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 WELCOME
CONTENTS
56
WRITERS’ NEWS
64 Your essential monthly roundup of competitions, paying markets,
opportunities to get into print and publishing industry news

14
INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES
14 Star interview: Swimming against the tide comes naturally for
supernatural crime bestseller Stuart Neville Happy new year! And
22 Writing life: Is being a romance author the ultimate dream? welcome to the first Writing
24 My path to publication: Writing set Saba Sams free as a teenager Magazine of 2022. What
32 Shelf life: Diane Chamberlain shares her top five books writing plans do you have for
39 Circles roundup: Writing groups share their news and activities the year ahead? Do write in
40 Subscriber news: WM subscribers’ publishing success stories and let us know how you’re
57 New author profile: Psychological thriller author Sarah Bonner getting on – we love to hear
81 My writing day: Author Lori Ann Stephens writes best in her comfy chair what you’re all up to, whether
by email, letter, social network
CREATIVE WRITING or pigeon – but don’t worry, I’m
Jonathan Telfer
12 Creative non-fiction: How to get started on life-writing not here to check you’re hitting
Editor
30 Beginners: Find out if your work-in-progress has legs your targets or sticking to
34 Under the microscope: A reader’s first 300 words critiqued resolutions. In fact, quite the opposite. All you have
46 Fiction focus: How to create an effective ending in your stories
to do is let yourself write, what you want, when
you want (and can). It’s advice echoed by several
48 Masterclass: The possibilities of the number three in fiction
of this month’s authors but I was most struck by
50 Fantastic realms: The journey of fantasy from its origins
memoirist Cathy Rentzenbrink (p12), who candidly
52 Writing for children: A book for every child
admits how hard she finds writing and how she
The vital importance of celebrating difference in kids’ fiction
uses a variety of psychological tricks to get into it.
So if you’re struggling to start – or keep – writing,
WRITING LIFE go easy on yourself: nothing stifles the creative
10 Submissions: How to write a letter and synopsis with agent appeal juices more than undue pressure and the weight
20 Writing life: The rewards and challenges of writing with dyslexia of expectation and, more often than not, nobody is
58 The business of writing: Using promotional email newsletter services to tougher on us than us. Celebrate the small victories
boost your writing business and sooner or later, they’ll turn into big ones.
82 Under the covers: Gillian Harvey gets the year off to a good start Now – if you feel like it – get writing!

ASK THE EXPERTS BESING

WRIT
LLIN
TSEMAG G HELP
AZINE
ING YOU BECO
ME A BETTER
WRITER

9 From the other side of the desk: What publishing has learned from
Never miss
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lockdown WIN
Your words, £60,565

19 Ask a literary consultant: Understand different kinds of edit your

IN WRITING

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PRIZES

60 Research tips: Youth culture story

61 Behind the tape: Expert advice to get your crime details right How to get
started in

life-writin
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Writing
POETRY HAPPY
Magazine
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55 to get published
Opportunities

36 to enter er
Competitions
ENDINGS
54 Poetry workshop: Exploring a well-sculpted poem 14 WM
Read
success storie
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your
How to wrap up style
stories in

56 Poetry launch: Enter WM’s annual Love Poetry Competition

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26 Free-range writing: Embrace positivity in these writing exercises
27 WM short story competition launch GET THE WM DIGITAL EDITION
28 Short story winner Direct to your device
38 Writers’ circles: Magic-themed exercises for your writing group
42 WM Grand Prize winner: Read our £1k Grand Prize winner ORDER A COPY DIRECT, with free postage
45 Grand Prize 2022 launch: Enter this year’s £1k prize https://writ.rs/wmissues

