Substack - A New Venture and more Writing!

 

As if I didn't have a busy enough writing life, I've found something that will give me more writing to do in a week but, at the same time, may bring some rewards.

Substack - no, it's not a song ( think about it) was launched six years ago and is a blogging/email newsletter hybrid thingy. I say thingy. I don't know why I say thingy, but thingy it is.

I have posted a few posts on Facebook about my starting to use Substack, and this week I will explain further how it works and how I plan to use it.

I have registered on Substack, and that has given me a URL

 https://stuartbilverstone.substack.com/ 

Having registered, I can leave that URL loafing around in emails, in the middle of blogs, social media posts, etc. That gives people the opportunity to visit my Substack page. To be able to register with the page, they will need to input an email address. As I have set the page up as a Free Access page, all that is happening is that the page is building an email list. That list remains private and only for me to use. 

When I post a newsletter/ blog on the page, it will email everyone on the list, saying there is a new post and the link.

Substack allows placing your writing behind a paywall (Dominic Cummings, for example, put his shenanigans behind a £200 paywall). I have not taken this option, meaning you can safely register and know that I won't be asking for a subscription. That's not to say I may offer extra enhancements to the page through a subscription, but that is many miles down the road. I will need a lot of emails to do that, and that will be down to me to boost that with my content and encourage more people onto the page.

What happens next? There is a post on the page, last week's blog post, which has had 13 views, and currently, I have four subscribers. Thank you to Mrs B, my Sister, a fellow writer and my old mate Bob.

I plan to post regularly on there, initially two weekly, aiming to get to weekly very quickly. I don't wish to post the same content as this blog page. I have a 'Writing Tips' piece that I am working on for the following post/newsletter.

There we are, then. Substack is a new venture for me and will be much more writing. My blog continues, and my novel is nearing the final third. I shall still be looking at entering short story competitions, and of course, there is the full-time job with the NHS, which brings in the real money!

Remember that URL, and I hope to see you on the page.

 https://stuartbilverstone.substack.com/ 

The Demise of a Magazine title - Could this signal the end for all Magazines?

 The subject for this blog came quickly to me this week. Despite the Covid virus making a little visit to our household, happily, I have managed to maintain most of my writing productivity.

You might have seen a post I made on my Facebook pages earlier this week.

Writers Forum is a magazine I found on the shelves of W.H. Smith's in Exeter a few years ago. It drew my attention straight away. Containing excellent features, writing tips and competitions, I took the advantage to subscribe immediately.

It is always a delight for the magazine to arrive in our letterbox each month. I often read it from cover to cover in a day or two and keep it handy throughout the month to have a go at the daily Kickstarter calendar published in each edition.

I had several letters published and even had the Star Letter one month. Several short stories entered their competitions, and I only recently contemplated submitting part of my novel for critiquing on their pages.

Strangely, this month was the first time I had yet to read the editor's column. It is the first column in the magazine, after all. If I had done so, I probably wouldn't have been so shocked at the email I received from the magazine the following day advising that this latest publication would be its last.

I'm genuinely shocked and, to be honest, a little bemused. During the pandemic lockdowns, I completely understood why they paused publication for several months. Advertising revenue must have gone through the floor, and shop sales disappeared. It was great to have it drop through the letterbox again later in 2020 as things struggled to get back to some sort of normal, despite the government's best efforts at the time. I guess the distribution and advertising revenues haven't returned significantly to make it viable to continue. 

Having never thrown away an edition, much to my wife's disgust, I have a fair old collection of back copies stashed away. I shall treasure them, and I'm sure I will often look back on them for further guidance and inspiration. My thoughts are with the editor and staff, who have probably lost a significant part of their writing income—sad times.

