Back in March, we went to the annual Scottish Association of Writers’ annual conference at Cumbernauld, with a few days walking around Northumberland as a treat along the way. I had to go to hand back the Largs Shield, and this time I knew I wouldn’t be winning it back because their rules (very sensibly) forbid anyone from entering the same competition for two years if they have just won it two years in a row. It was sad to hand it over, but I had given it a good polish and hoped it would cheer up somebody else for a year or two.
Bit of a strange one this year, as we had so much trouble booking a room back in October last year that I gave up. Face it, if you ring a hotel and ask to book a room some months in advance, you don’t expect the clerk to hesitate and say that he wasn’t sure if he could do that. I understand now that I probably caught them on the day when the staff had been told that the Westerwood had been sold to another chain, and that the clerk didn’t know what would be happening to the place in six months’ time. I’m sure next year we’ll be able to book a room with no trouble. The accommodation we found instead was a warm and spacious cottage run by a friendly couple in the house next door, so no complaints there. I did promise to friends at the Westerwood that if there was another fire at their hotel, we would be there in ten minutes with a vehicle to sit in and some warm clothing while they waited for the fire brigade.
I may have given back the Largs, but I went in hopes of getting a mention for a different competition. Not disappointed. I got fourth for the humorous short story again and had a special mention for the best first line of all the entries in that contest. Nice start, shame about the punchline. Fourth place for a 30 minute TV pilot, even though I don’t watch TV series (Broadchurch and The Detectorists have been the only exception in the last ten years). Third place for a general article. I put in a novel extract at the last minute, and I do mean last minute; I submitted the entry with ten minutes to spare before the deadline. The idea was one I wrote as part of the 29 Plays Later challenge in February 2024, but I wrote the prequel to that play as a prose novel extract all on the last day – woke up at 8am with the thought that it would make a good novel idea and spent the entire day writing it out. It was rough, and I didn’t expect it to get anywhere, but I was interested to know what the judge thought of the idea. The feedback the judges provide is always worth the entry fee, even if they let you know you were sitting at the bottom of their list.
Sometimes, the judges surprise you. It helps that this was a twelfth century princess and the judge had a soft spot for historical drama.
My friends got their own mentions. Sue took second place for the Largs Shield, Elizabeth picked up a series of certificates and Mairi won the Helensburgh Shield for her TV pilot – described by the judge as good enough to pitch to a TV station, although he admitted that all the stations were looking to reduce their drama offerings.
Add to that, the Northumberland highlights… the Vindolanda Trust has broken the turf on this year’s excavation site (the final quarter of the soldiers’ area) and has started excavations at the Roman Military Museum seven miles away; the Sycamore Gap stump is sending up sprouts; and I finally got to see the Falkirk Wheel in motion. It’s still shut for repairs, but that’s just an excuse to go back next year for a boat trip (and the Kelpies).
Julia Chalkley 