Writers' Heaven

Once a year, a gang of us manage to convince spouses and partners to release us for a Saturday and we gather together for a day-long workshop. After trying out hired rooms in theatres and conference centres (and a member's front room), this year we're packing our laptops and digestives and heading for Noble's Library in Douglas.

Provisionally, we're booked in for March 20, but we're waiting on confirmation of availability. If it goes ahead - and taking lunch into account - you're talking about seven hours' writing. That's seven. One after the other. Without any interruption. In other words, writing heaven.

Some of us use the time to crack on with a work in progress, while others set the day aside to tackle a particular short story or script. There's not a whole lot of talking done (other than 'where's the milk?'/'pass the digestives'), so the library is a good fit. All in all, it's an invaluable day.

Talking of workshops, we've got another this coming Tuesday (March 16). For our monthly March meeting, we've agreed to pool resources with the organisers who have brought the Anne Frank exhibition to the Isle of Man for a month. The exhibition opens tonight in Peel, and we'll be opening Tuesday's meeting up to the public to come along to discuss and write about themes covered the exhibition, such as war, racial hatred and freedom. Tuesday's meeting kicks off at 7.oopm at Noble's Library; the March 20th workshop will get underway at 9.15am, subject to confirmation.

If anyone is interested in joining in the 'fun', drop us an email at the address on the right.

Cheers
JQ

The lowdown on Skeealleyderyn

It's taken a while, but here we are - Skeealleyderyn has finally joined the big bad world of Blog.

First, a bit about us. We were formed in January 2006 from the remnants of a group that had met a few years earlier at what was then Ottakar's bookstore (now Waterstones) in Douglas. It started as a small group of about 12, and while we have added a few names since, and lost a few too, we're still a fairly small gathering of like-minded souls who love to write, read and talk about writing and reading.

We meet once a month, on the third Tuesday, at Noble's Library in Douglas. Meetings kick-off at 7.00pm, and we're always on the lookout for new folk to join our little conclave. Our email address is in the short profile bio to the right of this page, should you wish to drop us a line, or just turn up to one of our meetings. There's tea and biscuits and everything.

What do we write? Pretty much everything. A few of us dabble in poetry, others in short stories, sometimes both. Most of us have novels on the go, some turn their hand to a spot of freelance journalism, and one or two indulge in some scriptwriting for good measure.

Why this blog? There are a few reasons - we're looking to raise our profile, and attract new members. But mainly we realised that we need an online venue to allow us to share ideas, articles, reviews, problems and just about anything else related to writing and reading.

So here we are. We've a few things lined up over the next few weeks. Our next meeting, on March 16, will tie in with the Anne Frank exhibition, which is coming to the Island next month. The plan is to open the meeting to the public, and to use the two hours as a workshop to explore ideas based on, and generated by, the exhibition and the experiences of Anne Frank.

We're also looking to arrange a full-day workshop at Douglas Library, to be held on a yet-to-be confirmed Saturday. We'll post details here when it's finalised.

While this blog is primarily for use by Skeealleyderyn members, we would welcome any and all feedback from visitors, regardless of whether or not you are interested in joining. Ideas, tips, links - if you have them, we want them, so don't be shy.

Many thanks for stopping by; we'll try and keep you entertained during the months and years ahead.

Cheers
John Quirk