Are we starting to see the end of the printed magazine market? It was mooted a few years ago that this may happen. When I go into W.H. Smiths in East Devon, they will still have an extensive range of magazines for sale. My personal view is that there are a lot of titles covering the same subject, titles that are just a one-off publication for an online game or similar. Rest assured, there will be a plethora of 'celebrity' magazines detailing the everyday lives of multi-millionaires that most of us have never heard of. Country sports have several publications, as do gun and rifle pursuits. There is a dog and cat market too. And, of course, there will be magazines about the upcoming coronation of King Charles III.

That's all a bit of a waffle, but I will say that those publications don't offer opportunities for freelance writers. 

Many writers would beg to differ with me. But from what I can see on the shelves, money is made from the odd ribald joke and funny stories written here or there, and maybe a 'Jeremy Kyle' style of personal story to sell. The market is more restrictive than ever for the independent writer. There are magazines that I have studied in depth to pitch to the editor, only to conclude that it is not worth the effort as their copy is almost written 100% in-house. After studying one magazine, I found it almost exclusively to be a vanity project for the 'editor', which I still see today across their social media output.

That is not to say that the online market has died away. Up until recently, I subscribed to the 'Readly' app. From that, I could access global markets of newspapers, magazines, and markets in this country. I ceased my subscription as I wasn't using it very much, and I could use that expenditure on another writing project. I'm sure that I will go back to it soon.

I have succeeded with magazines, Devon Life, to name one. However, things changed there a while back. Archant Publications sold it and other publications to Newsquest, who quickly closed down Cornwall Life and made significant editorial changes elsewhere. I have yet to pitch to them since those changes, but I'm always looking for something to pitch.

For now, my focus will be on completing my debut novel and building an audience for it before publication. As ever, I enjoy just writing, and I'm enjoying the ways I have found to encourage my productivity. I am well ahead of the plan, and all being well, that will continue.

I encourage any keen writer to write and then write more.

Numbers in writing? Surely Not

 I missed out on celebrating my 50th Blog Post last week. Never mind, I'll be looking forward to a centenary post by the end of the year. That might be something to celebrate.

As usual, it's Thursday evening, and I'm thinking, "What shall I write about this week?"

The fifty-first post will be about my novel, Beasting Dartmoor (working title).

Numbers have dominated writing for the last couple of weeks. How many words can I get down today?

Is that what you normally think about as a writer? Numbers? Well, yes. 

I'm looking to complete my debut ( sorry if that seems pretentious) novel later this year.

To enable me to do this, I need to write about 250-300 words for at least four days a week. Happily, I am achieving that and, most days, exceeding it. I still have a lot of material to go into the project, and in the next week, I should be approaching the 20k word count.

The genre of the novel is a crime/murder thriller. Well, I hope it’s going to thrill the reader. 

As it currently stands, there have been four murders, the authorities are at a loss as to what is going on, and there is a figure in the shadows. It is principally based in the Dartmoor, Exeter and South Devon areas, although there are sojourns to London and a village in Somerset. 

I have a gap in the storyline at the halfway point of a chapter. I need a short story to lead into the next chapter. This may be the point to tease in the main antagonist. This person has just been a shadow to my protagonists, Greg Reid & Detective Sargent Marie Fliss. I have a description of the character I have in mind for this crucial role in the story.

Numbers again. I need roughly 800 to 900 words to complete the chapter, which is three days at the average word count, but it could be an hour's work if I'm on a roll. A bit of planning and we'll see what happens

As part of my 'Novel in a Year" workshops, I have an opportunity to have a piece of my work reviewed. I'm about ready to send off the first 5k words, which is both exciting and terrifying. I will also let a colleague at work read the first few chapters. She is a poet, and there is a reason I would like her to have a read. She might guess who my characters are,

There we are, then. Some exciting times for novel writing are coming up over the following months, and the motivation is at an all-time high.

The Writing Industry - Is this where woman can regularly break through the 'glass ceiling'?

 

What I will write about today may promote some comments, and I would love it if it did. First, let me say that this piece is written not to be detrimental or discriminatory to anyone. It's a pleasing observation of what I am finding and experiencing in the writing community.

