Sometimes in life people surprise you and this is a true story about a stranger paying it forward.
Ferry Car Park
I arrived at the Ferry Car Park for Phoebe Morgan’s talk on The Publishing Industry. I made sure I had change on me to pay for my car park ticket. But, the machine was more expensive than I anticipated. I was short by a pound.
I searched the car for any stray coins but came up empty. I tried following the instructions to pay by phone but the automated message kept asking me for a code from a fine letter. I started to contemplate whether I should risk buying a ticket knowing it would run out before the talk is over or if I should leave and return late to the talk but have a fully paid ticket.
A stranger noticed my distress and asked what what was going on? I explained my dilemma and he kindly offered me the money I was short by without expecting anything in return. He was gone before I could ask his name or how to pay him back.
Due to the car park drama, I was one of the last to take a seat in the Sailing Club conference room. As luck would have it, I found myself sitting next to my white knight. We didn’t get much opportunity to talk but I found out he is an author and he was going to The Scribblers & OWL event in the afternoon. The same event I was booked on to.
In the afternoon, I arrived at the Orwell Hotel for the event being hosted by the local writers group Felixstowe Scriblers and Orwell League Writers. Once again, I found myself sitting next to my hero.
This time, we got the opportunity to talk and I learned that his name is David F Burrows and he has two books published. We chatted about his books and I was entertained by the Jack the Flasher book (book 2). I was taking note of the titles as I wanted to support him as he was such a wonderful man. Then, David offered to sign them for me.
I have read the first chapter of Fish Bone Alley (book 1) and flew through it. I easily could have carried on but stopped myself as I am midway through another novel at the moment. These books will hold a special place in my heart due to the kindness of the man that wrote them.
If you enjoy dark comedy go check these novels out (click here). Not only will they make you laugh (or smirk) but you will also be supporting a writer with a heart of gold. In addition, visit his website and follow his blog here.
Don’t you love it when you meet an author that is easy to talk to and a truly lovely person? Tell me about an amazing author you have met?
This event was hosted by Phoebe Morgan who promised to share her advice on how to get published, attract an agent and attract an editor. It was held at the Sailing Club with stunning views of Felixstowe Ferry.
Introductions
Phoebe Morgan is the best selling author of The Doll House and works at Orion as an Editorial Director. She explained a little about the books she works on (crime, thrillers, women’s fiction and saga). She had created a presentation especially for us.
Before she started, Phoebe went around the room and got each of us to introduce ourselves and what we are writing and hoping to get out of the talk. There was something very endearing about Phoebe. People instantly warmed to her and wanted her to know about their writing. I think it is the way she appreciated and valued every writer in the room.
I shared that I have just finished editing Jewel of the Sea and sent it out to Beta Readers. I explained that I have queried a lot, been rejected a lot and then edited again and have lost count of the cycle. I confessed that I am now considering self publishing and believe my query letter and synopsis is not having the right effect on agents.
First Impressions
Phoebe’s talk began talking about bestsellers and popular genres and why these books are doing well. She emphasised why it is so important for writers to know what is trending when they are querying because this links to how it will be pitched to editors and publishing houses.
Phoebe had put together examples of pitches to illustrate how important it is to quickly get agents up to speed on what your novel is about in just one sentence.
Example: The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins – Woman sees inciting incident through her train window.
Phoebe told us what genres are trending right now. However, it is best to write the novel you want as these are constantly changing. She talked about why genre fiction is popular and why it is important for us to identify the genre where our novel will be placed. This helps the publishers identify where to market, package, design and price it. She pointed out how we need to be passionate enough about our books to promote it for two years!
Phoebe had collected examples of the first line of successful books and discussed how these sentences grip the reader right from the start. She pointed out how agents are often very busy and if they are not pulled in from the start, they will move on to the next. She pointed out how in a shop, a reader may pick up a book and look at that first line to decide whether to buy it or not.
Example: The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins – There is a pile of clothing on the train tracks.
Then, she got us to share the first line of our books and discussed their strengths. She also suggested that some writers should consider starting further into the story where the action starts.
She went on to talk about how to use suspense and pacing in our novels giving us tips on how to use these to make our novels a page turner. For examples, shorter sentences and chapters can speed up action but you can do the opposite for when you need to pull the reader in for more detail – there needs to be a balance between the two.
Ending a chapter on a cliff hanger can leave a reader needing to read the next chapter, to do this successful you need the reader to care about the character and be worried about them or the invested in the outcome. It helps to make the characters life full of obstacles – if it is too easy, it is boring. Obstacles create conflict.
Phoebe briefly covered different ways to structure your novel and why this is important.
Characters are incredibly important in your novel so Phoebe had collected a few tips to help us. In my notes I jotted down:
Not too many – you only need three to five main characters. If you have more then you can lose the reader as they won’t be able to connect with them. If you have too many, see if two characters can be merged together to fulfil one role.
