July 2014—Sept 2014

Are the best books in the world written by NWUK writers? Probably not. Are we all natural born

story-tellers? Again, I have to admit that I doubt it. I’m a realist. I have read some really excellent books

by NWUK members, in my view easily of a high enough standard to compete with the output from the

major publishing houses. I have read others that, frankly, fell rather short. But that’s not a problem.

NWUK is not a publishing house; we have no quality control threshold, and we don’t need one. We are

proud to represent a wide spectrum of authors. The thing that unites us is that we are all in the process of

fulfilling our dreams – or at least seeing how far our dreams will take us. We are all proud of what we

have written; we are all saying things through our writing that we want to bring to as wide an audience as

possible.

And that is where NWUK comes in. We want to do all we can to drive those dreams forward. We can’t

pretend that a second-rate book is actually first-rate, but we most definitely want every first-rate book to

succeed. And we also want to get the author of a second-rate book to come up with something first-rate

next time. And by the way, second-rate ain’t bad; I’m pretty sure my own books would be in that category!

The question is: how do we achieve these aims? We have had competitions (the great Caunton,

Kimberley and Beeston reads) to showcase the best, and hopefully we’ll continue this series once

Bingham library re-opens. We have sometimes reviewed each other’s books prior to publication, and I

would urge you to take advantage of the membership by requesting a review (of a chapter or two or an

outline) either through myself or Julie Malone or directly to another member you know. However the tricky

thing is to get the world, including publishers, to notice the many thoroughly excellent offerings on our

website and at our various events. Should we perhaps develop our own equivalent of the best-sellers

list? And if so how? Should we do more competitions? Or short story anthologies?

The bottom line is that NWUK is its membership and its brain is the sum of its membership’s brains. Your

ideas are integral to NWUK’s ideas, so please, please don’t be backward in coming forward with them.

Our aims are fairly clear – but the means to those aims need a bit of work!

Nick Thom

3. The President’s Page Julie Malone 4. Notes from the Editor 5. Calling Norfolk Members! Jean Derricott 6. Headed off at the Khyber Pass Gareth Mockford 8. In Focus Gareth Baker 10. Teddy’s Further Adventures Susan Beecroft 11. New Publishing Venture Gloria Morgan 15. Liverpool Connection Elisabeth Marrion 18. New Members 20. Upcoming Events

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Book Trailers

now on the website

www.newwritersuk.co.uk

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President’s Page

So the Arnold Carnival weekend and the 3-day Gedling Book Festival are both over. For months I have been working on organising everything from teaspoons to guest speakers, tables to venues. Hard work, yes, but there’s a sense of achievement seeing it all come together. We also met, and listened to, some wonderfully entertaining and inspiring guests, Elizabeth Chadwick, Stephen Booth, A J Dalton, David J Howe, Pete Johnson to name a few and all international best-selling authors within their various fields. I haven’t been working alone though, Nick, John and Rachel have all been involved and, once the events get going, I happily drag any other members of my family I can snare into putting up marquees, driving to and from the station and elsewhere, picking up posters and generally ‘volunteering’ their time and efforts on behalf of NWUK. In addition, we are lucky to have a team of young volunteers who are all interested in writing or are past finalists in our annual creative writing competition, who look after guests, the stock table, enquiries from visitors and make the tea. We would not be able to manage these events without them and they have my gratitude. We too are volunteers, working for our members in our free time away from the ‘day jobs’ and appreciate the commitment of others on our behalf. Next year’s Gedling Book Festival will be in June and will be held in conjunction with the Arnold Carnival. Over the carnival weekend, thousands of visitors visit the park so it makes sense that the book festival becomes part of that event. With these events over for another year, there is no peace for the wicked. I am now working on the arrangements for ‘Not the HAY festival’ on 5th October at the Barton’s Bus Centre in Chilwell in Nottingham and our own book festival on Saturday, 25

th October at

County Hall in West Bridgford. All the events are organised for the participation of our members and I look forward to seeing as many members as possible, especially October 25th when we have plenty of space at County Hall and our visitor numbers are always high. Please contact me at julie@newwritersuk.co.uk if you wish to join us. I hope you all have a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you again in the autumn. Julie Malone

New Writers UK Website www.newwritersuk.co.uk

Events www.newwritersuk.co.uk/newsevents.html

Blog newwritersuknews.blogspot.com

Facebook search: New Writers UK

www.newwritersuk.co.uk

Notes from the Editor

As many of you know, I have my own business providing copy-

editing and proof reading services. But did you know that I also help

with publicity and promotion? Did you also know that I give a hefty

discount to NWUK members?