Hopefully, we've got that out of the way and can continue.

I have delivered every month, two leading writing magazines. I diligently read the from the front to the back cover and thoroughly enjoy their contents...even the poetry!

The one thing I notice each month in both is the number of female contributors that outweighs the number of male contributors. That is, the writers of the articles and the letters submitted to the editors.

Likewise, I'm the only man in the 'Novel in a Year' workshop I started last Saturday.

Undoubtedly, there has been a significant number of highly talented female authors. Author of Handmaid's Tail, Margaret Attwood, is a great proponent of women writers. The late Hillary Mantel, a local writer here in East Devon, had outstanding success with her 2009 novel Wolf Hall, a massive hit on Television. Seeing that they are getting the recognition they deserve is pleasing.

Let's look at the Television too. One of the greatest shows in recent years, Fleabag, written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and with Sharon Horgan and Emma Thompson, represent some of the best screenwriters in this country and globally. 

In the film industry, some of the biggest blockbusters have female writers. Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh were responsible for Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Linda Woolverton is a resident writer for Disney with past credits for The Lion King and Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

On Twitter, I follow many female writers, editors, agents and publishers, and there is no doubt that there is a fabulous female presence in the writing industry.

Is this one of the industries where women have been able to break through the 'glass ceiling'? I sincerely hope so.

So, where are all the men writers, then? I hear you ask.

Well, they are about. Harlen Coben was on BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning promoting his latest book, I will find you. Celebrity writer Richard Osman has a series of crime novels starting with the Thursday Murder Club. No matter what you may think of celebrity writers, each of Richard's three books has hit the top of the bestsellers immediately after publication. He must be doing something right! Let's not forget some of my favourite writers, John Le Carré, Thomas Hardy and Ken Follett. International bestsellers include John Grisham, Neville Shute, Ian Rankin and Lee Childs. All are fantastic writers in their genre.

So there may be a chance for me yet, I'll keep plodding along with my bits of writing here and there, and I will finish my blockbuster novel sometime this year. You never know. I might appear on Television as a new talent promoting my writing one day.

Fruit Cake?

 Fruit Cake is unfairly maligned - That's the statement.

First up, Full disclosure, Fruit cake is my utmost favourite.  

An often asked question. What did the Romans ever do for us? Fruit Cake, the Romans, gave us Fruit Cake.

That is likely not the answer you were expecting.

The earliest recipes for Fruit Cakes are traced back to ancient Rome. Ingredients then included were pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and raisins mixed into a barley mash. Later on, in the middle ages, honey and preserved fruits were added.  

Fruit cake recipes proliferated throughout Europe. The recipes varied significantly by country, depending on the ingredients available. Church regulations over the observance of fasting forbade the use of butter; however, Pope Innocent VIII (1442 - 1492) granted its use in his Butterbrief of 1490. It permitted Saxony to use butter and milk in Stollen fruit cakes.

In 17th century England, fruit cake was yeast-based and used Rum and dried fruits, which extended the shelf life.

Pianoforte

 In Italy, Panoforte (meaning strong bread) is a dense, chewy cake,   heavily flavoured with spices, dating back to the 13th Century Sienna in Tuscany. Also, there is Panatone, filled with dried and candied fruits with a bread loaf consistency. It's now well known across Europe and this country, especially in shops like Lidl and upmarket places such as Fortnum and Mason in London.

In England, rich dark fruit cake is traditional fare at Christmas. They were also traditional for wedding cakes, where the top tier was preserved and saved for the christening of the firstborn child. This tradition has fallen foul of the influences of our American cousins. Sponge and heavily creamed cakes seem more in favour.

Our wedding cake was four-tiered. The bottom two tiers, made by myself, included nearly a litre and a half of Rum, dark brown sugar, butter, eggs (from the farmer in the village), Black treacle and flour. The bottom tier was 20 inches and took nearly five hours to cook. The top two tiers were vanilla and chocolate sponge cakes.

