Rugby Cafe Writers

Here is the April newsletter 2025 of the Rugby Cafe Writers.

Life Stories Project

The deadline has now passed for contributions to our Life Stories Project. We are going to end up with about 15 contributors and a book that will have about 140 pages. I will now begin the editing process which will be followed by the proof-reading phase. We are probably looking at a publication date during the summer months, but certainly in time for the Autumn festival season.
Send in your recent writing

Many thanks to those who have sent in pieces from recent Writing Challenges. I will keep all of these in folders in readiness for future anthologies and book projects. You can also submit via the front page of our website.
Book Sales Update

Many thanks to all those who helped out at Market Harborough Book Extravaganza. The team managed to sell a brilliant 24 books, bringing our current total sales to 805 books. This included four full sets of our “A Story For Every Day Of…” series. 
Future Writing Challenges and Discussions

April 11th – Why I love books. Write 400 words on why you love books, or your memories of childhood reading.

April 25th – The process of writing (this is a discussion on how we write, where we write, what helps us and so on. It could also be a writing challenge)

May 9th – A fake obituary. Write 400 words of an obituary for a character you have made up.

May 23rd – Open poetry challenge. Write a poem on any subject in any style and share with the group. 

Other themes suggested are The Birthday Party, The Castle, Misunderstandings, I found the other half, What if/hoaxes, Use the first sentence of a favourite book, and then continue in your own way.

Publishing News

Phil Gregg has written a new book, Savant, an Anglo-Saxon murder mystery. We look forward to itds publication.

Terri Brown is setting up a UK chapter of the Horror Writers’ Association. Terri is also running a Performing Arts for Adults course at the Guildhouse this summer.

A short story written by Susan McCranor has been adapted for the stage by an amateur dramatic society in Boston, Lincolnshire. Congratulations, Susan!

Forthcoming Events

Sat Apr 19, Book Fair, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. 10.30am to 4pm. (Team: Jeremy, Susan, Steve, Terri)

Sat July 5, Rugby Library. A Morning With The Rugby Cafe Writers. Reserve tickets on this link. Our panel will be Lindsay, Phil, David, Maddie and Susan. Please go along and support them if you can.

Friday October 3rd – An Evening With The Cafe Writers, St Andrew’s Church, Rugby. 7.30pm. This is part of the second Rugby Literary Festival. (Organising group: John, Fran, Dot, Rose, Simon P)

Sunday October 12th – Southam Book Festival, 11am to 4pm. We are reserving one stall for Cafe Writer Anthologies only. If you would like a stall yourself, please contact the organisers on this link.

December – Percival Guildhouse Christmas Fayre (morning).

Self-Publishing Discussion
At our first meeting in March, Lindsay Woodward led a very helpful discussion on self-publishing. Phil Gregg kindly took notes. You can download these from our Facebook group or contact me by email and I will send them to you. 
Submitted WorkHere are a few pieces sent in recently by members. 

The delight and despair of reading by Angela Cassidy

My love of reading started in childhood. As an only child, books enabled me to win rosettes and cups in showjumping; receive bouquets of flowers and applause as a prima ballerina; and solve mysteries with the Famous Five (or perhaps I should say Six). At high school, I moved on to the big storytellers like JRR Tolkien; Arthur C Clarke and Jane Austen.

Alongside reading, my first job while still at school was working in a library as a shelf-filler. Boring to most people, I guess, but I loved it. Seeing and handling new books as they were delivered, their covers unblemished and appealing, together with the old classics I hadn’t read, immediately grabbed my attention. 

My favourite book, for the moment, is The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (and its sequels). I have read them three times at least since they were published. The enthralling and poetic style of writing combined with a captivating and phantasmagorical story that, because of the writer’s skill, you have to believe. What a brilliant piece of translation too. More recently, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus has stood out for me. I loved the originality in its settings, its unusual love story and its many fascinating characters. The struggle professional women in the fifties and sixties faced was depicted well, too. Plus, the bravery and tenacity of Elizabeth, its protagonist, to overcome the prejudice was uplifting.

