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 literary visit
A perfect June evening was in store for Ripon Writers’ Group as we headed for Markenfield Hall. Only three miles south of Ripon on the A61 (but invisible from it) lies this rare example of a completely moated medieval manor house. Built in 1310, it has an extraordinary history and is now the home of Lady Deirdre Curteis and her husband, director, playwright and screenwriter Ian Curteis. Famous for his scripts for popular series such as Doomwatch, Crown Court, Hadleigh and The Onedin Line, Ian is even better known for his political dramas and his tussles with the BBC, particularly over The Falklands Play. At 78, he shows no sign of slowing down.
The inspiration for this event came from our Vice Chair, Lindsay, one of whose friends lives in a cottage on the estate. As well as arranging for Mr Curteis to give us a guided tour of the Hall and a talk about his long and distinguished writing career, Julia was kind enough to allow us to picnic in her garden beforehand, to the complete bemusement of the cattle in the fields beyond. For once, the weather was on our side and we had a glorious evening.
You might like to follow the link to the Group’s own website to see more photographs and learn what else we get up to.
5 June, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story
E-book project now complete
At the start of 2013, I set myself the challenge to group some of my many short stories into themed collections and try them out as Amazon e-books. This wouldn’t have been accomplished without the technical expertise of my son Richard, to whom I’m eternally grateful. A compilation of all three books may follow and perhaps a print edition. Watch this space!
2 June, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story
‘Platero’ at the Georgian Theatre Royal
Richmond, North Yorkshire, is only a half hour drive from Ripon and boasts a unique little theatre. Originally opened in 1788 by Samuel Butler, it hosted performances until 1848, after which it was taken over for use as a wine store and an auction house. Fortunately, the basic structure was retained and it re-opened as a theatre in 1963. A substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund allowed it to be returned to its natural beauty but with the addition of modern bars and a lift.
The show I went to see this week was a very unusual one. Platero and I is a collection of tales by Nobel Prize winning poet Juan Ramon Jimenez that tell the story of a little silver donkey and his master as they wander round the village of Moguer in Andalusia. Backed by an acoustic guitar score performed by Craig Ogden and with Nino Namitcheishvili operating a truly magical little Platero and occasionally demonstrating her fine singing voice, Mike Maran told 30 of the best loved tales. The props on the spinning wooden set were simple but very effective as they showed different aspects of the village during the course of the year.
I soon forgot that Platero was a puppet and freely admit that I was in tears when he died at the end of the show.
More details can be had from www.mikemaran.com
31 May, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story
Swings and Roundabouts
I’m delighted to announce that my third eBook, Swings and Roundabouts, has just gone live on Amazon.
While selecting the stories for this collection, I was reminded of a line in a song made famous by Frank Sinatra: ‘I figure whenever you’re down and out, the only way is up.’
Triumph can indeed spring from tragedy, although unfortunately the opposite can also be the case. These are not, however, tales of doom and gloom and I hope that you’ll find much to smile at and a fair number of surprises along the way.
28 May, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story
D.C.Thomson
There has been a lot of discussion recently about the new contracts being rolled out for authors to sign before any new submissions are accepted. Some writers see these purely as a ‘rights grab’; others as their being inevitable in a diminishing market for print magazines.
Having read my own copy of the contract through several times but still being unsure about some of the implications, I’m very grateful to Simon Whaley for his research into the situation.
You can read all about it on http://simonwhaleytutor.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/dc-thomson-me-society-of-authors-and-dc.html
24 May, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story
An Evening With Harrogate Writers’ Circle
Using material gathered over the last year or two, including my article Fulfilling Fillers (Writing Magazine December 2012), I shared with HWC some strategies for topping up earnings during ‘dry patches’.
Almost all writers go through these and contributing short items – rarely over 250 words and generally far fewer – to the vast array of publications on offer nowadays can be surprisingly lucrative. We are indeed fortunate that email has done away with heavy expenditure on stamps and stationery as well as the need to copy precious photographs or risk their being lost in the post.
Amusing anecdotes, cuttings and photographs, handy tips, holiday stories, jokes, nostalgia and readers’ letters about anything under the sun will all find a home somewhere. You just need to be persistent and choose your target market carefully.
Below is one of my particular favourites, which appeared in Reader’s Digest a while back.
16 May, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story
Another triumph for the Doctor!
Always one to rise to a challenge, I recently entered and won the ‘Shaggy Dog Story’ mini-saga competition set by Helen Yendall. The brief was to write a maximum of 250 words and include ‘bone’, ‘dog’, ‘collar’ and ‘stray’ in any form.
