Contemporary Poet and Writer, Anna Mae, kindly joined us (via Zoom) for the evening as our guest speaker. 

Anna "talked some; read some; and answered some." 

It was a honest and frank presentation - both moving and humorous!

Anna mentioned her early life growing up in Watford; and her varied life experiences that have influenced and shaped her work. She also read a number of poems - many of which feature in her book.

Anna also shared her journey to publication - the encouragement she received; her academic success and reception to her work by audiences. She also mentioned her ongoing workshops in schools and prisons; as well as forums and festivals she has performed her work. 

Anna published an ebook in 2010 entitled, 'A Bit of Spirit & A Lot of Spit: The Journey of Psychic Tarot Reader from Premonition to Bereavement and Domestic Violence to Freedom Told Through Her Original Style of Prose and Poetry.' Available via Amazon.

Anna is currently re-editing her book 

News to follow when the new edition is available.

Watford Writers would like to express its sincere thanks to Anna for a splendid evening; and wish her every continuing success.

It was a pleasure to welcome Children's author, Nick Lloyd-Davies, who joined Watford Writers (via Zoom) as guest on Monday 6 July. 

Nick told us about his self publishing journey with all its benefits and perils - print-runs, IBSNs, cost, issues with promotion and marketing, distribution, and author's expectations versus publisher. Nick also mentioned his efforts toward getting a traditional publisher contract.

Nick told us how his stories have been received by children, including his own. There was a discussion about the mechanics of writing - target audience, presentation and image of the books through illustration, and even word counts. 

The difficulties in being a part time author - Nick revealed that a two-hour commute to London became his "writing window" using his most valuable tool - a Macbook air! ...and how he also grabs the odd 30 minutes / hour here and there to write.

 Nick lives in Surrey with his wife, Amanda; two children, Calypso and Oscar; and two cats, Fluff and Cookie. After making up so many adventure stories during Calypso and Oscar’s bedtime, he figured it was about time other children got to hear them too. Lloyd-Davies works by day as a town planner and by night (or on the way to work!) as a children’s’ author.  

You may wish to take a look at Nick's "Amazon" author page.

Nick's latest book, Katie Helps a Turtle with Tummy Ache is out now! It deals with ocean plastic pollution and has a foreword from television presenter and well known rambler, Julia Bradbury. It’s also on the Julia Bradbury website at:

 https://theoutdoorguide.co.uk/eco-kids-blog/katie-helps-a-turtle-with-tummy-ache/

There is also a foreword from the Marine researcher who discovered the ocean plastic in the Pitcairn Islands: https://adriftlab.org/news/2020/collaborating-for-childrens-literature

Katie Helps a Turtle with Tummy Ache: A Glowstone Adventure (Glowstone Adventures): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1798563991/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_sEk3EbAQ50BCF

Katharine McMahon's novel, The Hour of Separation. 

The story set in our very own Watford, and a fictional farm in Belgium during two world wars, is a tale of human endurance, heroism and love, resonating powerfully with the challenges we are facing right now.

 Katharine McMahon is the author of 10 novels, including The Hour of Separation; and the bestselling The Rose of Sebastopol, which was a Richard and Judy pick for 2007.

Her evolving theme is drawing astonishing women from the shadows, and revealing passionate and extraordinary lives, even at times when to be different and powerful risked everything if you were female. All her fictional characters have foundations in real historical characters.

She has experience as a teacher and trainer, and has been fortunate to serve on the Sentencing Council of England and Wales, and the Judicial Appointments Commission, as a magistrate. She has run Guardian Masterclasses on historical fiction, and has newly been appointed Education Projects Manager for the Royal Literary Fund.

She co-wrote a song, performed on Radio Four called Check-out Lil, and writes from a hut in her very small back garden.

