Don’t you just love January? Oh c’mon, it’s a great month! So much to look forward to. Do you notice the days getting a teensy bit longer? So it may be cold/wet/snowy/bright/sunny/windy/all of the above but it means the earth is tilting toward the sun again, at least here in the northern hemisphere. Daylight will be returning and before you know it the crocus and daffs will be out, such horticultural joy sending us all a tiny bit doolallie for a while.
And what better news than knowing the South Warwickshire Lit Fest’s writing competition opens for submissions on January 15th. That’s next week! The categories are the same as last year – Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction and Poetry and the entry fee is a paltry £3.80 (actually £3.50 but there is a 30p booking fee) with a £50 prize in each category. Closing date is March 29th so there is Per-Len-Tee of time to create your masterpiece whether some cracking poetry, stunning creative non-fiction or gasp-out-loud fiction. We’ll be shouting about it all over the socials, FB, X, I, BS – is that an anagram I wonder? – and we’re very much looking forward to your entries. All the details on how to enter are on our website – basically pay your entry fee then email us your work plus your Ticketsource reference number, here South Warwickshire Literary Festival.
When I created SWLF it was not in the mix to have writing competitions but since we introduced them they have been a marvellous insight in to what people are currently writing. Supporting the Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate, who for 23/24 is May Vaughan, is always a delight, and interesting to see what younger people are writing about – so important that these voices get heard.
So here’s to your entries dear reader. I’m not a judge, just curator, so although I get to read all your lovely words my opinion counts for jack – we’re leaving the judging to the experts -all of whom will be revealed in the fullness of time..
So what are you waiting for ? Stop reading this and get writing!!
And if you know a young person in Warwickshire, aged 13-17 who could be the next YPL…
Entries for Warwickshire’s Young Poet Laureate 2024/25 will open in June 2024 at warwickshire.gov.uk/youngpoetlaureate. For more information about the Young Poet Laureate scheme please email libraryevents@warwickshire.gov.uk or your local library service if reading this in the UK.
At the end of last month I was at the Oxford Indie Book Fair as part of Banbury Writers’ Cafe, strutting our stuff and mixing and mingling. It was a fun day out and someone even bought my book which caused both merriment and delight. It’s been ages since A Collection of Unsettling Short Stories saw the light of day and the sale did give me slight surge of energy to get on with the sequel. However, as founder and Festival Director of the South Warwickshire Literary Festival there don’t seem to be enough minutes in a day to actually get round to it. So I thought I’d do a little blog instead. Well, y’know… displacement activity and all that…
My first collection of short stories I self-published yonks ago amidst teenagers’ driving lessons, daily taxi trips to college, walking my neighbour’s dog, writing a novel, working part-time, attending writing courses and a myriad of other activities now all lost in time. Six years later you’d think I’d have got round to A Collection of Unsettling Short Stories pt 2 wouldn’t you. Hmm. I have to agree. But no. The work’s all there, waiting for the Big E. Yep that’s right. The Big Edit. So, obviously daunted by the fact that this was a job I really needed to do I got on and did other things instead. Live Lit Evenings. Self-Publisher’s Showcase at the Stratford Literary Festival. Reviewing. Runner-up in writing competitions. My goodness what an impressive list of excuses!
Having chastised myself over a glass of red wine and an early advent calendar – what? don’t tell me you haven’t been tempted – I decided to send myself away…from myself…and am going to a writing weekend festival at Gladstone’s Library in February. This has given me tremendous focus to spend the weekend working on my current novel with the intention of actually finishing it. As in, ending it. As in, making it complete and done with. And I’m really looking forward to it. I have my story arc, my gang of characters, I have happy and sad, I have inciting incidents and unexpected What Ifs. I have it all ready to go and this time, I’m gonna do it. I must have known when I bought the 2024 Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook that I was up to something.
So as Christmas approaches I shall go with the flow of the season, meanwhile feeling the excitement of my novel writing weekend growing, like a little bird getting bigger and bigger until it’s ready to fly.