Throughout the 90s, whilst serving with the Royal Marines Band at BRNC Dartmouth, I had a little side hustle making christening cakes for band members. There were quite a few young families in the band at that time.

My Mother used to make Grandfather, her father, a Dundee Cake each Christmas. Dundee Cake is a traditional Scottish fruit cake flavoured with Whisky and decorated with almonds. Being a proud Yorkshireman, my Grandfather always had his piece of cake with cheese. I am trying to remember which cheese he had. He had a favourite Danish blue cheese, but I think that was that one. I, too, like to have cheese with my fruit cake, a lovely mature cheddar is my favourite, and I go a little further and have an apple.

In answer to the question, is Fruit cake unfairly maligned - probably yes, but plenty of people enjoy it.

Now, what am I going to have for afternoon tea?

Weird Writing Prompt Happenings and the First Writing Tip of the Week - It's all happening here!!

 I've written, more than once, that I subscribe to two monthly writing magazines. I have succeeded in both getting letters published, and I have entered several competitions in them.

I look forward, each month, to when they arrive through the door at home. They are two slightly different publications, both doing the same thing, encouraging us to write and assist with all the 'technical' stuff while writing stories and poems.

Both magazines regularly have a couple of pages of writing prompts. These are brilliant ways of waking the writing muscle daily and can lead to something else, as did the one I tried on Tuesday. 

It was rather weird. As we approached where we were going, I spied someone on the roof of a bungalow. The man was removing roof tiles and stacking them up. Fair enough, but the Health and Safety Officer in me sparked my 'spider' senses. He wasn't wearing a safety harness and had no scaffolding or safety surround. If he slipped or fell, he would be in real trouble.

Getting back to the writing prompt, what do you think it was? Here is the prompt;

Create a scenario starting from the question: Why is that person on the roof?

Who is telling the story?

Why and how have they observed the person on a neighbouring rooftop?

What is going through the observer's mind?

What might happen?

Write a new piece of prose or poetry stemming from watching the person on the roof and wondering what they're doing.

After about an hour of writing, I came up with a story which I think that with a bit of editing and reworking, could be the next story for my entries to the Bath Flash Fiction awards,

I seek further writing prompts to stir the story writer in me. I am enjoying entering these competitions. You never know; I might win one someday! 

Tip of the week - always email your work to yourself. You'll have a copy saved, and it will prove your copyright.

An Early Start, Productivity, and a Lesson to be Learnt

 An early start to this week's blog, Monday. Unfortunately, last week's idea for a pitch is a non-starter. I have found a book recently written about the subject and advertised on Facebook. I wouldn't want to steal the authors' thunder and hard work. I could write the same story from a different angle, but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that in a local publication.

It doesn't matter. I've still got plenty of research I can use for something similar.

To maintain my writing productivity today, I have written a letter to The Rugby Paper. I've been a devil's advocate about the furore about lowering the tackle height for grassroots rugby.

I have some time this week, so I will take my notebook with me, as I always do, and see if I can come up with an idea for a short story. I sat in a Costa on Saturday and jotted down a few notes, which may be working their way into a story. However, I must be careful this week as I have a hospital appointment and can't write too many notes while in the waiting room.

In the notebook already, I have an outline story about someone getting on the wrong ship after a run ashore the night before. I wonder if a story about a Matelot and two Leander class Frigates tied up alongside each other will be a thriller. I have an idea to transform it into another location and an entirely different type of ship. It doesn't need to be a ship, either! 

In exciting news, I have been accepted onto a Novel in a Year series of workshops starting in March. The aim is also to have at least 20k words of your novel critiqued. The objective for me, at this time, would be to complete my thriller novel and have it ready for either editing or being sent off to an editor for consideration. I have been aware of the workshops since early December last year and decided to park working on the novel for a couple of months. Then last night and this morning, I had a salutary lesson to learn.

