Judy Waite Visiting University of Salford

We’re all set up for a visit later today from Judy. She’ll be making an appearance on M TV (our local television channel), giving an hour’s talk and then a two hour workshop. Fingers crossed we get a good turn out.
Judy and I go back a long way. We both write for the same readers. We also did our MAs together in 2000 (Writing for Children, Winchester). She was full time and I was in my second year of part time.
She arrived yesterday, early evening and we had dinner together. I took her to Istanbul, Bridge St, Manchester. It’s a good restaurant. They do reasonably plain food well.
You can imagine we had quite a bit to talk about. Interesting, though. Sure we have a lot in common, yet we have totally different experiences of both our writing lives and of the universities where we teach.
And we are both fascinated by other writers’ routines.
Today should be good. Judy has a very respectable writing CV. She is also an excellent speaker.

SCBWI Critique Group in the North West

I met up with fellow writers in the North West for the first time yesterday. We meet in the function room at Waterstones on Deansgate, Manchester. It’s a part of town I love. And Waterstones is a bookshop, and therefore enjoyable, even though I have some concerns about the commercial activity of the giants, like Waterstones and the way they are squeezing out the independents. The function room itself is amazingly big, especially for the three of us who met. But we sat around a delightful old, faded-but –it-would-be-good-with-a-little-TLC table.

There were the normal discussions about the three manuscripts in front of us: was too much detail given too early? Were the characters consistent? Was the point of view consistent? Were relationships clear? There was a fair amount of agreement. This makes you feel good, even if it’s not your manuscript which is being read.

I do miss my London group and my Winchester group. The London one is abandoned because we have all had to go our separate ways. The Winchester one meets mid week. Even Writers in Southampton meet in the week. Yet the North West SCBWI group meets on Sundays. I’m always in the wrong place.

Still, some of my books were in Waterstones. They were selling them three for two. I can’t decide whether that is a good thing or a bad thing.