Monday 10 June 2013

Woman's Weekly Writing Workshop


I won't attempt to go into too much detail about this wonderful workshop, as Wendy Clarke and Tracy Fells,  have written excellent in-depth posts, which are definitely worth reading.  But I just couldn't resist mentioning what a fabulous day it was.  

Gaynor Davis is lovely and made everyone feel instantly relaxed, to the point I even read out the beginning of a story.  And guess what, my voice only wobbled a teeny tiny bit.  Gaynor smiled, nodded and said, ‘lovely’ - which I was thrilled about. I’ll gloss over the fact she said encouraging words to everyone.  (Justifiably I might add, there were some amazing writers there!) 

It was an absolute treat to finally meet writers I’ve been chatting to on blogs, forums and over on Facebook over the past five years.  They were all even lovelier than I thought they would be.

The talks by Suzanne Ahern and Laura Longrigg were excellent, and the building itself, The Blue Fin Building in London, was incredible.  Apparently lots of films and TV programmes have used the location.  In fact, I watched I'll give it a year at the weekend and felt sure parts of that were filmed there - although don't quote me on that one.   I know The Worlds End was definitely filmed there.  Very exciting! 

       There were lots of photographs taken, so keep your eye on the Woman's Weekly Website and on their Facebook page   I hope they caught my good side.  By that I mean the back of my head!

Woman’s Weekly is the *only magazine I haven’t managed to sell to – but I’m going to keep on keeping on, and who knows, following this wonderful workshop I might just produce the perfect story for them. Wish me luck!



Mini-update...
*By this I mean UK women's mags that carry fiction, obviously.  
Also I've just spotted lovely Patsy Collins's post on this great day - go see! :-)





14 comments:

Sherri said...

It was lovely to meet you too!

(Have you chosen a favourite yet??) :)

Amanda said...

That made me laugh out loud, Bernadette, so much so my dogs looked at me funny. Did you know I've got dogs! By the way, I watched 'Flight' yesterday, and it's now my favourite film as it's the last one I saw. X

Wendy's Writing said...

Hi Amanda. Great to meet you on Friday. Sadly, Tracy and I won't be in any of the photos as we arrived late due to the wardrobe malfunction, the dodgy maps and the assassination attempts!

Amanda said...

It was great to meet you too, Wendy. You looked very composed after your ordeal - and I didn't hear your stomach rumble once! :-)

Anonymous said...

You will get a story accepted there soon Amanda, your stories are fab.

Teresa Ashby said...

It sounds such an adventure, Mandy :-) I think I would die of fright if I had to read my work out!

It can only be a matter of time before your lovely stories are in WW :-) x

Sue Blackburn said...

How fantastic Mandy. I saw this workshop mentioned and wished so much I could have gone. Lovely that you made it there! I went to The Blue Fin building for the WW Centenary celebration and isn't it absolutely amazing?
You'll soon have one of your great stories accepted by WW I'm sure :o) xx

Edith said...

Sounds like you had a great day out Mandy! Just wish I could have gone too! xxx

Karen said...

It was a lovely day and so nice to see you - and I want to know what happens next after hearing your story opener :o)

Amanda said...

Awh, thank you, Susan – that’s very kind X

It was a great adventure, Teresa. I have to say I was really shaky reading out my beginning – but Gaynor did say we didn’t have to. Actually, I can’t believe I didn’t use that get-out clause. Thank you for your kind words on my stories. I’m determined to crack them before I turn twenty-five *sniggers* X

Ooh, it would have been so lovely if you’d have been there, Sue. Yes, the building is incredible – I felt like I was ever-so important strutting around it! X

It would have been grand if you could have been there too, Edith – bit of a trek from where you are though, isn't it? X

Awh, I really will get that story finished, Karen – trouble is I haven’t got a clue what’s in the blummin’ letter. :-) X

Patsy said...

It was great to meet you! Thanks for the mention.

Amanda said...

My pleasure, Patsy :-)

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

It sounds as if you had a wonderful time.

Amanda said...

It was a lovely day, Debs X