the silver salver trophy and the £100 prize for the second year running, having won with her travel article, White Silence, last time around.

The Elizabeth Longford Rose Bowl for Poetry Competition 2018 Why is this one dated 2018, you might ask! Well, that’s because it is the first competition of the year and just manages to sneak itself in before the prize giving, having a January closing date. At least the winner doesn’t have to wait a long time for her (or his) prize, an engraved silver bowl and yet another £100 cheque. Judge Claire Dyer is probably sifting through all your brilliant ‘water’ themed poems as you read this, and we will have winners and runners-up by March, I promise!

And, in case you are not aware, all our trophies live in a public display case at Chawton House in Hampshire, research and learning centre for the study of early women’s writing, with wonderful connections to Jane Austen and her family. They come out once a year, are polished, engraved with the names of the winners, presented, photographed and then returned. So, sorry folks, but you don’t get to take them home with you!

Book your place!

Don’t forget to book your place at the Spring Tea and Prize Giving on 14th March at The National Liberal Club. You will find the application form on page 34.

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

COPY DATE FOR SPRING 2018 ISSUE The deadline for the next issue of The Woman Writer is Monday 5th March 2018.

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).

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. These deadlines cannot be changed and any late copy will be published in the email newsletter or held over for the Summer 2018 issue of The Woman Writer, deadline Friday 1st June 2018.

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.

31

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.

UK markets Louise Walters Books welcome submissions of literary/commercial novels and novellas for adult readers. They will read and respond to every submission, but say most responses will consist of a standard ‘Not for me’ email or note. Please allow two months for a response. Full details are on the website.

Email: submissions@louisewaltersbooks.co.uk Website: www.louisewaltersbooks.co.uk Olympia Publishers consider submissions from a wide range of genres, both fiction and non-fiction; from memoirs and biographies to science fiction and fantasy. Whether it’s controversial or explicit, childish or colourful, their editorial team will undertake a comprehensive review. Full details are on the website.

Email: submissions@olympiapublishers.com Website: www.olympiapublishers.com Austin Macauley Publishers™ is one of the few publishing houses that still operates a fully open submissions policy, welcoming unsolicited work from any and all writers.

This traditional approach has become a rarity amongst most publishers and agents.

Publications range from historical romances to celebrity autobiographies; from illustrated 32

children’s tales to in-depth technical manuals; from hard-hitting thrillers to meditative poetry.

Email: mail@austinmacauley.com Website: www.austinmacauley.com Diamond Kahn & Woods are always on the look-out for fantastic new authors across a wide range of genres. Their main goal is to build lasting careers for their writers by matching them with the right editors and publishing houses, and negotiating the best possible publishing deals on their behalf.

Visit their website for submission guidelines.

Website: www.dkwlitagency.co.uk

Competitions Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize 2018 This is being run by Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge. They are looking for the opening of an unpublished novel by a woman writer.

Prize: £1,500 Entry fee: £12 Closing date: 10th February 2018 Email: executiveassistant@lucycav.cam.ac.uk Website: www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/ fictionprize/ Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2018 Short Story Competition Stories up to 2,000 words on any theme.

Visit website for entry details.

Prize: A place on an Arvon course of the winner’s choice.

Entry fee: Free Closing date: 13th February 2018 Website: www.writersandartists.co.uk/ competitions New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Markets & Competitions Reader’s Digest 100-word Story Competition Yes, you’ve guessed it – a story in exactly 100 words – so make every word count.

You can upload your story on the Reader’s Digest website or send it in an email.

Prizes: £2,000, 2 x £200 Entry fee: Free Closing date: 20th February 2018 Email: 100wordstory@readersdigest.co.uk Website: www.readersdigest.co.uk/100word-story-competition The Margery Allingham Short Story Competition The Crime Writers’ Association and the Margery Allingham Society run this competition together to promote mystery writing and the elegant medium of the short story. It must not exceed 3,500 words.

Please visit the website for full entry details.

Prize: The winner will receive prize money of £500 and two full weekend passes to CrimeFest for the following year.

Entry fee: £12 Closing date: 28th February 2018 Email: secretary@thecwa.co.uk Website: www.thecwa.co.uk Flash 500 Short Story Competition This is an annual competition for stories between 1,000 and 3,000 words. Visit the website for further information.

