Penny Legg - back again!

It has been much too long since I last blogged, so I am going to make up for lost time now.

What have I been up to? Well, working really. I am the editor of The Woman Writer, the almost 100 year old magazine published by the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. I have spent time working on that and it was published once again this month. I was pleased to see that it was in the December edition of Writers' News, along with a piece written by my colleague, Sylvia Kent, about the history of the Society. She kindly mentioned me as the magazine editor, which was good of her and I, who luckily had just finished the front cover when the magazine called for the article, supplied the image.

Sylvia has just launched her latest baby on the world. A complete history of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists, The Woman Writer, published by The History Press, features a super shot of Joyce Grenfell, our President for many years, on the front cover. This book is so new I have not seen a copy yet. I am reliably informed that I have a small place in it. I will get a copy from Sylvia shortly, so will then see for myself.

Last Wednesday I gave a talk at the Southampton Writer's Circle on the history of the Society. I stood in for Jean Morris, the Society's chair, who could not make the date at the last moment. As I am a Circle member, I was asked to give the talk and to present the prizes for the Greensleeves competition, which Jean had adjudicated. I was very pleased to present the trophy to Elizabeth Streatfield, a worthy winner.

I am coming to the end of my work for my book, Folklore of Hampshire, which needs to be with the publisher soon. This has been a major labour and, although I think I will miss researching some of the interesting facts for the book, it will be nice to move on to finish work on my next publication, Southampton Past and Present, which has to be ready by March 2010.

In the meantime, I am kept on my toes by my students! I mark scripts for the non-fiction section of the Writers Bureau Comprehensive Writing Course and great fun it is too. The students are from all walks of life, different ages and from many countries of the world. They are all united in a will to write, that drives them on to create prose which is, sometimes, a real joy to read. This is a new venture for me, having started tutoring for the Writers Bureau only in August and it is a thrill to watch my students develop and blossom.

If you are listening to the radio tomorrow, Wednesday 18th November, at 7 pm UK time, you might want to tune in to Express FM and listen to the Write On programme hosted by Rob Richardson. Readers of this blog may remember that I devoted a piece to Express FM a short while ago, when the programme was temporarily taken off the air. I am pleased to say that it is now back on again and I am the guest tomorrow. It is the first time I have been interviewed on radio, so apologies now for any nervousness you might hear on air!

Looking slightly further into the future, on Friday 20th November, Peter Lovesey, the charming crime writer and Daggar Award winner, will be a guest at my group for writers, Writing Buddies. If you fancy a cuppa and a chat, you will find the Writing Buddies in Borders, Southampton, from 2pm onwards. It is free, just pull up a chair and join in.

Well, I think that is all for now. More in my next blog!

Penny Legg in Manchester

Manchester has changed a bit in the nine or so years since I was last there. It was not cold for a start as it was the last time I was there, although I had been led to believe it would be and had packed accordingly. There were a lot more people in the streets than I remembered, the tram lines are slowly inching across the city and there is a smart, and very comfortable, new hotel, The City Inn, just a stones throw from the railway station.

Why was I there? Well, it was conference time at The Writers Bureau and I joined several of my tutor colleagues in a pilgrimage 'up north' to the company's city centre offices. I flew up on Flybe from Southampton, which I have to say, was a great way to get from A to B. No stress, no hassle and a much shorter travelling time than if I had gone by train.

I have been tutoring for The Writers Bureau since August, so am a new face on the scene. I was curious about the set up and there was a lot for me to take in. The meeting covered all kinds of things, from the latest happenings in the company to problems caused by the postal disruption. Some of my colleagues were busy filming for a forthcoming YouTube short, and had tales of multiple takes, caused by buses outside in the street going past just at the wrong moment!

Later, after the business of the day, we met up in the hotel restaurant for an excellent meal and a good gossip. Perfect!

It was great to put faces to names, to learn about the company in more depth, to network and to feel I 'belonged'. My profile will shortly be going on to the tutor listing on The Writers Bureau website. I am sure that my students will like this. It is always reassuring to know that the person teaching them actually knows a bit about the job!

Simon Whaley has posted a photo of us on his blog. If you peer really hard, you will see me!

Penny Legg at the Bournemouth Literary Festival

The 5th Bournemouth Literary Festival has seen another successful series of events, with workshops, discussions and book signings galore to keep everyone happy.

