A First for Writing Buddies ...

Writing Buddies' Book Sale - 20th December 2010

The countdown has begun! There are only 7 days to go to the first ever Writing Buddies book sale.

If you are looking for a personalised gift this Christmas, you need look no further than Goblets, Above Bar, Southampton, between noon and 4pm, on Monday 20th December. The Writing Buddies will be there for a one-off sale of their work.

Authors planning to be there are:

Tessa Warburg - the leading authority on knitting with many books on the subject to her credit; a noted novelist, the first two books in the Dohlen trilogy are out now, and a non-fiction author.

Catherine King - the author of five novels, the latest, The Orphan Child, is just published.

J Goodman - his book of poetry, Poetic Imagery, is now available.

Mo Foster - the author of the novel A Blues for Shindig, Mo is also a noted blogger.

Penny Legg - the founder of Writing Buddies will be there with her two non-fiction titles,Folklore of Hampshire and Southampton Then and Now. She will also be taking advance orders for her new book, out in the New Year, Haunted Southampton.

James Marsh - will be there taking advance orders for his book, Growing Up in Wartime Britain: Someone Else's Trousers, which is due for publication in May 2011.

So, if you fancy coming along and meeting the authors, buying signed copies of their work, learning more about Writing Buddies, we will be happy to welcome you!

Southampton Then and Now

It's finally arrived on my doorstep!  Yes, Southampton Then and Now has been published and should be in a shop near you now.  I am very pleased to see it as I was getting a little worried about its non-arrival, particularly as I am signing copies of it in the British Bookshop in Southampton on Saturday 30th October at noon onwards!  It would have been very embarrassing to have turned up and found there were no supplies to sign!

See you on Saturday!

Bournemouth Literary Festival

It's Bournemouth Literary Festival's sixth year and it is good to hear that so many of the events are well supported.  On Tuesday evening, 26th October,  I chaired a panel discussion on writing genres and getting into print, with three writers who have each been published in different areas.  Jackie Edwards writes local history, Martin Baum writes the 'Yoof-speak' books and John Houghton fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays.  They combined their experience to give an interesting insight into the world of writing and getting published.  The discussion ranged over such areas as agents and the need (or not) for them, finances, publishers and how to find one, marketing and publicity.  Questions from the floor covered getting books into libraries and the Public Lending Right (PLR).

The photo shows Jackie Edwards, Martin Baum, Festival Organiser Lillian Avon, Penny Legg, John Houghton

This is the second year I have chaired this panel discussion for the Bournemouth Literary Festival.  It is a bit of a trek in the rush hour traffic, the dark and the rain from Southampton, but worth every minute as it is a useful event for any writer trying to break into the business and needing advice.

The festival website gives full details of the other events going on this year.  Enjoy!

Folklore of Hampshire at Waterstones, West Quay

I was delighted to be at Waterstones' bookshop in the West Quay Centre, Southampton, on Saturday.  Friends turned up to support me, which was wonderful, and several people bought copies of 'Folklore of Hampshire', which was great!  I am pictured with Kit, a very good friend of the family, who came along to give me a hug and buy a book.  It was lovely to see him, and his mother, Christine.

Several Writing Buddies turned up too and it was great to see some of them in the foyer outside the shop, reading my book.  I know that members of the public saw them and came in to find me.  Thanks guys!

Many thanks to the staff of Waterstones, who were very helpful and welcoming.  I look forward to meeting their colleagues at the Lymington branch on Saturday 21 August, between 11 and 2.  I hope you can join us.

Penny Legg in the Limelight

Waterstones in Portsmouth welcomed my little book and I, and, I have to say, I enjoyed meeting a diverse crowd of local readers.  Thanks for having me Pompey!

The official launch of Folklore of Hampshire was on Sunday 1st August at the Brushmakers Arms in tiny Upham.  Over 70 people attended and they were intrigued by the book and the haunted venue. It was lovely to see some of the people who had helped me with the research for the book and friends came from far and wide. My thanks to Keith and Nicola Venton, the inn's owners, who saw to it that everything went smoothly.

I will be signing the book at the West Quay, Southampton, branch of Waterstones on Saturday 14th August between 11 and 3 o'clock.  See you there.

Waterstones, Portsmouth, Saturday 24th July 2010!

I am looking forward to popping along to the Waterstones branch in Portsmouth on Saturday.  I will be there from 11 am until 3 pm, signing copies of Folklore of Hampshire.  I do hope you can join me as there is nothing worse for an author than to sit twiddling her thumbs for hours on end and to leave without talking to a soul!

I look forward to meeting you there!

Life is always busy!

Life is always busy and it has never been more so for me lately.  I was interviewed for a local community newspaper, Hedge End People, the other day and today the piece has been published.  If you would like to read it, click here.

I was invited to speak about my life and work at the July Writers in Southampton meeting and met an interesting group of writers there. I also presented a workshop on getting articles into magazines for New Forest writers.  This group was very responsive to my ideas and it was a very lively meeting indeed.  Thanks to both groups for inviting me.

I received the new front cover for my forthcoming book, Southampton Then and Now, today.  The cover previously shown on this blog was a temporary one and I am sad to see it go.  There was a problem with one of the images and the new ones have much more impact and so, it was a case of out with the old and in with the new! Now I have to work out how to put a pdf image on to this blog, so that you can see it!  Watch this space ...

I have been busy working on the marketing of Folklore of Hampshire.  I will be book signing at the Portsmouth branch of Waterstones on 24th July, at Southampton's West Quay Waterstones on 14th August and at the Lymington branch on 21st August.  I do hope those interested will show up!  There is nothing worse than an author turning up and finding herself twiddling her thumbs for four hours!  It would be great to meet some of my readers, so if you are in any of these places on these dates, do please look me up and come over and chat.

It is Writing Buddies tomorrow and, as the deadline for the anthology competition draws nearer (the end of the month), I can sense the excitement building within the group.  It is the first competition the Writing Buddies have run and the winners and two runners up in each category will be published in an anthology at the end of the year.  More on this in a later blog.