Prizes: £500, £200, £100 Entry fee: £7, two for £12, three for £16, four for £20

Paptango New Writing Prize A fantastic competition for scriptwriters.

Previous winners have won BAFTAs, Alfred Fagon, Off West End and RNT Foundation Playwright awards, and premiered worldwide. See website for full details.

Prizes: Full production on the professional stage with box office royalties and publication by Nick Hern Books.

Entry fee: Free Closing date: 28th February 2018 Website: http://papatango.co.uk/#newwriting-prize Nature and Place Poetry Competition Poems are invited that deal with any aspect of nature and place – these terms will be given a wide interpretation by the judge.

Poems must have a title and must be no more than 40 lines, excluding the title, and be typed in black ink on one side of A4.

Prizes: £1,000 1st prize, £500 2nd prize, a place on a writing course 3rd prize.

Entry fee: You can submit up to six poems in one batch; the entry fee for the first poem is £6 and includes an administration fee, the fee for each subsequent poem in the batch is £3.50.

Rules of the competition can be found on the Rialto website.

Closing date: 1st March 2018 Email: info@therialto.co.uk Website: www.therialto.co.uk

Closing date: 28th February 2018 Email: entry@flash500.com Website: www.flash500.com

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

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Spring Tea and Prize Giving application form

Spring Tea and Prize Giving Wednesday 14th March 2018 at The National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HE Arrive 1.30pm for 1.45pm Guest Speaker: Janet Gover (Application form can be photocopied) Name ……………………………………………….

Membership No. ……………

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

No. @£18.50 ...…..….

Guests @£19.50 .…..……

Postcode …………………….

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 5th March. 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: ......................................................................................................................................................

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New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Book reviews Blood Sisters

by Jane Corry Published by: Penguin Books ISBN: 978-0-241-97672-2 Reviewed by Val Dunmore This is an unusual story and the author has done her research well, exploring constricting environments not often experienced.

One is titillated by the title and cover information to expect a story about children making pledges to each other as ‘blood sisters’, only to find we have moved forward some years.

We meet Alison finding she is trapped by a hidden trauma from her past, inhibiting her lifestyle and leading to self-harming. One’s curiosity is captured, intrigued by where she is coming from.

In parallel is another adult, Kitty, living in a care home. She is also trapped, in a damaged body following an accident. Apart from some memory loss, mentally she is coherent but her injuries prevent communication, leading to frustration and anger. Again we are intrigued – what happened?

We have two mysteries. We then find that these two are not the ‘blood sisters’ of the title but real sisters. Why are they leading such separate lives?

The girls continue in parallel. Alison exacerbates the trap she finds herself in by taking a job as artist in residence in a prison, free to come and go yet confined. Here she discovers that nothing is as it seems. It is as though she is tiptoeing through mirrors whose reflections are false. Are the friendships really friendships? Are the suggested relationships real? There are some quite startling revelations.

Kitty finds a level of release unexpectedly.

Close friendship with another resident The Woman Writer New Year 2018

results in a pregnancy. The childbirth has a positive effect on Kitty’s mental state, bringing back some memories, but she cannot handle dealing with a small child.

Later she provide clues to the ongoing mystery through being connected to a communication device enabling her to speak.

Gradually we are led to the accident which caught our attention at the beginning. Who is to blame? Here again nothing is as it seems – one person took the rap, one of the prisoners that Alison has met; then through him we are led to believe the fault lay elsewhere, with Alison, leading to imprisonment. Is this the truth? Again we are taunted until the true reality is revealed.

An involved but magnetic plot, worth every moment of its unravelling.

Christmas at Woolworths

by Elaine Everest Published by: Pan ISBN: 978-1-509-84365-7 Reviewed by Vivien Hampshire The Woolworths Girls was a hugely successful novel for SWWJ member Elaine Everest, becoming a bestseller in 2016 and introducing us to three girls as they began their careers at the famous store in 1938.

Now it’s 1942 and they are back, still friends, still working and living closely together, and all doing their best to help the war effort.

Freda learns to ride a motorcycle and becomes a despatch rider, Sarah joins the ARP, and Maisie is hoping to become a mother at last. But not everything goes quite to plan, and Elaine delivers plenty of thrills and spills, mysterious new characters and unexpected adventures along the way.