Very often I hear writers asking how they can sell more books, how

they can promote themselves better, what can they do to get more

publicity.

But how many of you have a website or a blog? How many have a

Facebook site? What about Twitter or Goodreads?

What about local media? Have you contacted those free papers?

If you’re looking for help, I’m happy to point you in the right direction

and if you would like support with social media or contacting local

media, let me know and we can discuss exactly what it is you’re

looking for.

Rachel

Norwich—City of Literature

Where are the Self-Publishers of Norfolk?

In 2012, Norwich became UNESCO’s first City of Literature. The University of East Anglia (just down the

road from where I’m writing) were awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2011 for their Creative

Writing course and they run an MA on the subject. We have an expanding Writers’ Centre and numerous

writing circles.

So do all the busy authors of Norfolk immediately find agents and publishers for their work?

Oh come on! No, they struggle like the rest of us, and you can bet your next competition win that some

self-publish and are we self-publishers busily organising events like you do in Notts?

Not a bit of it!

So any Norfolk members of NWUK, please get in touch with me, Jean Derricott at jean@strange-

tales.co.uk

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For independent book reviews visit

www.ibreviews.co.uk

Headed Off at the Khyber Pass

By G Mockford

Uriel Stokes sat in the corner of the deserted restaurant and sensed trouble

ahead. The man outside had walked past the shop window five times already, and each time the signs he displayed became easier to see – furtive glances through the Khyber Pass lettering that adorned the frosted glass; the scratching of the neck; and the fiddling with the brim of the cap to ensure it was pulled down low.

Stokes felt a touch on his shoulder. “You’re miles away, Mr Stokes. Mr Rees late as usual?” the waiter inquired. “You trust me don’t you, Tariq?” Stokes asked, keeping his eyes firmly glued

on the hazy ghost outside. “Why wouldn’t I?” “Tariq, go out back with the chefs and stay there.” “Is there a problem, Mr Stokes?” “I hope not.” Stokes rose to his feet and made his way through the sea of mismatched

tables and chairs. With a final hope that he was wrong, he opened the door. “Are you Dave?” Stokes said. The man shook his head, and lowered his face. “I see you’ve got your beers,” Stokes said, pointing at the Asda carrier bag

Not-Dave held, the handles wrapped around his hand leaving a pouch that was clearly too small to hold a single can, let alone a four-pack. “Why don’t you come in and share a drink. My friends’ are running late too.”

“Well…I…errrr,” Not-Dave responded, glancing up and down the street. “I’m sure you’ve noticed I’m the only customer. There’s no money in the till.” “What?” “The sweat on your face, the bitten nails, the,” Stokes paused for a moment

wondering if he would push too hard, “knife in your bag.” “What you on about?” “I can tell you don’t want to do it. You would have done it fifteen minutes ago,

waving that thing around, if you did,” Stokes said pointing at the bag. Not-Dave started to move back, and for a moment Stoke thought he was

going to run. Instead Not-Dave lifted the lid of a bin, clawed at the tightly wrapped bag until it slid free from his whitened skin and disappeared inside.

“I can get you some help, if things are hard for you and your family,” Stokes said, looking at the wedding ring on the man’s finger and the loom band around his wrist. “There are food banks, charities. You don’t have to commit a crime to feed them.”

“What would you know, with your suit and posh shoes.” “I just want to stop you doing something you’ll regret.” Not-Dave stared into Stokes’ blue eyes for a moment, and then turned and

ran.

Cont…

Stokes stood and watched him disappear down the street. Had he prevented a

crime, or just postponed it for another day? “Hey! Stokes!” came a loud, Welsh voice from behind him. It was Detective

Sergeant Rees, his immediate superior and the man he had been waiting for. “Who was what?”

“Just a man who has realised the more important things in life. You got the beer?”

“And your Coke. Now let’s celebrate another case closed.” “Yes, let’s,” Stokes said and added a silent prayer for Not-Dave and his family.

