A
great Swanwick Summer School – more people than ever, including lots of first
timer “white badgers”, and amazed that there was a coach big enough to collect
70 people from Derby train station. A big football match on so crowds of fans
singing and clapping as they left the station, escorted by several smiling
policemen. Limited vocabulary for some of the songs, but a good-natured lot
before kick-off.
Brilliant
choice of speaker for the first night – Stephen Booth. I remember reading his
first crime book Black Dog many years ago, and can still visualize some of the
scenes. Apparently, there were only two books in the house when he was young so
his was a fascinating journey to write so many crime novels. He gave insights
into how his characters develop, and no, he has no idea at the beginning who
did it or why! Very inspiring.
There
is a packed programme all week with 4-session specialist topics, including my
Writing Non-Fiction course (see my happy group in photo), plus lots of
2-session features on a wide range of subjects. Whether you are interested in
writing poetry or crime, children’s stories or fantasy, flash fiction or a
novel, there is something here to get you motivated to actually get it done.
There is even a “no procrastination” day for you to just work on something in a
silent, interruption-free zone. I finally finished revising my 10 Principles of
Risk Management text to re-publish it this year (first published 2002) so this
was perfect for me.
It
is a lovely venue, plenty of buffet-style food, tea and coffee available all
day and yes, the bar really is open lunch-time and in the evening. Next year
Swanwick Summer School is 70 years old, so put 11-17th August 2018 in
your diary as booking starts February 2018. Maybe see you there?