Zoom in technique – Imagine a lens and zoom in and think of little things that makes the character who they are.
Back stories – Make sure you know your characters back stories, even if this doesn’t come into the story it will influence who they are and make them more vivid when you write.
Motivations – Understand what drives your characters. What are their goals and what they want to achieve, etc.
Likeable? – It is not necessary for the reader to like your main character whoever readers do need at least one character they can emphasise with.
Phoebe then got us to think about one of the characters in our novel and write for five minutes about their backstory. I chose Luna who is a secondary character but her back story and actions are the catalyst for the entire series. She is a character I need to know inside and out. I may one day write a short story about her.
Roles
She then told us about the steps to getting published. There were twelve steps! I’ve always been focused on ‘getting an agent’ that I have not thought much more about ‘what next’. It turns out there is a lot that happens after you get an agent, and a lot that happens after you an editor and after all that, when you finally get an offer from a publisher, you can say no.
Phoebe went into more detail about what an agent does and how to pitch one. I felt like I knew a lot of this as it is something I’ve done a lot of. Phoebe was able to recommend some good agents and resources like The Writer’s and Artists’ Yearbook.
She then told us what editors look for. It was very insightful to hear this as the agent will be looking for these things in your query. The agent will be trying to figure out whether they can pitch your novel to editors. Here are the main things editors want:
A strong, clear, one-sentence hook
A good sense of voice – character needs to feel new and unique
Fill a spot on their list – keep an eye out for out for wish lists
Pleasure to work with – they will check out social media to see if you take writing seriously but this is not a deal breaker.
A clear vision – they need to believe in the book and be able to see it doing well.
She ended by warning us that rejection is something almost every published author has experienced. She gave us tips on how to deal with and was very encouraging that a rejection doesn’t mean give up.
Summary
She finished by giving us a list of resources for further information and how to contact her if we have further questions. She also took our emails so she could send us a copy of her presentation.
Phoebe was so lovely, approachable and genuinely wanted to help everyone in the room. Writers who get to work with her are truly blessed.
I did have a damsel in distress moment in the car park where a knight in shinning armour came to my rescue. More about this in my next Felixstowe Book Festival post.
I hope you have found this useful. If you want to connect with Phoebe, you can find her:
I booked this workshop with no idea what I had got myself in for. As I arrived, I realised in the scorching hot sun, I had forgot to bring my bottle of water and was about to spend two hours in a container.
Thankfully, Richard O’Neill came prepared with water, notebooks and pens for everyone. We felt rather spoilt despite our unusual setting. Richard’s wife Louise helped us all settle into the container, where we sat on blankets, cushions and someone had brought a camping chair.
Richard began the session but talking about Containment. He talked about his background and the things that have held him back and how he has learnt to consider whether a barrier is his perception or a reality. Sometimes, all it takes to free yourself it to change the way you think.
I could relate to this a lot. For a long time, I described myself as an aspiring writer because I don’t have anything published. Then, I realised that I am a writer because I write. And, I write a lot. I also felt my writing wasn’t good enough to share as I was not good at English at school despite enjoying it, I certainly don’t have a degree. But, I realised that my writers voice is what sets me apart, it makes my stories unique and my writing is good without some fancy certificate.
Richard then asked us to imagine we were somewhere else. Where would we want to be? He then left us to write about this place. The he got us all to share what we had written and we had all wrote something different. He pulled out parts that he liked from our writing.
I wrote about Mauritius. I went back to the white sandy beaches and crystal blue sea that I enjoyed for my honeymoonwith a cocktail in hand.
Richard talked about the different constraints that people have. He talked about how he has delivered workshops in prison and that those students were obviously physically constrained within those walls. He spoke about a project he is involved with about diversity in books and how the subject is much deeper than just the colour of a persons skin. He explained how he grew up living as a traveller and the constraints the lifestyle presented.
Then Richard asked us to think about our own barriers to writing and got us to write them down and think about how to overcome those barriers. Some of the participants wrote down a paragraph but I chose to do a spider diagram as that is something I like to do when problem solving.
It was a very enlightening experience. I do have a lot of barriers to my writing but I choose to overcome these because writing is important to me. Everyday, I don’t give up.
Richard & his wife did a tremendous job at making everyone feel welcome. Richard is an incredibly charming man who made us to think and question. He encouraged everyone’s writing and didn’t make anyone feel on the spot or stupid. I think we all came away from the session feeling motivated – I know I did.
What are your barriers to writing? Can you break free from your containment?
To learn more about Richard O’Neill and his books, you can follow him on Twitter or visit his website.
