Sheild Maiden scoops award

I am delighted to announce that Shield Maiden has won a Silver Award in the Literary Classic International Book Awards in the Pre Teen Fantasy section.

Here is the review that the same organisation did on Shield Maiden:

Shield Maiden, by author Richard Denning, is an exciting children’s chapter book which takes place in a Saxon village in 7th century Mercia. Denning’s characters come to life in this mythological adventure, the story of a 12 year old girl who finds a golden horn in the ruins of a Roman villa.

Shield Maiden, the first book in the Nine World’s Series, will hold great appeal for youngsters, regardless of their knowledge or understanding of Norse mythology; and kids interested in magic or fantasy are certain to appreciate the story of the Shield Maiden.

Brief explanations of some of the Norse mythological characters are included at the conclusion of the story, adding a greater understanding of some of the events which take place in this exciting story.

We recommend Shield Maiden for general reading, and as an educational tool to help youngsters gain insight and understanding into Nordic Mythology.

Shield Maiden earns the Literary Classics Seal of Approval.

Find out more here: http://www.richarddenning.co.uk/shieldmaiden.php

 

Your books in a bookshop's window

Open to Members (authors) of New Writers UK only

Would you like to be a featured author at Treetops Bookshop, Eastwood, Notts?

And have your books on sale?

If so, the bookshop is prepared to feature your books for one month. These will be displayed in the window below a laminated poster ‘about the author’.

Treetops are a charitable hospice and would wish to take a 20% cut of the price of the books.

Given that they can only feature/sell one author’s books per month, you might need to wait in line for your chance (first-come-first-served). Please email John if you are interested.

 

Please note: You may be required to deliver the books to the bookshop.

Hellions Art

NWUK member Richard Denning has used Artist Gill Pearce of Hellions Art for internal sketches and some external cover art on two of his books. Her area of expertise is fantasy art as she has been used by several publishers of roleplaying games for both art work and maps which she is - Richard says - superb at. Gill is branching out into artwork for writers and is happy to do internal B&W sketches, maps as well as colour work for covers. she is not restricted to fantasy or sic-fi work.

 

Richard found here to be affordable and good value for money.

 

Artemis from The Last Seal

http://www.hellionsart.com/gallery/main.php

http://www.hellionsart.com/

 

Kimberley Book-Worm Day, THIS Sat

Kimberley - THIS SATURDAY October 6^th

Visit: http://www.greatkimberleybookread.com/

Book Fayre: New books of all genres will be available to buy.

Great Kimberley Book Read: The climax. Over the past few months, the readers of Kimberley have been voting on their favourite book, from 18 titles featured at the library. Find out which they have declared the winner. Anna Soubry MP presents the prize.

Meet the authors: About twenty authors will be on hand to have a chat about writing, publishing, or any other matter you might care to raise.

Reading: Rob Hann & Howard Barton will be reading from the award winning children’s book, The Grumblegroar.

Farmers’ Market: Various stalls and a live band.

Fancy Dress Parade: Children dressed as characters from literature. Cheerleaders. The singing of the Book-Worm song.

Shop window display competition: Several retail outlets in the town have been decorating their store fronts in an attempt to win. The best literary offering wins.

Refreshments and parking is available throughout the day.

Book Day at Gedling Civic Centre

A full programme of all the talks and activities will appear in due course.

Eastwood 'Booktown'

Eastwood Booktown Development Group

The town of Eastwood, Notts – the birthplace of D. H. Lawrence – is aiming to reinvent itself, as a Booktown: An exciting centre for the arts; attracting not only book-lovers but also writers, musicians, poets and creative people from around the world. Ambitious? Certainly, but much of the infrastructure is already in place. The town boasts the annual Eastwood Arts Festival, the D. H. Lawrence Festival, the D. H. Lawrence tourist trail, the Lawrence Heritage Centre and the Birthplace Museum, and craft workshops. There are also plenty cafés, inns and food outlets.

            The Treetops Hospice (long established bookshop) has agreed to become the official ‘booktown’ bookshop, whilst local retailers have been invited to provide shelves for the displaying of books.

This Friday and Saturday

 

A FREE EVENT FOR WRITERS AND READERS

 

No booking or tickets required - just turn up - free parking

 

Friday

 

Musical Storyteller Simon Heywood's

Local Legends of England

 

Publisher Pewter Rose Press's

Anne McDonnell discusses the writer/publisher relationship

with Frances Thimann and Roberta Dewa 

 

Nottingham Post/Nottinghamshire Today's Jeremy Lewis

on Writing Reviews

 

Marketing Expert Chris Day

on Generating Book Sales

 

Saturday

 

Crime writer Karen Maitland

on Research and Plotting Thrillers

 

Children's author Michael Cox

on Writing

 

Literary Agent Samar Hammam

Q and A session

 

Publishers discuss

Self Publishing - the pros and cons

 

Plus: Worksops for Children from

Steve Bowkett, author, and Pete Davis, storyteller

 

Panel Session - Q&A

 

Stalls, Refreshments and more...