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4 Miscellany at http://writ.rs/signupnow
6 Letters
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75 Novel ideas
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79 Travel writing know-how http://writ.rs/writersapp
FEBRUARY 2022 3
MISCELLANY
The world of writing
As the relentless grind of technology drags Miscellany Manors kicking and screaming into the
21st century, find out why we won’t be printing WM in binary any time soon
TOKEN THE MICKEY
Bitcoin rules the cryptocurrency world, though it is
far from the only one. In fact, there are thousands of
digital currencies, many of which would appear to have
little chance of breaking into the mainstream. One that
did, briefly, and for all the wrong reasons, was called
JRR Token, and was promoted with the line that it
was, ‘The One Token That Rules Them All’. Except
it wasn’t, because the estate of JRR Tolkien went to
arbitration through the World Intellectual Property
Organization and had the whole thing blocked. The
Tolkien estate noted that the cryptocurrency’s URL
was, ‘specifically designed to mislead internet users into
believing that it and the website to which it resolves
have some legitimate commercial connection’ with the
famous author and that it infringed on their trademark
in the writer’s name.
The ill-fated cryptocurrency made its debut in
August last year, and even had a promotional video
starring Billy Boyd (Pippin in the film trilogy
version of The Lord of The Rings) to read its fudgy
marketing: ‘Saruman was trying to unify Middle
Earth under centralised rule whereas the fellowship
wanted decentralisation. Cryptocurrency is literally a
decentralised network.’ The WIPO wasn’t having it,
and the US developer has stopped using the infringing
name and paid the Tolkien estate’s costs.
Steven Maier, solicitor for the Tolkien estate said
they were, ‘vigilant in preventing unauthorised parties
from taking advantage of the JRR Tolkien name
and the content of JRR Tolkien’s literary works.’
He added, ‘This was a particularly flagrant case of
infringement, and the estate is pleased that it has been
concluded on satisfactory terms.’
The spoof domain name has been safely locked in a
vault deep in the Mines of Moria.
4 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
SQUARING THE CIRCLE
In 2013, Dave Eggers’ novel The Circle
provided an all-too-prescient fiction that
showed the sinister reach of a massively
powerful internet corporation where
everything – users’ email, social media,
banking and puchasing – was linked. Now
he’s written a follow-up, The Every, which
returns to the world of The Circle to show
its augmenting totalitarianism, reflected
in its insistence that almost every human
decision can be outsourced to the company’s
algorithms. With the book a not-so-subtle
critique of the extending tentacles of Silcon
Valley’s biggest-hitters, Dave, who doesn’t own
a smartphone, is showing his support for indie
bookshops by refusing to allow Amazon to sell the hardback
in the US. As he told The Guardian: ‘Because The Every
is about an all-powerful monopoly that seeks to eliminate
competition, it seemed like a good time to remind book
buyers that they still have a choice.’
GRRM
on track
We previously noted at Miscellany Manors that George RR
Martin had trumped all other writers’ feeble procrastination
attempts by distracting himself not with the latest gizmos but with
engineering nostalgia – he bought a railway. On 3 December the
trains began running between Sante Fe and Lamy, New Mexico.
George said, ‘We had two big old diesel locomotives, so right off
we decided we would run two trains: the Wolf and the Dragon.
And to paint them, and give each its own character and a look
unlike any other train in the country, we hired Santa Fe’s own
Jorael Numina, an amazingly gifted muralist and graffiti artist.’
The author, who might one day finish his epic A Song of Ice and
Fire (aka A Game of Thrones) series, added, ‘Mostly what I have
been doing is throwing out ideas and writing checks [sic].’ The
trains do look amazing, and you can find out more, and book
your tickets at https://skyrailway.com

