CRYSTAL, The Magazine For Writers

Surprise Competition Page

The winning entry and the runner-up for the Surprise Competition 'Write a Sonnet' are now on the page on this website.

FROM THE EDITOR

Hello everyone

Welcome to the website for Crystal, The Magazine For Writers.

An A4, 40-page, spiral-bound, print only bi-monthly with colour images, Crystal Magazine is intended for subscribers called Crystallites. They will receive six issues a year. (£21) Non-Crystallites may send in work and purchase the issue it appears in for £3.50. This is the same price a Crystallite would pay for one issue.

The magazine is very popular. Subscribers have emailed me saying they are disappointed not to be in the November issue. There is a Feedback page on the Crystal website.

Contents: stories, poems and articles. Letters ‒ kind comments or none at all. News ‒ an opportunity to share writing achievements and anything of interest to writers.

Also accepting fillers and very long stories which could be turned into serials.

Wordsmithing. Titters Tips Titillations. Pay special attention to the second item in each section because there you will find useful information on writing (the ‘tips’ part of the title).

Also Word Wise. In the November issue we learn about the semicolon.

There are yearly Surprise Competitions with very low entry fee (£1.23) and small surprise gifts. There are pictures of previous prizes and winning entries on the website. Surprise Competitions are open to all. The ‘Write a Sonnet’ Surprise Competition is now closed. For the first time I have chosen a winner and a runner-up. The entries will appear in the January 2025 issue and also on the website.

Best wishes

Christine Carr

Editor

CURRENT ISSUE

NOVEMBER 2024

CONTENTS

Welcome

Richard Dobbs: Word Wise

Michael Newman: November Frost

Jill Rundle: Hollow Victory

Bernard Lazenbury: Remembrance

Jill Rundle: Rations

Linda Tilston: Lunar Rainbow at Christmas

Don White: Tales From a Solo Traveller: Go West, Old Man

Nicky Wheeliker: The Twelve Days of Christmas

Heather Buswell: Little Drummer

Wendy Webb: Twelve Hearty Days of Blooming

Brian Webster: A Turkey For Christmas

From the Editor: Mrs Pumpkin’s Contribution to the School

Christine Bridson-Jones: Hell’s Bells

Wendy Webb: Reflections on a Visit to Israel

Letters

Phil Wilson: Wordsmithing

Michael Newman: Christmas Bizarre. Christmas Tree

Phil Wilson: Spell Bounders!

Phil Knight: Snow in the Park

Jenny Brading-Palmer: Figure on the Stairs

Carole Fenn: Weavers . Part Three

David Whippman: Idle Chatter

Heather Buswell: Mellow

Felix Sefton: The Christmas House

Heather Buswell: Fearing to Sleep

David Whippman: The Tale of an Overweight Rebel

Brian Webster: Cinderfella

Bernard M Jackson: Book Review

Wendy Webb: Hyperion at the Starting Gates

Felix Sefton: New Year’s Eve

INCENTIVE

I have copied the entries from the Feedback page (found under the PayPal buttons) as an incentive for writers to subscribe. If you like Crystal Magazine please email your comments and I will put them in Feedback. Christine

Alan Barker

I became a subscriber to Crystal Magazine at the beginning of 2019 and can honestly say it’s one of the best investments I have made since I began creative writing. The editor, Christine Carr, will accept short stories in most genres, as well as poems and articles and readers’ news and views, and puts them all together in the form of a spiral-bound magazine sent to subscribers every two months. For authors who write as a hobby rather than a business, it’s a great way to see their stories in print and to read quality stories by other like-minded subscribers.

Jill Rundle

Crystal has been a part of my life since 2004 and I have always admired the editor's dedication and talent in compiling such a good magazine six times a year. I feel it is a countrywide Writers’ Group.

I always look forward to receiving the latest issue of the magazine and to have reached issue 118 is no mean achievement. It is very well presented and is a pleasure to read. One of the shelves in the cupboard in my study is full of treasure - Crystal Magazine! I don't know of any similar magazine still in existence, although there used to be several. it is a pleasure to be able to read and enjoy both past and present issues.

Roy Hewetson

Crystal Magazine offers a variety of short stories, some poetry and one or two bits of fact. Editor Christine Carr is creating a community of readers and writers. She's always responded promptly to my submissions, accepting some and swiftly saying 'no' when they don't fit. It's one of the few Mags I read from beginning to end.

Richard Dobbs

Exclusively for subscribers, Crystal is a truly beginner-friendly magazine, whether you're writing about real events, fiction, articles or poetry. Besides the encouraging experience of seeing your own work in print, you will have the opportunity of enjoying the work of other writers, some of whom are quite accomplished, and learning from their techniques. For just £3* an issue (there are six a year), you get 40 pages packed with entertainment, literary information and fun.

*Now £3.50 - Christine

Jim Salt

Being a subscriber for several years Crystal Magazine has given me something to look forward to. Professionally produced from the first page to the last. So much variety... snippets of history, articles, stories, fact and fiction. Poetry. Amusing anecdotes. Readers' Letters and so on.

Christine Bridson-Jones

For anyone who enjoys writing and reading, Crystal Magazine is ideal. Whatever your favourite genre, it is here, whether it is poetry, articles, short stories or memoirs. There is plenty of opportunity to see your own words in print too.

