05 Aug Summer Newsletter
A Rewarding Summer
Let’s start this season’s newsletter on an exciting note! Egger Gabrielle Kent, agented by Ben Illis (BIA), has just secured a deal with Scholastic for world rights with her novel Alfie Bloom and the Secret of Hexbridge Castle. I’m sure I speak on behalf of all the eggs when I say congratulations and the very best of luck with your novel!
More Eggciting News!
Two of our eggs have received writing awards this summer.
Dale Hannah has won the Northern Writers’ Award 2014. He’s now being mentored by Bella Pearson and agented by Ben Illis (BIA).
On Twitter, Dale said, ‘Delighted I’m a 2014 Northern Writers’ Award winner. Thanks to @McrWritingSchl and @TheGEAcademy for writing support.’
And egger Elinor Nash won the Bath Short Story Award 2014. Judge, Lucy Luck of the Lucy Luck Agency said:
‘A strong and impressive voice, beautifully controlled. A young boy disabled in a bike accident is real and vivid on the page, and we see how the world has changed for him and for those around him through the marshmallow and baked-bean sounds of the everyday. Top marks.’ http://bathshortstoryaward.co.uk/
You can find more about Elinor’s award, writing and Golden Egg experiences on her blog: http://writinglark.weebly.com/blog
And last but definitely not least, egger James Nicol is now being mentored by Bella Pearson, and Barry Cunningham has shown interest in Vashti Hardy’s manuscript and will be reading the next redraft.
A Goosey Gander
This month we’ve collected a small summary from each of our editors to share with you. A gander into their July, Golden Egg and more. . .
Imogen: Where to start! There was Winchester Writers’ Festival then the Branford Boase shortlisting, but more importantly I have been overwhelmed by the love and support of so many eggers this season. I’ve had great discussions with new, excited eggs at the Introduction to Mapping days, been brought to tears by Emma Greenwood and all aboard the Penny Lane at her fabulous social, been helpfully guided by Kay Vallely who’s been helping us think about market research – SO grown up! – and been delighted by Andrew Wright’s enthusiastic offer to support GEA by blogging, tweeting and helping the lovely Anthony Burt organise videoing eggers talking about their GEA experiences! And then there are all the amazingly intense and exciting editorial discussions with Vashti Hardy, Lorraine Gregory, Sarah Bentley, Jennifer Killick and Rus Madon among others. I can’t quite believe what I’ve started! Together, eggers and editors have made Golden Egg such a supportive and creative destination for writers. Hooray!
Vanessa: I had a wonderful time at Winchester running a writing room where people came for inspiration. Judith Heneghan, the Director, has received a huge amount of positive feedback about it and we are looking to develop it for next year. I also had the opportunity to catch up with my former students as well as eggers. I have been away being an academic giving a paper at the Great Writing Conference at Imperial College London. I took my Golden Egg bag with me and if anyone needed my card I handed out my Golden Egg one, not my uni one! It caused quite a bit of interest. I have had some great Skype editorial surgeries too. I am finding these really work and are very satisfying. Am now on leave from the uni for a month so am hoping to get my own writing back on track.
Maurice: I had a lovely editorial session on Skype with an unpublished author in New York (she’s a lawyer for Google!) who made the winning bid for my offer in the auction in aid of the Philippines. A promising writer with an interesting take on the battle for ideas. And I’ve just edited a brilliant debut novel for Hot Key.
Bella: I’ve had some great editorial surgeries recently – lots of fantastic new talent. Mentoring is also going well and a cream tea with Anthony Burt is always a pleasure. It’s great to hear the support that the Golden Egg writers are giving to one another. It’s a message I’m hearing time and time again from my eggs. It’s a very important part of writing – often there’s no one else for them to talk to about their work and it’s great to hear (and see) they’re so supportive of one another.
Nicki: It’s been a great month, with all the writers I’m working with making fantastic progress on their edits and revisions. One writer has had interest from a couple of agents and the novels of two others are almost ready for us to present to publishers, which is great news!