Everyone seems desperate to train
computers to do the last few things that
humans can still beat them at.
• At Oxford’s Ashmolean Library,
the world’s ‘first ultra-realistic AI
robot artist’ made an appearance at
an event celebrating Dante. Ai-Da is
both a creative artist and a conceptual
art piece in herself, encouraging us to
‘re-consider our self-perception through
the lens of a humanoid’.
Birthed by Oxford-based Aidan Meller,
Ai-Da was built by Engineered Arts.
Her drawing arm and algorithms were
developed in Egypt, augmented by AI
from Leeds University, and her other
creative AI capabilities came from faculties
at Oxford and Birmingham universities.
At the Dante event, she read poetry
written in response to the Italian master’s
work, created ‘through her AI language
model, which draws from a vast data bank
of words and speech pattern analysis, to
produce her own reactive works’.
One piece included the lines
Out of the shadowy folds of the earth,
which,
By degrees, became familiar.
With a sense that the room was full of
anxious, silent beings.
As you might expect, we’re rather
reluctant to answer the creators’ question,
‘Can a robot really write poetry?’,
ambivalently,but read that description of
what she does again. From a technical
point of view, it’s not that different to what
all poets do in assembling a poem. Eek.
• Self-editing can be a chore, and so
difficult. It is too easy to miss things,
especially plot and character glitches,
so a US author attempts to utilise the
latest tech to help us get the better of it
with the launch of Marlowe. ‘She’ is an
artificial intelligence expected to help
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AI DON’T BELIEVE IT
authors improve their novels and long-
form fiction.
Marlowe was created by Matthew
Jockers, co-author of The Bestseller Code,
with idea contributions from other
authors who tried her out.
Being AI, Marlowe doesn’t judge: she
reads all fictional genres and subgenres
and returns equal and unbiased
feedback. She isn’t squeamish either. She
just knows what goes into a good story.
Marlowe is designed to critique character
traits, plot arcs, narrative arcs, pacing,
punctuation, sentence structure, reading
level and more. And she can compare
the author’s novel with bestselling novels
in the same genre.
Sceptical authors can try out free basic
reports and read what Marlowe has to say
about some well known books at https://
authors.ai/marlowe
The biggest advantage over a genuine
olde worlde human editor is speed.
Marlowe can read a book and deliver a
32+ page comprehensive critique within
fifteen minutes, doesn’t charge as much,
and won’t need coffee.
• In defence of the human eye at The
Atlantic, multi-linguist and translator
Douglas Hofstadter humorously
highlighted the deficits in tech tools such
as Google Translate, usually betraying the
machine’s lack of experience or awareness
of wider context.
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MISCELLANY
‘To understand such failures, one
has to keep the ELIZA effect in mind
[named after the 1960s early AI which
manipulated language to sound plausible
in the guise of a psychotherapist, tricking
listeners into thinking it understood
their feelings]. The bai-lingual engine
isn’t reading anything – not in the
normal human sense of the verb “to
read”. It’s processing text. The symbols
it’s processing are disconnected from
experiences in the world. It has no
memories on which to draw, no
imagery, no understanding, no meaning
residing behind the words it so rapidly
flings around.’
He continued, ‘From my point of
view, there is no fundamental reason
that machines could not, in principle,
someday think; be creative, funny,
nostalgic, excited, frightened, ecstatic,
resigned, hopeful, and, as a corollary, able
to translate admirably between languages.
There’s no fundamental reason that
machines might not someday succeed
smashingly in translating jokes, puns,
screenplays, novels, poems, and, of course,
essays like this one. But all that will come
about only when machines are as filled
with ideas, emotions, and experiences as
human beings are. And that’s not around
the corner. Indeed, I believe it is still
extremely far away. At least that is what
this lifelong admirer of the human mind’s
profundity fervently hopes.’
So in summary, our jobs are safe only
until the boffins figure out how to make
robots independently experience and
feel, or create an algorithm to synthesize
humanity and imagination. Or AI
machines figure out the algorithm for
themselves. Let’s just hope they’re not
reading this.
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recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of
Warners Group Publications plc.
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FEBRUARY 2022 5
LETTERS

