The Woman Writer – New Year issue 2019

Issue 92

NEW YEAR 2019

• • • •

Report on Christmas Tea Fiction Focus 125th Anniversary Year Writing Groups

Who’s who Printed by TandC Printers, Bromley, Kent BR1 3PU Issue 92

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 Vice Chairman: Rebecca Harding Mob: 07966 459080 rebecca@saltwhistle.com Hon Treasurer: Benita Cullingford Tel: 01727 857388 b.cullingford@btinternet.com Manager, Writer’s Debut benitaswwj@btinternet.com Hon Secretary/Events: Janice Grande Tel: 01268 451547 Mob: 07951 671498 grandewords@yahoo.com Speakers: Pamela Payne Tel: 01730 892413 pamela@thebeach.com

New Year 2019

Marketing Coordinator: Michelle Harriman Mob: 07894 703717 Michelle@dotiprojects.co.uk Competitions/Social Media/Manuscript Appraisal: Vivien Brown Tel: 01895 254453 vivienhampshire@btinternet.com Archivist: Sylvia Kent Tel: 01277 651062 skent32@tiscali.co.uk Book Reviews/ Chawton House Liaison: Pamela Birley Tel: 020 7351 6377 bra33@btinternet.com Website: Gywneth Box Mob: 07986 613437 hello@gwynethbox.com Minutes Secretary: Vacancy Council Support: Katherine Bolton Mob: 07834 954993 katherineindevon@gmail.com

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Patrons: Lady Howard, 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) Membership Secretary: patrick@touchstone28.com Valerie Dunmore Vivien Brown (Proofreader) Tel: 01737 557936 swwjval@aol.com Press/PR/Newsletter/ Overseas: Doreen Friend Tel: 020 8505 2476 doreen.friend@swwj.co.uk

The Woman Writer is published by The Society of Women Writers & Journalists

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 2019 The Woman Writer

From the Editor

Contents 4

From the Chair

By Barbara Field-Holmes.

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Letters Members’ views and comments.

6-9

Society news Discover what’s happening in the SWWJ.

10 - 11 Members’ news A round-up of news and successes.

12 - 13 SWWJ Anniversary 1894: Oh, what a year that was!

14 - 15 Overseas members Doreen Friend gets the latest news.

16 - 17 Poets’ corner Dorothy Pope puts poetry to good use.

18 - 19 Fiction focus Sequels, series and standalones.

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Around the regions News from Moonraker Country.

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Drama Latest news.

22 - 23 Christmas Tea Report by Carol Cannavan.

24 - 25 From the archive Sixty years ago.

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are feeling fighting fit. For the SWWJ it will be a special year as we will be celebrating our 125th Anniversary!

Throughout 2019 we hope to arrange special events to mark this milestone in our history (see page 4). To get the latest information visit the SWWJ website – www.swwj.co.uk In the meantime, do have a look at Vivien Brown’s article 1894: Oh, what a year that was on page 12.

As for the year ahead, I wish you creativity, self belief and bags of enthusiasm. I hope your work gets published and that your competition entries win lots of prizes!

carol@aspire-editorial.co.uk

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SWWJ Competition Winner Takes All Competition 2019.

33 - 35 Markets & Competitions

By Carol Cannavan.

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Funny you should say that...

Common sayings and customs.

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26

When I was not upon this page

By Doreen Friend.

37 - 38 Book reviews

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Spring Tea application form

28 - 29 Writing Groups Benefits of belonging to a writing group.

125th Anniversay Lunch Application form.

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Dates for your diary 2019 Front cover picture

Issue 92

NEW YEAR 2019

30 - 31 Marketing Thanks a bunch.

Photo of birds walking on a frozen lake, taken by Carol Cannavan.

Inset: Martin Cort

• Report on Christmas Tea • Fiction Focus • 125th Anniversary Year • Book Reviews

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

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From the Chair Chair types...

Welcome to the first issue of The Woman Writer in our Anniversary year. Amidst all the worries and the uncertainties currently surrounding Brexit and the future of the UK, it is good to be able to report something positive for the SWWJ. During 2018 there were many discussions going on within Council, making plans not just for our important Anniversary year, but also for the future of the SWWJ. We recognize that the Society needs to ‘up its game’, move forward with the times, but at the same time not lose sight of our wonderful rich history and roots.

Although our actual 125th birthday is not until 1st May 2019, we will be celebrating this momentous achievement throughout 2019.

The theme for the year is Past, Present and Future, which will be depicted within the WW, a special Anniversary E-Newsletter being produced by Doreen Friend, and will be the theme for our main 125th Anniversary Lunch. Our normal calendar of events has been slightly altered: We will still be holding our Spring Tea and Prize Giving, scheduled for Wednesday 20th March and details can be found on page 7, with the application form on page 27. This will take place at our usual venue, The National Liberal Club with tickets costing £18.50 for members and £19.50 for guests. Please come and support us, and invite your friends and family.

London, which was formed in 1403; it received a royal charter in 1557. When you hire Stationers’ Hall, you hire the whole venue, which means we can hold a Welcome Reception in the Stock Room (11.30am) before moving through into the main Photo Gallery for Lunch at 12.30pm.

Following the chosen theme of Past, Present and Future, the Welcome Reception will be more than just a welcome drink. There will be a ‘mini exhibition’ of display boards showing key milestones, events and well-known writers from all genres from our past history and showing where our roots began, displays of our current and more recent members and their achievements, and outline plans for the future. Alongside the displays, we will have an SWWJ table along with book tables from which members can sell copies of their books and sign copies purchased (number of copies to be discussed). If you are interested in bringing some copies to sell, please contact our Events Coordinator Janice Grande or myself.

We will be joined by our President, the Rt Hon Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham OBE DL, Floella Benjamin, our Patron Lady Howard (Sandra Howard), and other invited guests. Our Guest Speaker is author Kate Mosse. We want as many of you as possible to join us for this wonderful event and to that end, we have kept the ticket price down at just £49.50, for both members and guests.

An application form can be found on page 36.

125th Anniversary Lunch The next event will be the special 125th Anniversary Lunch scheduled for Thursday 2nd May 2019 at The Stationers’ Hall, London, home of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. Usually known as the Stationers’ Company, it is one of the livery companies of the City of

AGM and future events Ever conscious of the cost of coming to London, we will not be holding our usual AGM and Summer Gathering in June as it was felt it would be too close to the Anniversary Lunch. Instead, we will be holding our AGM in early September to coincide with one of our existing scheduled Council Meeting on

by Barbara Field-Holmes, Chairman

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New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Letters Monday 9th September. This will be held at the National Liberal Club in the Lawrence Robson Room. We will hold a shortened Council meeting in the morning, followed by AGM early afternoon. Tea and biscuits will be available. Exact timings will be published in the Spring issue of The Woman Writer.

We will not be holding an Autumn Lunch this year, but are working on plans for a ‘Tea and Tour’ event at the House of Lords. The exact date will be announced as soon as possible, along with further details. The year will then be rounded off with a wonderful Christmas Tea Party.

Council changes and more…

I said at the start that Council were looking closely at the future of the SWWJ, and putting plans in place for moving forward.

We will be looking at doing a lot more publicity; we need to tell the world what we are about, what we are achieving and what talents we have with our membership, but most of all, we need to grow our membership.

The Council recognizes that we have a lot of work to do, and we are delighted to have another two new members on Council, and one or two existing Council members have a change of role. Rebecca Harding is now our Vice Chairman, while Michelle Harriman has joined us to take over the role of Marketing Coordinator. Doreen Friend has stepped down as Vice Chairman but has taken on the role of Overseas Coordinator, and has already rekindled contact with our overseas members and reintroduced the ‘Overseas’ section within the WW. Katherine Bolton has also joined Council in a support role, and will be helping Michelle, Rebecca and myself with a number of tasks. And finally, Janice Grande who took on the role of Hon Secretary in 2017 has also taken on Events, leaving Valerie Dunmore to concentrate on Membership. This just leaves me to wish you all a very Happy New Year and successful 2019.

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

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).

Nice surprise When I reviewed Julie Round's book Bend in the Lane in the Autumn edition of The Woman Writer, I said that I wished I had read the previous three books in the series so that I was already familiar with the characters and their intricate relationships.

Well, there I was, sitting at my table at the UK Southern Book Show in October and who should come up to speak to me but Julie herself. She thanked me for the review and handed me three books – the first books in the 'Lane' series.