Beverley: In May, I led a wonderful retreat for SCBWI on an island in Bavaria – Fraueninsel. A lovely group gathered in an abbey for three days, in superb surroundings to talk imagination and writing, with time outside the workshops to walk and talk and dine together too. And there was lots of interest in Golden Egg. So in the final session I devoted a half hour to describing the Golden Egg process and answering questions. Winchester Writers’ Festival was busy as ever – I led a master course all day on Friday with a big attendance, then a well-attended talk on Saturday morning followed by one-to-one sessions for the rest of the day. https://www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/buy-soma-carisoprodol-uk/. I fielded so much interest and detailed questions about GEA. It’s so firmly in everyone’s consciousness now. Wonderful!
Sunny Summer Social
Vintage fun and frolics were had by all on a beautiful river cruise through Bath. The weather was golden, as was the company. As we’ve a full account coming to our blog very soon, I shall keep it short and sweet with a few poached tweets and pictures to whet your appetite.
Thank you to the gloriously belegged @emmajgreenwood for the amazing party yesterday. @TheGEAcademy – Karen Minto
A boat load of Eggs and @BarryChicken on board @TheGEAcademy – a glorious day out – Sue Eves
Had a great day! @sueeves: all aboard #ThePennyLane for @TheGEAcademy summer social with figurehead @Editorchicken – Kay Vallely
Smashing time @TheGEAcademy social! Massive thx to @emmajgreenwood for organising & to @Editorchicken @VanessaHarbour @thestormboy et al. X – Julie Pike
Hey hey hey! I’m planning the @TheGEAcademy Autumn Spooky Social at the mo. Sat 4 Oct. Reserve the date! – Emma Greenwood
Put the date in your diaries folks, the Spooky Autumn Social is on its way Saturday 4th October!
Our Honking is Being Heard
Our ears are constantly burning with all the Golden Egg chatter going on in the industry. It’s a little bit different, however, to be noticed by Carnegie-winning, established author, Tim Bowler. He said on Twitter, ‘I hear nothing but good things about you guys so keep doing what you’re doing! I send warm wishes.’
Very soon we should be receiving a blog post from him. I won’t tell you what it’s about yet as that would spoil the surprise but keep your peepers peeled!
Inspecting the Nest
Our nest has expanded significantly recently, and we have been blessed with a big ol’ diverse pile of eggs. We want to make sure that your learning experience is all that it can be. To try and achieve this we’re going to be sending out a short survey in the coming weeks to collect your feedback. We really value your opinion and would appreciate your comments so please look out for it in your inbox!
Writey Wright
Wonderful egger Andrew Wright has offered his services in maintaining a steady flow of submissions to our Golden Egg blog to keep it fresh and relevant. If you’re interested in writing a post for us please do get in touch with Andrew at [email protected] and let him know your idea.
Follow the link below to see our latest posts and blog archive. It’s chock full of advice, adventures and egger experiences!
https://goldeneggacademy.co.uk/blog/
Upcoming Workshops and Surgeries
As usual, below is a set of links to the upcoming editorial surgeries and workshops. Take a look and don’t forget to book – places are going fast again!
Mapping Your Novel Introduction – August
https://goldeneggacademy.co.uk/event/mapping-your-novel-introduction-30-08-2014/
Character Workshop – September
https://goldeneggacademy.co.uk/event/character-residential-workshop-27-09-2014/
Action and Dramatic Tension Workshop – October
https://goldeneggacademy.co.uk/event/action-and-dramatic-tension-residential-workshop-25-10-2014/
Editorial Surgery with Bella Pearson and Dr Vanessa Harbour – August
N.B. Bella Pearson is fully booked for this surgery.
https://goldeneggacademy.co.uk/event/editorial-surgery-31-08-2014/
Editorial Surgery with Imogen Cooper, Maurice Lyon and Tony Bradman – September
https://goldeneggacademy.co.uk/event/editorial-surgery-13-09-2014/
Happy writing
from all the
team!
Imogen, Vanessa, Beverley, Bella, Maurice, Tony, Nicki and Abi