S TA R L E T T E R
REACH FOR THE STARS
rs since NASA
In April 2022, it will have been 32 yea
An upcoming
launched the Hubble Space Telescope.
car Wilde
anniversary that reminds me of that Os
e of us are
quote: ‘We are all in the gutter, but som
looking at the stars.’
ne, I feel very
Some days, as many others do I imagi
g inspires
much ‘in the gutter’. But I think writin BE ALL WRITE
gaze outward,
the inward-looking soul to turn their James McCreet’s article exploring whether publication is the
ow that writing
towards inspiring views. At least, I kn be-all and end-all for writers (WM, Dec) really resonated
s. It’s not a
tends to lift me from my own doldrum with me. I often ask myself the same questions he posed,
hing. But it
miracle cure, and it doesn’t solve everyt such as ‘what is success?’ and ‘why do we write?’ However,
things, if only for
allows me to turn my mind to other one line made me question a whole part of my writing
es my mind off
a while. Spending time on research tak practice: ‘Without a reader, writing becomes oddly futile: a
m the point of
my problems. Considering an issue fro conversation with the self.’ One of my most closely-guarded
n little life for
view of others plucks me from my ow possessions is an A5 notebook; I check I have it with me just
... I find it all
a while. Concentrating as I edit a thing like I check I have my door keys when I leave the house. It
therapeutic. contains my morning pages, my mind dumps and it is where
reward me with
I hope, one day, that my writing will I turn when I need to get my thoughts out of my head or
goal. But, until
payment and recognition. That’s the record snippets of conversations. Am I wasting my time
teful I have
then, I can consider celestial bodies, gra because this notebook is never intended to have a reader,
found my own way of appreciating apart from myself? If I don’t write in this notebook for a
their beauty, and grateful to them few days, my mind feels like it is swimming. I procrastinate
for reminding us of the grandness of because the mundane details of my life take precedence over
things. my creativity. Perhaps the answer might be that I am my
PHILIP SIMONS
own reader – I can revisit the material in my notebook and
Bedford, Bedfordshire
craft it into a piece of writing for an audience. But I don’t
systematically do this. To me, the words in my notebook are
rns a
The star letter each month ea not worth less than the pieces I put out for publication. Far
rbook
copy of the Writers’ & Artists’ Yea from being oddly futile, my conversations with myself are
2022, courtesy of Bloomsbury.
vital to my writing habit.
HELEN HAMPTON
Crowborough, East Sussex

TAKING A STAND Surprisingly, perhaps, James McCreet’s perky article The

How interesting it has been to read in recent WM letters
pages that I am not the only person who stands whilst
writing. I started standing about five years ago and, like
Judith Robinson, I made use of anything which would
lift my computer higher – in my case, box files and shoe
boxes. Standing keeps me more alert, helps me keep
my back straight and takes away the worry of writer’s
bottom. Last year, I was lucky enough to be able to
purchase a portable standing desk, a table of coffee-table
height and dimensions, with folding legs which, when
stood on your desk or table, can give an extra added
height of eighteen inches.
Actually, it makes a good coffee table, too.
DENISE WATSON
Peterlee, Co Durham
end or the beginning? (WM, Dec) put me in mind of the
Folk Art collection at Compton Verney. This superb array
of work is apparently unworthy of ‘the Academy’ but it
shines out like life itself, sometimes droll, sometimes sad,
always vivid.
I’m sixty and since my earliest years I’ve written without
‘success’ – no prizes, no publications – but I carry on. Dr
Johnson said no man ever wrote but for the money, other
than a blockhead. Well, I disagree, because I enjoy what
I do, which isn’t nothing. And who knows – my work
may eventually find the light of day, like those paintings
in Compton Verney, and please somebody else too. In the
meantime I’ll keep writing, even if that makes me a happy
blockhead.
ANTONY CROSSLEY
Chobham, Surrey