Visit Katharine's official website

Find Katharine McMahon on twitter @McKatharine 

Author, PR and Marketing Consultant, Ruth Badley, joined Watford Writers online on 1 June 2020. In a two-hour session, Ruth kindly provided an in-depth presentation on her career, writing and motivation in producing her book Where are the grown-ups?  

Ruth described the stages and techniques that she used during the research for the book; and has produced a list of further reading to help other writers. Please see link below this page to download Ruth's list.

Ruth also explained the key role in how objects, news events, music, can conjure up memories that can assist when researching and writing a memoir. She also confirmed the need to step back from time to time, especially when the writing craft takes over using research.

Ruth mentioned how she has promoted her work in the media and online. Her blog has a complete promotional record. With her PR and Marketing expertise, Ruth was able to detail precisely the need for consistency and the benefits from having a plan in place if a writer goes it alone to self-publish and promote. Please see below for a link to Ruth's blog.

http://www.ruthbadley.com/blog/ 

Watford Writers would like to express sincere thanks to Ruth for her time, presentation and advice. Absolutely wonderful. 

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR:

 AN AUDIO EXTRACT OF OUR EVENING WITH RUTH

 Author's Facebook Page: @wherearethegrownups 

WHERE ARE THE GROWN-UPS?

Ruth Badley. (Published by Inglebooks, July 2019)

Sylvia is dying. Ruth is at her bedside.
A lifetime of loss and misunderstanding lies between mother and daughter. In this coming of age story, a whispered family tragedy casts a shadow across three generations. 

It’s 1930 and in London’s Jewish East End, Rose is expecting a baby.
When the natural order is disrupted, 

and part of our personal history is erased,
who do we become? 

The book is a memoir which has its origins in the personal relationship between Ruth and her Mother. Stretching back to the early years of the 20th century, through meticulous research, Ruth was able to trace her family to the London's East End and reveal a very intimate story, at times a very poignant story.  

Reviews of her book have been outstanding. Here are a few:

"The writing is fresh, smart and both observational and engaging - the author is a key, brave and sensitive player in this three act drama."

"The author has the skill to make this very personal story into one that many daughters and families will relate to." 

Podcast:  Ruth Badley chronicles Grandmother's short troubled life and makes sense of family history.

 https://www.ruthbadley.com/ 

Author's Facebook Page: @wherearethegrownups

Twitter: @RuthBadleyPR 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/ruth.badley/ 

On 10 February 2020, we welcomed our first guest speaker of the year. Karl Vadaszffy, Karl's writing pen name is now A.J. Park. He had his first Crime Thriller novel The First Lie published last year. By day, Karl is Head of English at St Michael's Catholic School in Watford.  

The journey to being accepted by one of the UK's largest publishers has taken Karl ten years of hard effort and determination. Diligently working and correcting his drafts, Karl wrote and published the following books as Karl Vadaszffy:

The Missing (2013); Sins of the Father (2014); Don’t speak; and most recently writing as A.J.Park, The First Lie in 2019.

Karl discussed the influence other writers and books had and continues to have on his writing and listed the following in particular:

The Doomsday Conspiracy by Sidney Sheldon 

The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan  

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

Haven’t they Grown and Little Face by Sophie Hannah

A fellow writer and poet who has inspired and supported Karl is the award winning Sophie Hannah. Karl turned to crime fiction as a direct result of Sophie's encouragement. Other writers who have inspired Karl include Quentin Bates, William Ryan, and Adrian Magson.    

Karl provided us all with tremendous insights into getting published and kindly took a number of questions from the floor. There was an excellent discussion on the success of crime writing; but also Karl's other work including article writing for various magazines.

 The First Lie is a fast-paced psychological thriller published by Orion Fiction, whose authors include global bestsellers Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, Steve Cavanagh and Alex Michaelides. 

The First Lie is available as an ebook, audio book and large format paperback.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Lie-J-Park/dp/1409187438 

The regular paperback will be released on 25 June 2020.  

Book two is due to follow in 2021.