And how about you, dear reader? Where are your writing endeavours taking you in the coming months? Leave a comment if you will, I’d love to know.
Banbury Writers’ Cafe are at the Oxford Indie Book Fair again with their fifth anthology of great writing. If you’re in the area we’d love to see you. The OIBF is the best event for self-publishers, for mixing and mingling and shouting loud the work of writers and authors from Oxford and the West Midlands.
Sue was the fiction judge for the South Warwickshire Literary Festival’s 2024 writing competition. Here is an excerpt from her most recent book, reblogged from her website. Over to you, Sue..
Hello There you busy busy people. Time for another little blog and this time I wanted to share with you my adventures overseas. A couple of weeks ago I was in Amsterdam and, inspired by Simon Whaley’s travel writing workshop at the South Warwickshire Literary Festival this year, this blog is my first attempt at travel writing. Forgive me therefore if the content belies the title!
The queueing sitch at Brum airport was a little testing but probably not half so testing for the staff having to work it. Try to keep in mind, if you’re flying from Birmingham this year while the building work is in progress, that you’re most likely to be going on holiday or to see family and friends; the staff however are there day after day doing the best they can in difficult circumstances. Be nice.
Schiphol airport/train terminal
Our early flight was a mere 55 minutes and on arriving at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport we were greeted with some good old northern hemisphere weather of heavy rain and blustery breezes. I had come prepared however by wearing my hiking boots and packing a thin thermal hat. A good tip if the weather forecast is less than friendly, even for the end of May.
You can buy your travel tickets before you leave home!
From what I could see all of the signage at Schiphol airport was in English, French, German and Dutch so it was very easy to navigate from Arrivals to the train station. For domestic travel Amsterdam operates a travel card system whereby you can buy tickets online before you leave home, for as many days as you want and this covers the trams, metro, buses and depending on what you choose, entry to museums, canal cruises and the like. However, we didn’t buy our travel tickets online beforehand mainly because we ran out of time the night before so decided to give it a go at the airport. We bought bought our train tickets to Amsterdam central station at the airport without any hassle at all. Once we arrived at Amsterdam Central we found the bus and tram ticket office just outside the main station and bought three days worth of travel from a really helpful lady who explained how it all worked. On the trams – which are incredibly posh and have a teller selling tickets from within their own little office space on board – you have to tap your ticket on the card reader when you get on but also when you get off. I don’t know why, but you do.
Get your train tickets here!
Our destination was Westergard which is in the Jordaan south side of Amsterdam and right by the Westerkade canal. There was a bit of faffing to find the place but on asking several helpful people we found it in the end. It was a quiet residential-type area, with a few businesses plopped in between the apartments. No raves and certainly no pubs. We soon identified any prospective watering hole by it having an Amstel Beer or Heineken sign above the door, much like a barbers pole of old. Inside any of these bars you make yourself known then take a seat and your drinks are brought to you. Note – seats often out number customers so go early if you want to sit down. Prices didn’t seem that different to UK prices but everything is very metric. Well it would be I guess. You can order a pint but don’t expect to get one!
Properties are very tall in the Netherlands which means steep and narrow stairs so be prepared. Three months gym training beforehand wouldn’t go amiss. And vertigo sufferers might find said stairs a bit of a challenge. On leaving our apartment I had to navigate them backwards for fear of falling. Seriously.
Can I use your loo please?
Whilst out and about it became apparent very quickly that there is a dearth of public loos in Amsterdam. For the gents, not much of a problem but a nightmare for the ladies. But as with most things in Amsterdam there is a solution. The majority of cafes and bars are happy to let you use their facilities if you offer to pay. A euro or fifty cents should cover it. Otherwise make sure you use the loos if you’re visiting an attraction – but don’t be scared to ask otherwise! Primark, which is located on the main shopping street – Damrak 77 just off Dam Square – has toilets on the top floor. It was a surprise to me that a European city that is so welcoming to visitors doesn’t have a public toilet system, I guess I just took it for granted. Another of those things we can thank the Victorians for here in the UK!