I have really enjoyed reading them and getting to know the Smiths and the Longmans and can thoroughly recommend them to everyone who likes what my mum used to call 'a nice family story'.

Thank you Julie.

Roberta Grieve

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.

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Society news

Photos from the Christmas Tea

SWWJ welcomes new members FULL MEMBERSHIP Gillian Gustar, Bristol Membership number: 766 Gillian’s speciality is Management Development on which she has been published many times. She has also written material for clients such as handbooks and guides. She writes a regular column for the Ford Madox Ford Society Journal and is currently working towards a Doctorate in Literature.

WRITER’S DEBUT MEMBERSHIP Janet Howson, Brentwood Membership number: 764 Susan Wilson, Dunfermline Membership number: 765 Dr Valerie Livina, Hampton, Middx Membership number: 767

Writer’s Debut Scheme Writer’s Debut, the SWWJ’s newest membership category, is now in its second year.

To help unpublished writers give their work a final polish, we offer a manuscript critique and a one-year membership of the Society.

Subscription fee £145. Gentlemen welcome. All genres accepted.

Please visit www.swwj.co.uk for further information.

Please help to spread the word!

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New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Society news Spring Tea and Prize Giving Wednesday 20th March 2019

Minutes Secretary required

at The National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HE Arrive 1pm for 1.30pm Speaker: Elaine Everest

We are looking for someone to take minutes at our SWWJ Council meetings, which take place five times a year at The National Liberal Club, London. Your travel expenses will be covered and you will receive an honorarium of £100.

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

Elaine Everest has been a freelance writer for over twenty-one years. She started out writing short fiction and articles, specialising in canine features. Her columns and articles have been read in national newspapers as well as women’s and specialist publications. Features as diverse as ‘why we should not live with our husbands’ to personal pieces about deciding to be childfree have been published in ‘the nationals’ while short stories were popping up in magazines across the world. Never one to let the grass grow under her feet she also entered competitions with much success, being runner up in the Harry Bowling Prize in 2012 and winning BBC Radio Kent Short Story Writer of the Year in 2003, to name but two.

These days Elaine mainly writes historical sagas for Pan Macmillan where her Kent-based WW2 novels have become bestsellers. She manages to write the occasional short story and serial while wishing she could still pitch a feature idea – if only there were more hours in the day!

Besides our fantastic speaker, prizes will be presented for all the winners/runners-up entries for all our recent competitions. And of course, there will be a scrummy tea.

See you there!

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

Manuscript Appraisal Service All the writers and tutors in our appraisals team are full members of the SWWJ, with many years of professional experience and expertise to offer.

Whether you are new to writing, keen to improve your skills, ready to try for publication for the first time, or just want to take a change of direction by exploring a new genre, a member of our team is ready, willing and available to guide you.

Visit our website – www.swwj.co.uk – to view the profiles of our current team.

They could help you to fulfil an ambition to get your manuscript published.

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Society news Southern Regional Meeting Report by Roberta Grieve Sadly, once again there was a disappointing turnout for the Southern Region Autumn Meeting in Chichester. A pity because we had an excellent afternoon speaker who spoke about the role of women in Sussex during World War One. Martin Hayes, the West Sussex Local Studies Librarian, illustrated his talk with slides from the West Sussex Archives showing how women were engaged in so many different ways to help the war effort. Martin said the home front in West Sussex had been rather overlooked and he has been engaged in a lottery-funded research project to help rectify that. A website was launched in 2014 and 150 volunteers came forward to help Women workers harvesting mushrooms in WW1.

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Members attending the meeting.

with indexing, researching and digitizing documents. (www.westsussexpast.org.uk) Apart from the well-known roles played by women such as nursing and working in munitions, we learned of many other aspects of the war where women gave their services, in many cases voluntarily.

I recommend the book produced by West Sussex County Council, with chapters by various local historians on different aspects of the war, especially the chapter on the Home Front written by Martin. West Sussex, Remembering 1914-18 is edited by Martin Hayes and Emma White in Association with West Sussex County Council. There is also a display of original records in the West Sussex Record Office in Chichester.

During the morning session we had time to discuss members’ current work but the main area for discussion was the declining numbers at these regional meetings. We have had excellent speakers at the last three meetings and it must be very disappointing for them to address only a handful of members.

I do my best to publicise our meetings via Facebook and the newsletter as well as contacting members in person, but sometimes I don’t even get a reply. I am very keen to keep the regional meetings New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Society news going, as it gives those unable to travel to London a chance to meet up and socialise with friends from around the region as well as listening to interesting talks. However, it is becoming untenable to continue in our present form. To cover the cost of room hire and speakers’ fees we would need to raise our attendance fee and that could put more people off.

What do we do? Your comments and suggestions would be very welcome – maybe we can find a way to carry on. But sadly, I feel the time has come to call it a day.

Please email Roberta Grieve at: robgrieve@msn.com or call her on 01243 554647.

Photos from the Christmas Tea

COPY DATE FOR THE SPRING ISSUE The deadline for the next issue of The Woman Writer is Friday 1st March 2019.

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/email; always send images separately.

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. Deadlines cannot be changed.

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

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Members’ News

Calling all members!

See yourself on our website The Society is always working hard to improve its website; if you haven’t had a look recently now is the time to visit www.swwj.co.uk and check out our diary page of upcoming events. You’ll find all the latest news, including details of current competitions, photos of prize-giving events and the names of some past winners and runners-up.

The website also gives us all the chance to tell other members and the wider public a little about ourselves and our work.

Under the ‘About Us’ tab, you will find an alphabetical listing of some of our current members, with profiles and photographs.

If you would like to be included (it’s completely free), please write a short and relevant biography (in third person please) and send it to Vivien Brown at vivienhampshire@btinternet.com along with a photograph and any social media/ website links. The site is updated at least once a month, so you could very soon be seeing yourself there!

Success!

Family history Angela Blogg has published her ebook One Light To Another, in her maiden name of Angela Goslin, which explores the Goslin family history in the West Country.

Angela's research traces back through the Goslins, Hawkes and Tretheweys in and around Plymouth and Cornwall. The book contains lots of family stories and snippets, and has an array of both Irish and West Country photographs, and is available on Amazon.

Competition winners John Walter Salver Theme: Something you don’t know about me The Society would like to congratulate the following members. Full details and extracts from the winning entries to come in our Spring issue.

Winner: Sylvia Kent Second place: Pamela Payne Third place: Beryl Fleming Thank you to everyone who entered.

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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New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Members’ news A Polish Symphony Amidst an enthusiastic gathering, Barbara Cluff launched her first novel, A Polish Symphony, at One Tree Books of Petersfield during the evening of 23rd October 2018.

Barbara told how the adventures of Polish ex-patriots had inspired her to write this historically accurate story. To the musical accompaniment of Chopin’s Nocturnes, Barbara then gave a short account of Poland’s past, from times of expansion and glory to her complete cartographical demise, partitioned between the empires of Prussia, Austria-Hungary and Russia; setting the scene for the start of A Polish Symphony, which follows Viktor and his family through the turbulent years of 1899 to 1944.

Barbara read extracts, highlighting Viktor’s exile in Siberia, his subsequent escape to join the Polish Legions and then, after the end of the First World War, how Poland once again appeared on the map of Europe. After a short happy interlude of twenty-one years,

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

the family’s part of Poland was once again invaded, twice by the Germans and twice by the Russians.

Over the years, Barbara has collected Polish nursery rhymes, songs and poems and translated them into English. She is concerned that such works of art come from an era where they could quite easily be otherwise forgotten.

Ending her descriptive narrative, Barbara answered many questions from the floor, after which she thanked everyone for coming. To Barbara’s surprise and the delight of Tim O’Kelly of One Tree Books, thirty books were sold.

Photo courtesy of Pamela Payne.

Digital copy?

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

For members in the UK, you will still receive a hard copy in the post.

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

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SWWJ Anniversary

1894: Oh, what a year that was!

by Vivien Brown

A

s I am sure most of you know, 2019 is a very special year for the Society as we celebrate our 125th Anniversary. It was on 1st May 1894 that Mr Joseph Snell Wood (pictured below), a wealthy and enterprising newspaperman, created the Society of Women Journalists.

The rest, as they say, is history…

On that momentous day – a Tuesday – Queen Victoria was on the throne and soon to celebrate her 75th birthday. Archibald Primrose, a liberal politician otherwise known as the fifth Earl of Rosebery, was our Prime Minister, and Edward White Benson presided over the Church of England as Archbishop of Canterbury. The May Day riots in Ohio, USA, a major demonstration by workers protesting over unemployment, dominated the news of the day, and were a

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precursor of the economic depression to come.