In Focus—Gareth Baker

What made you decide to join New Writers UK? NWUK came highly recommended from another member. I had been self-publishing for about a year and had joined numerous groups on Facebook, none of which I found particularly helpful. However, it was through one of these groups that I met the person who suggested NWUK. It was ideal for me for two reasons. The first was that I wanted to meet other writers in the flesh, shall we say, and share experiences of writing and publishing rather that talking to people over the internet. The second big attraction was that they are based locally to me so it meant I could easily carry out the first reason, and take part in their events. How many books have you written? I have written eight books, six of which I have now self-published. The first was in my final year of university. It was a thriller entitled Death Lies. I wish I still had it. Ten years ago I completed a book for children, which I sent to The Chicken House, but was rejected. I did the usual thing and gave up. About five years ago I feel in love with crime fiction, both US and UK, and one night in October I went to see Peter Robinson and Mark Billingham at Waterstones. I rushed home that night and started writing Where Wolves Fear to Prey, my first self-published book for adults, which included my detectives Rees and Stokes, who appear in the short story. Before I published Wolves, I wrote and published three books for children called The Adventures of Brackenbelly, which I have since been rebranded as The Kinmaran Chronicles. There are now five Kinmaran Chronicles. What do you like to do when you're not working or writing? I wouldn’t be much of a writer if I didn’t read. I enjoy Michael Connelly, David Baldacci, Simon Kernick, James Rollins and Andy McDermott. The Playstation can play a large part in my life if there’s a game I’m particularly addicted too. Although it usually hangs on the wall and gathers dust, I can play the violin. What has been your most embarrassing moment? When I was training to be a teacher, I was on my final teaching practice in a Roman Catholic school in Milford Haven. It was my first day and I was told to sit on a chair. Halfway through the register the chair broke and I fell off. It gets worse. Behind me was the statue of Mary, which Catholic classrooms usually have in them. I fell against the table and the Virgin Mother wobbled. Before I could get to her, she fell. Her head fell off. Talk about making a good impression! Who has been the greatest inspiration to you? I have always admired my grandfather, George Baker, but I don’t really know why as I didn’t know him that well. We lived a long way from them and would see him and my other grandparents two or three times a year. He always seemed very strong, but gentle, and could do all those things that people don’t seem to be able to do any more like grow his own food and fix things. Aside from being handy, I like to think I’m a lot like him.

Cont…

In terms of writing, it has to be Michael Connelly, the master of crime writing, and Simon Kernick.

If you had access to the T.A.R.D.I.S, where and when would you go? I know my girlfriend would like to go back and meet my mum before she died. They did meet once, but she was very poorly with cancer and died a few days later. I would like that too. Mum would have liked Nicki, I’m sure.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up? What didn’t I want to be! For most of my primary school years I wanted to join the army, and in particular join the Army Air Corp and fly helicopters. This was partly because my Granddad Baker was a soldier, but also because we always seemed to live near airbases and helicopters would always be flying overhead. As a teenager, I didn’t have a clue until someone suggested being a teacher. If I could do anything, I would be a writer or a film director.

What's next for you? I’ve started writing my next crime thriller, currently titled Never Forgotten. Like Wolves, it is set in Nottingham in a fictional borough I have created called Manor Park. It has a new cast of characters, but there may be a few cameos. I have finally decided how it’s all going to pan out, and I’m excited. It follows some similar themes to Wolves, which was a deliberate choice, and will hopefully have the emotional pull and action of its predecessor. If your book(s) were to be made into film, who would you like to see in the cast? Well for a start, I’d have to direct it of course. As for the cast, I’m not really into famous people so I’m not really sure. Alex Freeman, the protagonist from Wolves, would need to be played by a thoroughly “average man”, who is tall and slightly over-weight. Probably a completely unknown actor. He’s the everyman hero. To be honest, he’s me. What three songs make up the soundtrack to your life? Easy. I love music. The first twenty years would probably be dominated by the music of John Williams – Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Superman. I’ll choose the Superman theme. So rousing and inspiring. The 90s, when I was at university, would be Pulp. My favourite song, I spy, from the album A Different Class. Now, as I enter middle age, I love a band I first encountered at Uni, but have only really got into over the last three years - The Manic Street Preachers. Favourite song, A Design For Life.

From the splendour of Buckingham Palace to magic Playland, the adventures of Teddy continues… Following the success of Susan Beecroft’s ‘Teddy Goes to Buckingham Palace’ comes ‘Teddy makes friends with Mr Hedgehog Bumbledrop’. Beecroft’s new children’s book is the second book in a series of stories that follows the magic adventures of Teddy. The book highlights the importance of friendship and inclusions. Beautifully written and with superb illustration by Howard Barton the book has all the charm, wit and eccentricity of Beecroft first book where Teddy travels to London to visit Buckingham Palace and meets the Queen. Not many authors of children’s books can claim to have their work sold by the Palace and Susan was thrilled when ‘Teddy Goes to Buckingham Palace’ was selected for sale in the Queen Gallery Shop. Beecroft hopes that her second offering also meets with Royal Approval and plans to send a signed copy to Prince George. Its part of the charm of Teddy that his adventures can take the reader from the splendour of Buckingham Palace to the rustic charm of ‘Mr Hedgehog Bumbledrop’ converted watering can home. Teddy makes friends with ‘Mr Hedgehog Bumbledrop’ is a must addition to any young child’s summer holiday reading list. Copies can be purchased at Waterstones Book shop or ordered through www.fastprint.co.uk.