That’s it for now – catch ya later with part two when we talk food, canals, and tourist attractions…oh, and the importance of maps…!
A few weeks ago as part of the Warwickshire branch of the Society of Authors, I was lucky enough to attend a meeting with our local library service. It was eye-opening. We learned how the books you see on the library shelves are chosen, how a self-published author would get to share this hallowed space, and how important it is for authors however published to be engaged with their local library. For example, author Erin Green gave an hour-long talk to a well-supported audience at Warwick library earlier in the month and it was only when listening to her and chatting with her afterward I realised how lucky we are as authors to have these spaces available to us – for free – with an almost guaranteed audience. Our readers don’t always have to buy our books; authors get fees each time their book is borrowed from a library so what better place to promote your work? The lovely librarians we spoke with explained the PLR (Public Lending Right) system which is administered from The British Library, which states on their website ‘If you are a published author, illustrator, editor, translator or audiobook narrator you could receive remuneration as a result of public library book loans.’ So using your library as an author and as a user is such a win-win. Are you an author reading this? Do you work with your library to promote yourself and them? Didn’t know you could? Drop them and email swiftish then, and find out if you’re just what they’re looking for! For us here in Warwickshire the library service will also display a poster for an author event if it is local, is an activity relating to local societies and/or organisations, and promotes writing. And only one of those boxes needs to be ticked.
According the WCC libraries website they have almost 605,000 items on their shelves – that includes audio books, play scripts and music scores – and lend approximately 1.7 million items a year. One.Point.Seven.Million. Just in case you missed it. That’s an astonishing amount of written and spoken words. Some of them could be yours (or mine!)
We were also introduced to an organisation called The West Midlands Readers’ Network which ‘supports reading by creating opportunities for readers and reading groups to engage creatively with literature, and to deepen their reading experiences.’ They ‘run a range of events, activities and projects with libraries and independent bookshops including commissions, creative reading events, a ‘Reader in Residence’ programme, plus networking and skills-sharing across the West Midlands.’ Do you have something like that in your area? Not sure? Ask a librarian!
Myself and other SoA members had a really creative and collaborative couple of hours with the super librarians at Kenilworth Library. Another SoA member joined us from Birmingham where she told us the sad and damn-well outrageous news that Birmingham City Council, being bankrupt, has been forced to close all its libraries. Can you imagine living in a city without a library? I can’t. I can’t contemplate the hole that will leave in the lives of so many and the damage it will do to our young readers who are going to be denied the opportunity to access free books. It is an established fact that those who are encouraged and assisted to read from an early age are often well ahead of their peers in later life. Can you even contemplate not being able to read?
So, top tips for you if you’re an author
Contact your local library to see what events are being run
Go to some of them! Meet people, support the library, network
Apply/ask to lead an authors hour (if that is what they do – other formats are available!)
Search out organisations in your area that collaborate with authors
If you’ve ever had trouble wondering how to end your novel/short story/flash, where exactly to put that full stop, hopefully this article from author Sue Burke will help you make the decision.
‘I advise knowing the ending before you start writing‘
It doesn’t sound that crazy and yes I know there are Pansters out there but even they have to stop sooner or later. And what better way to stop than knowing how far your petrol/battery will take you before you embark on the journey? Some books I’ve read have an ending so annoying you know that the author has done their job. ‘It can’t end there!’ I’ve often declared, whereas the writer probably thought, ‘That’ll keep ’em guessing.’ Are endings meant to be fulfilling? Explanatory? Mysterious? Annoying? Damn you, Stasis!
Have read of Sue’s blog and have a look at the link she’s offered, too. Might be the best thing you do today!
SWLF’s Fiction Judge Sue Burke is a finalist in the Audio Publishers Association’s 2024 Audie Awards and here is the link to her blog where you can hear a sample chapter.
If you like science fiction then this is for you. Other books by Sue include Semiosis, Interference, and Immunity Index.
Jacci Gooding, Author 
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