Hello, and thank you for visiting my site. I hope that you'll return often and always find something of interest about my world and what inspires me to pick up a pen. (This is a figure of speech, unfortunately. My handwriting is terrible!) Here's what I've been up to recently...
A strange kind of recognition!
Like all writers, I expect, I’m keen to expand my readership. However, the revelation that sparked this winning letter in the May 2017 of Writing Magazine came as a bolt from the blue.
4 April, 2017 - Make the first comment on this story
York Writers’ Showcase
I very much enjoyed being part of the line up of York Writers for the last HUB event of this year’s York Literature Festival. Each of us was allowed ten minutes and I chose to read a couple of very short stories from my Anyone For Murder? collection. They seemed to go down well with the audience. Well, at least everyone laughed in the right places.
Paul Mulryne, seen in the photo above taking a breather, did a great job as compere.
It was a shame that some of the people originally down to take part were unable to make it, but the rest of us agreed that it had been a very worthwhile experience. Roll on HUB 2018!
30 March, 2017 - Make the first comment on this story
York Writers Anthology
Yes, I know. I’d have given the title an apostrophe too, but it was an editorial decision.
That said, the anthology is hot off the presses and a great read. Twenty-five stories and poems have been contributed by members of York Writers. Between us, I hope that we’ve catered for all tastes. Well, not quite all, but a fair few.
My own story, No Time For Contemplation, is about a puppy farmer getting her comeuppance – and not before time either! Anyone who exploits helpless animals is a villain in my book – books, actually. (One of the characters in my novel Shadows of the Past comes to a very unpleasant end, although his callous attitude to creatures that he considers to be vermin is only one of his crimes.)
Anyway, we of York Writers hope to raise our profile through this collection, which is available through Amazon and will also be on sale at our Showcase Event at York Theatre Royal next week. Please come along and support us.
20 March, 2017 - Make the first comment on this story
Promoting Yorkshire Authors next event
Tomorrow evening will see us in the De Grey Rooms, next to York Theatre Royal.
Writing a book is only the first step on what can be a long and rocky road.
We don’t pretend to have all the answers and hope to pick up a few pointers ourselves from the other writers we welcome to this session.
19 March, 2017 - Make the first comment on this story
HUB at York Theatre Royal
Forget the Edinburgh Fringe! York Literature Festival has its HUB, an opportunity for local writers of all kinds to shine alongside the main events.
On Monday 20th March, the Promoting Yorkshire Authors group, (some of us are shown above), will be joining York Novelists to share our experiences of different paths to publication.
We hope that as many other writers as possible will come along to join us and add their own experiences to the mix.
On Wednesday, 29th March, York Writers will present a Showcase of members’ work and I’m looking forward to reading a short story from my Anyone For Murder? collection.
Other contributions will be many and various. (Not all of them met the deadline for the posters!) It will be a very entertaining evening and we hope for a good turn out. Alongside the other books, copies of our new anthology should be on sale. It’s just about ready to go to press, so fingers are firmly crossed at the moment. Watch this space!
6 March, 2017 - Make the first comment on this story
A Double Whammy!
The March 2017 issues of these popular Yorkshire magazines feature two very different contributions from the Cobbett household.
The Dalesman has a ‘filler’ in its ‘Signs and Wonders’ column, a rather unsavoury gem captured by my husband last autumn when he dropped me off in Malton for the Ryedale Book Festival. Has he been reading my Easy Money For Writers And Wannabes, I wonder?
Down Your Way, which specialises in nostalgia, has my article about family mementos. We probably have far more than our fair share of those!
26 February, 2017 - Make the first comment on this story
Thanks, Edwin!
I’m indebted to fellow member Edwin Rydberg for this great image, which has already appeared on www.promotingyorkshireauthors.com
6 February, 2017 - Make the first comment on this story
News Flash!
Following advice from several writer friends, I’ve decided to set up a Facebook page for my novel ‘Shadows of the Past’. I’ll be posting notes on the background to the story and the items featured on the cover, regular updates on promotional events and even the odd competition. You’ll find it all at https://www.facebook.com/maggiecobbettnovelist/
6 February, 2017 - Make the first comment on this story
Back in Harness Tomorrow!
In the meantime, here are some screenshots from ‘work’ I did last year. As we film several weeks ahead, they’ve only recently appeared.
Lured to the studios by the offer of ‘flirting with a group of fit young men’, some other ladies and I were quite overwhelmed.
What fun we had! (And I think it shows!) I hope tomorrow in the Woolpack will be as enjoyable.
16 January, 2017 - Make the first comment on this story
A Tale of Two Poems
I’ve never considered poetry to be my strong point, although I’ve had a few successes over the years. My first blissful week at the Writers’ Summer School in Swanwick, for example, came about when I was awarded the first prize – a free place – in the poetry competition that year with a quirky sonnet about friendship. To My Writing Partner can be viewed on the Stories and Poems page of this website.
However, I’ve recently learnt a valuable lesson about writing poetry for the commercial market. The example above has just appeared in print and is a heavily adapted version of a much longer poem written in free verse some years ago. I was delighted when an adjudicator at that time, a highly respected local poet, awarded the latter second place. The magazine that liked the theme but not the form requested a version that rhymed and had a conventional metre. For the free verse poem I received kudos; for the adapted version I received cash. Go figure! Up to you to decide which you prefer, of course. The former is available to read on my Stories and Poems page, should you so wish.
6 January, 2017 - Make the first comment on this story
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