But what else was happening in the world during the rest of that year? Let’s take a wander back through time to 1894 to find out!

On 23rd June, Prince Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, great grandson of the queen, was born in Richmond, little knowing that, more than forty years later, as King Edward VIII, his abdication from the throne would have such far-reaching effects on the royal family and the country. And just look at how many of his names are still popular within our royal family today!

In London, the construction of Tower Bridge was completed, with an official opening on 30th June by the Prince of Wales. At 800ft long and more than 200ft high, it is almost impossible now to imagine the River Thames without its iconic landmark bridge, whose walkways, new glass floors and original Victorian engine rooms are now part of a tourist exhibition.

The sporting world of 1894 saw the meeting of the first Olympic Congress in Paris, paving the way for the establishment of the International Olympic Committee and the staging of the first modern Olympic Games in Greece two years later. In cricket, the County Championship was won by Surrey, the first ever definition of ‘first class cricket’ was written by the MCC, and the England team toured Australia. Manchester City Football Club was founded, and the FA Cup Final was won by Notts County, beating Bolton Wanderers 4-1. The match was played at Goodison Park, Liverpool, with New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

SWWJ Anniversary the construction of Wembley Stadium still almost thirty years in the future!

In the commercial field, Coca Cola was sold in bottles for the first time, but the rubber seal tainted the flavour, so the drink had a very short shelf-life. In South Shields, fashion house Barbour was founded, initially as an importer of oil-cloth, which soon led to the production of waxed jackets for motorcyclists and ultimately to its modern day designer clothing range.

New music was published by classical composers Brahms, Dvorak, Debussy and Mahler, and Italian tenor Enrico Caruso made his operatic debut at the age of twenty one. Blues singer Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the National College of Music was formed in London, where it is still active today as an examination board for music and drama.

The Columbia, Edison and Berliner record companies were producing lots of recorded popular music, including such songs as Daisy Bell, written by Henry Dacre, and more famously remembered for its opening line of ‘Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do…’

Actor Charlie Chaplin made his stage debut in 1894 as part of a music hall act, standing in for his mother who had lost her voice mid-performance. Five-year-old Charlie rushed on and finished the song for her, to great acclaim. In fact, the audience threw coins on stage for the lad! The first documented projection of a motion picture in front of an audience took place in the same year.

Of course, as writers, our interests naturally lean towards the world of literature, and 1894 was not without its highlights. What were people reading? Jerome K Jerome, H G Wells, Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Emile Zola, E Nesbit and H Rider Haggard were all popular, as were Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. It was the year that Rudyard Kipling first published The The Woman Writer New Year 2019

Jungle Book, now probably better known in its Disney cartoon form. George Bernard Shaw’s play Arms and the Man was premiered in London. Dashiell Hammett, the American detective novelist of Sam Spade and Maltese Falcon fame, was born, and Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish author of Treasure Island and Jekyll and Hyde, died suddenly in Samoa at the age of forty four. In December, American poet (and later four-time Pulitzer Prize winner) Robert Frost had his first poem, My Butterfly, published in a New York paper. He was just twenty years old and was paid the princely sum of $15 for it.

But what of the women? Apart from the Queen, our list of notables only includes one woman, children’s author Edith Nesbit – and she was writing using an initial, quite possibly, as many others did at the time, to mask her true gender. Is it any wonder that Snell Wood saw the need for a society that could support and encourage female writers in what was still so clearly a male-dominated world?

But there is some very good news to report from 1894 – and that is the passing into American law of the Married Woman’s Property Act. Until that time, married women in the USA were unable to make wills, own or inherit property, or even be official guardians of their own children.

Women were quite literally ‘owned’ by their husbands. A similar ground-breaking Act had already been introduced in the UK in 1882, but the much-overdue changes in US law came about because of the actions and determination of one woman, Josephine Henry. It was the intervention of women like Josephine, prepared to stand up for women’s rights, talk about divorce, birth control and economic security, which undoubtedly led the way towards votes for women, a change in attitudes, and the freedom and equality we all enjoy today.

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Overseas members

“

I am very happy to report that since taking the Overseas Liaison role I have gained some international friends. I was tempted to say ‘pen friends’, for that in essence is what I think we have become.

Doreen Friend

” ✍

Jenna Hines lives in France and reads the WW on her Kindle.

“The weather here is still very warm, and I have been in the garden too, just cleaning up and getting ready for the cold nights ahead!

“I have had a very busy year with one thing and another, but managed to fit in some writing time and I am now on the last edit of my seventh novel, which I hope to upload to Kindle and make available for print copies via Amazon before Christmas (fingers crossed!).

“This novel, similar to my last, is also set in Australia and has a touch of the paranormal running through it. I will let you know when it's up for sale and will send a short synopsis and a copy of the cover to you.”

Take care, kind regards, Jenna.

Doreen: Please do, we can’t wait to see it.

✍

Journalist Helga Jensen-Forde has been very busy and is currently studying for a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. Helga desperately wants her book published.

“I wrote my book, Temptation at Tiffany's a few years ago and then won a competition in Dubai with the first chapter. It was judged by a London agent at the Emirates Festival of Literature. Then Harper Collins showed some 14

interest in the book after reading the first three chapters.

“I received some bad news in the family, and with everything going on it completely slipped my mind. Life got in the way, we had a death in the family and so I never managed to succeed with Harper Collins as I rushed to send the full MS in to them!

“Sadly it has been one thing after another and now my beautiful dog has died. So, that is a quick snapshot of what has been happening, but I hope to get back to the book soon.”

Best wishes, Helga.

Doreen: Sending loving thoughts and wishing you all the best.

✍

Josephine Chia is in Singapore.

“Glad to know that you have good weather in the UK, and you are enjoying your garden, something I miss here as I only have a tiny flat on the 19th floor without a balcony.

Alas! Owning a property and a car are the biggest expenses in Singapore as we are tight for space. So I don’t own a car!

“The literary scene here is very lively. The Singapore Writers Festival organised by the National Arts Council of Singapore, is from 2nd to 11th November. Lots of exciting international authors including British ones as well as local. I have been invited to speak on two panels and to run a ‘walking book tour’ of my former village based on my kampong books.

“I am truly busy. I just launched two new books, but haven’t sent them to the SWWJ for review because I am not sure if the

New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Overseas members WW would review a children’s book? The first is Growing Up in Kampong Potong Pasir and the other is a young adult novel, Big Tree in a Small Pot. I am also asked to give lots of talks on writing and on my books in the schools, museums, etc.”

All the best, Phine.

Doreen: I am sure the books would be reviewed with pleasure.

✍

Noreen Riols has had a royal encounter.

“I was in London last month, which was great, except that I always try to put a quart into a pint pot so came back in shreds. Had two horrendous journeys on the Eurostar.

On the outward journey the train fell to bits in the tunnel, we should have arrived at 12.30pm, but finally crawled in after 3pm. I was invited to a special dinner in the crypt of St. Paul’s as a guest of the Special Forces Club – where I stay. Princess Anne and her handsome husband were there, and I was at the Princess’ table. She wore a stunning evening gown in midnight blue which shimmered silver when she got up to speak.

I was sitting between a US SAS colonel and a gorgeous Norwegian SAS chappie, who was in full dress uniform. The whole thing was glittering with wonderful uniforms, the women in their evening frocks looked positively drab in comparison. Now I’ve come back to earth with a bump.

“Life in Paris is hectic as usual and as Christmas approaches it will become more so, though I noticed when driving through on my way home from the Gare du Nord, that Galeries Lafayette and Printemps already have their windows beautifully The Woman Writer New Year 2019

decorated with animated figures. Seems a bit early, but still….”

Doreen: Sadly Noreen’s husband Jacques passed away earlier this year. She has found that writing about the grief and loneliness suffered when a loving partner dies has helped.

✍

Judy (Pollard Smith) Hamilton from Ontario, Canada enjoys the WW and claims the SWWJ has done her some good.

“I find myself at the tail-end (I hope) of a writing project that is near completion. I'll keep you posted when it's in my hand! It has kept me busy for the past year and will soon be tidied up.

“The SWWJ has been a good thing for me.

It has broadened my ‘idea base’.

“The beautiful coloured leaves are on the trees and many are on the lawn now. I hate to rake them up. Such a pretty carpet!