NEW PUBLISHING VENTURE Gloria Morgan Since the beginning of this year I have become very interested in dyslexia. I understand dyslexia to be a problem for bright, intelligent people of all ages who find the printed word confusing. Dyslexia affects people in different ways and there is a spectrum of severity. One lady told me that when she looks at a page of print it’s like looking at bar code. I find that such a vivid, even shocking, description of the struggle she has. Her eyes and mine may hit the same page, but our brains come up with very different interpretations. A big problem arises for dyslexic people after they have left specialist learning materials behind. They have gained confidence and to want to read, but there is nothing for them except regular books which they already know they can’t cope with. There simply are no follow-on books. I don’t want anyone to be excluded from the enjoyment of reading so, after a lot of thought and research, I decided to do something about it. Chris Day of Filament Publishing and I have gone into business with four other people to launch a new imprint called Dayglo Books Ltd which will publish books specially designed to be more easily accessible to dyslexic readers. If you’re wondering how this can be achieved, these are the specific adaptations we will use, based on guidelines from The British Dyslexia Association. Black print on white paper produces strong contrast which causes difficulty for some people. Our books are printed in black on a very pale grey background to reduce dazzle. Also the paper is thick enough to prevent print showing through from the other side of the page. The books are short – no more than 100 pages, which does not seem as daunting as a thick book. The font is larger than usual so progress is quick. Paragraphs are short and indented from the left-hand margin, with more space between paragraphs than between lines of print. The right-hand margin is ragged, not aligned, which helps people keep their place. At the end of a line, capital letter ‘I’ is not left in isolation but always moved down to the start of the next line. Hyphens are used sparingly, and only when a word breaks naturally into two separate words, e.g. every-where. What people will notice immediately is the use of a new font called 'Opendyslexic', developed by Abelardo Gonzalez in 2013. You can see the new font at www.opendyslexic.org Some people with dyslexia see the letters jiggling about. Our eyes move when we read, and in the case of people whose eyes are not exactly synchronised, one eye reaches the word marginally after the other, giving an after-image that makes the print appear to dance. In order to 'anchor' the words down to the line, 'Opendyslexic' font emphasizes the bottom part of each letter by using a heavier line thickness.

There is a tendency for people with dyslexia to mix up the letters b and d, also letters p and q. 'Opendyslexic' font puts a slight slant onto the stem of each letter to make it easier to distinguish between them. Another feature is that the stem of the letter ‘h’ is slightly elongated, and the stem of the letter ‘n’ reduced, to emphasize the difference between the two. The letter ‘c’ gapes open slightly more than in other fonts, which helps to avoid confusing it with letter ‘o’. Uniquely, lower case ‘L’ is written with a little ‘foot’, similar to the upper case letter, giving it a more recognisable shape. In addition, capital letters and punctuation marks are slightly thickened, which make it easier for the reader to identify the beginning and end of a sentence. Dayglo Books Ltd will produce a variety of titles to appeal to men and women, young adults and children. The books will be smartly produced using high quality design and materials. More boys than girls are dyslexic so our selection reflects this, with some interesting reading material for men. Already, a number of New Writers UK authors have contributed a book and I’m very much hoping that there might be more of you who are interested in having your book published in our unique ‘dyslexia friendly’ style. The maximum length we require is approx. 12,500 words – because the books will be no longer than 100 pages. You are welcome to submit something already published or something newly written. It can be an extract from a longer work that will stand alone as a story in its own right. We will put together two or three short stories on a theme, not necessarily by the same author, to a total of 12,500 words. Any genre considered, fiction and non-fiction. Come on, all you good cooks – we would love to hear from you with your original recipes! No need to worry about art work and photographs for internal illustrations and the cover design. We will provide all that. There will be payment for your book. If you are interested in sending in work for publication please get in touch with me and we can discuss the details. Waiting to hear from you! glomo.vicstreet@ntlworld.com

Member Elisabeth Marrion, the writer of 'The unbroken Bond' series is planning to produce an Anthology book containing stories about children. Not necessarily for children These short stories should be about 1200-1500 words and as multicultural as possible. It will feature writers belonging to http://www.writers-room.org/ . Since this is a FREE website Elisabeth created to promote Indie writers and their work feel free to join. There is no cost at all and Elisabeth even promotes books of active members through all the usual media channels. This Anthology will be a charity event linking up with a children's

Elisabeth has some charity work experience, once created a Registered charity B.A.A.T which aided youngster's in Bangladesh to attend further education. On selling her Company in order to retire this Charity was closed. Elisabeth has already commitments from 10 writers from writers-room but would like to broaden the field. She is looking for 10 more writers to come on board.

What is the benefit for the writer? PROMOTION. Hopefully this book will sell well through the charity and Amazon and on your last page of your short story, feel free to list your books/your details anything you might feel is suitable. I would need a written statement from all writers confirming the Royalty will be donated to the Charity which I will announce beforehand. The launch date is planned for October 2015

Liverpool Connection

Elisabeth Marrion

“Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling….”

Annie sang quietly, holding Derek’s baby blue cardigan and trying to detect a

familiar smell. The same cardigan he should have worn for his christening.

Annie and her friends leave Ireland in 1926 young and optimistic, hoping to find a

better life in Liverpool. Only things do not turn out the way they had imagined.

Annie falls in love, marries and starts a family of her own. But with the onset of

World War Two comes tragedy and loss, testing Annie’s strength to the limit.

Little does she realise that the salvation of her loved ones lies with a German

woman named Hilde, whose life and situation mirrors Annie’s own.

Liverpool Connection is the second book of a trilogy. The first book, The Night I

Danced with Rommel, tells Hilde’s story. The books are historical novels based on

the writer’s family history

“I’ve been told my book needs to be proof-read and edited. It’s my story! I don’t want to lose my ‘voice’. Editors are just going to change everything I want to keep.” “I know I should get into things like Facebook and Twitter, but I haven’t a clue where to start!” “I’ve got my Facebook page set up, but I simply don’t have the time to run it.” “I’d love to get my book out there more, how can I get more reviews?” “I’d love to be more active with local press, where on Earth do I start?” Any of the above sound familiar? Author Press is the brainchild of Rachel Malone, an experienced proof-reader and copy-editor, she has recently branched out into publicity and marketing for the independent author. “So many times I hear the same things, and there are authors out there whose work should be read but they get overlooked for a variety of reasons. I hate seeing writers giving up on their dreams simply because they’re not getting any further towards their goal.” Getting publicity can be extremely difficult for independently published authors and Rachel is offering publicity packages that include Blog Tours, contact with local radio stations and press releases for local newspapers. Blog Tours are a fantastic way of getting your book out to millions of potential readers, bloggers are usually more than happy to have something different for a week. Organising the tours, however, is rarely straightforward. All of the packages can be tailored to suit depending on your need. For more information, You can visit www.authorpressediting.co.uk or contact Author Press Editing via Facebook, give us a call on 07771 601431 or drop us an email at r.malone@authorpressediting.co.uk

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Margaret Holbrook Margaret grew up in Cheshire and still lives in the area. Her books, 'Watching and other Stories', and 'Cul De Sac Tales', were both published in 2013. In addition to writing fiction, Margaret also writes poetry and plays. She has had poetry published in the following magazines, The Sentinel Literary Quarterly, The Dawntreader, Orbis and The SHOp. Her poetry and short fiction has also appeared in several anthologies. One of her plays, 'Soup for Starters', received an Honourable Mention at the 2012 Ovation Theatre Awards. Her one minute play, 'Talk To Me', was a winner at the Gi60 play festival in Halifax in 2013. Website: http://www.margaretholbrookwrites.weebly.com/ Twitter: @mgth6

My full name is Margaret R Smith but I am writing under my maiden name of M. S. Thornber. I was born in Nottingham attending St. Catherine's R. C. School. I am married and have two sons, one of whom lives in Australia. I trained as a draughts woman and later retrained and qualified as a teacher. My interests include Art, Music and especially Ballroom dancing. My first short story was successful in winning the Silver Scribes competition in 2013. I was hugely encouraged as I had only just joined a writing group. Various other articles have been sent now to magazines and further competition entries covering a wide spectrum. Currently I have just completed my first novel, anticipating that I can publish sometime this year.

Maria Dziedzan was born in Grimsby in 1951. She studied philopsophy at Nottingham University before becoming an English Teacher and taught in Nottinghamshire for several decades. Maria then retired from teaching to focus on her writing. 'When Sorrows Come’ is her first novel’. Maria is married with two children and now divides her time between

Nottinghamshire and Normandy.

Upcoming Events

Not the Hay Book Festival at Barton's bus centre, Chilwell - October 5th. Stephen Booth plus others to be confirmed

October 25 - 10th NWUK book festival. Nicola Monaghan, Steve Bowkett plus more to be confirmed.