I write mainly on Pages and Scrivener. Scrivener is an app where you can write your novel, do research, create your character and have different versions available if you wish to go back to them. It is also great for compiling the completed work in many other formats.

Scrivener backs up its file, and mine have been backing up to Microsoft OneDrive. As you might be aware, Microsoft 365 services had a problem with an update they uploaded on Tuesday. We have a problem at work early on Wednesday as the NHS mail runs their online service. I have a OneDrive app on my phone that opened ok, but when I got home and wanted to access my novel, I found that I now had a BIG problem. Scrivener couldn't find my book!

In the middle of the panic to reconnect to OneDrive, macOS Ventura wanted to start an update. I went to sleep with an updated MacBook but still no OneDrive.

This morning, Thursday, I updated the OneDrive app, and yippee, the novel is back. Phew. I have now backed it up to somewhere else and emailed it to myself. I shall also search out a
hard drive I have somewhere and put that to use.

That's a lesson learned, then. One, I know many writers have learned over the years. It's certainly one that I won't forget.

(C) All photographs copyright of the original owners.

Welcome to 2023 and some Flash Fiction News

 Most probably due to the Royal Mail Postal Strikes, my monthly writing magazines arrived on the same day. I was eager to see the results of the Flash Fiction short story competition in the Writers Forum I entered last month. I wasn't expecting to see that I had won as they would have been in touch beforehand.

Sadly, I wasn't placed or highly commended this time, not to worry. However, it was interesting to read the editor's comment. It was a 500-word story with a twist ending. The editor wrote on the results page,

'I was surprised to receive so many entries where the main character turns out to be an animal or dead. Such old chestnuts will always struggle to turn a judge's head. A few entries did manage to bring new life to the 'dead ending, but they didn't make it past the shortlist.'

I didn't realise that this is how the judges were thinking about these subjects. I want to feel that my story brought life to the 'dead ending'. It was one that I had used for the Ottery Literary Festival, where it was awarded highly commended. After further editing and a few changes, I entered it for this competition. I received favourable results when I took it to work for a couple of colleagues to read through, and it got the reactions I wanted when they got to the end and the 'twist'.

I will not be using it again for competition other than to submit it for the Ottery Writers anthology or save it for an anthology of my own. I'm now getting a collection of these short stories.

I have another flash fiction short story, this time only 300 words, ready for the Bath Flash Fiction Award to be submitted any day now.

Anyway, for your enjoyment, I will now post the story here. As a note, the details at the end are not accurate. They are close to being correct but far enough away so as not to be recognisable to anyone.

THE Sun shone brightly on Lion-sur-Mer. The late spring sunshine on the Normandy coast starkly contrasted with the dark and dank weather 78 years ago, on the morning of 6th June 1944. Today, on the beach once code-named Sword, a crowd gathered for a service to honour those who had bravely stormed ashore on that momentous morning. Several re-enactment volunteers joined returning heroes and their families. Dressed in the uniforms of the times, they conveyed the scenes and feelings of the battles past.

There is a brilliant blue sky, and it's already a hot day. Thankfully the service didn't last too long in deference to the ageing heroes and the heat. 

The assembled crowd enjoyed a cooling, refreshing drink before boarding an air-conditioned coach for the journey to the cemetery at Ranville. I decided to yomp towards Ranville just as the allied troops had in 1944.

The coach passed me. The boys didn't have the luxury of transport on that fateful day. The purring engine of the passing coach differed vastly from the loud explosions, gunshots and the rattle of tanks rumbling along this road 75 years ago.

In 1944 Brigadier Lord Lovat marched his 1st Special Service Brigade down this road with his Bag Piper to the fore. The bagpipes caused much mirth amongst the passing tankers who waved their support to the lines of troops marching, whose task it was to relieve the paratroopers dropped overnight at Pegasus Bridge.