6 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk


GUIDING STAR BESTSELLING HELPING YOU BECOME A BETTER WRITER
As an aspiring writer
the star interview with
Lisa Jewell (WM, Sep)
HOW TO...
was very interesting
and helpful. WININ
£14,47! 5
Make side money
from writing
Lisa writes the genre Write children’s IN P R IZ E S
of books I can see
non-fiction
myself writing. Lots
REACH MORE
of twists and suspense, READERS
you want to keep Should you record
a podcast?
NEWS
reading to find out
Publish widely or
Amazon only?
YOU CAN
what happens.
I agree with what STAR INTERVIEW COMPS
THRILLER
she said about
needing one idea to QUEEN Lisa
Jewell
get going. I feel the
same when I am writing. Once one idea comes more soon
reveal themselves afterwards.
As a beginner I found her advice to new writers useful
about being informed about the publishing industry
and to be realistic: ‘All they want is someone to turn up
with a book that gives them goosebumps.’ I’ve yet to
face that stage in my writing journey so I will remember
to keep that in mind.
It’s comforting to know that Lisa started off writing
romcoms then changed to
S TA R I N T E R V I E W
darker psychological thrillers.
POLISHEDGems
This shows that you do
Tense and intense, 0MWE.I[IPP’s novels are a masterclass in domestic
noir. 8MRE.EGOWSR finds out how she writes them
not have to stick with one
W
ant a twisty, turny binge
read so gripping its pages
seem to turn themselves?
Knuckle-biting suspense as
the tension mounts? The
particular genre. I am still
rug pulled from under your feet as you read?
The ante upped to the point of vertigo?
Look no further than The Night She
Disappeared, the new thriller from global
bestseller Lisa Jewell. Its basic premise is every
in the midst of discovering
parent’s nightmare: a child who goes missing.
In this case teenage mother Tallulah goes for
a night out with her boyfriend Zach. A year
later, she hasn’t come back home to her mum
and her baby son.
what kind of writing I want
‘A lot of my books are based around the idea
of people going missing,’ says Lisa. A missing
person creates more uncertainty than a dead
one. ‘I don’t want them to be dead from the
outset,’ she continues. ‘With a missing person
to pursue and Lisa Jewell’s
you’re leaving everything open.’
Like Lisa’s other thrillers, including 2019’s
The Family Upstairs and 2017’s Then She
Was Gone, The Night She Disappeared
feels incredibly tightly plotted. But Lisa,
pulling the rug again, says she doesn’t plan
her novels.
interview gave me lots of
‘I just start with an idea and start
writing.’ For someone whose books are so
compellingly dark, she’s friendly and down
to earth – albeit with an undercurrent of
tips, advice to follow and
darkly sardonic humour. ‘The idea for this
one was a body discovered in a beautiful
Surrey village and the teacher arriving and
being instructed to dig here.’
The teacher in question is Shaun, who
encouragement to keep going.
arrives as headmaster to a posh boarding
school with his new girlfriend Sophie, a cosy
crime writer drawn into investigating the
disappearance of local teen Tallulah when
she spots a sign in the school grounds that
© Andrew Whitton
says ‘dig here’.
ANDREA SHARP
‘I had this rough idea of an outsider
coming into this privileged, rarefied world
14 SEPTEMBER 2021
Ipswich
BLOCK BUSTED
I refer to the letter from Sue Davina Watt (WM Jan).
Despite having self-published a novel and started a follow-
up book, I got the dreaded block – it has lasted ten
months.
When I read Sue’s letter it clicked as to why I have hit
the wall. Virtually all my life I have been armed to the
teeth with pencil and paper. I stopped freehand writing in
jotters, diaries and any random sheets of paper. Don’t ask
why – I just shut down.
This letter signals the start of writing again with pencil,
pen and laptop.
JS McGOWAN
The Black Isle, Scotland
PITCHED PERFECT THE BUSINESS OF WRITING
WRITING MAGAZINE
I really enjoyed reading PI TC H
SEPTEMBER 2021
Simon Whaley’s article
(The business of writing, PE RF EC T Don’t write your article – sell
the idea first!7MQSR;LEPI]
WM Dec) on pitching an shows what makes a perfect pitch.
T
ime is money, so submitting articles to
magazines editor commissions a different word count.
article to a magazine.
speculatively does not make business sense. That’s the beauty of
Instead, professional writers pitch their pitching. It provides an opportunity for
ideas first. both parties to get what
They approach an editor with their article they want. The writer gets a commission
, and the editor gets
idea, the piece they really need.
and if the editor likes it, they’re commission
write it. Easy! ed to
I have been excited over However, pitching can be daunting for
done it or who’ve tried with little success.
those who’ve never
Practicalities of pitching
The perfect pitch answers three key questions:
And it can be
frustrating because editors don’t always
simply because of the sheer volume they
respond to every pitch,
• Why will your idea appeal to the magazine’s
• Why now? (Or, why for the specific
readers?
receive. Sending out issue of the magazine
you’re targeting?)
24 CO
24 COM
the years about sending many pitches and getting no response is
disheartening.
Thankfully, perfecting your pitching technique
you can develop. All it takes is a little practice.
is something
• Why are you the best person to write
