Wirral Writers Online

We've been asked to join with Port Sunlight Writers for a Wine and Story night at Bebington library on 3rd March. (7.30 start) I don't know all the details, but I'm sure Wirral Writers will be along to play their part with some fine and varied stories, and I'm sure we can lend a helping hand in the wine consumption part of the evening, too. I believe we are looking at 10 minute slots. I'd better start trimming.  Should be a good night. Hope to see a good turn out from WW and looking forward to meeting our hosts, Port Sunlight Writers.

The first meeting of 2011 went well and the much delayed Autumn competition finally took place. Subject for this competition was Hobbies and Interests. I think we were all surprised and delighted at the variety of interests written about. Not all the entries were factual thank goodness or else we would all be a little worried that we have a serial killer in our midst. As it was we found we have a singer, a geologist, a genealogist and a philosopher amongst us. Made my card making seem rather pedestrian. The history of the puppet Punch as researched by Tom deserves special mention as he revealed some very interesting facts about that strange fellow. Our winner was Mike with his ironic take on other peoples obesssion with transport spotting with his aptly named entry `I am Not A Bus Spotter`. Congratulations. Looking forward to our next meeting. I think we should also put our thinking caps on to come up with a theme for our next Competition in May. Bring your ideas with you.

December 3rd was our last meeting for 2010 and we celebrated with our annual Christmas Party. Despite the weather we turned up with our goodies and Christmas writings. Mike set us off with his fiendish book quiz that had most of us scratching our heads. Great fun though. Tom had written a special christmas play in which we all had a part. So many thanks for that, it was great fun to do and we take our hats off to Tom's super casting skills. For those who couldn't make it, we were thinking of you and hope everything is fine. Looking forward to next year and our first meeting in January. Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and Sucesssful New Year. Chris

Competition in magazine Gardeners World Closing date 28 th February 2011 A poem of no longer than 40lines Subject Gardens submit by post or email email to gwpoetrybbc.com Post to Gardener's World Magazine, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TQ Include your name, address, telephone number, email address and Poem title Winner's poem will be published in the June 2011 issue Prizes 1 st Prize £100 National Garden Gift vouchers, Runner-ups will receive £50 of vouchers Main terms of conditions Must be your own original work must not have been published in print or online. Nor have been entered into any other competitions. On entering you grant the BBC perpetual irrevocable and royalty free licence to publish or broadcast your poem in any media. Winner to be notified by 30 th April 2011 June magazine will on sale from 27 th May

The meeting on 19 th November was cancelled due to so many members being unable to travel because of the fog. Unfortunately this was our Winter Comp. night so our competition will have to be postponed. Next meeting is the Christmas party night, so we'll try and fit it in then if time permits. It is a disappointment to all, especially after our long November lay-off (it seems like ages since the last meeting) but hopefully our Christmas night will make up for it, with food, prizes, games... and new for this year, we are promised a spectacular Christmas play by Tom, our favourite playwright. So cheer up, listen... are those jingle bells I hear?

Hi everyone I hope tonight's fog isn't a sign of things to come this winter. It unfortunately put paid to our winter competition night as so few of us could make it to Bebington. It has been suggested that the competition could be included as part of our Christmas Evening so please bring your entry with you on the 4th December. However if you have written your Christmas piece please bring your seasonal offering too. Just to remind everyone the Christmas Evening has an open invitation to friends and family to join us. Members are requested to bring something for the Christmas Draw, it's more like a Lucky Dip really as most years everyone gets to receive something. Please bring your favourite nibbles and drink. And most of all bring yourselves.

Here's one of my trunk stories. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for this one. I guess it's appropriate for a blog about writers. (Note, the story is protected by a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives licence - see note at the end) Words Fail by Mike Wood “So, tell me, when did this… condition, first manifest itself?”             Doctor Roberts sat back and peered at Malcolm over the top of his bifocals. “Yesterday afternoon,” said Malcolm. “I’d been marking exam papers all morning and I needed a break, so I walked into town to buy a paper.” Malcolm unfolded his arms and the doctor could see that his hands were shaking. “It was raining. I went into W H Smiths and just wandered over to the magazines. I picked a few up, you know, just to kill time until the rain passed. I started reading… oh, I don’t know, might have been National Geographic or something. After just a few lines I realised that I wasn’t reading ...