Grandmother Ruby and spinster store boss Betty, both central to the earlier book, are 35

Book reviews still very much playing their part in guiding and nurturing their young friends, but this time there is the hint of romance beckoning for each of them too – if only they will allow themselves to take it.

Elaine’s research is impeccable. We experience wartime food rationing and make-do recipes, bombing raids and Anderson shelters, gas masks, clothing coupons, the evacuation of children and so much more, and the local detail takes us right into the streets, and the very heart, of Erith, the Kent town Elaine clearly knows so well.

Don’t be fooled by the title. This is not a traditional tinsel-laden Christmas book. The story starts at Easter and sweeps along through an eventful summer towards a very satisfying Christmas Day finale. All the ends are tied up beautifully, yet the story (and the war) is far from over. The next in the series, Wartime at Woolworths, is due out in April.

I can’t wait!

Song of Memories

by Roberta Grieve Published by: Books We Love ISBN: 978-1-77362-475-4 Reviewed by Doreen Friend Natalie Fisher is a heroine in the true sense of the word.

Quietly calling on her vast reserves of inner strength, Natalie copes with the trauma of losing her family plus the disappearance of her lover Stephan without once feeling sorry for herself.

Pregnant and alone in 30s Russia when Communism was at its height, Natalie struck lucky when she went looking for shelter at the British Embassy. There she met a stranger who made her a proposition that altered the course of her future.

36

As she takes what she feels is the only way out of a desperate situation, she learns that love has many facets. After adapting to life as a woman married to Lawrence, who is almost a complete stranger, moves to England with him where she is introduced to a completely different culture.

Following the birth of Stephanie, Natalie and Lawrence hope for a second child, but it is a number of years before Lawrence discovers he is sterile and that Stephanie is not his.

Their marriage continues as Lawrence keeps his secret and Natalie pines for Stephan (the child’s father), doubting she will ever see him again. She takes solace in knowing that Stephanie is as musically talented as Stephan was.

An unexpected series of events befalls Lawrence and Stephan as the book reaches its conclusion, enabling a most satisfactory end.

In Song of Memories, Roberta Grieve effortlessly takes the reader on a journey through Natalie’s life from a heartbroken teenager to a much loved and respected wife and mother. Natalie met with a number of traumatic events in her life, but Roberta didn’t allow us to feel sorry for her.

From the moment Natalie sees the devastation in her Russian home, the broken violin, feels her blossoming love for Lawrence, her devotion to Stephanie and the memory of Stephan, Roberta cleverly bids the reader travel with her, experiencing her every emotion.

In fact, she allowed Natalie’s inner strength and courage to shine through to carry her from a sad, seemingly hopeless past and on to the sort of life that would not have been possible if she had stayed in Russia.

Please send all books for review to: Pamela Birley, Flat D, 49 Christchurch Street, London SW3 4AS. Tel: 020 7351 6377

New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Book reviews Sweet Sorrow

by Millie Vigor Published by: Endeavour Press ISBN: 978-1-54962-292-2 Reviewed by Celia Pyke Eighteen-year-old Dorrie Bartlett lives alone in a cottage, that she inherited from her dead parents. The property is outside the village where the story is set, and is surrounded by a plot of land that enables Dorrie to scratch a living by continuing to grow vegetables, although she also takes a job in the village shop.

She meets and falls in love with the handsome Garnet Plowman and, after much persuasion, allows him to make love to her.

Talk of war seems remote deep in the countryside, but before long the young men are sent to fight for their country, Garnet amongst them.

Dorrie discovers she’s pregnant with his child but is persuaded by Susan, the owner of the shop, to ignore the taunts of village folk and makes plans to raise her baby on her own. Lucas is born and the everresourceful Susan continues to provide moral and practical support, with some of the villagers chipping in with baby clothes and a pram.

One day Dorrie opens a trunk in an unused room and is puzzled by the discovery of fine clothes that reveal she has a wealthy distant family, but she rejects them, despite the promise of a good education for her son, realising she belongs in the village. She enlarges her little vegetable business by employing an elderly man to help her and all is going well when Garnet returns home, badly scarred by burns received during battle.

This is a charming story of young love, wonderfully evocative of the countryside, set within the era of World War 11.