 

For times, please visit the website

www.newwritersuk.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short story competition

Short Story Competition
Chorley & District Writers’ Circle
Closes: 7 Oct 2012
Story: 3,000 words
Theme: Dangerous Liaisons
Fee: £4, or £7/two or £10/three
Prizes: £100, £50 and £30
Judges: Fiction Feedback at www.fictionfeedback.co.uk
Details: www.chorleywriters.org.uk or mail@chorleywriters.org.uk or comp@fictionfeedback.co.uk or write to Aware Competition, 27 Thirlmere Rd, Blackrod, Bolton BL6 5EB
For full details visit: www.chorleywriters.org.uk
Email your story to: mail@chorleywriters.org.uk
Post your cheque (and story if you prefer) to: Aware Competition, 27 Thirlmere Road, Blackrod, Bolton BL6 5EB. Please make your cheque out to Chorley & District Writers’ Circle.
Please send a separate cover sheet with your name and contact details, story’s title and first line with your story. This acts as an entry form. Your name should not appear anywhere on the story itself.
Your story is eligible for entry if it has not been published in print or won first prize in a competition (provided you retain the rights to it).
You retain all rights to your story by entering this competition, but you do give your permission for your story, if shortlisted, to be published online.
Tip: In previous competitions, several well-written stories have missed out on prizes because the theme wasn’t treated strongly enough. Craft your story around the theme rather than the other way round.
Good luck!
Chorley & District Writers’ Circle
01257 233614
www.chorleywriters.org.uk
mail@chorleywriters.org.uk

Please note: This is not a NWUK competition.

Stafford Arts Festival 2012 - images

Members of NWUK attended the Arts festival. Here are a few snaps of the event, courtesy of Richard Denning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stafford Arts Festival

Festival of Authors and Poets
Saturday 15th September 10am to 4pm
County Buildings, Martin Street, Stafford
(Part of Stafford Arts Festival)

Children's books - Young Adult - Fiction for Adults - Non Fiction and Travel Books
Something for everyone

Once again this year we have a fantastic line up of over 20 authors in County Buildings who will be on hand to discuss their books throughout the day and there will be a programme of timed talks taking place.
For more information see http://www.richarddenning.co.uk/stafford_festival.html

Writing Retreat in Nottingham

Writing Retreat in Nottingham, Sunday 16th September
Fancy a whole day of uninterrupted writing, tea and cake?

No distractions, no chores, no internet...

Urban Writers' Retreat runs one-day writing retreats in London, and we've been invited by Nottingham Writers' Studio and Nottinghamshire Libraries to take over Beeston Library for the day on Sunday 16th September.

It's a chance to meet other writers and get more done on your manuscript than you thought possible in a day, and we'd like to offer readers of New Writers UK a £5 discount. Tickets are usually £35 (including lunch, tea/coffee and home-made cake!), but you can come for £30 by visiting the special offer page http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/arent-you-lovely-discount/

For general information please visit the website homepag http://www.urbanwritersretreat.co.uk/ but you'll need the link above to book at the discounted price.

If you have any questions please give Charlie a shout at hello@urbanwritersretreat.co.uk

Kimberley Book-Worm Day

New Review Opportunity

A New Review Site:

http://www.bookapoet.co.uk/book_reviews/

They publish the summary of books reviewed / recommended on their blog: http://bookapoet.blogspot.co.uk/ and this automatically publishes it to their Facebook and Twitter too. They are happy to review titles in any genre and age range. Please send them to the address below and they will email you when the book is reviewed.

They also welcome guest bloggers, q&a opportunities and anything else you think could be of interest so get in touch.

To kick you off, here is their review of 'The Devil's Creature in the City of the Dead' by R H Stewart

Published by Barny Books - RRP £5.99 - ISBN 9781906542177
Reviewed by Kate Tarrant

Initially I thought it was going to take a while for me to get into this book - the rich, descriptive language, and its very dark opening scene with flash backs to the past, instantly showed me that this was a book that needed my undivided attention. Nevertheless, this is not a criticism - this fantastic book makes you a compulsive reader - from the outset it promises to capture its readers, swallowing them up in an imaginary world where good and evil battle it out. 

Set in Glasgow, the story is about Mhairi, a 14-year-old witch, who together with her black cat called Jet and her human companion Dougie, set out on a quest against a vampire, released into the world by the great and evil power Lord Antoninus. Along the way the team solve murders that are taking place all over the Necropolis (also called City of the Dead) as well as meeting ghosts and ghouls. This is a richly imaginative and compelling fantasy story - a truly original horror tale that will have your spine tingling!

 

Writing Competition

Balsall Writers are holding a WRITING COMPETITION.

Write a short story and/or poem on the subject of your choice.
The competition is open to all writers over the age of eighteen.

SHORT STORY maximum 2200 words 

POEM maximum 42 lines

1st Prize £100 : 2nd Prize £75 :  3rd Prize £50

Plus publication on their website.

The entry fee is £4 for each submission.

