Programme for 2026
Tuesday 6th January
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Piers Rowlandson
Bring up to 1500 words from a piece you are working on. It may be prose or poetry, fact or fiction, memoir, novel or part of a short story. It helps if you circulate the piece in an email to the group a week or so beforehand. If you want people to read a whole chapter or an entire short story, then upload it to the Chat Room. That may make it easier for people to appreciate your piece if they understand the wider context.
Tuesday 3rd February
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Steve Bullas
Steve has been developing a programme that will assist in writing a novel. It is basically a programme for plotting. He is going to project the elements of the programme onto the screen and we, the audience, are going to provide ideas for each chapter of a brand new novel. Do not write anything in advance. No preparation is required. Each person will provide the idea for a chapter. Obviously, one cannot make any suggestions until the first chapter has been outlined.
Tuesday 3rd March
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Johnathan Kaye
We have a guest speaker.
Roger Morris will be joining us to talk about his most recent book: Cover Story, a spy novel about a struggling author who is paid by MI6 to write a novel as a cover for a professor in another country who is a spy. Here is Roger's Bio.
R.N. Morris biography
My published books include A GENTLE AXE, A VENGEFUL LONGING, A RAZOR WRAPPED IN SILK and THE CLEANSING FLAMES. Originally published by Faber and Faber, the series is set in 19th century St Petersburg, and features Porfiry Petrovich, the magistrate from Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. A VENGEFUL LONGING was short-listed for the 2008 CWA Gold Dagger. THE CLEANSING FLAMES was shortlisted for the 2011 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger. My most recent published novel is COVER STORY, picked by Tim Shipman of the Spybrary website as one of his top reads of 2025.
My Silas Quinn series of historical crime novels are set in London in 1914: SUMMON UP THE BLOOD, THE MANNEQUIN HOUSE, THE DARK PALACE, THE RED HAND OF FURY, THE WHITE FEATHER KILLER and THE MUSIC BOX ENIGMA. The series was originally published by Severn House and reissued by Canelo.
I’m the author of three standalone novels: TAKING COMFORT (Macmillan), PSYCHOTOPIA (Severn House) and FORTUNE’S HAND (Sharpe).
A former advertising copywriter, I have also written scripts for an award-winning audio production company, working on true crime and history podcasts including Deathbed Confessions, Scotland Yard Confidential, Detectives Don’t Sleep and The Curious History of your Home, as well as a forthcoming series on the Vikings.
My work has been published in 16 countries.
Praise for R.N. Morris:
“Right from the start, we are hooked by his storytelling panache.” Daily Express
“Lush, and exceptionally compelling, but take your time – R.N. Morris’s The Gentle Axe has a vast depth of Russian soul; mysterious, compassionate, and utterly irresistible.” Alan Furst
“R. N. Morris has produced perhaps the most audacious police-inspector novel of the season… The psychological and spiritual themes seem worthy of Dostoyevsky; there are traces of Gogol and Gorky, too. Such an accomplished book transcends pastiche.” The Wall Street Journal
“[A] smart, hypnotizing tale of crime and duplicity.” The New York Sun
“A satisfyingly grisly yarn… “CSI: St. Petersburg.” The New York Times Book Review
“Morris captures this world with expert strokes… this novel stands out from a number of fine czarist-era mysteries - by Russians and foreigners alike - like a Fabergé egg at a yard sale.” Publishers’ Weekly, Starred Review
“Extraordinarily vivid.” The Times
“… richly evocative of its time and place.” The New York Times
“… a poignant finish to an exemplary series.” The Independent.
“Mesmerizing, repellent, bizarre, intelligent, dark, provocative… utterly fascinating…” Booklist, starred review
“The tortured Silas Quinn is one of fiction’s most memorable detectives. Historical crime fiction doesn’t get much darker than this.” Andrew Taylor
“This stunning tale grips from the first line to the last, brims with dazzling images, vivid characters, electric dialogue and unforgettable action.” Peter Tonkin
“One of the most entertaining spy novels I’ve ever read.” Jeremy Duns
Tuesday 7th April
19.30 Bassil Shuppam Centre
Chair Nicky Lowes
AGM
Tuesday 5th May
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Lesley Pardoe
Tuesday 2nd june
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Piers Rowlandson
Please bring along a piece that you are working on, not more than 1500 words. It can be anything from poetry to memoir to flash fiction or part of a novel, or a review of a novel.
Tuesday 7th July
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Steve Bullas
Tuesday 4th August
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Johnathan Kaye
Tuesday 1st September
19.30 Bassil Shuppam Centre
Chair Nicky Lowes
Tuesday 6th October
19.30 Basil Shippam Centre
Chair Lesley Pardoe
Tuesday 3rd November
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Piers Rowlandson
Tuesday 1st December
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Steve Bullas
Programme 2025
Tuesday 7th January
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Nicola Lowes
Tuesday 4th February
19.30 Bassil Shiopham Centre
Chair Lesley Pardoe
Speaker Nicola Garrard on how she came to write her two novels 29 Locks and 21 Miles.
Tuesday 4th March
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Emma Moran
Creative writing exercise.
Authors contributions.
Tuesday 1st April
19.30 Bassil Shippham Centre
Chair Piers Rowlandson.
AGM
Authors Contributions.
Tuesday 6th May
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Johnathan Kaye
Tuesday 3rd June
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair: Nicola Lowes
Tuesday 1st July
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair: Lesley Pardoe
Please bring along your favourite first paragraph from any novel.
Tuesday 5th August
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair Stephen Bullas
Hand in your anonymous 1500 word short story on a supernatural theme, to Nicky, not Sharron.
Attached to an envelope containing a slip of paper with your name on it.
Entry fee £1.00
Steve has sent out an invitation by email to members to write a 300+ word short piece based on the following:
Story prompt:
“In 1919, a nurse returns to a Yorkshire manor house in which she used to work during the Great War. Hidden in the back of a wardrobe, she finds a bundle of letters tied up with twine. She leaves without opening them.”
During the meeting, we will critique the pieces along the lines: Story, Plot, Structure.
Tuesday 2nd September
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Chair: Piers Rowlandson
This is a chance to read out a piece from something you are working on, either a poem, flash fiction, short story or novel. It is recommended that the piece you read out is limited to 1500 words. If it's important for members to have access to the whole chapter, then I suggest that you upload it to the CHAT page. If you have difficulty logging on, then I can help by contacting Ian who created and edits our website.
Tuesday 7th October
19.30 Bassil Shipham Centre
Chair: Johnathan Kaye
Tuesday 4th November
19.30 Bassil Shippam Centre
Nicky Lowes
Barry Smith (South Downs Poetry Festival) has been invited to talk to us about poetry, in particular local poets and the places they refer to in their writing. He would like each of us to bring along a picture or photo of a place we know, perhaps with a story attached.
Tuesday 2nd December
19.30 Bassil Shipham Centre
Chair: Lesley Pardoe