“Best of everything Doreen to you and to the SWWJ members.”

Judy

Don t forget, the editorial deadline for the Spring issue of The Woman Writer is Friday 1st March 2019.

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Poets’ corner

Prolonging the pleasure

by Dorothy Pope

R

eceiving a birthday card is, of course, heartening. However a card is soon opened and if there isn’t much written inside, the pleasure is short lived.

For years I’ve received a card on my birthday in which is written only ‘Dorothy’ at the top and ‘Alan and Sylvia’ lower down, and it is a bit disappointing. A little something written inside prolongs the pleasure.

I’ve put this poem of mine inside a birthday card to a boy of fourteen who aspires, at present at least, to becoming an architect.

In ‘finding’ the poem inside myself, I wondered how many people (of those of us fortunate enough to have choices) trace their adult occupation to a particular fascination in childhood.

It occurred to me that city roofscapes present as geometric shapes and that triangles may first be encountered in infancy in the form of toy yacht sails.

So, I put this bit of verse inside the boy’s card this year, in case his interest in buildings’ shapes blooms into his becoming an architect, but also to be a little something to prolong the opening of his card.

There is of course a glorious precedent by Wordsworth called Composed upon Westminster Bridge.

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From Westminster Bridge Part random and part planned, familiar view, seen now with my more educated eyes as shapes that pierce the skyline’s London blue, is all geometry, I realise.

As new-fledged architect, I travel down the years and see my pond yacht sails, aged nine, like their triangularity, look round, see other shapes. The windows of my mind once opened, never closed. I played with shapes, arranged my food and so fish fingers were hotels, tower blocks. It stayed with me, this fascination. I would go to school of architecture, and resolve respect for cities, vow, “Preserve, evolve.”

New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Poets’ corner Chrysanths

by Helen Shay Sniff of flashback. His allotment.

Plump fingers, so dirt-engrained you could see their forensic print.

Bouquet-ing up the blooms in yesterday’s ‘Yorkshire Post’.

A gift for a granddaughter fusing forever our youth and age in a scent.

Never talked ‘about it’, about the gas, his blinding, blinked away in time.

Never talked about whizz-bangs and shell-shriek, inflicting a vague deafness – though never enough to quell the cries heard in his dugout-dreams, of those who only came back in dreams.

About one moment alone he talked. The very end.

The un-bitter end.

Tommies tramping tired mud roads, almost too incredulous to sing.

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

Mouthing that word – like some never before tasted fruit – Armistice.

Passing the convent (miraculously intact).

Nuns rushing out, arms full of flowers.

No mass illusion of battlefield angels, these – but real holy women left pure amongst the carnage, cradling a regiment of chrysanthemums.

Pushing them into men’s dust-choked lapels, their hair, their rifle barrels.

Silencing their war at last.

Days before, he would never have thought his end would wait 60 years.

Until fate, finally boxing up all his seasons amongst funereal lilies, allowed chrysanths, wreathed on his coffin, once more to finish the show, their perfume still suffusing and surmounting dust and ashes.

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Fiction focus

Sequels, series and standalones Bringing back the characters we love, by Vivien Brown

I

was interested to read, in the Autumn issue, how the characters in Patricia Jones’ novel, Threads of Life, had become her friends and that having to part with them when the book was finished was upsetting.

I wondered how many other writers feel this way and get drawn back into the fictional worlds they have created, with the urge to write a sequel and explore what might happen next.

I grew up reading Paddington Bear, Mr Pinkwhistle and The Famous Five. Having found books I loved, I would naturally look out for more of the same, just as later generations pounced on each new Harry Potter book the moment it was published.

I’m sure many of us still do it as adults too, seeking out our favourites – Miss Marple, Inspector Morse, etc. Yes, many ‘series’ books feature detectives. They work because they offer a brand new mystery or crime story each time, yet combine it with the chance to find out more about the familiar central character.

With permission, of course, authors sometimes write about someone else’s characters too, with many penning new stories featuring James Bond or Sherlock Holmes, while SWWJ member Maggie Sullivan’s Coronation Street books take readers back to the early lives of popular 18

characters, including Elsie Tanner and Annie Walker, and act as tie-in ‘prequels’ to the ITV series.

Saga writers often set several novels in the same geographical area, focussing on families or friends whose stories move on from book to book. I spoke to member Elaine Everest about her highly successful The Woolworths Girls novels, following the lives of three friends who start work at Woolworths in Erith, Kent on the same day in 1938. Over four books and one novella, readers have followed the girls, and the store itself, through good times and bad, right through to the end of the war. But not everyone reads in order. According to Elaine, “many readers will purchase the latest book then go back to the earlier stories. I made a point of doing my utmost not to overdo the back stories from earlier books as I can’t stand any book that uses pages of the first chapter to bring readers up to speed. A slight hint of what went before is all that is required; readers can discover earlier books and not feel they already know the outcome.” Although Elaine intends to return to her Woolworths world in the future, she is about to introduce us to a whole new set of characters in The Teashop Girls, a series again set in the 1940s and coming soon.

Another of our saga-writing members, Elaine Roberts, also chose three friends working together as the protagonists for her first published novel, The Foyles Bookshop Girls.

Having signed a three-book contract, Elaine New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Fiction focus knew from the start that this would be the first in a trilogy, set in First World War London.

While a different girl takes centre stage in each novel, readers can catch up with what is happening to them all as their stories intertwine.

Although the books can be read as standalones, Elaine says: “Some of the backstory is dripped in to each book, but it would give the reader a greater understanding of the characters, and their reactions to situations, if they were read in order.”

While Sue Moorcroft’s bestselling contemporary novels are standalones rather than a series, many are based in the fictional village of Middledip. From Starting Over to her latest, A Christmas Gift, and several others in between, the village that links the books has become almost a character in its own right, and certainly much more than simply a backdrop. “You don’t have to read them in any particular order,” says Sue, “but you do see some characters more than once. Carola, for instance, has been in several books and gets quite a big role in The Little Village Christmas.

Tubb from the pub is in almost every Middledip book and will play a greater role in my (as yet untitled) Christmas 2019 book. Most usefully, if I want to bring a new person to the village they’re sometimes related to someone who readers may have met before.”

Do authors get bored writing about the same people and places? “No!” says Elaine Roberts. “I love my characters. The The Woman Writer New Year 2019

challenge is about finding new ways to describe the characters, setting and location.” Elaine Everest agrees: “For a time I thought that A Gift From Woolworths would be the last book, so writing the final chapter was extremely hard. I sobbed over those few pages as it was like saying goodbye to my friends. At times I’ve had to make decisions to say goodbye to a much-loved character. George Caselton was supposed to die in the first book but I loved the character so much I had him break a leg instead!” Elaine also loves it when characters pop up unexpectedly in other books, and has managed this on several occasions, providing subtle links between her Woolworths and Teashop series books and standalone novels The Butlins Girls and Gracie’s War. So, what advantages are there for authors in producing series novels? Building a regular readership, and therefore sales! Elaine Roberts says: “I have been fortunate to have readers message me to enquire about follow ups, which is wonderful for a new author.”

Branded by colour, typeface, titles and cover images, her books are instantly recognisable as a series, enticing readers who enjoyed one to come back for more. In fact, the third novel was listed on Amazon for pre-order before it had even been written!

The familiar Foyles name also acts as a ‘hook’, especially with its recent sale to Waterstones hitting the news. Similarly, to anyone who ever worked or shopped in Woolworths, Elaine Everest’s books evoke nostalgia. Readers feel a personal involvement and rush to share their own memories with her on social media and radio, all helping to create an ongoing ‘buzz’.

So far none of my characters has re-appeared in a later novel, but I have to admit that pulling readers back into their lives with a ‘what happened next?’ hook really does make a lot of sense. I just might try it one day!

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Around the regions News from Moonraker Country

by Dee La Vardera Japanese drumming, Kate Adie, and shopping accompanied by art appreciation.

It’s been a good time in Moonraker Country for interesting and unusual things to do, new people to meet and new experiences to record.

Who would have thought that a couple of miles up the road in Yatesbury is a small Japanese community who practise Shumei Natural Agriculture. ‘Just like music or painting, farming is an art whose product touches your soul’, writes Miyoshi Nakamura, Natural Agriculture farmer and teacher, Japan. Yatesbury is mostly known as an important RAF training ground in both World Wars – camps and airfields long gone; a lot more going on there now.

