Frank & Percy - Theatre Royal, Windsor

 To celebrate our having been together for 40 years (we met in June 1983), yesterday we treated ourselves by going to see 'Frank & Percy' at the Theatre Royal in Windsor.

It was brilliant. Very well acted by Ian McKellen and Roger Allam. Great script by Ben Weatherill and directed by Sean Mathias.

It gave my old legs a good workout, climbing back up from the bar and after the show, from the theatre up the hill to the taxi rank.

A great celebration!

Today, I'm not feeling too well, but hope to transcribe the interview with Eliot Best.

Wednesday

 Not much happening today. Just more research for various articles. I'll post more later.

Tuesday 27th July

 I can't believe that it's been a week since I last posted. Sorry about that.

It's been a busy week and weekend. I've been researching material for a number of features:-

1) "Two Dogs and Their Man" An article about a young man who is supported by two 'assistance' dogs. Aimed at 'Able' magazine.

2) "Thames Traditional Boat Festival". An article on steam-powered boats, 1,500 words, and 15 photographs*, commissioned by "Old Glory" magazine.

3) "Thames Traditional Boat Festival". An article about the boats at the festival. 250 words and 10 photographs*, commissioned by "Boating New Zealand" magazine,

4) "Newfs in Action". A speculative article of 1,500 words and 20 photographs* about the Newfoundland Dogs rescuing drowning victims in lakes, ponds, and rivers. To be submitted to "Your Dog" magazine.

5) "Bournville 5". A speculative article of 1000 words and 3 archive photographs to be submitted to "Canals Online" online magazine. The article is about my grandfather George Wiseman, who operated a horse-drawn narrowboat on the Shropshire Union Canal in the 1920s. He collected churns of milk from the Canalside farms and delivered them to the Canalside chocolate crumb processing plant at Knighton.

*These photographs are to be provided by photographer Tony Brice.

I learned today that local media charity 'Resource Productions' are sponsoring me in part to study 'Writing for Magazines' with 'City Lit'.

So - I've caught up with my activity over the last few days.

Watch this space!

Monday and Tuesday

Monday: Not very well today and spent most of the day in bed. I couldn't make the Slough Writers Group meeting.

Tuesday: Still not well, but improved as the day wore on, I felt progressively better.

Got my Press Pass for the Thames Traditional Boat Festival this morning.

I'm going to spend tomorrow, sorting out my desktop's digital, and physical files tomorrow. I'm beginning to get lost!

Sunday

 I should keep Sunday as a "day of rest." but I'm too busy! I finished reading 'The Complete Article Writer' by Simon Whaley which is brilliant! Also, read 'Writing for Magazines' by Adele Ramet. Another good book although a lot of it is about writing fiction.

I'm going to pack up for the day now, in favour of watching some c**p TV!

See you tomorrow!

Whaley, Simon: 'The Complete Article Writer' (How to write and sell magazine articles). Published by Simon Whaley ISBN 976-1-8360786-3-8

Ramet, Adele: 'Writing for Magazines' (How to get your work published in local newspapers and magazines.) Published by 'How to Books'. ISBN 1-84528-161-6

Saturday

 I've had a productive few days. I've been studying the 'house style' of magazines 'Dogs Today', 'Your Dog', and 'Old Glory'. 

I've been considering studying the City Lit short course 'Writing for Magazines' in September, but I'm not sure what it can teach me that I don't already know. Besides, I've ordered a couple of books on the subject. At the moment, I'll keep my options open.

I met up with the photographer I'll be working in collaboration with, Tony Brice. We've been communicating via email until now, so the meeting was good. We discussed our bio's and talked about our forthcoming projects: 'Newfs in Action' and the 'Thames Traditional Boat Festival'.

Before we parted he took a photograph of me as I don't have an up-to-date version. I'm very pleased with it and have put it on the homepage of my website.

It's the first photograph that I have, as I am now (old and haggard!), and not how I was then!