Analysing a publication is important when
If an editor is going to take the time and
this?
pitching ideas.
trouble to read our
TO EN TEPS Time saving pitch, the least we can do is pitch an idea
a completed article off to
that’s appropriate for
R The problem with submitting articles speculatively the magazine’s readers. There’s little point
in pitching an article
is that about how to water your two acres of lawn
there’s a high risk of rejection. Yet it’s how during a heatwave,
many of us begin our if the readers of your target publication
writing journey, including me. only have small patios
I soon realised some of my rejections had capable of holding a few pots and planters.
nothing to do with
a magazine, and would the quality of my writing (which is what Likewise, a walking magazine whose readers
we frequently assume are mainly young
when our work is rejected). Instead, it was families will not be interested in your idea
down to poor timing of tackling the 268-
or not knowing what features the editor mile Pennine Way long distance footpath
had already scheduled in two days.
for the future. So, a pitch needs to explain what the idea
is and, therefore,
why it will interest your target publication’
spend hours researching,
One editor rejected my article because s readers. Sometimes,
he’d commissioned the angle of the idea is enough to explain
something similar from another writer why it will appeal to
the previous week. the readership. Pitching an article idea
Another was rejected because I was targeting to Your Dog magazine
an anniversary for the November issue about how to keep
event the editor had already commission dogs safe and calm
ed someone else to on Bonfire Night will clearly interest the
write about several months earlier. publication’s readers. (I
taking photos and then In both those cases, had I pitched my idea
learned this information and saved myself
wasted writing the articles.
first, I would have
the time and effort I
know, because I pitched it and was commission
When pitching an idea, target a specific
why your idea best suits that issue. This
ed to write it.)
issue and explain
is vital for anniversary
pieces, but any topical hook will help. Magazines
are put
writing it.
together months in advance, so having
Conversation starter
When we submit an article speculatively for the specific issue in which they will
articles that are relevant
appear is important.
, there’s generally one of
two outcomes: acceptance or rejection. Finally, think about why you are the best
person to write this
piece. Personal experience is one of the
USE
When we pitch, there’s an opportunity best reasons. If you’ve
to tweak or amend the been there, done it, and got the T-shirt
idea. A pitch can be the start of a conversation
My big mistake was . If we pitch an (or, better still, some
idea focusing on one aspect, but the editor photos), that’s vital experience the editor
wants us to focus on can’t ignore.
a slightly different angle, they may still Alternatively, you might be the best person
commission our idea. to write an article
Alternatively, we might pitch a certain word on a subject because you’re qualified in
count, but the it, or are known as an
expert on the topic.
that I sent it off straight 58 DECEMBER 2021
www.writers-online.co.uk
OPPS
p058 Business of Writing.indd 58
IDEAS away. I never thought
09> about saving my time and that of an editor who may be
£4.50
9 770964 916273
receiving hundreds of articles that are not suitable for the
publication. They may have published something similar
in the recent past or it might just be wrong timing for a
particular issue.
By doing this for many years, I lost confidence in my
writing and stopped sending ideas off.
This article made me slow down and test the market
first. With this great advice, I hope to change the way I
pitch an idea and may get a few more articles accepted in
the future.
DIANE PERRY
Shropshire
and coming a cropper,’ says Lisa. ‘I wanted
to touch on The Secret History, Donna Tartt,
that kind of thing. I wanted Malory Towers
or Harry Potter. But it’s different. It’s a very
unconventional school story.’
It is. For a start, it breaks out of the
enclosed world of the school to explore
its impact on the wider village
community. ‘You’ve got a class
divide – that pulled me away from
the claustrophobic setting of the
boarding school,’ says Lisa. ‘I
thought that was something I’d
really like to look at.’
Her treatment of teenage
relationships also sets it apart.
‘I wanted to write about teenage
PUSH THINGS
FORWARD
www.writers-online.co.uk
I enjoyed Forward Thinking (Tech for writers, WM Dec)
not only because it explored technology available, but
also highlighted the benefits for disabled writers these
technology options have.
In recent years I have been diagnosed with rheumatoid
arthritis. As my hands become increasingly stiff gripping
a pen is no longer an option. I am still able to type, but
occasionally switch to Automatic Speech Recognition
(ASR) to give my joints respite. It is reassuring to know
writing will not become a victim of my deteriorating
health.
I used to complain about the growing numbers of
gadgets in our lives, but now concede, somewhere
out there are people relying on various technological
inventions to continue pursuing the things they love.
THERESA SAMPSON
Sinfin, Derby
www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 7