A small group of Taiko Drummers from the Yatesbury Shumei Community appeared at Calne Music and Arts Festival. Taiko Drumming is loud, hard and fast, and involves choreographed movements, some associated with Japanese Martial Arts. It was exciting watching these energetic, elegant and agile young men perform, and

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to listen to the complex rhythms and vocal additions. It was very loud. Next time, outdoors, please, perhaps on your farm.

I was thrilled to hear Kate Adie, CBE, talk about the legacy of women in WW1 at Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre.

She spoke eloquently for over an hour without notes. The accompanying images were amazing; many she discovered while examining The Women’s Work Collection, IWM. An extra treat at my local Tesco. I noticed a banner for a pop-up show at the Community Hub – an extension of the superstore building. Local watercolour illustrator, Chris Dunn, was exhibiting illustrations for Wind in the Willows, Beatrix Potter Tales, Grimms’ Fairy Tales and the Paisley Rabbit series by American author Steve Richardson. It was lovely chatting to Chris about his work, particularly his commission to illustrate a new edition of Wind in the Willows in China.

I bought calendars and cards, took photos, exchanged business cards, and bought a kilo of potatoes for 49p.

Dee’s website is www.dewfall-hawk.com New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Drama Murder, a proposal, a golden cage and luvvies unlimited

by Martin Cort Report on the Drama Workshop at the Leicester Square Reference Library, London, on 6th October 2018.

The members of the Workshop surpassed themselves again giving those that attended and their guests an entertaining day.

Starting with the real-life murder in Death on the Doorstep by Martin Cort, the audience was intrigued to learn that Martin had become involved in this gory tale. He explained that it was beneficial to hear the Workshop’s comments as he was about to submit it for publication. After lunch the actors gave us a reading of Howard Scharverien’s The Proposal, which is a dramatic romantic story with a twist at the end. It was suggested that at the next Workshop it be read as a monologue for radio. Jennifer Pulling’s The Golden Gate, which might have been taken as an ordinary domestic drama, turned out to give us a view of the other side of the nomadic gipsy/ Romany problem confronting a rural village.

Normally we don’t read work unless the writer is with us, but we read Jane Willis’ script The Waiting Game, out of respect to Jennifer Pulling discussing her reading with Martin Cort.

Actors making notes during the lunch break.

her loyalty and enthusiasm – it gave us all a laugh. Lastly we read Doreen Friend’s Luvvies Unlimited, a fast moving comedy about a company who called themselves ‘fans’ and dressed up as their favourite stars to attend festivals such as the ‘Blonde Elvis Competition’. The idea itself was enough to raise a laugh. It is a ‘work in progress'.

NEXT DRAMA WORKSHOP The next Drama Workshop will take place on 9th March 2019 at: The Helios Centre 16 Judd Street London WC1H 9NS 11am to 4pm 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 mcort1@talktalk.net The Woman Writer New Year 2019

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SWWJ Christmas Tea

A Christmas Cornucopia

by Carol Cannavan Reporting from the Christmas Tea at The National Liberal Club

A

s the title suggests, there was an abundant supply of excellent entertainment on offer at the SWWJ Christmas Tea. After a warm welcome by Barbara Field-Holmes, members and guests listened to Martin Cort as he introduced his group of professional actors. They performed a series of monologues written by Doreen Friend. One by one they took on the persona of characters that made the audience smile, laugh... and shed a tear or two.

Martin first introduced Joan Blackham who performed Women’s Work, a comic portrayal of a naive woman answering calls to men on a chat line. John Witts followed with The Bouncer and gave an excellent portrayal of a man desperate to prove he is the right person for the job. Mary Drake performed

A Special Gift, showing the dilemma of buying for a woman who has everything. The offer of a dinner date with a trainer at the gym the woman frequents had us all smiling at the end.

Robin Miller performed No Eggs, which was about a woman embalmer who expresses no emotion in her work. However, she is profoundly moved when she has to work on an old man who was a loner all his life with no family or friends.

Next, Mary Drake performed Smelly Affair in which her character is invited to have an affair with a colleague. After much deliberation she agrees and is seduced by the sweetness of his personal hygiene... until he tries to kiss her!

John Witts performed Man’s View. This touching piece was about a man whose wife

A Christmas Cornucopia is a collection of comic and dramatic monologues written by Doreen Friend and presented and directed by Martin Cort.

Doreen began writing short sketches and one-act plays some years ago. A number of her plays have won awards in amateur drama festivals.

Martin is a member of the SWWJ and has over fifty years’ acting and directing experience. He has appeared in a number of popular television dramas.

Doreen Friend and Martin Cort

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New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

SWWJ Christmas Tea

Left to right: Mary Drake, Joan Blackham, Robin Miller and John Witts.

develops cancer and needs a mastectomy.

It was a moving account of a man facing the mutilation of his beautiful, beloved wife and his coming to terms with the operation.

Robin Miller performed Chair of Many Colours. This was about a woman who has enjoyed a happy marriage and recounts the memories a particular chair evokes. After the husband retires, the wife continues to work. When she comes home early to find her husband having sex on the chair with an unknown female, she sees red and stabs them to death. A very convincing performance.

Joan Blackham performed The Gift. Two women who have been friends for years never reveal their ages. The viewpoint is the older of the two. At a birthday party the younger woman gives the gift of a balloon with the older woman’s age emblazoned upon it.

The final piece was performed by Robin Miller and John Witt. Love in Bloom was The Woman Writer New Year 2019

delivered as a monologue in rhyme portraying a pair of untidy, scruffy people who realise that they are in love.

The performances were followed by a lovely tea: plates of sandwiches, cakes, scones with jam and cream and pots of tea. Afterwards everyone had the chance to mingle and catch up with friends. Members’ books were on sale and the afternoon finished with the raffle.

This was a very enjoyable event – we hope to see you all there next year!

SWWJ Flickr account Photos from the Christmas Tea are on our Flickr page. To access and download the photos just visit: www.flickr.com/photos/139153628@N07/ Note: There are a number of photos taken at this event throughout The Woman Writer, if you would like a copy just email Carol Cannavan at carol@aspire-editorial.co.uk 23

From the archive A special septuagenarian

by Sylvia Kent Birthdays were top of the news in November last when HRH Prince Charles celebrated his seventieth birthday. Readers of a certain vintage can still remember the royal birth notices appearing in the late world press on Sunday,14 November 1948.

Life, on the whole, was much more formal than today in the era after World War Two. Since the days of Queen Victoria, our Society has enjoyed links with royalty. Some of our earliest members were associated with Buckingham Palace and invitations were received to attend national occasions such as coronations and international celebrations. We retain archived reports

from some of the national press court circulars.

Seventy years ago our organisation was known as the Society of Women Journalists.

It wasn’t until three years later, at that year’s AGM, that a change to the title was agreed and ‘writers’ added. It was announced in the November/December 1951 issue of The Woman Journalist. This was about time, as so many of our members were successful novelists, poets, playwrights, short-story writers, broadcasters and a myriad of other forms of narrative, as well as the work of the journalists. The wider title covered more accurately the activities of members.

During the months leading up to Prince Charles’ birth, Myfanwy Haycock, a longstanding member and well-published poet, was busily creating a special poem which, when news of Prince Charles’ birth was announced, was delivered by hand next day.

The poem, beautifully inscribed and illuminated on parchment with the message: ‘Loyal greetings from the Council and Members of the Society of Women Journalists’, was taken to Buckingham Palace by the husband of one of our Council members.

Song for a Baby Prince How small your hands are now: they touch And cling like fairy butterflies, Or brush with tiny wrath away The stubborn sleep dust from your eyes.

And yet someday those selfsame hands, Mature and fine yet gentle still, Will proudly hold within their grasp An empire’s heart, and empire’s will.

Small lovely hands! We only ask That in the dim years yet to be They may fulfil their great grand task With Courage and with Charity.

Myfanwy Haycock 1948

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New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

From the archive Funny you should say that...

Do you ever wonder where common sayings or customs come from? Here are a few supplied by Pamela Payne that can be traced back to the 1500s: Bread was divided according to status.

Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or ‘the upper crust’.

An acknowledgement came from Lady Mary Strachey, Lady-in-Waiting: ‘I am desired by the Princess Elizabeth to express to you and ask you to convey to the Council and Members of the Society of Women Journalists, Her Royal Highness’ most sincere thanks for the very kind message of good wishes, which the Princess was so pleased to receive’.

