Tuesday 18 November 2014

Write Foxy!



Write Foxy! Writers’ Inspiration Day

I attended the Write Foxy! Writers’ Inspiration Day on the 2nd November at the De Vere Village Urban Resort in Dudley. A day packed with invaluable information and talks from well-established authors. The day was geared up to put the fun back into writing. Once we start seeing our writing as a career it can often become all about the deadlines and we lose sight of why we write in the first place. It’s easy to forget the fact that this has been your dream job for years, or in my case from about the age of 6 or 7! Longing to be the next Roald Dahl, only a slightly shorter more feminine version!
The day was organised by Miranda Dickinson who is a Sunday Times Bestselling author of Fairytale of New York, Welcome to My World, It Started With a Kiss, When I Fall In Love and Take A Look At Me Now. She has sold over 500,000 books worldwide to date and has become an international bestseller in three countries. Known for her author vlogs and honest take on the publishing industry, Miranda has mentored new authors and works to encourage writers at all stages of their writing careers.

There were talks from brilliant authors... Hannah Beckerman - Author of The Dead Wife's Handbook (Penguin) www.hannahbeckerman.com

Tamsyn Murray - Author of the Stunt Bunny series (Simon & Schuster Children's) and Afterlife series (Piccadilly Press) http://www.tamsynmurray.co.uk

Cally Taylor - Author of The Accident - as CL Taylor (Avon) http://www.callytaylor.co.uk/

And of course, Miranda Dickinson - Author of five Sunday Times Bestsellers, including Fairytale of New York and Take A Look At Me Now (Avon) http://miranda-dickinson.com/

The informative talks covering many aspects of writing from editing to putting the fun back into writing, were punctuated with plenty of refreshments and snacks. There was even a writers’ den adorned with lovely owl lights, comfy cushions and sweeties if you wanted a space to work on some writing. I must admit I was too enthralled by the speakers to tear myself away for any writing. I preferred to network with fellow writers who all had a varied range of experience and interesting backgrounds. I do so love to spend time in the company of like-minded individuals. There is no one that understands the daily struggle of listening to the voices in their head and putting these ideas on to paper than other writers. To paraphrase Alice in Wonderland, we’re all entirely bonkers, all the best writers are!

A wonderful buffet lunch was also provided. There’s nothing like a plentiful supply of food to put the icing on the cake for an event for me!

I made some new friends, made great contacts, and met writers I’d admired from afar! The autographed books I collected testify to this even if I did feel like a geeky author groupie/stalker! But then I believe you can’t write well unless you read well, so it’s not stalking its research and networking!

It might sound childish but I was really excited to hear that we were getting goodie bags! And I wasn’t disappointed with the writerly treats. Notebooks, pens, the staple diet of writers were included. As well as a 2015 diary, foxy card, chocolates amongst other items. Needless to say, I was a happy camper!

All in all, Write Foxy! Was a fantastic day that I would and have been recommending to fellow writers’. I enjoyed it so much that I’m already booked up for the next one on the 8th February, you can find details for that at: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/write-foxy-writers-inspiration-day-february-2015-tickets-11388516359?aff=eorg

The fantastic writers speaking at this event are Kate Harrison, Julie Cohen, Rowan Coleman and once again the wonderful event organiser and writer Miranda Dickinson, who makes everyone feel right at home and very welcome!