Wirral Writers Online

We were very lucky, and pleased, that we got this person to judge this year's entrants. Gee Williams began her creative journey as a poet. She has had work published in a variety of places, including -   The Pan Book of Horror and being broadcast by BBC Radio 4. She has won many book awards including The Book Pl@ce Contemporary Short Story Awards, Pure Gold Fiction Award 2008, and was short-listed for Wales Book of the Year 2009. The winner of this years Maynah Lewis Competition is, Liz Fisher.  Liz's story, Checkout Nine , was an amusing tale set in the seaside resort of Blackpool, of singer, River Banks and a chance game of darts. There were two joint runners up - Paul Mann with The Diary and Amy Watkins with The Long Song -  both these stories centred on someone's diary and were set in dystopian futures. Gee also gave two commendations for Lynne Quarrell and Chris Black.  Gee was very generous with her feedback and general advice to wr...

Hello writers, Just a reminder that tonight will be our first night to try out a new venue. We will be meeting at The Bridge Inn, Port Sunlight Village, as a trial run for future meetings. As mentioned at the last meeting, we will be having a meal beforehand - in lieu of our Christmas Dinner - so please attend at 6pm, after which, we will retire to another room to continue our usual club session. Information about The Bridge Inn can be found here -  https://www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/pubs/merseyside/bridge-inn/ And hopefully this map and link will assist with finding the location. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bridge+Inn+Hotel

Many apologies for the tardiness of this post. Wirral Writers is sad to announce the death of one of it's members. Arthur Adlen was a poet, folk singer and song-writer.   Active in Philosophy in Pubs for many years, as well as being very involved in ground level politics in Liverpool, Arthur was proud of his Socialist roots and fought, not only, for equality and respect for everyone, especially 'the workers', but sought to embody the historical fight and plight in his writings that his, and many Liverpool families had and still do undergo daily. He passed away just after the launch of his book on Monday 17th September 2018 - 'Memoirs of a Breck Road Buck and Other Poems'. He was a lovely man - a gentle man - his wry humour, Scouse witticisms, not forgetting a pretty decent singing voice, will be missed. RIP Arthur. https://www.facebook.com/thecasaliverpool/photos/a.436262823243863/970953853108088/?type=1&...

Maynah Lewis Short Story Competition 2018 Winner So to follow up on our March post - the winner of this years Maynah Lewis Short Story Competition is, Mike Wood . Congratulations to Mike on another wonderful story and on winning the cup. This year's competition was based on postcards - a blind selection. The stories entered ranged from an unusual train journey in Prague to rescue refugees, a murderous painter and the discovery of a vintage postcard that leads the protagonist on a journey to discover the original recipient. Mike's story - based on a picture of a nest of sleeping leverets - called ' Indocilis Privata Loqui ' , under the nom-de-plume, Pierre Lapin (see what he did there?!), told of a young female magician who entertained at children's parties, who was invited to join The Magic Circle - the world's premier magic society, having previously been refused access on the grounds of being a child at the time.  But the young woman ...

Maynah Lewis Short Story Competition Now is the time to start writing for the Maynah Lewis competition; if you haven't already started. Long standing members are familiar with the arrangement, but for newer writers -  All you have to do is write a story in 1500-1600 words about the postcard you took from the 'Lucky Dip'. Usual rules apply: Printed on one side, double spaced, pages numbered with title.  Use a font style and size that is easily read, for example Ariel or Times Roman, 12 point.                                             On separate sheet print title, your pseudonym and word count.   Put your own name on a slip of paper inside a sealed envelope.   Put everything into an A4 envelope addressed Wirral Writers Short Story Comp 201 8. Handing in for final pieces is May (exact date to be confirmed). O...

If you listen to podcasts, this is a good one.... https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/fiction A writer reads a favourite story by another writer, then discusses why it works. Great stuff. I got mine from iTunes, but if you don’t worship at the Apple altar, it’s available on the above link. I loved the one where David Sedaris reads Mirand July.