Over our first century, we have been delighted in welcoming members of the Royal Family to some of our special celebrations; one in particular was HM Queen Elizabeth during our 75th celebrations at the House of Lords in 1969.

Follow the SWWJ on FACEBOOK Members are invited to ‘socialise’ on the Society FACEBOOK page. Check out swwj.facebook and ask everyone to ‘like’ the page. Send your items to: vivienhampshire@btinternet.com The Woman Writer New Year 2019

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.

The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.

Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.

They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of ‘holding a wake’.

When the local folks started running out of places to bury people, they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, around one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside, showing that some people had been buried alive. So, they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, thread it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus someone could be ‘saved by the bell’ or was considered to be a ‘dead ringer'.

Houses had thatched roofs, thick straw piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying: ‘It's raining cats and dogs’.

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When I was not upon this page...

No dancing

by Doreen Friend I really don’t know how to tell you this, here goes, try not to be too disgusted with me.

Deep breath and …I don’t like dancing. I never have. However, I have given in to peer pressure and tried my best to do linedancing, not professionally I hasten to add.

I have a problem telling right from left. I have lost count of the number of drivers and tourists I told to go left while indicating to the right.

I spent years perfecting excuses for not setting my best feet forward: ‘I have a sore knee’, ‘A really bad head/stomach/toe ache’, ‘I am expecting a phone call’, ‘I am wearing odd socks’. The excuse that sends would-be dance partners heading for the exit at a rate of knots is: ‘Oh no I couldn’t possibly, not until we are married’.

There must be some plausible explanation for this I hear you say. Of course you are quite right.

As a very shy, very skinny girl my brothers and I (all older and much wiser) spent a day with our noisy, over confident, overweight cousins. While our parents were deep in conversation with the aunts and uncles nearby, the cousins – two boys and two girls all slightly older than me, played records by their favourite singers/bands and began dancing.

I was entranced, never in my life (I was eight) had I ever stood up and danced in front of my parents; the ginger cat was my only audience. The cousins, used to such exhilarating behaviour, called my brothers up to join them, but the lads politely declined, due apparently, to ill-fitting shoes.

The girls Anna and Emily, turned and smiling grabbed a hand each and propelled me to the dancing area. I was excited by the idea of 26

such decadence. But (you were expecting a ‘but’), I had no knowledge of dance movements or where to put my feet, whether to wave my arms about or shake my hips.

The result was a fantastic fandango of fabulous footwork that ended with a tangle of legs and feet, and bruises all round. The laughter and derision were too much for me, hence my dislike of dancing.

I was on holiday with Suzanne my best friend, her sister Marion and June. All three enjoyed line-dancing and suggest I have go, promising to help me with the steps – I said yes.

“Ladies, stand in line and do exactly as I say.

You will love it.”

“Step side, step together, step heel, turn, step right, turn, step heel, left turn, side.”

With only left and right steps to do how could I possibly go wrong? When the instructor bellowed ‘turn’ I went the opposite way. She scared me stiff. I decided that enough was enough when I bumped into a woman next to me.

At the end of the session my friends, who were still talking to me, did what all good friends do and said: “Never step onto a dance floor with us again.”

New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Spring Tea application form

Spring Tea Prize Giving Wednesday 20th March 2019 at The National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HE Arrive 1pm for 1.30pm

Speaker: Elaine Everest (Application form can be photocopied) Name ……………………………………………….

Membership No. ……………

No. @£18.50 ...…..….

Cheque amount ………………

Guests @£19.50 .…..……

Name of guest(s) ………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………

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

Receipts are available on the day. Tickets are not being issued. If you would like an acknowledgement please add your email address below.

Email ......................................................................................................................................................

BOOKINGS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 6th 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: Janice Grande, 4 Fraser Close, Laindon, Basildon, Essex SS15 6SU

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

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Writing groups

Benefits of writing groups

by Beatrice Holloway

I

am a member of a small, but flourishing, writing group, Phrase Writers, Hillingdon (pictured below), that meet every two weeks and we welcome new members.

Indeed newcomers always seem to fit into our group in no time at all. We have a now well-established romance novelist, another specialising in Victorian drama/romance, a children’s author who is well known locally, a really excellent poet, who was one of our unsure beginners and has now published a book of her work, and we have members who write just for the pleasure of writing.

Most of our members read their work, be it an extract from their novel, a short story submitted to a competition, a poem or an article. Our main aims are to support each other and offer constructive criticism, never given in a manner to upset anyone. The remarks are sometimes hilarious as the writer/reader, who always laughs along with the rest of us, is often unaware that he/she has created an innuendo. However, unintentional errors, mistakes, blunders what you will, are spotted by the keen listeners and have perhaps saved the writer from an embarrassing submission. We all agree that feedback is absolutely essential.

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We have an occasional informal talk by a member, and these range from poetry to how to deal with being interviewed and interviewing. One member dreams up some fiendish literary quizzes and we have what we call Marion’s pots, where we pick out a picture and write a short story in a limited time.

At every meeting someone brings cake, always including one or two chocolate ones, a firm favourite. If someone should be absent or forgets their turn, there is one friend to us all who seems to have a secret emergency supply of something tasty. At Christmas we read our own or a favourite seasonal story, and book up for a posh lunch at a local restaurant. Throughout the year we have a couple of outings to somewhere with a literary theme – Dickens’ House, the seats in London illustrating children’s books, to name a couple.

However, I would like to add a few benefits I have gained through my membership besides the above. Amongst my writing friends two are artists and they have illustrated a number of my books, always original, colourful and meeting with the publisher’s approval. They say it gives them practice to draw and paint, and do not wish to accept a fee. Needless to say I do pay, not money but in kind; book tokens and elegant earrings are always welcome.

My husband worked on the railways and had some harrowing experiences, so I have mild panic attacks when travelling. It is another Phrase member who escorts me on the underground in order to attend SWWJ London events.

One of my earlier novels was proofread by a friend and another guided me through New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Writing groups self-publishing one of my books through Lulu (never again!), though I understand others seem to manage the intricacies.

Nearly always, I can count on at least two members supporting me at book-signing events or when I give a talk to local groups.

These talks are mostly based on my involvement with the Hillingdon Narrowboats Association and are reflected in a number of my books. Also, much appreciated are the car lifts to various venues and outings.

Without these good friends and co-writers, my life for the last twenty odd years would have been vastly different and I am truly grateful for their caring and support.

Beatrice Holloway Beatrice is a playwright and author who has been writing children’s stories since 2012.

In 2014 Beatrice was appointed Children’s Storyteller by Hillingdon Narrowboats Association, which has led her to write and talk about canal life. Her books include Towing Path Tales, More Towing Path Tales and A Particular Year – stories enjoyed by adults as well as children. Also written by Beatrice are six amusing books about Rhys, a boy and his friends always short of pocket money and in trouble. Her adult books, being republished this year, include A Man from the North East, Elusive Destiny and Archie’s Children.

The London Borough of Hillingdon library service has published two of her children’s stories, and Hillingdon Arts Association awarded her with a Certificate of Merit – ‘In recognition of an outstanding contribution to the Arts’.

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

Editor’s view...

I was pleased to receive Beatrice’s article as I think writing groups/circles are very important. I have been a member of the Brentwood Writers’ Circle for many years and really look forward to our monthly meetings.

It’s a thriving group, now in its 77th year.

From a membership of six in November 1941 (our earliest record), to sixty (and a waiting list). And we regularly have over forty members at our meetings. That said, there are pros and cons for large and small groups – it’s certainly easier to read out work in a smaller group as we often have a long list of participants.

As Beatrice said it’s so helpful to get constructive criticism – always given in a positive way. Members of our group also offer suggestions on suitable publications to try to get work placed.

We tend to have a speaker every other month, which is always enjoyable. Some have been inspirational and get you champing at the bit to write something new.

I’d love to hear from other members who attend a group to let me know how it helps you.

The Brentwood Writers’ Circle, taken in 2011.

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Marketing

Thanks a bunch Patrick Forsyth suggests expressing appreciation can have a sales connotation

I

n this publication I hardly need to stress the importance of keeping in touch with clients – editors for the most part.

Memories are short and it is only realistic to accept that the fact that you had, say, a 2,000 word article accepted and published, seemingly with the editor liking it very much, does not mean that you will be at the forefront of their thoughts for ever more.

Every aspect of this is tough to accept: I once followed up with a publisher to whom I had sent a three-page book suggestion only to receive an email saying: “I don’t remember that.” I didn’t curse and reply complaining – how dare you? – I sent a copy (and in due course got it published!).

