SHOWCASING THE CITY OF CHELMSFORD ESSEX

 It was interesting last autumn, when in Chelmsford, Essex,  to come across a busy film crew preparing to access the fabulous old Shire Hall in the city centre.  Of course I wanted to know what project they were concentrating on, but no one was going to spill the beans. Never mind, this week I realised they were  filming The Jury which has been screening every night this week with last episode of The Jury to be shown later this evening (9.pm). 

SUPER DAISY GOODWIN ON RADIO RIGHT NOW!

So good to hear best-selling novelist Daisy Goodwin on BBC Radio 4 this morning.  I met Daisy many years ago at the Groucho Club - she was our speaker at the time and was so funny, but informative to our group of writers and journalists.  Gave her a copy of my book which had just been published The Woman Writer and some of the BBC team who were sitting in the audience.   Must read her book DIVA when time permits.

NEW BOOKS - NEW AUTHOR FROM ESSEX - D S JOHNSON-MILLS - PHOENIXFM - BRENTWOOD WRITERS CIRCLE

It's always a great pleasure to meet new writers in our successful writers' circle meetings in London (www.swwj.co.uk)  and Essex (www.brentwoodwriterscircle.com. Alongside many new authors who are busily writing their first books, we often invite some into our PhoenixFM radio programmes, presented by musician and singer, Michelle Ward at the PhoenixFM studio every month. This is our fourteenth year of Michelle's popular morning programme (Eat My Brunch) and listeners certainly enjoy her music and repartee.  

So, last Thursday was a red-letter day for us with the introduction of Denise Johnson-Mills who was invited to talk about her debut best-selling book CHOOSING ME.  We always learn something new from our guests and Denise certainly gave us some great ideas, as well as outlining her own fabulous life.  And... yep, there's a second book about to be published.  Check out her excellent website: 

D.S.johnson-mills

Story line:

Dylan is a young Bostonian embracing her newfound freedom in the bustling streets of London. Alongside her best friend, Toby, they indulge in a life filled with joy and carefree moments, evading the lurking shadows threatening their cheerful facade. But when he reunites with his old friend Markus, he inadvertently sets the wheel in motion for three lives to be turned upside down. Dylan is instantly attracted to Markus, a dangerously intoxicating stranger whose touch sets her world aflame and crumbles her carefully crafted defences. But every touch exposes the fractures of a past she's fought so hard to forget, threatening to drown out the allure of a budding romance. As her heart teeters between love and old shadows, Dylan stands at a crossroads: face the shadows that chase her, or risk losing the life and love she's only just begun to discover.

LOOKING AHEAD TO OUR FUN WALK 2024

 

VALENTINE'S DAY APPROACHING

Embrace it with hearts and flowers, or hide away under the duvet,whatever your preference, there’s no getting away from the fact that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but have you ever wondered about its origins? 

According to the National Geographic, the earliest possible origin story of Valentine’s Day is the Pagan holiday Lupercalia. Occurring for centuries in the middle of February, the holiday celebrates fertility.  Men would strip naked and sacrifice a goat and dog, young boys would then take strips of hide from the sacrificed animals and use it to whip young women, to promote fertility.  Thankfully, we’ve moved on from sacrificing and whipping, and Valentine's Day has become a day to celebrate (by choice, fate or otherwise) our ability to love and connect.

LOTS TO LOOK FORWARD TO AS OUR 25TH ESSEX BOOK FESTIVAL APPROACHES - JUNE 1-30

      ESSEX BOOK FESTIVAL- JUNE 1-30 2024 

We have started our 25th Anniversary with an absolute bang!

25th Edition

Work is well underway for This Land, the 25th Edition of Essex Book Festival.

We will be launching this year’s festival at the University of Essex on 1st June. With Sarah Perry talking about her new novel Enlightenment (already hailed as her best work to date), a Radical Essex Procession, led by 500 flag-bearers, onto campus; a variety of talks, performances, exhibitions and workshops, in the mix, it is going to be a very special day.

CELEBRATING OUR FILMMAKING COLLEAGUES (J.A.B.S).AT OUR SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS & JOURNALISTS

 PRESS RELEASE Congratulations to our SWWJ filmmakers home now from Hollywood Film Festival.

 How lovely to hear of the success of a group of our Society of Women Writers' filmmakers living in St Albans. who, just a few years ago, created their J.A.B.S. Productions' team. Jane Fookes, Anne Stafford Murray, Benita Cullingford and her daughter Sharon Hoyland used the years of the covid pandemic to create their J.AB.S. making short films which resulted in a fabulous visit to  Hollywood and their film festival. And - wait for it - they won! 

 

Their five-minute film Snatched won Best Female Production (Short film) at the Skiptown Playhouse International Film Festival, Hollywood, USA, in November 2023.  In addition, their film was selected for inclusion in the London Lift Off International Film Festival in December 2023, and was previously a joint winner for Best Short Film for Children at the Bridge of Peace International Film Festival in Paris, April 2023.   Anne, their director, said:   

‘I can’t believe we’ve come this far in less than two years. We’ve known each other as local writers for a long time, but collaborating together has brought about our current successes. Initially, we were going to film a short play of Benita’s in her garden, on a smart phone. My daughter Larissa had just graduated from film school in London, and I suggested that she could shoot it on a more professional film camera/camcorder. So that’s what we did.

 

'Subsequently adopting a cinematic approach, we have made five shorts, with Benita and Jane as screenwriters on different films, and myself as director and editor. Benita is also our producer, Larissa our director of photography and Sharon our sound recordist and everything else.  Some of us act in them as well.’

 

J.A.B.S Productions second film   The Way We Were Valentine  won Best Mental Health short at the Cotswold International Film Festival in September 2022 and was selected for inclusion in the Berlin Lift Off International Film Festival in March 2023. Their next project is a short children’s film Zsa Zsa and Boo due for release very soon. 

To view the films on their YouTube channel visit: 

https://youtube.com/@annemurray6630?si=FiFMzMo5PLvL2ZK3

Pictures    Some of the JABS team on the red carpet at Skiptown Playhouse International Film Festival, Hollywood, USA, November 2023.