Winner of the Clemence Dane Cup, presented by Princess Michael of Kent

To say I was outside my comfort zone is the understatement of the century. The faces before me were like Ezra Pound's "petals on a bough" a thousand times over. Chairman Val Dunmore's supportive hand on my arm was a comfort when I faltered as stage-fright swallowed my voice. 

     I began to read out my story, Frog Heaven and gently extended the zone's boundary, so that Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent, Simon Brett and Society of Women Writers and Journalist members had the dubious privilege of hearing my quavery little voice. 

     Later the Princess told me my story was "lovely, and asked me if I had any writing tips for her, at which point I almost choked as she is a famous historical novelist herself. What could I tell her that she didn't know already? We discussed ways of writing monologues, where you have only the limited view of the narrator, but could allow your reader to "read between the lines" and surmise what is actually going on behind the scenes. We understood each other perfectly.

     She was very lovely herself. On arrival she saw most of the ladies were wearing hats and exclaimed, "Oh, should I have worn a hat?"