Sometimes, usually after two or three follow ups have failed to prompt a response, it gets difficult to know what to say next; delay can allow the moment to pass and make anything else more difficult to do. It seems

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to me that one potential follow-up opportunity is in danger of being neglected.

We all like it when someone says: “Thank you.” The modern world seems less concerned about this and many things, including birthday presents, dinner invitations and more go unacknowledged; or only prompt a quick text message. The written thank you, whether letter or card, is largely consigned to history.

Such is life. But there are two good reasons for writers to buck this trend. First, there is the simple satisfaction of saying thank you and the impact that doing so has on others and relationships between you. Secondly there is the opportunity to do this and make it a constructive communication, one that moves a situation forward. There are plenty of opportunities: when your article is published, when your new book drops on the doormat, when a signing session or publicity opportunity is arranged, when you are paid – all these and more deserve a thank you. What better moment to pursue other ideas and to make suggestions – a new book, a new topic for an article, a new edition or a request to meet. Maybe such deserve a letter, yes an old fashioned letter; bear in mind that an email can be deleted in a split second (though some writers define a split second as the time between their suggestion landing on someone’s desk and their deciding to reject it!). If you opt for the easiest way and send an email then at least make it memorable and perhaps make a point of ending it with a what-next question. Some things – the publication of your first novel say – may be worth more: a bottle of champagne perhaps.

New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Marketing Making such communications constructive is a useful opportunity. There is an awful American expression to the effect that if you can fake the sincerity everything else is easy.

I am certainly not advocating this level of cynicism. It is obviously best to offer genuine and pleasantly delivered thanks, but there is surely no harm in then incorporating this into your chain of communications with a publisher and making it a part of the sales strategy you direct at past and current contacts.

Right Ms Editor, thank you for allowing me this space, may I let you have something else for the next issue?

Note from Editor: Certainly Patrick... and by the way, I do like Belgian chocs.

Photos from the Christmas Tea

DIARY DATE! Don’t forget to mark 2nd May in your diary for the special

SWWJ 125th Anniversary Lunch, which will be held at Stationers’ Hall, London. Book now! Application form on page 36.

Follow the SWWJ on INSTAGRAM They say every picture tells a story, so follow us on swwj_official and find out what the Society and its members are up to!

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

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SWWJ Competition

Meet our competition judge!

Pamela Payne – winner of the last ‘Winner Takes All’ Competition.

After a short career as a Personal Assistant in the UK, Nairobi and Aden, Pamela followed her dreams and started working as a journalist on the Marlow Times in 1969, followed by six years with Farnham Castle Newspapers. She founded an RAF newspaper, which was transmitted to all British Naval ships, and later rescued the failing RAF Henlow Magazine, turning it into a successful glossy monthly.

Whilst living in Italy, she wrote for Resident Abroad, the Financial Times’ magazine. She also ran an international writers’ group, organised a weekend school for the British Council and published an anthology, raising over £4,000 for international charities in just a weekend! She was then consultant on the second edition. A keen amateur ballet dancer since childhood, Pamela and a friend choreographed two pantomimes. The bemused Neapolitans loved them!

Upon returning home she wrote for magazines and taught two weekly creative writing classes for the Petersfield College of Further Education. Although she didn’t get funding, she would write to top agents and authors, asking them to give talks to her students – they all agreed!

In 2000 she published the oral history book, Voices of Petersfield & District.

Pamela joined the SWWJ in 1976 and would often fly home from abroad just to attend Society events. She served on the Council for nine years, organising speakers and running the monthly Thursday Workshops. After a break of several years, she rejoined the Council three years ago, again as Speakers Coordinator.

Winner Takes All ‘Closing Door’ Competition Write a short piece of fiction, non-fiction or a poem in which the last line includes a closing door – Maximum 250 words excluding the title Entry fee: £2 per entry. Cheques payable to SWWJ There will be ONE cash prize for this competition, equivalent to the total entry fees received. Winner takes all! The more entries received, the higher the prize!

Send your entries to: Vivien Brown, 16 Abingdon Close, Uxbridge, Middx, UB10 0BU

Judge: Pamela Payne – Closing date: 31st May 2019 NOTE: Our usual rules do not apply. For this competition ONLY, there is no limit to the number of entries you can submit. Entry is open to ALL SWWJ members, including Friends and Writer’s Debut members. The only identifier on your entry should be your SWWJ membership number. Please attach a separate sheet with your name and full contact details. No handwritten entries. No recorded delivery or signed for post please. You are reminded to retain a copy as we cannot be held responsible for lost entries. Enclose a sae or stamped postcard if you want us to send an acknowledgement of receipt and/or a sae for a copy of the judge’s report. The prize for this competition will be not be awarded until Spring 2020 during our annual prize-giving ceremony in London.

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New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

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 down to you to contact individual publications/agencies and ask for their current writing guidelines and find out if any costs are involved. Good luck!

Unlit Press is currently accepting unsolicited submissions of full-length horror and dark fiction novels and story collections. They are interested in horror that steps off the well-lit paths of teenage vampire angst and zombie apocalypse into the unlit wilderness of the unusual, the interesting, and the provocative. They also like horror that crosses the boundaries into dark sci-fi, speculative fiction and psychological thriller.

Website: www.unlitpress.com

Overseas markets

UK markets Soho Friday is a new publishing company and share a common publishing philosophy – give the reader what they want to read, not what publishers think they should read.

The publishing list will be mainly adult nonfiction, but at the end of the day Soho Friday will publish what they want to and are not controlled by the rules set down by other corporate publishing houses.

They are looking for interesting non-fiction – something that may end up in the Sunday Times Top Ten. Website: www.sohofriday.com Mother & Baby welcome freelance ideas for longer features, and these are paid. Features are expert led and must have a warm tone; they should talk directly to mothers about their common experiences.

Email: ask@motherandbaby.co.uk

Zizzle is looking for stories that will surprise, move, and amuse both young and mature imaginative minds. It wants to see new perspectives on the joys and tensions in children’s daily lives and imaginations.

Tasteful humour and a strong voice is always welcome. Zizzle pays professional rates for stories that are accepted for publication in its online and print issues. Length: 500 to 1,200 words. Visit the website for more information.

Website: www.zizzlelit.com/submit/ Poetry Magazine considers original works written in the English language as well as translations of poetry into English. It regrets that the volume of submissions received and the small size of its staff do not permit them to give individual criticism. Payment is made on publication at the rate of $10 per line (with a minimum payment of $300), and $150 per page of prose, for first serial rights.

All rights will revert to the author upon publication. Authors will also receive two contributor copies of the issue in which their work appears. For further information please visit the website.

Website: www.poetryfoundation.org/

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

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Markets & Competitions Competitions Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize The prize is for a novel that marries literary merit with ‘unputdownability’. The work can be on any subject at all. They welcome submissions of literary fiction and genre fiction equally. Submit the first 40-50 pages of the novel via the online form and a synopsis (5-10 pages long) of the remainder.

Prize: £1,500 Closing date: 8th February 2019 Entry fee: £12 Website: www.lucy-cav.cam.ac.uk/ fictionprize/how-to-enter Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook For published and aspiring writers alike – this is a free annual short story competition.

You could be in with a chance of winning a place on one of Arvon's Clockhouse writing retreats for either four or six days. Up to 2,000 words. Check website for entry rules.

Prize: Writing retreat Closing date: 13th February 2019 Entry fee: FREE Email: waybcompetitions@bloomsbury.com Website: www.writersandartists.co.uk/ competitions Papatango The play must be an original, unperformed and unproduced piece of work. The winner will develop their play with Papatango over several months, building towards a four week production at Southwark Playhouse in autumn 2019. The script will be published

by Nick Hern Books. The writer will receive a royalty of 10% of the gross box office income. Following the production, the writer will be paid a £6,000 commission to create a new play with development support from Papatango.

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Prize: £6,000 commission Closing date: 17th February 2019 Entry fee: FREE Website: https://papatango.co.uk/entryrequirements/ Exeter Writers Short stories, any genre but not children’s.

Up to 3,000 words. Winners will be announced before July 2019. Check website for entry rules.

Prizes: £700, £250, £100 Closing date: 28th February 2019 Entry fee: £7 Email: exeterwriters@gmail.com Website: www.exeterwriters.org.uk Bridgend Writers’ Circle Short story competition on the theme of your choice – 1,500 to 1,800 words. Entries must not have been ranked in any previous competition. Rules, conditions of entry and entry forms can be viewed on Bridgend Writers’ Circle's website.

