Swanwick Writers Summer School 2018

One week on and I am just ‘landing’ from the tremendous ‘high’ that SWSS was again this year.  The Writing School were celebrating 70 years of existence which is a wonderful achievement.  I booked early to secure my place having received vouchers towards the cost from family members for  Christmas and birthday presents.

On the first evening, one of my favorite authors gave the after dinner address.  Sue Moorcroft told us about ‘The Road to Publication (with a few wrong turns)’ which spanned a period of 23 years and 30 short story rejections before having her first novel published on her 40^th birthday.  Wow, that must have been amazing!  

Sue Moorcroft is a Sunday Times and International bestselling author.

I felt privileged when Sue joined me at the dinner table and as we drank wine together in the bar area. One evening we walked around the lake together with Rosemary Kind.  I feel very at ease in Sue’s company and we were able to get to know each other sharing stuff other than writing.

I also had a 1-1 session with Sue that helped me greatly with pointers for ‘submitting to publishers’ and comments on first chapters of my second novel.

The A – Z of Novel Writing, 4 part course, led by Simon Hall was also excellent.

Simon is a former BBC News Correspondent, Journalist and author of detective novels. 

There was much fun guessing what each letter was going to cover as Simon had chosen some obscure words to talk around.  We also had short writing exercises to do - delegates were divided into Crime Writers and Romance Writers by each side of the room.  I was glad I was assigned into the Romance writing but my writing pal for the week has gone away inspired to write a murder mystery based on one or two of these exercises, so I can’t wait to hear the finished version.

Unwind your Mind with Zana Lamont at 5.15 pm was a very precious time in the chapel sitting quietly listening to music, moving to some Tai Chi movements and finally resting in utter peace and contentment.  Meditation by the Lake at 8 am led by Katherine Bolton was also enlightening and peace giving.  Thank you both for these lovely sessions amidst the hustle and bustle of a busy week.

Writing Residency by Leonie Martin were the sessions that most inspired me.  It was about Writing for Wellbeing Workshops in Derbyshire and how it came about for her and what she does for already established groups.  I now have to somehow find time to grow the seed planted in my brain of how I can take the inspiration forward.  It may be early Spring before I can reasonably trial what I have tentatively planned, but watch this space!

Editing Essentials by Hazel Prior was very popular with every seat taken and the room was very full.  It was good to confirm that I am doing with my first manuscript is on the right road but I guess there is no end to how much editing one can do as a novice novel writer.  We had a few exercises to do where passages from well known authors were put up on the screen and we had to condense, expand or edit to improve.  I failed each time to make a better draft of some other person’s work, let’s hope my own work fare’s better in the editing process.

Succeed on Purpose by John Lamont was exceedingly interesting with information about how our brain works, the power of positive thinking and how to organize our time.  My pal was impressed with John’s demonstration of how gremlins work in our brain and how he invented a creature called Boo Gerov (said in Scottish – translates as Bugger Off) to combat negatives thoughts.  I have written a Blog on GNATs, my equivalent of John’s theory – you will need to scroll through my blog posts to find it if you are interested.

I am sure I could tell you so much more about my week but if you are a writer do look SWSS up on the web and consider joining us next year.  First timers are amazed at how friendly everyone is, how quickly they fit in and enjoy all that the week has to offer.  The food always is so plentiful and lovely that we all come away a few pounds/stones heavier!!

Memory Lane break

44 years of marriage needs to be celebrated, well life itself needs celebrating, no need for an excuse.  Living in the moment, whether in good health or not, is certainly one way to create happiness.  I expect you have heard of, if not use, Groupon?  Well we took advantage of a deal at the Park Regis Hotel, Birmingham for this particular anniversary.  We were both born in Birmingham and besides an occasional visit to the shops in the town centre we had never revisited our old 'haunts' and wanted to see the changes, particularly the canals.  I will be reviewing the hotel on Trip Advisor as it was excellent but here's a glimpse of where we were:

Birmingham on Sea 😄

Bar Balcony

Beautiful decoration

Our trip began with a short train journey (now we have Senior Railcards) which took us into Birmingham New Street station (Grand Central, as it is now known) which we had visited before.  We walked the length of Broad Street recognising, and not recognising, places along the way.  Lee Longlands shop was still there - we bought our first pine dining table and chairs from there; as were one or two pubs we had individually frequented in our teenage years before we met.  But the college where I was trained in Secretarial skills back in the 1970's was no longer there, in fact Brasshouse Passage has now transformed into a beautiful opening to the canals.

Brasshouse passage renewed

Brindley Place near to Sea Life Centre

Lego Giraffe outside Lego world by the canal

Birmingham Art Gallery

I hope that angel was healing me in the Art Gallery!   We also rested in Victoria Square next to the Town Hall where I recalled singing in a school choir 'Jerusalem' to the Queen Mother who was sat in the gallery.

On the way back up Broad Street to the hotel I noticed the pavement had special stars along the way, here are two of my favourites:

Life is full of opposites and the beauty and opulence of the city also has a down side.  

I was saddened by sights of the homeless making a bed with a sleeping bag or quilt in doorways or on the pavement where there was a bit of shelter or they were walking the streets with bags of all their possessions. By night and early hours of the morning the sirens of emergency services were sounding much too frequently.  That said, it all made me grateful for what I have, who I am, where I came from and where I am now.  Hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into my life - if so do comment below.