Lucy McCarraher: On Demand

At The Assembly House this evening, Norwich Writers' Circle's 2009/10 programme continued, in a packed Sexton Room.

Our latest meeting featured Lucy McCarraher, who discussed her writing career to date, and how she became an author.

Lucy described to us how her previous publishing experiences with Macmillan led to her books being sold over the internet. The visiting writer stated that she believed that print on demand was the future of publishing, due to the amount of control it gives the author. The only downside to being published using POD is that, once your book has been published, and for any chance of success, you must be prepared to organise the promotionial work yourself.

The evening ended by Lucy taking part in a Q&A session, which gave visitors and Circle members the opportunity to ask questions raised by the author's interesting talk.

Esther Morgan will be hosting a Poetry Workshop at our next meeting on 3rd November. We hope to see you then.

Simon Scarrow: History Man

Norwich Writers' Circle's 2009/2010 programme continued this evening with a visit from historical novelist Simon Scarrow.

The well-attended meeting started with Simon discussing the importance of history and how it shapes who we are, where we came from and where we are collectively going.

The novelist, whose latest book The Gladiator is currently riding high in the bestseller lists, also shared with us the importance of historical accuracy in fiction. Scarrow stressed that the plot was key, and that we must not to get too hung up on meaningless details. He added by saying that whilst storytelling is important, a balance must be made between keeping the plot moving and describing your characters' living era.

Simon's humorous and insightful talk was soon followed by a spirited discussion on the various subjects raised by the visiting writer, and much more besides.

The next NWC meeting at The Assembly House is on the 20th October. This meeting will feature another visiting author, Lucy McCarraher, who will be talking to us about fiction writing and publishing on demand.

We hope to see you next time.