Happy New Year everyone. Well the holiday season is over and it's back to work/school/college.  This is just a gentle reminder that we start Wirral Writers Club again tonight -  Friday 5th January. 19:30 at Bebington Civic Centre. Bring along your sacrificial offerings , ahem, I mean stories, to share and critique. Up to 2000 words. Please remember, if there are many of us, we might need to read shorter sections or miss a go until next time.  Even the act of reading aloud is a helpful exercise for the writer, as we can listen to the rhythm of the prose and/or poetry, notice those jarring words, pick up those names that are unpronounceable, and see where we have written a word twice in a row (surprising how often people write and and) Newcomers are always welcome. “It ain’t whatcha write, it’s the way atcha write it.” —Jack Kerouac, 

Here's the kind of writing advice I like – something you can boil down into one or two sentences but which will stand you in good stead for all manner of plotting and characterisation problems. It's an article in Clarkesworld magazine by the excellent Kelly Robson. http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/another_word_01_18/

My novel about musical life on the road in the 1980s is on free download for a week at  Amazon , if you fancy it for a Christmas read. It follows the fortunes of keyboard player Jonnie Cole as his band tour Europe over Christmas 1985. A tale of sex, drugs and synthesisers, it is not for the prudish!!

Doesn't time fly?  Here we are again approaching Christmas. We had an early Sunday Dinner this year as our 'Lunch Calendar' became a little fuzzy round the edges - like after drinking too many G & Ts. We ate at our usual haunt; Brook Meadow Hotel, Childer Thornton. This year saw 13 of us, sat down to dinner together; including new-comers/first-timers, Mick and Amy. Some brought their partners or friends, some came alone. Brook Meadow Hotel As is our custom, we all brought a piece of Flash Fiction - 200 words on the theme of Sunday Dinner. This year we had an interesting mix including poems from Nick, Mick and myself (though not a natural poet, I like to flex my rhyming muscles on occasion!) After dinner we read our offerings then played a written version of the Exquisite Corpse -   Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule  or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed. The results we...

Thought I would let the local writing community know of my latest good news. Asterisk Anthology: Volume 1 has just come out. Published by Nosetouch Press; a Chicago based publishing house, this is a horror anthology with four themes. Nosetouch ran a series of four competitions with a 'heading' for each section -  Halloween, Ghosts, Nautical Terrors and Cosmic Horrors. I was runner up in two, so have two stories published ! Most gratifying. You can read 'Apples to Ashes' and 'Tombs in Space' online at:- http://www.nosetouchpress.com/apples-to-ashes-alexandra-peel/ and http://www.nosetouchpress.com/tombs-in-space/ or buy the book at:- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Asterisk-Anthology-1-Alexandra-Peel-ebook/dp/B076ZB9KR6 Nosetouch Press is run by editors David T. Neal and Christine M. Scott, both successful authors in their own right. I have to also comment, out of all the submissions I have made to various publishers; online or other,(and there ha...

You may not have heard of NaNoWriMo - It's a website that attempts to help writers get their novel done and in the bag. It's quite good as it provides the motivation to keep the word count rising towards your completed targets. They set off each November (i.e. next month!!) and the object is to reach your goal by the end of the month and feel good about yourself all through December. I found it very helpful and fun when I did it a couple of years ago There is a Liverpool support site  and they don't seem to mind us Wirral folk. Worth a look (you might have to set up an account to access this site). I'll be participating this year in an attempt to finish the novel I'm currently writing. You've heard a couple of chapters at the WW meetings. It's a multi-threaded story and I'm hoping to finish a couple of strands that should complete it. Hope to see some of you there.

Writers of SciFi have another great   bundle of FREE books and stories to offer.   It's available now through to the end   of September. Click here to access your free downloads. Launching in November is The Jim Baen memorial Award: The First Decade. It's an anthology of 16 optimistic short stories that present a plethora of futures beyond Earth. My own story, A Better Sense of Direction, was the first winner of the award back in 2007. It's a story I've included in my own collection, Power for Two Minutes and Other Unrealities. I'm super excited to be included in this book. All the stories are from past winners, and I get to rub shoulders with some top award-winning authors. The anthology has been edited by Nebula-award-winning author, William Ledbetter, who has administered the Jim Baen Award right from the start. Here's a pre-publication review by  Publishers Weekly ...