I was close to the bridge, yomping ahead in the day's rising heat. There I could mingle with the re-enactment volunteers to pay my respects. After a break, I picked up my kit and continued towards the cemetery at Ranville.

 A loud bang had me diving into the roadside ditch to take cover, but I quickly realised it was the jeep belonging to the re-enactors backfiring. The roar of engine noise as a couple of Douglas DC3 Dakotas flew overhead, dropping their parachute passengers off over Pegasus Bridge. Although today was a hot sunlit day, you could almost smell the fear and death that permeated the area on 6th June 1944.

I neared Ranville; the coaches were offloading the families. I was puffing a bit when I finally arrived at the cemetery.

I went straight to the row where the lads we had lost that day laid to rest. A family joined me alongside the resting place of my colleagues.

"Here's Grandpa's grave. Hasn't it gone cold suddenly?" one of the women remarked.

I turned and tried to answer but knew I couldn't. I looked down at the headstone as the woman placed a small wreath.

I realised it was my headstone; it was me who they were remembering. They are my family.

Ford, Frederick Henry

PLY/X204848

No. 48 Commando

Royal Marines

Died Tuesday, 6th June 1944.

I'm in limbo; I've been here every year since 6th June 1944. I'm not at rest. I'm trapped.

Successes, no failures and getting busy once more

 

This week, a former Royal Marine colleague and fellow Blogger inspired me. I received an email from James Pilates with his latest blog, apologising that he hadn't blogged for nearly three years! He has been a very busy chap during that time, and at least my blog is only three months adrift!

These last three months have been a less productive time for my writing, but the tiny bit I have done has been at least successful. My Flash Fiction story 'Trapped' received Highly Commended in the Ottery Literary Festival, which was very pleasing.

During the festival, I attended a workshop, Introduction to Short Story Writing. Our lead was author Jenny Kane. Jenny passed on her knowledge wonderfully and was a true inspiration to us all. I've joined her mailing list for future online courses. In the meantime, I have been searching for more short story competitions.

Having found a few competitions, I have been fervently writing and editing a few more stories. I started one at the workshop, which has since turned into a rather good story with a twist. Having edited it over the last couple of evenings, I had a colleague at work have a read, and it went down quite well. I will leave it again for a few weeks before a final edit.

Another story that I am working on comes from the opening of my novel. When I first came up with this opening many years ago, I did wonder if it was a short story. I am doubtful at the moment. 

The question being is, it is a story or a scene from a bigger story. I want to get it to work in 300 words. Other than that, I might look at it working it up into a longer story of 1000 to 2000 words.

With all these stories potentially written, It got me thinking about what to do with them. If one were to win a competition, it would appear in a competition anthology; however, I have thought about compiling a collection of my own. It's a thought.

Writing work does come in fits and starts for me, and at the moment, I've again got a few things that will keep me busy for the rest of this month. I will keep updating this blog, and there is another project that I must briefly mention.

You may realise that this blog is on the Microsofts Blogger platform. With the greatest respect, Blogger has been an excellent platform for many years, but now it's time to move on to a newer platform. Blogger is proving to be rather difficult with formatting. I should be able to do much more on a unique platform. I've got my eye on one, so it is up to me to find the time to set it up.

There we are, then, the latest update. I have thought about posting my 'Trapped' short story. I must be careful as I might use it in another competition sometimes, and I would like it to be protected.

I'll blog again in a couple of weeks. I won't let it be three months this time!

Ottery Literary Festival - 20th-23rd October - It's getting closer and there is much to do

 WOW, doesn't time fly by! It's already September; before I know it, October will be here, and I will be dashing around for the first Ottery Literary Festival.

I trust that many of you will have seen my posts shared on the Festival Facebook page, but if you haven't, I'll tell you about the exciting events the Ottery Writers Team is planning.