Nicky Wheeliker

I have been a subscriber and contributor to Crystal Magazine for ten years. I recommend it strongly to any hobby writer, like myself, who wants to share with fellow scribblers, who would enjoy reading other's work and receiving positive feedback. It is a great way to get your work beautifully presented and seen, and a great confidence booster if you wish to pursue different outlets for your writing. It is also a means of contacting fellow writers if you wish, and I have made a very good friend in a fellow regular. I commend the editor Christine Carr for the great job she does in putting everything together so well, and in her running of occasional competitions. The magazine represents very good value. Why not try it?

Bernard Lazenbury

Crystal Magazine is a very enjoyable and entertaining read.

Its pages always contain a wide variety of writing styles and content.

From fiction, non fiction and poetry submissions, a range of amateur authors provide in equal measure, excitement, humour, drama, and food for thought.

Always thoughtfully set out, the reading material sometimes has a theme running through it relating to the seasons or to current affairs. As a contributor, it is very rewarding to know that more often than not one’s own work will reach publication.

Crystal Magazine is always keenly anticipated and is excellent value for such a reasonable annual subscription.

Phil Wilson

I'm proud some of my work now appears in Crystal. It's the UK's best writing magazine.

Peter Davies

I much enjoy Crystal Magazine and appreciate your hard work in maintaining its high standard. I am pleased to renew my subscription.

NEWS

www.bookguild.co.uk ISBN 9781915603975 NATURE £9.99

Veteran environmental tutor and retired countryside ranger Keith Taylor seeks out spiritual and visual riches as he undertakes a year travelling to locations that have always intrigued him or may offer a fresh relationship with the outdoors, both through his own seasonally aware eyes and those of equally restless colleagues.

Here, in The Seasonal Eye, he takes the reader through extreme parts of Britain, from the foot of an oak in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire, to the caves of a Nottingham border ice age sanctuary, our coastlines and nature reserves now managed by our county naturalists trusts, and the varied terrains of the Cairngorms.

This inquisitive man invites us to join him in his quests to discover how the compulsion to merge supposition with reality provides a clearer understanding of the precarious yet adaptive environmental issues that surround us all.

An enchanting seasonal tour of Britain, written by a retired countryside ranger.

This is a joint effort between Keith and myself. Through my word processing service (see inside-back page of magazine) I typed up a manuscript from handwritten notes. I truly enjoyed reading the resulting 242-page book. Christine

SINGLE ISSUE

Don't want to receive six issues of Crystal a year but would like to see your work in print? There is the option to purchase single issues for £3.50.

I publish stories, poems, articles. Send me something and I'll let you know if I'd like to include it.

In due course I will tell you which issue it is in. Then either send me a cheque, payable to Mrs C Carr, for £3.50 or click the PayPal button.

You can send work by email: christinecrystal@hotmail.com

Post: 3 Bowness Avenue, Prenton, Birkenhead CH43 0SD

Note

You can only be called a Crystallite if you subscribe.

DESCRIPTION AND HOW TO GET COPIES

Crystal Magazine is intended for subscribers (called Crystallites). They receive six issues a year for £21.

If you do not wish to become a Crystallite you may still send in work and can purchase the issue it appears in for £3.50. There is a PayPal button on this website. The price is the same as a Crystallite would pay for one issue.

An A4, 40-page, spiral-bound, print only bi-monthly. Full of stories, poems and articles with colour images. Pages of letters, an opportunity to share writing achievements and anything of interest to writers.

There are yearly Surprise Competitions open to all. Entry is £1.23 and you don't know what you could win (it's a surprise). Prizes are only small but winners have been very happy.

HOW TO GET COPIES

You can send a cheque to Mrs C Carr, Editor, Crystal Magazine, 3 Bowness Avenue, Prenton, Birkenhead CH43 0SD. Please make it payable to Mrs C Carr. See below for cost options.

PayPal Buttons

£21 to become a Crystallite and get sent six issues within a 12-month period.

£2 for a sample copy.

£3.50 for non-Crystallites to purchase a copy of the issue their work appears in.

GUIDELINES

Poems, stories (true and fiction) and articles. Any style, length and theme, except erotica. Handwritten material accepted.

Also very long stories which could be turned into serials.

Short fillers, joke etc.

Letters: kind comments or none at all. Deadline is 15^th of the month prior to the month of publication.

News: Share publication successes.

PAYPAL BUTTONS

If you use the payment button to subscribe to Crystal Magazine, PayPal can set up a Payment Profile with automatic recurring payment. This means in a year's time your subscription will be automatically renewed. You don't have to do anything.

Of course, if you no longer wish to receive Crystal Magazine you can either contact PayPal direct to cancel or I can cancel your Payment Profile.

There is a PayPal button for a sample copy. This is intended for writers thinking about taking out a subscription.

I have set up a single issue button. Should I accept any poem, story or article from a non-Crystallite they may purchase the issue it appears in.

The yearly Surprise Competitions have an entry fee button.

ISSUE 100 JULY 2017

The special 'golden' 100th issue.

More colour, more pages.

Golden covers (not shown).

Only £3

PayPal button or cheque