They say nothing in life is free, well I say, what about love? What about the freedom to think what you like?  Or the freedom to learn? Future Learn is a site where the Open University runs free online courses - yes, free. If you want to get a certificate as proof of learning, then you can pay for one to be posted, or simply download the image to your work files. It is really simple to use - even for the not so young, you are guided through each week, at your own pace and check off the list as you go. Courses range from - Introduction to Writing Short Stories, or, An Introduction to Screen Writing to Biochemistry the Molecules of Life. Most subjects are covered and for a writer an opportunity to possibly delve a little deeper into a theme you may want to write about, but currently have too little information. Go to  https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/categories

WoooooHooooo Thaenks Alex, finally got this page figured, well I can at least access it and post, so I suppose thats about 90% of it :) Now for a little play, not A play, but play.

Hi Everyone, This is a little reminder that I've got two nights of plays on at 81, Renshaw Street in Liverpool next week. Here's the programme. It starts at 7:30 for both evenings. £6 for one night or £9 for both. Liz xx You can buy tickets on Eventbrite at this URL or pay on the door. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/theatre-five-in-a-bed-in-liverpool-tickets-34133202327 13 th September 2017 The Area  by Ginni Manning Lessons from a Hornbill by E J Fisher Interval (there is a bar/ tea and coffee) Things My Mother Left Me by E J Fisher Three into Two by Daragh O’Reilly Noah’s Frozen Ark  by Jane Barry 14 th September 2017 Tadpoles by Dennis Conlan Maria’s Wedding by Paul Pavli Click and Collect by Phil Morris Interval Going Concern by Scott Davenport Q-Tips by Paula by Paula Pritchard

Hello fellow Writers, I think some of you may be aware that I have had 'issues' with my computer over the past year or so.   I ended up having a new hard-drive installed; Windows 10 is gone as I went back to Windows 7. I can't say there is much improvement. When there are updates to install, it takes time, and then, it gives me a message saying: Installing Incomplete, Windows is Reversing the process - which then takes anything from 4 to 24 hours!!!! Really Microsoft?! I pay for this?!! So, I scoured the online FAQ's and Help Desks and Forums etc. I even did some of the stuff people said worked. One was a trial to see where the malfunction was occurring; it appeared to be in my Windows Word docs! Hm, so I decided to look around and see if there was anything else to use. I am fed up with the stranglehold that massive corporations have on products, what am I paying for if it keeps going wrong? I have discovered a plethora of alternatives - in no order o...

Congratulations to this year's winner of the Maynah Lewis Cup - Elizabeth Fisher. Liz's story was a chilling tale called The Stone Birds. Josephine is hungry and so is her new-born. So are the gulls. The runners up were: 2nd Chris Black with New Beginnings 3rd Nick Rose with Silver Shilling Our judge was Di Morrow. Unfortunately she was unable to attend the award night, so a big thank you to David for doing a fine job of the presentation and announcing the winners.

Book Two in Mjke Wood's Sphere of Influence series - The Lollipop of Influence - launches on Saturday, 8 July. It is available now, for pre-order on Amazon and most other platforms. Here's the book trailer to get you in the mood .

 So Wirral Writers anthology finally came together. What a team effort. I hope everyone is as happy with the resulting book as I am. I think we all learnt something from the process and from my own point of view, it was a lot harder than compiling a single author's works.  There was so much to agree on; theme, title, word count distribution, cover and more. I am sure the next one will be better - oh yes, there will be another one. It would be great to hear some feedback from readers, in the meantime, you can obtain your copy of Tick Tock at -  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1541013514/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1490358223&sr=1-1&keywords=tick+tock+lynne+quarrell