There was plenty of choice for kids this year with many events being free of charge and no need to get a ticket. This is great for parents with young kids who have no idea how their kids will be feeling on the day or even awake at the scheduled time. My biggest challenge was how to fit in activities for my children when there were so many events I wanted to go to for me!
Story Walk in the Woods
The first event we attended was at the Grove, out local woodlands. The event was run by Elly Crichton Stuart who led the children (or get them to lead us) through the forest and hunt out spots for story telling. During our walk she shared a total of ten stories. She was animated in her story telling which appealed to the children and often got them involved.
Sitting on a log, the first story she shared was the Grufflao that she recalled from memory. The children were all familiar with this one. Later, sitting by a large oak tree, she shared a Scottish tale about a White Stag and a girls trip to fairyland. Next, the children sat on a tree stump whilst she shared with them a fable about a pigeon and an ant. Finally, on the field she told a story about the Loneliest Giant and how the salt water shrank him. She encouraged the children to not forget the stories she shared with them and to tell them to others.
You can find out more about Elly by clicking here.
Bread Babies
I had not planned to go to this event, but whilst at an event of my own, I was told about it and when I asked my son if he would like to go, he did.
This event was run by author Richard O’Neil and took place at The Bakery which was a very fitting venue considering the story being shared. The children all sat beautifully at the back of the bakery, listening to a very imaginative tale of a Baker that decided to make bread babies for their customers but there was enough dough left over to make a life size baby. Once baked the big baby vanished only to turn up in the home of a couple that desperately wanted a baby of their own but never had such luch. Now the bread baby is alive and they adopt it.
It was a very entertaining story and Richard shared it in a way that engaged the children. I was very impressed with how Noah paid attention and even whispered “Our baby isn’t made of bread?”
At the end, the owner of the bakery kindly shared some bread babies that she had baked for all the children – there were even some little redhead (jam) ones. My compliments to the Baker – they were so delicious and didn’t make it home.
To learn more about Richard O’Neill and his books, you can follow him on Twitter or visit his website.
If you have decided to attend Felixstowe Book Festival then you are sure to have a great time. The program will tell you about all the events taking place and ticket costs but I am going to tell you about how to make the most of your visit to Felixstowe!
Where to stay
There is a variety of accommodation in Felixstowe.
There is a large Premier Inn a few yards from the beach, pier and hill that leads into town. It’s a great budget option for short stays.
For Bed & Breakfast you may like to stay at Castle Lodge. This hotel starred in the TV Show Four in a Bed and was once home to award winning crime writer Ruth Dugdall. It is still owned by her mother.
If you want to be in the heart of the action then The Orwell Hotel will be your first choice as many of the events are split between here and the library. The next closest hotel to town is the Brook Hotel (Best Western).
If you want sea views then The Fludyers Hotel is an excellent choice. This Edwardian building has been beautifully renovated with modern amnesties.
Where to eat
All the places to stay serve food, with the best for sea views being The Fludyers. In addition, both the Library & Orwell Hotel serve food so you could eat right where the action is taking place. However, here are some more worth checking out:
My first choice has got to be The Mad House (caters for vegan and gluten free diets). This is new to Felixstowe but literary fans will adore The Alice in Wonderland themed decor and being so close to the library.
Another cafe by the Library is The Oaks Tearoom. This little cafe has a sweet country decor and often full of fresh flowers.
A lovely restaurant near The Orwell Hotel is Cafe Bencotto for sit down food or if you are in a rush get a healthy take away at Spud Hut (serves vegan food).
Whenever you visit a British seaside town you must eat ice-cream and chips on the beach and in Felixstowe you will find plenty of choice. For homemade ice-cream my favourite is The Little Icecream Co and for chips is The Regal Fish Bar and Restaurant.
For sea views you can’t rival Boardwalk Cafe on the pier with outdoor seating. Other hot spots is The Alex Cafe Bar & Brasserie that sells great food but also has an upstairs restaurant.
Or for a cafe on the sea front try One29 Bar at the bottom of Bent Hill. If you venture into the spa gardens you may find Cliff Top Cafe which is a hidden gem.
Where to eat your lunch
If you brought a packed lunch or bought a take away then you’ll be pleased to know there are some lovely spots close by to town to eat your lunch other than a bench at the Triangle (the island in the middle of town).
A short walk from the Orwell Hotel is the Grove. This is a little woodland area with paths through the forest or a big field to sit and eat your lunch.
Another option is the Spa gardens. At the end of town (towards the sea) turn left and go through the gardens. There are lots of steps but it is possible to avoid them if you have a pushchair or wheelchair, etc.
Of course, there is the beach with benches along the promenade or just find a spot on the beach. If you have transport, you may wish to go to Landguard Fort or the Ferry for a different experience.
Book Shops
You can buy books from Charity Shops, WHSmith or The Works but why not check out these local independent book shops:
