Editorial

EDITORIAL

Welcome to the first issue of The Yellow Room, a place where women writers can gather together for support, encouragement and friendship.
            It’s such a long time since I wrote an editorial that I’ve forgotten how to do it! I’ve been delving into past copies of QWF and Cadenza to see what I wrote then and it’s like reading my diary. All my major life events are there: the birth of Matthew, my eldest child; the death of his father; the birth of Megan, my youngest child and my marriage to Nige, her father. It’s spooky to think what will happen in the (hopefully) years I’m publishing The Yellow Room!
            No doubt the lives of those who subscribed to QWF in the early days will have gone through some pretty momentous changes, too. I’m so delighted that many of those lovely people are still friends and subscribing to my new magazine. It would be wonderful if we could have one of those infamous writerly get-togethers reminiscent of the old QWF Conventions! Maybe with slightly less wine this time around! My tolerance for alcohol has diminished (honestly!).
            I’m delighted that so many people whose stories I published in QWF have submitted their fiction to The Yellow Room. It’s great to read writing styles I’m familiar with and I’m sure we’ll see some QWF regulars amongst these pages on a regular basis.
            That doesn’t mean to say we don’t encourage newcomers ! There will be some of you who are wondering what on earth QWF is and why I’m banging on about it ! QWF or Quality Women’s Fiction was the magazine I edited and published from 1994 until 2006. My late husband was one of the driving forces behind the magazine from its inception to his death in 1997, so it has special associations.
            I’m also running a short story competition, which closes on 30th September. You’ll find details further on in this issue. I hope as many of you as possible will enter, as a percentage of the entry fees will help to keep The Yellow Room afloat.
            I’ve been brave and typeset the magazine myself this time rather than pay someone else to do it. I can hear you saying, ‘Yes, and it shows!’ Do bear with me. I can only get better. A big thank you to Zoe King who generously gave up some of her time to give me a tutorial on typesetting.
            It’s amazing since putting the message out that I’m ‘back in business’ how many offers for writerly-type work have come in. I’m judging a short story competition (www.writelink.co.uk) this summer and I’m setting a weekly writing exercise on the Wannabe A Writer website (www.wannabeawriter.co.uk). If you want to access the exercises and have a go, you can register free and become a member. It’s very easy to do.
            On June 14th I went to the Althorp Literary Festival with my friend, Geraldine. The weather was sunny and dry; the setting perfect. We had a great time. The speaker who impressed us most was Penelope Lively, who talked about her 40 years as a writer. A lovely lady with a great sense of humour. We also saw Tracy Chevalier, who gave a rather impressive slide show and read from her latest novel, Burning Bright. Julian Clary was the final speaker of the day. Unfortunately, he didn’t sparkle as much as usual, but I blame the guy who interviewed him who hadn’t done his research and was generally pretty useless. Still, we were treated to Julian reading from his first novel, Murder Most Fab, which I can highly recommend.
            We’re hoping to have a lively letters page in each issue of the magazine, so do write in once you’ve read the stories and tell us what you think. Please give every story a mark out of ten and the winner will get a cash prize.
            Enjoy The Yellow Room!

Jo Derrick