FESTIVE TIMING
I really enjoyed Rebecca Raisin’s article about
writing Christmas stories, with her entertaining
account of Flora’s Travelling Christmas Shop (WM,
Dec). I thought at first this was going to be a
short story suitable for a women’s magazine but it
looks more like a paperback book, just right for a
Christmas present. The top tips were useful too.
One point wasn’t mentioned: a Christmas story
for a weekly or monthly magazine needs to be
submitted well in advance, so perhaps you should
start to write your Christmas stories during the
summer holidays.
MARY HODGES
Scorton, Preston
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LS1 5JD; email: letters@writersnews.co.uk. (Include
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all letters, a maximum of 250 words, are exclusive to
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An eight-part course on the most effective
story template ever developed
Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey® gives unparallelled insight
into story structure, a notoriously challenging issue.
All About Writing have built a practical course designed to help
you shape your story and deepen your characters.
Two seasoned story-tellers will run you through
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and give instant feedback to the assignments
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8 FEBRUARY 2022
LEARNING TO FACE LOSS
In her article Big issues for small people (WM, July 2021), Amy
Sparkes set me thinking about picture books that help children
process sadness.
Some years ago, following the publication of a fun
picture book, I submitted a manuscript in which the young
protagonist’s father dies suddenly – a key scene in an otherwise
upbeat, hopeful story.
The commissioning editor said she was very taken and moved
by it, but deemed it too old for a picture book. Not realising this
was encouraging (and indeed more helpful) than a dreaded form
rejection, I shelved it.
However I’ve taken note of the beautiful loss/grief books
that have appeared since then. Many of these are about kindly
animals, which provides a degree of separation for young listeners/
readers. There are also stories that gently celebrate the passing of
pets and, of course, beloved grandparents.
Sadly, mums and dads die too. Anyone who has lost a parent
when they were young will tell you it made them grow up really
fast. I’m sure there are many children who could relate to, and
take comfort from, stories that reflect their loss.
I’m pleased to say the said story is still percolating, and I’m
hoping the time is right to road test it again.
ALAN PALMER
Auckland, New Zealand
# 1 TRA N SAT L AN TI C LI T E RA RY C O NS ULTA N C Y
Are you thinking about submitting to the trade?
Do you want to learn the art of self-editing?
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online course is designed to help you
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Structural editing, copy-editing and proofreading,
scouts for leading agents
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 A S K A L I T E R A R Y C O N S U LTA N T
All about the edits
Helen Corner-Bryant explains the different levels of editing a
manuscript needs before it’s published
I’ve finished my novel and I’m ready to polish it
for (self) publication. I thought it was ready for a
copy-edit, but I’ve been told that it needs a story
check first. Can you explain the different editorial
layers, please?
A
You’re not alone! Authors often get confused about
the order of the editorial chain and what each
process is supposed to achieve. For simplicity, I’ve
outlined below the various stages. This is what Cornerstones
specialises in so it’s close to our heart.
Ideally, these editorial layers should be carried out by
a professional editor as they’re trade skills that require
experience. You’ll need people you trust, who are experienced