But what if you couldn’t read? My mum encouraged me to read as soon as I was able. I have never forgotten her telling me she was not allowed to read at home when she was young. Her father, whom I’ve never met – he died before I was born – would snatch any books out of her hands if he caught her reading and throw them on the fire. He was very old-fashioned and didn’t believe in educating women. What a cruel thing to do!  I can only imagine how upset she was – she must have hated him for it. I know I would have done.        

What irritates me –  BBC Radio 3 by Martin Curley

I used to love BBC Radio 3. I first started listening to it in 1982 when a guy I was working for played it all day in his workshop. It was like a private club that seemed to be only interested in excellent music. It was a breath of fresh air blowing away all the synth dross pop pap of the early eighties.

In the decades since then Radio 3 has gotten so bad I don’t think it can ever be redeemed. They still play excellent music, but now they seem to be a cosy outreach program for the bewildered. The presenters are always talking about helping you get through the day, or setting you up for the weekend, or helping you relax, or helping you unwind. For crying out loud, they’ve even started a new online Radio station and it’s literally called Radio 3 Unwind. They even have a trailer for it that goes along the lines of: ‘if your under the duvet or waiting for that kettle to boil, just let Radio 3 Unwind help you through the day. They also have really annoying trailers that tell Radio 3 listeners to listen to Radio 3. You heard that correct. The trailer bangs on about how BBC Radio 3 is the home of classical music and concludes with, it’s never been easier to listen to BBC Radio 3, just ask your smart speaker to play BBC Radio 3. They seem to have lost sight of the fact that if you can hear their trailer you are already listening to BBC Radio3.

It gets worse. Sarah Walker will spend the first half hour of her Sunday morning show telling you what an fantastic program she has lined up for you, and then, out of the blue she’ll tell you about last nights excellent Proms concert and that you can listen to that concert right now by going to BBC Sounds. The mind struggles to boggle.

Another of their major flaws is that they now interact with members of the public, encouraging listeners to get in touch with the program, ‘you can message, what’s app, or send us and email.’ The problem is, people do. Example. A few weeks ago while presenting the Saturday morning breakfast show, Elizabeth Alker read out an email from Jared in Saffron Walding. 

 ‘Hi Elizabeth, I’m just about to tuck into a full English after spending a sleepless night with a restless toddler.’

Well Jared, you sound exactly the sort of sorry individual who’s probably already posted a photograph of your full English breakfast on Facebook. There was no need to do that Jared and you could have saved yourself five earth-minutes, because literally no-one cares. 

Bring back Richard Baker.

What Irritates me – Terri Brown

I am not a fish irritates me.

I should probably elaborate before you call the men in white coats. I am not irritated by the fact that I am not a scaly, aquatic animal. I think I would actually hate being that. And, knowing my luck I would end up in one of those fishing sites where they throw the fish back. Which means I would have to run the gauntlet of suffering the indignity of being hauled out of the water, gauped at, fondled and photographed, before being unceremoniously flung back, every time I got hungry. 

No.

I am referring to something I saw a few years ago online. It was a short video from an American who was explaining that hiccups were a physiological throw back to when we were amphibious. He said that reminding yourself that you are not a fish, makes the hiccups go away. 

“Balderdash and piffle.” I thought – though in words a lot less poetic – and that was enough internet for that day.

The next time I got hiccups I was reminded of it and I decided to try it, for the sake of a fully investigated opinion on the bulls…balderdash.

Except. It worked.

Feeling very foolish, I told myself out loud that I was not a fish and the hiccups stopped immediately.

“Tis but a fluke”. I thought, channelling my inner Monty Python commentary. So, I began to tell everyone. My children, my friends, my work colleagues – who all looked at me with faces of concern and bewilderment that I am sure some of you are currently wearing. 

Then slowly they began reporting back. They tried it. It worked. ALL OF THEM.

Why does this irritate me? Because it blooming shouldn’t work! Hiccups are NOT an evolutionary throw back to before we climbed out of the primeval gloop. I am well aware that I am not a fish and shouldn’t have to remind myself of the fact just because my diaphragm is squeezed a bit. 

It makes no sense. It shouldn’t work. It irritates me that it does. Meh.