Four went to Swanwick!
Here we are again, this time in the Darlington & Stockton Times.
Posted 31/08/11 - Permalink to this story
From today’s Ripon Gazette!
Posted 26/08/11 - Permalink to this story
Swanwick Day 6
Today saw the fourth part of Emma Darwin’s excellent course and I also went to hear what Roz Southey had to say on the subject of ‘Heroes and Villains’.
After a little difficulty in getting together, I also spent some time 1:1 with Simon Hall, discussing my proposed crime novel. Simon was very encouraging and it was a good way to end the week.
The hour before dinner on the last night always holds the ‘Dregs’ party, when everyone contributes brings any left over drinks. It’s always a very jolly affair!
Kate Mosse, who had been due to speak on ‘The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Historical Fiction’, phoned to say that she was stuck in motorway traffic and would be unable to make it in time, so some quick improvisation was needed to prevent the evening from falling flat. Enter Xanthe Wells with her Victoria Wood routines and John Lamont with his guitar, both very much appreciated by the rest of us.
Auld Lang Syne until next year, everyone! The countdown to Swanwick 2012 has already begun!
Posted 18/08/11 - Permalink to this story
Swanwick Day 5
I attended the third part of Emma Darwin’s course but otherwise had quite a leisurely day, spending part of it joining in with an impromptu jam session down by the lake. In the photo with me are Julia Pattison and John Lamont, whose singing and playing delight Swanwickers every year.
David Crystal, whose actor son Ben is a Swanwick favourite, spoke to us in the evening about his travels throughout the world in search of linguistic curiosities. The Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, for example, inspired him to seek out a place with an even longer name and he found one in New Zealand. Unfortunately, I was unable to note down its name.
Afterwards, Latin dancing was on the menu and a chance to put on my red shoes and quell my salsa withdrawal symptoms. We also had a go at cha cha cha and merengue, at least that’s what I think it was!
Posted 17/08/11 - Permalink to this story
Swanwick Day 4
Tuesday always marks the halfway point at Swanwick and has a different format. The morning was taken up with a Writing Fiction and Publishing Panel chaired by Meg Davis from the Ki Literary Agency, ably supported by John Jarrold (Sci-Fi & Fantasy Literary Agent), Benjamin Scott (Children’s & Young Adult Fiction), Emma Darwin (Mainstream & Literary Fiction) and Simon Hall (Crime Writing). It was an excellent opportunity to find the answers to many of the problems faced by aspiring writers.
After lunch, I went to Calke Abbey, described in the brochure as ‘a grand country house estate which has been preserved in its glorious decline’. Entry was free to National Trust members, although getting lost en route cost quite a lot in diesel! Arriving much later than intended, I only had chance to look round the house itself, but it was well worth it and quite unlike any other property I’ve visited. This ‘unstately’ home had glorious china, an 18th century four poster bed in pristine condition (still in its original packaging when the NT took over), but also large derelict areas. The schoolroom reminded me immediately of The Turn of the Screw and another Swanwicker was convinced that she felt a ghostly tap on the shoulder in the servants’ tunnel.
After dinner, I was torn between live performances from an afternoon scriptwriting workshop and the buskers’ evening run by my friend Mark Iveson. In the end, I did a little of one and most of the other. Both were very good and I had yet another late night! (Note to self: must get down to some writing instead of all this frivolity.)
Posted 16/08/11 - Permalink to this story