By Andy Lowe
Fiction can be a powerful healer, and on 22 November 2022 twenty members and friends of WiPS joined an interview with our international guest, bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud who co-authored The Novel Cure, and moderator, Bhakti Mathur, to learn what bibliotherapy is and how fiction can help us cure life’s ailments.
Neuroscientists suggest that reading for six minutes a day is as beneficial as one hour of meditation. During reading our heart […]
Using Story Structure for Stronger Novels
By Lesley Hobbs
I am at first-draft stage of my debut novel and have recently been feeling dissatisfied as to the course of my protagonist’s journey. I have lost the proverbial plot so to speak! I was therefore hoping that Sherryl Clark’s two-hour Masterclass on “Using story structure for stronger novels” would get my thinking and writing back on track. I wasn’t disappointed.
Sherryl’s key message was that a […]
Portraying the DNA of Fictional People
By Irenee Chan
Sherryl Clark’s Masterclass on Creating Deeper Characters was incredibly detailed and insightful. I had been struggling with character development in my stories and when I found out about this class, I was eager to sign up to learn more on how to create memorable and in-depth characters. I had done character interviews before, but I learned so much more from Sherryl’s guidance and explanation through each question […]
By Rinkoo Ramchandani
Six months on, and the writing workshop regulars are bonding over laughter as the group forms its own dynamic personality, marked by comfort and camaraderie.
We have updated the rules to expand the word limit to 2,000 but to restrict re-writes to two rounds. The diversity of the prose submissions we’ve seen speaks to the exceptional talent of the participating WiPS members.
Two of our regulars are working on novels, painstakingly submitting […]
By Gillian Kew
Our Book Club has now been running for four months and we have read and reviewed four books, with opinions varying from “Meah!” to “Fab!”
We are a warm and friendly group, welcoming all opinions on our book choices and enjoying a lively, inter-book discourse via WhatsApp. During our monthly Zoom sessions, we have some great discussions about the books and the issues they raise. We don’t always agree, but where […]
By Carol Dyer
John Saeki and Pete Spurrier on how to earn your stripes in Hong Kong’s publishing industry. (Moderated by Suzanne Andrews)
Publishing John Saeki’s The Last Tigers of Hong Kong (ISBN: 978-988-75546-1-5) in the Year of the Tiger was serendipitous: Covid had delayed Blacksmith Books’ earlier planned release. It was equally unintentional that WiPS held its event on the eve of the International Day of the Tiger, 29 July (shamefully, we were […]
By Rinkoo Ramchandani
When Robyn Flemming co-started WiPS with Polly Yu in the early 1990s, she never imagined that 30 years later she would be sharing the journey of her recently published memoir with its members in a virtual meeting from halfway across the world. On 6 June 2022, on a rainy Hong Kong evening, that’s exactly what she did, zooming in from an equally wet London where she was promoting her book, […]
By Shikha Bansal
What happens when like-minded women get together on Zoom and discuss the craft of writing? The vibe is electric, enthusiastic and warm, and two hours fly by in the blink of an eye.
The WiPS Writing Workshop kicked off on 1 April with nine members in attendance. Eight members submitted a piece of […]
By Gillian Kew
It’s been some years since WiPS ran a book club, so we decided to put our toes back in the water and give it another go; after all, we are about anything publishing-related! This book club had to be different, though, as we could no longer meet in person. It had to be by Zoom.
Our […]
By Gillian Kew
Last weekend, I experienced something magical. No, I didn’t suddenly find the cure for Covid or the secret to World Peace (shame), but I did find that even during what are euphemistically dubbed “difficult times”, it was still possible to have a great time with friends. This was WiPS’ first virtual party, to launch IMPRINT 20 and to celebrate 30 years of this marvellous organization. Rinkoo Ramchandani’s technical wizardry and […]