Closing date for entries is 31st October 2012

ENTRY FORMS available on:
www.balsallwriters.org.uk
or s.a.e. to Balsall
Writers, P O Box 1356, Coventry CV7 7ZQ

Creative Writing

Local Playwright Len Pentin
(Writer on BBC Radio Merseysides Paradise People and Liverpool Royal Courts hit play Slappers and Slapheads, is running a |WEA Creative Writing Course open to beginners and non beginners alike. Why don't you join us for a friendly but challenging productive dip into the world of Creative Writing led by a local Playwright.
The 10 session course will cover a wide areas of Creative writing inc Poetry, Short Stories, Short Scripts and much more.

Course fee is £37.20
or free to eligible learners on a means-tested benefit.

Course starts on September 18th 1.00-3.00pm at The Friends Meeting House Southport

For more info or to enroll please contact WEA offices on 0151-243-5430 or visit the website on www.nw.wea.org.uk
You DO NOT have to pre-enrol. Turn up at the first meeting!

Please note: This is not a NWUK course.

Write-Connections - Panel Event

Calling all writers and book enthusiasts! Would you like to meet some of the top Commissioning Editors in the publishing industry? Authors such as Michael Tolkien, or literary editors, publicists and independent publishers?

If yes, then you may well want to attend Write-Connections’ Panel Event on Saturday 15^th September at the Phoenix Artists' club in Central London (12-4pm). Places cost just £49.99 on first-come-first-served basis and the panel for the event is as follows:

· Catherine Coe - Children's Books Editor and Author, formerly Senior Commissioning Editor at Hachette Children's Books

· Michael G.R. Tolkien – Author

· Hannah Shepperd – Senior Commissioning Editor, Young Adult and Crossover Fiction, Headline Publishing

· Darin Jewell – Literary Agent, Inspira Group

· Tom Chalmers – Managing Director, Legend Press and Paperbooks Publishing

Write-Connections' Events are a staple of the literary calendar and some of the fantastic endorsements can be read at:

http://write-connections.com/testimonials.html

To book a place online visit:

http://write-connections.com/events/workshops.html?view=category or email
info@write-connections.com

Write-Connections also has places left at its Publishing Hour on 30th August in London which involve time spent individually with a publisher, literary agent, commissioning editor and publicist to discuss work and/or ideas – as well as places at a range of other exciting events coming up over the next year.

You can view details of all the events at

http://write-connections.com/events/workshops.html?view=category

Please note: This is not a NWUK event.

2012 Soho Literary Festival

THREE CHEERS FOR the 2012 Soho Literary Festival
Thursday 27th ­ Sunday 30th September
at Soho Theatre, Dean St, London W1D 3NE

The Oldie Magazine is back once again at the Soho Theatre in Dean Street to bring you the 2012 Soho Literary Festival. Last year¹s inaugural event brought a glittering combination of writers and thinkers. Many were veterans of The Oldie¹s monthly Literary Lunches, speakers chosen for their wit, flair and literary brilliance. All were selected from the cream of English writing, historians, novelists, journalists and politicians at the cutting edge of contemporary thought.

The 2012 Soho Literary Festival promises all the above and more. We bring you interviews, one-man shows, panels and debates. John Major talks on Music Hall; Giles Coren on restaurants; Michael Palin on his latest novel; Fay Weldon on hers; Craig Brown will bring a series of parodies and sketches with one or two surprise friends drawn from London¹s literary finest. We have a debate on the future of Euroland, a debate on Press & Politics, poems from Pam Ayres, a Classics Quiz chaired by Mary Beard and cabaret from Virginia Ironside.

The full list of  2012 SOHO LITERARY FESTIVAL artists is as follows: Claire Armitstead; Pam Ayres; Paul Bailey; Mary Beard; Patrick Bishop; Isla Blair; Immodesty Blaize; Piers Brendon; Asa Briggs; Craig Brown; Hugh Cavendish; Patrick & Henry Cockburn; Artemis Cooper; Giles Coren; Dan Cruickshank; Barry Cryer; Mark Ellen; Edward Enfield; Allie Esiri; Adam Fergusson; James Fergusson; Michael Frayn; Stephen Glover; Valerie Grove; Roy Greenslade; Lindsey Hilsum; Shirley Hughes; Virginia Ironside; Tony Iveson; P D James; Rachel Johnson; William Keegan; Prue Leith; Sam Leith; Jeremy Lewis; Marina Lewycka; Tim Lott; John Major; James Mates; Melanie McFadyean; Charlie Mortimer; Ferdinand Mount; Harry Mount; David Owen; Michael Palin; Tony Parsons; Ruth Rendell; Jane Ridley;  Eric Robson; Barnaby Rogerson; Dominic Sandbrook; Prunella Scales; Anne Sebba; Clive Stafford Smith; Kate Summerscale; Craig  Taylor; Sam Taylor; Colin Thubron; Jane Thynne; Jeremy Vine;  Clara Vulliamy;  Ed Vulliamy; Fay Weldon; Timothy West

Details of all 2012 SOHO LITERARY FESTIVAL events can be found at
www.soholitfest.com <http://www.soholitfest.com> . All events are 50 minutes long and take place at the Soho Theatre. Booking Hotline is 0207 478 0100.

NWUK Book Festival & Fayre VIII