The Woman Writer New Year 2018

English Lady – Sri Lankan Heart

by Christine P Tanner Published by: CPT Oral History ISBN: 978-0-95697-762-5 Reviewed by Celia Pyke This beautifully produced book is written in aid of The Ragalla Aid Project, which was founded in 1997 by Penelope Gordon to help improve the lives of the disadvantaged in Sri Lanka. It became a registered charity in 2000.

Penelope, better known as Pene, is the greatgranddaughter of Charles Pickering Hayley, who, in 1869, first went to Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon), where he made his fortune.

The book details the lives of Hayley’s descendants, their marriages and extended families, both in narrative and oral history form. It gives a wonderful insight into the privileged lives led by the tea planters and their families, plus a serious portrayal of the history of that beautiful island.

Penelope was born in Ceylon in 1937 and left in 1963, but when she returned in 1984 she was struck by some of the hardships endured by the native population and became determined to assist.

Including many illustrations both in black and white and colour, this book is a must for anybody studying Sri Lankan social and economic history. A heart-warming read, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Book reviews If you want your book reviewed in the WW, please ask your publisher to send a hard copy only to: Pamela Birley, Flat D, 49 Christchurch Street, London SW3 4AS. 37

Member focus

Diary of my book-signing day

by Beatrice Holloway

I

went into the local bookshop and asked the proprietor if she would be interested in a book-signing day. As I am not an outgoing person, this took courage I can tell you. “Bring your books in for me to see,” she said. I did so later the same week, she barely looked at them, grunted, then said, “Children don’t read books nowadays.”

Many thoughts flashed through my mind, but I held my tongue, wanting to say, “Well, what about all those books on your shelves?”

On the internet and in the local papers I had noticed many poetry-reading venues, in particular small independently run cafes. Do it, I told myself.

One Tuesday morning I approached the owner of Café Plaza, Eastcote, a few doors from the bookshop. The owner did not have good English and indicated that her daughter, Tina, would talk to me. When I outlined my proposal, including publicity, Tina thought it a great idea and offered me a table in the window, no charge, and we agreed a time and date.

I designed A4 posters and toted them locally.

Four shops and the library took them immediately, all displaying them without charge. I took one into a newsagent’s and the manager said that they were commercial posters, so it would be £4 a week! I turned him down as the event was three weeks hence. However, he did say he supported the local community and if I brought some books in, he would display and sell them. I queried commission details and there were none. I was very pleased with this generous offer and gave him two copies of each of my 38

seven children’s books. A number of good friends also took posters to display in their own locale. I approached the local paper and radio as well, offering an interview. Also friends have shared on their Facebook accounts.

During the following three weeks I kept in touch with Tina, popping in for the odd coffee and a chat. I delivered my books the Friday before the event. The day arrived.

I put on my ‘meet the public ensemble’ and artfully made up my face, telling myself that I had knocked off a few years! I was greeted

by Tina with a large coffee and she helped to set out my books alongside an electronic display of my visit – ‘Popular local author here today’. There was a small late breakfast clientele and I sipped my coffee, scanned the newspaper and hoped.

I did not hope in vain. Many showed interest in the books and asked questions. There was one couple who had wandered in for breakfast. They left when they were told there was a longish waiting time. Within minutes they were back, not for breakfast but to purchase a book.

Other memorable customers included a man who bought four books, three for godchildren in the USA and one for the children’s ward Harefield Hospital. Another man bought a book as he was involved in canals – three of my books relate to fictional characters on narrowboats. I really enjoyed being told who the books were for, mostly children.

New Year 2018 The Woman Writer

Diary dates DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2018

15th January:

SWWJ Council Meeting at NLC

3rd February:

Drama Workshop, London

5th March:

SWWJ Council Meeting at NLC

5th March:

Copy date for Spring 2018 issue of The Woman Writer

14th March:

Spring Tea and Prize Giving at NLC

1st June:

Copy date for Summer 2018 issue of The Woman Writer

18th June:

SWWJ Council Meeting at NLC

28th June:

SWWJ AGM and Tea at NLC

10th September:

SWWJ Council Meeting at NLC

20th September:

SWWJ Autumn Luncheon at NLC

26th November:

SWWJ Council Meeting at NLC

5th December:

SWWJ Christmas Tea at NLC

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 The National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, Westminster, London SW1A 2HE The Woman Writer New Year 2018

39

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