Christmas Party

Wednesday was Nottingham Writers' Club Awards Night and Christmas Buffet. I nearly didn't go because my throat is really sore and my voice has been reduced to a whisper. (It doesn't help having to shout at those pesky college kids). But, as you can see, it really was worth the effort.

The large one is the Jubilee Cup awarded for a story suitable for radio. The next one is for Verse of the Year which I won in March and mentioned on this blog at the time. The small one is the Dai Orridge Cup for being an enthusiastic newcomer and supporting the competitions. I also received a book token for various top placings in the quarterly prose competitions.

Our president Roy Bainton was there to hand out the trophies. My friend Carol also had some success as did Angela who unfortunately could not be there. There was plenty of food. We had quizzes, jokes and party pieces.

I've been a member of NWC for about fifteen months and have really enjoyed the chance to mix with other writers and publishers. The benefits of joining groups such as this are tremendous. I've tried to enter as many competitions as I can, not necessarily for the prizes but for the challenge of writing to a theme and a deadline and for the judges' feedback.

The committee work really hard to put on events such as this and I've just been asked to be assistant to the treasurer. I haven't really contributed much in the way of committee work yet but I'm sure I'll have plenty to do in the New Year. I joined the club to profit from the knowledge and experience of other writers and now it looks like I'm going to have to earn those benefits.

Also just learned that my short story appeared in the Lincolnshire Echo the other week. We don't get that in Nottingham but they kindly sent me a PDF version and I was amazed to see that it filled a two-page spread. I managed to print it out on nine A4 sheets and stuck it all together. Also, my story that People's Friend asked to be edited has now been accepted.