First and foremost, I must tell you or hopefully remind you of the short story competition. It's a competition for both young and old, or politely referred to as Under 18's and Over 18's. A short story of no more than 500 words using the theme Trapped. Why not have a go? Five hundred words are only about half an hour's work, and I'm sure most of us have a story going around our heads. The first prize is £50, and there will be prizes for second and third places.

My story is very nearly ready to submit, and no, I'm not on the judging panel either! You can find full details on the Ottery Writers webpage. You will need to get on with it as the entry deadline is midnight on 30th September.

Visit https://otterywriters.wordpress.com/2022/08/10/writing-competition/ to find out more.

Another competition is the Photographic Competition. Photographs on the theme We Love Ottery give a great scope for interpretation. The age groups and deadline are the same for the short story competition.

For more information, visit  https://otterywriters.wordpress.com/2022/07/22/ottery-literary-festival-2022/.

On the first day of the Festival, on Thursday 20th October, we have two workshops, An Introduction to Short Story Writing and An Introduction to Writing Poetry. They will be led by two excellent writers, Jenny Kane (Short Stories) and Sally Flint (Poetry). These will be held in the Ottery Library, where space is limited, so you will need to book. I'm hoping to book a place for Short Story writing.

For full details, visit https://otterywriters.wordpress.com/2022/07/22/ottery-literary-festival-2022-2/  to find out more.

There will be a Quiz Bingo Night at Ottery Football Ground 7 in the evening from 7.30 until 9 pm.

The morning of Friday, 21st October, will be dedicated to the anniversary of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The Coleridge Memorial Trust will unveil a statue at 1100, followed by a church service for invited guests at 1200.

In the evening, there will be a Night at Knightstone Manor, an exhibition of photographs from the photographic competition and an awards ceremony for both writing and photographic competitions, presented by Vicky Johns, the Mayor of Ottery St Mary.

Otter Writers' very own John Hall will launch his latest book 'Modern Trooper", an updated take on Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. All this will take place at Knightstone Manor from 7 pm.

Why not blow the Saturday morning cobwebs away with a guided Coleridge Heritage Walk led by Angela Harvey of Ottery Walkers? Visit places and walk in the footsteps of Coleridge and see the sights that influenced his writings and thoughts for the years to come.

On Saturday afternoon, we are delighted to be able to present an Author Talks and Book Launch event. We will have three authors joining us.

Bryan Mountford

Bethany Askew

Karen Maitland

Bryan Mountford - Bryan is the Acting Chaplain of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His autobiography, Church Going Gone, is a colourful memoir from the 1950s to the COVID crisis, in which Bryan describes his life as a priest.

Bethany Askew - Bethany is the author of eight novels. Bethany likes to write about women's lives, their position as wife and mother and the impact of marriage, children and the impact of divorce on family dynamics. Two further women's fiction novels will be launched this year and in 2023. http://www.bethanyaskew.co.uk/

Karen Maitland - Karen has written two new books of her Jacobean crime thriller series. The Drowned City is set against the background of the Bristol Channel Tsunami of 1607, which devastated Devon and Somerset's coastal villages and towns. The second in the series, Traitor in the Ice' is set in Battle Abbey, near Hastings. 

As you can see, there are three very different authors, and it will be fascinating to hear from them, and I'm I know that they are equally excited to be joining us. Please come along and listen to what they have to say. I'm sure they will be able to take all your burning questions.

Saturday evening concludes with a Coleridge Illustrated Talk by Tom Maybury of South West Heritage Trust.

Sunday 23rd October concludes the Festival at 1030 am service in the parish church led by The Rector Lydia Cook and John Hall, Coleridge, His Spiritual Life. In the afternoon, there will be an Ottery Writers Festival Finale social event at Higher Holcombe Farm.

Otter Writers have been working hard to produce this first literary Festival for Ottery St Mary. We acknowledge the wide support we have received around the town and beyond. We value the incredible support that Otter Writers, the Festival and the writers, in general, receive from Adrian and Pete at the Curious Otter Bookshop.