50th Anniversary SAW (#Scottish Association of Writers) Conference 2019!

Weekend Update!

50th anniversary Cake and
current President - Wendy Jones 

Last Friday  (22nd March),  I headed south to go to the Scottish Association of Writers Annual Conference at the Westerwood Hotel, cumbernauld, near Glasgow. The hotel is familiar since I went to the 2017 SAW Conference as a Saturday Day Delegate, and last year I attended the full weekend of the Historical Novel Society International Conference 2018 at the same very recommended venue.

This time I had ensured I was booked in for the whole weekend so as not to miss anything important. Although I hadn't sent in any competition entries this time around, I was able to appreciate how many of the adjudication speeches take place on the Friday evening. This was the part I missed in March 2017 when I was 'joint second place' for the Barbara Hammond Trophy for Best Self Published book. 

It was a fabulous weekend, a brilliant mix of congratulatory elements (presentation of prizes), workshops and evening entertainments. 

On Friday evening,  after the main competition announcements, which included full explanations of the criteria used in adjudications, was the spectacular Talent Show which went on into the wee sma' hoors (i.e. after midnight). 

There was a highly entertaining mix of anecdotal information; songs and poems - the Brexit related material being highly funny and very topical. This was not content that was created months ago but more like hours, even minutes, before the show. 

Me and Rae Cowie from the North East of Scotland.

Saturday evening was a joy after the splendid Gala dinner when some of the well known members of the Association put on an incredibly funny 'Carry On Sleuthing' farce aptly named 'Murder on the Ocean' - a take off of a Miss Marple type event. Brilliant executions and quick on the hoof asides to the manuscripts that were being read since only a very small amount of rehearsal time is spent on these performances. Excellent entertainment all round.

I'll have to save up my pennies again to make sure I can attend in 2020! 

Taking a pre-dinner selfie not very expertly.

I drove home to a family party to celebrate my grandson's 5th birthday so I am suitably still exhausted, even though it Tuesday and have had a couple of sleeps. 

My Monday and Tuesday writing time has been spent on updating and inputting information top the Nielsen Title Editor database for my ebooks, and filling in requests for FREE editorial reviews from a reputable site (Reader's Favourite). I'll await news of that in a few months time. 

It's now time to really get into new writing and finish off novels I started to read days ago. 

Slainthe!