Pint Pot of Fire 3rd Place!

On Monday I entered a great storytelling contest called 'The Pint Pot of Fire' inspired of course by Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. I was pleased that hubby and kids were determined to come a long to watch the activities. It was a truly memorable evening and not just because I ditched the jeans for a dress, which caused a moments panic with the sound man. Luckily I was wearing the fat knickers which claim to make you drop a dress size, they held the heavy battery without any problems. I was touched at how many people turned up from the writing group to offer support and in a way it added to the nerves.

A fellow member and extremely talent writer Margaret Jennings was hoping to read but I misread the rules and thought no paper was allowed. So bravely I memorised my story and went ahead. The stories must last as close as possible to 10 minutes. There are time penalties for finishing more than 15 seconds early or late. Unfortunately mine was 40 seconds too short and I had a 12.5 % penalty. Every one was issued with six little washers and they were able to vote which story they liked best by posting the washers into their favourites coloured pot, mine was green. I was pleased how well I did with the audience, coming in second with the public. Unfortunately I was hammered by the judges and came in fifth place with them. However, I'm incredibly grateful to judge Bryan Harrison who took the time to give me some words of encouragement after the votes came in. With the penalty I ended up coming 3rd place. So I feel I haven't let The Writers @ Lovedean down on our first visit.

The evening and web page is run by Elliott Manly, http://www.pintpotoffire.co.uk/ he seems a thoroughly nice chap. But I was concerned he was going to collapse during the evening. Like we say in the North ''I didn't like his colour!" I'm telling you that guy looked like he had a soaring temperature, but give him his due he never once faulted and was focused on making sure everything went smoothly.

What did strike me was how welcoming the volunteers were. From the nice sound guy; the lovely lady with the camera, the girls weighing the washers and people on the doors. Everyone was friendly offering words of encouragement and it did a lot to ease the nerves and make it a wonderful evening.

The competition was amazing, I'm so glad that I didn't go last year or I may not have had the guts to complete. I read second and my one regret is that I was so nervous I didn't manage to listen to John Taylor's story properly. Once I had done my turn I was able to kick back and enjoy the amazing talent on show.

Alison Moulden won with her excellent story, Deep Fried Mars Bars at the Jungle Food Café, but I was forced to check that she hadn't stolen the characters from our writer's group. The portrayal of an older person in the writing group penning sexy stories reminded our group of a certain member who writes with...how should I say it....passion!

I definitely hope The Writers @ Lovedean return next year!