At the Wessex Hotel last night a panel, David Hay, Pam Fudge and Janine Pulford, discussed aspects of getting into print for a capacity audience. I chaired the discussion and I was delighted with the dedication to the evening shown by the panellists and by the interest of those who turned out to hear what the panellists had to say.

David Hay published his novel, The Fundamentalist, through Authorhouse. He told the audience that this was a bit like going to the 'Specsavers' of publishing. He paid a lot of money for his book to be published, the publisher set the price and he was left to market his book himself.

Pam Fudge has been published by mainstream publishers but still has to do a lot of her own marketing. She does not have to pay to be published and receives an advance on sales.

Janine Pulford had to set up her own publishing company to bring her novel, Aggracore, to the the reading public, after it was rejected by mainstream publishers.

The discussion ranged over the topics of editing manuscripts and the importance of proof reading, the question of marketing (all the writers had been shocked on discovering how much of the marketing of their books was left to themselves to do) and how to go about it, the financial side of publication with its costs and potential earnings, publishing outside the print media on blogs and e-zines, a brief look at copyright and finished with tips for those in the audience who were aspiring to write a book.

'Keep writing and submitting. If you do not, you will not get published,' said Pam.

'Spend a lot of time on the blurb for the cover,' said David.

'Join a creative writing group and accept constructive criticism on your work,' said Janine.

Questions from the audience asked David about his overall experience with Authorhouse, asked Pam what the average word length for a first novel should be and asked the panel if a newspaper advertisement was a cost effective way of marketing. The value of joining writing associations and societies, such as The Society of Authors, The Romantic Novelists Association or The Society of Women Writers and Journalists, came up. It was felt that these groups lent credibility to the writer, in addition to the practical benefits membership offered.

In all, it was an interesting evening, which I hope was of use to those who attended.

Look, It's Penny Legg!

Yes, there I am, on the front of the 'Members' News' pages in Writers' News!

The details are not quite right but it is nice to be featured. My first book, Folklore of Hampshire, is due out in July of 2010, and was not published in July this year, but I suppose you cannot get everything right all the time!

Writers' News is the subscription magazine which accompanies Writing Magazine. It is full of insider information, tips and news. If you buy Writing Magazine but do not get it on subscription, you are short changing yourself as Writers' News is a gem for any writer.

Penny Legg, Book Review 'Cocktails and Camels' by Jacqueline Carol

I notice that the review I wrote for The Woman Writer magazine, of Jacqueline Cooper's book, Cocktails and Camels, written under the pen name of Jacqueline Carol, has been printed on the Arab World Books website.

I do wish that Jacqueline would write a sequel as I was charmed by this story of her youth growing up in Egypt. The climbing lessons in the basement of her convent school, travelling in style with her parents and the gorgeous governess, Mrs James, with her tales of being adrift in the Caribbean ocean in a trunk, all combined to form a page turner I could not put down. I am delighted that my review was thought worthy enough of further publication to be reproduced on the web. If anyone would like to read more of Jacqueline Cooper, or my review of her book, click here.

Rob Innis - Courting the Bull

Readers of this blog will have noticed the name Rob Innis popping up now and again. He is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Spain and he is my writing buddy. An anthology of work written by expats, Courting the Bull, has just been published by Innoword Media, and it features some of Rob's work.

The other day Rob went to Madrid to meet the publisher and he has just blogged on the trip. To read about this, or to order the book, click here.

Many congratulations, my friend.

Penny Legg, Award Winning Writer

I was delighted to receive the Scroll Award for my article on Bernard Warner, the Commodore of the Cunard Fleet, The Ship Comes First, last night at the Southampton Writers' Circle.

Judged by Richard Ashman, Senior Librarian at Southampton's City Library, my article, which was published in the February 2009 edition of Hampshire Life magazine, was described as 'A balance of conversational style, facts on the Queen Mary II and an historical read. The amount of information packed into a thousand words was impressive. A well written article.'

I am pictured receiving the Award from Richard.

Second place went to Jan Fitzsimmons, for her short story, Hamming It Up, the tale of what can happen if you let an actor practice his lines in a bar, and third place went to Diane Sparkes, for her short story, A Narrow Escape, the tale of a ship and her crew escaping a storm.

I would like to thank Richard and his team of readers at the City Library, for judging me the winner of this award and also the Southampton Writers' Circle, for running the competition. I am thrilled to have won.