Prizes: £100, £50, £30 Closing date: 1st March 2019 Entry fee: £5 Website: http://bridgendwriters.webplus.net/ Windsor Fringe Amateur playwrights world-wide are invited to submit unpublished one-act plays for: The Windsor Fringe Kenneth Branagh Drama Writing Award. Three scripts will be selected for fully staged performances during the Fringe Festival in October.

Prize: £500 for the overall winner Closing date: 5th March 2019 Entry fee: £10 Website: www.windsorfringe.co.uk/dramawriting-awards-2019.html New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Markets & Competitions Cinnamon Press Poetry Pamphlet Prize Open to all poets – beginners and established writers. Submit 15-25 poems of up to 50 lines each. Check website for entry rules.

Prizes: Two prizes of 30 copies, plus publishing contracts for each of the two winners.

Closing date: 31st March 2019 Entry fee: £10 Website: www.cinnamonpress.com Evesham Festival of Words The competition is for short stories on any theme up to 2,500 words. The work submitted must not have been previously published. There is no particular theme, and entries may be any genre or subject. Check website for entry rules.

Prize: £150 plus engraved trophy Closing date: 22nd March 2019 Entry fee: £5 Email: info@eveshamfestivalofwords.org Website: https://eveshamfestivalofwords.org/ competition/ The Caterpillar International Poetry Prize The prize is for a single unpublished poem written by an adult for children (aged 7-11).

The poem can be of any length and on any subject. The winning poem will be published in the summer 2019 issue of The Caterpillar.

Enter online or download an entry form.

Writers Bureau Stories must not exceed 2,000 words and must be typed using double line spacing.

Results will be available on the Writers Bureau website from 15th May 2019.

Winners will be notified individually. Please visit the website for full rules of entry.

Prizes: £300, £200, 100, £50 Closing date: 31st March 2019 Entry fee: £5 Website: www.wbcompetition.com Bath Short Story Award This is an international competition and the short list judge is literary agent, Samuel Hodder, from Blake Friedmann Literary Agency. Maximum length is 2,200 words.

Full entry details on website.

Prizes: £1,200, £300, £100 Closing date: 15th April 2019 Entry fee: £8 Website: www.bathshortstoryaward.org Edinburgh Flash Fiction Award This is an international flash fiction award for stories on any theme up to 250 words.

The competition is open to writers worldwide, published and unpublished.

Prize: £500 Closing date: 30th April 2019 Entry fee: £5 Website: www.storyawards.org/ aboutflashfiction/

Prize: £1,000 Closing date: 31st March 2019 Entry fee: £12 Website: www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

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125th Anniversary Lunch

125th Anniversary Lunch Thursday 2nd May 2019 at Stationers’ Hall, Ave Maria Lane, London EC4M 7DD Arrive 11.00am for 11.30am

Speaker: Kate Mosse, Author (Application form can be photocopied) Name ……………………………………………….

Membership No. ……………

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

No. of tickets @ £49.50 ………………

Cheque amount ………………

Name of guest(s) ………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………….

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

BOOKINGS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 18th APRIL. There can be no refunds after this date. For tickets please send the completed form with any dietary requests, together with a stamped SAE (letter or A5) and cheque made payable to SWWJ, to: Janice Grande, 4 Fraser Close, Laindon, Basildon, Essex SS15 6SU.

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New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Book reviews Five Unforgivable Things

by Vivien Brown Published by: Harper Impulse ISBN: 978-0-00-825214-4 Reviewed by Carol Cannavan I took this book on holiday with me and read it in five days. The story begins in 1976.

It is about a young couple who meet, fall in love, marry, and eventually decide to start a family… and that’s when the problems really start.

Kate and Dan’s journey to parenthood actually begins a few months before they marry when Kate accidentally gets pregnant.

Sadly, she loses the baby and does her best to get on with life. Four years later they feel the time is right to try for a baby.

Unfortunately, Kate is unable to conceive – three years pass and desperation sets in. It’s now 1986 and they turn to the NHS for help. IVF is still in its infancy and very much in demand, with strict rules on age and a long waiting list stretching to years; Kate and Dan find their only option is to go private.

Disappointment follows disappointment, until eventually Kate conceives. However, when faced with multiple births the future isn’t as rosy as the couple hoped.

The story is told from the point of view of Kate, and the children when they are adults, each chapter focusing on an individual. The five unforgiveable things are life changing events that happen between Kate and Dan. The characterisation was excellent and I felt I knew Kate and her family really well.

It is a story that women will relate to, whether they are in a similar situation or not.

I would highly recommend this book, I was hooked from the start.

The Woman Writer New Year 2019

The Rocking Stone

by Jill Rutherford Published by: Little Wren Press ISBN: 978-0-956967985 Reviewed by Reverend Joanna Ray The Rocking Stone is a book that is filled with the social history of the mining valleys in South Wales at the turn of the 20th century.

From chapter three onwards, I was inexorably drawn into the life and times of Kate, the heroine of this book, and her brother Davy, with all their miseries and joys. Happiness is a long time coming to Kate, who has experienced the loss of her very dear mother, and has been thrown into a time of maltreatment by her aunt. The heroine snatches at joy with her future husband Tom, but everything is ruined again when Tom’s step-brother callously violates Kate. This has such a devastating impact upon Kate that she never forgets, and bottles up all her anger and bitterness towards her attacker, along with her feelings of depression; this terrible secret takes on more sinister overtones for Kate, until the heart-wrenching finale. Looking to try and forget, Kate throws all her energy and love into looking after her husband Tom and her growing family; she is proud of her sons, and her little daughter Meggie becomes the apple of her eye. For eleven years Tom is on the dole, like most of the miners in the area.

Poverty takes its toll on the family; they are living in sub-standard housing, with little heating, and wearing clothes that have seen better days. The adults often give up their food, so that their children can eat. Luckily Kate is able to make a bit extra by taking in sewing and repairs other people’s garments.

I think that the following phrase expresses Kate’s view of her world: ‘Whatever happens in life, it goes on regardless’ (page 198). In 37

Book reviews my opinion, this is a book that is charged with intense emotion; hopelessness due to the closure of the mines, and with hopefulness due to Kate’s positive feelings towards her growing family. I would recommend it to everyone who enjoys reading about life in the raw and about the social history of South Wales.

Paisley Shirt

by Gail Aldwin Published by: Chapeltown Books ISBN: 978-1-910542-30-9 Reviewed by Cecilia Pyke This book is an assortment of very short stories and flash fiction. All are told with great observation of the human condition and are thought provoking, sometimes even unsettling. Obviously a deep thinker, Gail Aldwin paints her characters with an emotional brush, revealing some of the more discomforting aspects of relationships, before dropping in a story which shows the banality of daily life. Never boring, I enjoyed this little collection very much.

A word about 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. Tel: 020 7351 6377 Email: bra33@btinternet.com PDFs or entries sent by computer will not be accepted. The hard copy of the book is the only payment for their services that the reviewer receives, so please do not ask for the book to be returned.

Send an image of the cover of your book to Carol Cannavan or ask your publisher to send the cover photo to: carol@aspire-editorial.co.uk Please be patient. The review of your book will be in the WW, but sometimes there is a backlog. Also, we are unable to review a trilogy or series of books at one time and books submitted should be recently or newly published.

A copy of the WW containing the review will be sent to the publisher, unless the book is self-published or the publisher doesn’t give a postal address on their website.

CORRECTION Sikaran Dawn

by Revd Joanna Z Ray Published by: Novum Publishing (not Movum) ISBN: 978-3-99010-846-8

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New Year 2019 The Woman Writer

Diary dates DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2019

1st March:

Copy deadline for the Spring issue of The Woman Writer

4th March:

SWWJ Council Meeting at NLC

20th March:

Spring Tea Prize Giving at NLC

2nd May:

125th Anniversary Lunch at Stationers’ Hall, London

17th May:

Copy deadline for the Summer issue of The Woman Writer

17th June:

SWWJ Council Meeting at NLC

30th August:

Copy deadline for the Autumn issue of The Woman Writer

9th September:

SWWJ Council Meeting at NLC followed by AGM

25th November:

SWWJ Council Meeting at NLC

5th December:

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 bi-monthly. Copy that misses the WW copy dates will be passed to Doreen Friend for the Newsletter at 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 2019

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