USB Problems

 Yesterday, I spent over an hour trying to transfer WAV files from my digital voice recorder to my laptop. After a lot of head-scratching, I eventually realized that it was a problem with the USB cable. Now I can 'drag and drop' WAV and MP3 files from the recorder into a file on the laptop.

My big headache now is trying to find FREE dictation (audio to text) software. If I search for it, I get loads of programs, but they're only free for the first month or so. They then require you to pay for usage and it's not cheap. If you know of any such FREE programs/software, please let me know by emailing me at sloughwriter@gmail.com . Many thanks in anticipation! Richard

Going International!

 Late last night I got an email from the editor of  'Boating New Zealand' commissioning me to write a short feature and Tony to supply some high-quality images for the magazine. So, we're going international!

 

More Research

 I've been researching more magazines that may be interested in taking a feature article on the Thames Traditional Boat Festival.

I've also decided to go, see and report on 'Newfs in Action' at their display at the beginning of July although I don't have a publication interested yet.

It's hot and I've burnt my legs. Ouch!

Submissions

 I've made four submissions for articles about the Thames Traditional Boat Rally to overseas boating magazines: US, Canada, Australia & New Zealand.

This morning, I made a submission to 'Your Dog' magazine for an article about assistance dogs.

Watch this space!

Sunburn!

 This morning, I worked on my laptop while sitting in my shorts out on the patio. I've 'sunburnt' my lower legs and now they're agony! I've tried 'Sudocrem' and 'Vaseline', but neither has helped much.

Lesson learnt!

Workday + Camera

 Today will consist of researching more material and magazines. My new camera should be arriving today.

Commission

Good News. I've been commissioned to write a 1,500-word feature article about steam-powered boats attending the Thames Traditional Boat Festival in mid-July for 'Old Glory' magazine. Photographer, Tony Brice is to supply high-quality photographs, 15 of which will appear in the magazine.

I have other submissions in the pipeline. Watch this space!

You can see examples of Tony's photography at tonybrice.photography

QUEERS

 

Latest News. The monologue series 'Queers' is being repeated on UKTV Play.

Check out the listings for dates and times. 

Sunday 4th June 2023

 I've been quite busy over the last few days. I've been researching various magazines to pitch ideas to. Here they are:-

‘Church Times’ Magazine – Proposal for an illustrated feature on St. Laurence's Church, the oldest church in Slough. This is the final resting place of Sir William Hershel (1738-1822), the celebrated astronomer and discoverer of Uranus. A new stained-glass window commemorates Hershel and his discovery.

‘Dogs Today’ Magazine – Proposal for: -

1.   1)  An illustrated feature on dogs that search for and rescue people in danger. This would include 'Newfy in Action' dogs, Mountain rescue dogs, and Police dogs (amongst others). This feature would include interviews with dog owners/handlers and the organizations who use them. The item would include high-quality photographs.

2.   2)  An illustrated feature for the June 2024 edition to coincide with 'National Volunteers Week 2024'. It would focus on opportunities for volunteers who have or want to work with dogs. Again, this feature would include high-quality photographs. Organizations offering volunteering opportunities include Dogs for the Disabled, Dog Rescue and Welfare Society, PRO/PAT Dogs, Canine Partners for Independence, Waggy Tails Rescue, Pine Ridge Rescue Centre, Puppy Lifeline, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, PDSA and People and Dogs Society, (amongst others).

‘Old Glory’ Magazine – Proposal for an illustrated feature on steam powered craft appearing at the Thames Traditional Boat Festival, Henley.

‘Waterways World’ Magazine – Proposal for an illustrated feature on the Thames Traditional Boat Festival, Henley. 

‘This England’ Magazine – Proposal for an illustrated feature on the Thames Traditional Boat Festival, Henley.

(I have teamed-up with Tony Brice, a talented photographer from the ‘Maidenhead Camera Club’. Tony will provide high-quality images to accompany my words: www.tonybrice.photography)