How the Doctor came into it, you’ll discover by reading A Timely Solution, now available on my Stories and Poetry page.
Helen has already sent me an Amazon gift voucher, which I promptly spent! The other part of my prize, a full critique of a short story, awaits. Thank you, Helen, for your generosity.
13 May, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story
An Interview With Wendy Steele
Insight into another writer’s methods and motivation is always interesting and I was very happy to take part in reciprocal interviews with Wendy Steele. You can read Wendy’s interview with me at http://wendysteele.com/2013/meet-the-author-maggie-cobbett/
What motivated you to begin to write?
When I left school, I had no idea what I wanted to do but it’s hard to envisage a time when I didn’t write.
My first piece was a poem aged 10, after visiting the Tutankhamen exhibition in London and, ever since, I’ve come home from new adventures and committed my thoughts and experiences to paper. My first piece of published (and paid!) writing was an article for the Dancing Times, after attending my first day of belly dance workshops in London, eight years ago.
As a child, I read and wrote stories, losing myself in the lives of the characters, while in my early twenties, I wrote children’s stories and short stories but it was on a two day writing course, nine years ago, that I believed I could be a writer. I liked the character I created on the course and, over the following three years, proceeded to write my first novel between school runs, children’s clubs, family domesticity, cleaning other people’s houses and stacking shelves in a supermarket.
After attending Swanwick Writers Summer School for the second time and receiving great advice and help, I made the decision to take time away from teaching dance and complete the current novel I was working on. ‘Destiny of Angels – First book in the Lilith Trilogy’ was the result followed by two short story anthologies and my first non-fiction book ‘Wendy Woo’s Year – A Pocketful of Smiles – 101 ideas for a happy life and a happy you.’
How do you fit writing into your daily life?
Teaching dance in the evening allows me to write during the day but it’s never as simple as that! My plans for this year have not panned out as I hoped as my mum’s ailing health, having our house on the market and family working shifts have changed the time I have available to me.
As a self published author, launching myself into the writing world and marketing my work has also taken me away from physically writing. Getting the balance right is a constant challenge.
Do you prefer to stick to one genre or move around?
Ideas for stories come to me all the time but my fiction writing has been concentrated on the Lilith Trilogy. It’s been described as contemporary, literary fiction with an occult twist.
Which do you find more challenging, writing a story or editing it afterwards?
Definitely editing! Once I’ve made the time to write, it rarely takes me more than ten minutes to get into my writing and even first edits are no problem but ensuring every word and every sentence is relevant and the whole novel flows is hard work.
‘Destiny of Angels’ was as good as I could make it when it was published last year but, another year of writing and editing has taught me a lot and ‘Wrath of Angels’, the second book in the trilogy, hopefully out this year, will be even better.
Which writing related events do you like to go to?
I’ve attended a number of talks at The Essex Book Festival over the years and gained incites into the ever changing world of books but it was Swanwick Writers Summer School that propelled me forward, giving me the belief I needed, to dare to be a writer. Being able to focus on writing, among other writers, for a whole week with no distractions is pure luxury especially with the wealth of speakers and courses and approachable experts to learn from.
How important is reader feedback to you?
Hearing reader feedback is the equivalent of applause to an actor. As my work is on Amazon and Goodreads, readers can rate and post a review. To hear that a reader has enjoyed my stories, been motivated to read more widely or felt a part of the book was talking directly to them, is wonderful. Though each review is personal, I try not to take criticism personally but endeavour to learn by it.
How big a role does social networking play in promoting your writing?
At the end of last year, I launched my Big Birthday promotion and social media took over from writing for a month but I’ve endeavoured to redress the balance this year. My ideal writing week would consist of 80% writing/editing and 20% social media.
You can find me at www.wendysteele.com
My Facebook pages
https://www.facebook.com/destinyofangelsnovel
https://www.facebook.com/WendyWooBooks
You can view my books on Amazon via my author pages
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wendy-Steele/e/B007VZ1P06/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1365459567&sr=1-2-ent
http://www.amazon.com/Wendy-Steele/e/B007VZ1P06/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Thank you, Wendy. I’ll continue to follow your career with interest and hope to meet you at a writers’ event one day.
13 May, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story
Sprechen Sie deutsch?
Swiss writer Karin Bachmann has just translated our recent interview (see below) into German and you might like to see the results on her website http://stories47277.blogspot.ch/2013/05/interview-mit-der-englischen-autorin.html#more
Karin’s interview with me and mine with her were fun to do and an experience that I’d be interested to repeat with other writers. Please let me know if you’d be interested.
5 May, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story
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