in editing your genre, so check their biography and list of
published novels that they’ve worked on.
Developmental editing (this is your ‘story check’)
This is a holistic form of editing that often takes the form of
a report, providing high-level feedback that focuses on the
mechanics of the plot, characters, pacing, and so forth. The
dev editor helps you create a narrative that functions in the
way it should. You may receive some specific line edits (more
on that in a moment) in terms of writing examples, but a
content editor will focus on: whether the story works; if the
characters are engaging enough; if the plot holds up against
the structure; whether there are narrative inconsistencies; if
the pacing suits the story; helping the novel stand out in the
market, etc.
When looking for a dev editor to help with your work,
make sure they really connect with your novel and your
vision. This is considered the longest and most intensive
phase of editing; it should feel directional and collaborative
in its approach. Hopefully the editor’s suggestions will
resonate and if you can, you should edit above and beyond
what has been suggested. This will ensure you own the
revisions and that they are effective.
Line editing
The next step on the editorial journey is the line edit. Line
edits are carried out when you are finished with your most
polished draft. The process involves a close read of the MS,
where the editor will red-line and mark-up your pages. Every
sentence will be scrutinised and the editor will, among other
things, mark-up any language that doesn’t work, run-on
sentences, inconsistencies, weak passages, suggested cuts
to unnecessary scenes or dialogue, etc. They will closely
edit every line of the book (if needed). They will also make
editorial comments on anything that they feel doesn’t work in
a larger sense, and highlight any content, pacing, or narrative
problems that the book might still have, including plotting
www.writers-online.co.uk
i .
and characterisation.
The line edit is usually done at the very end of a long
editorial process, and you will receive a marked-up
manuscript, with changes for you to accept or reject. Then,
both author and editor will do a final read-through of the
clean and corrected manuscript to ensure that everything
is sound. This is not to be confused with a copy-edit or
proofread.
Copy-editing
A copy-editor will check material for grammar, spelling, style,
and punctuation issues before it’s prepared for proofreading.
They will correct errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar,
style and usage, overlong sentences and overuse of italic,
bold, capitals, exclamation marks and the passive voice.
They correct or query doubtful facts, weak arguments, plot
holes and gaps in numbering. In fiction, they also check
inconsistencies and continuity errors. They will highlight any
changes that need to be made/addressed and will generally
clean up the manuscript so that it can move to its ready-for-
market draft.
When looking for a dev editor to
help with your work, make sure
they really connect with your
novel and your vision.
Once the developmental phase is complete, you’ll be
ready to move on to copy-editing and proofreading. We
do specialise in this but it’s also worth looking at the CIEP
for a fuller directory. These latter editorial layers are more
hands-off, and you’ll only be required to accept or reject their
changes. It’s a lovely space to be in as your book transforms
from a draft manuscript into a publishable text.
Proofreading
A professional proofreader will work with the nearly finished
text. They look for any typographical errors or remaining
grammatical errors. They do not suggest major changes to the
text but look for any errors in spelling, or grammar or style,
and make those corrections. The presumption is that once
the proofer has done this, and any changes are then approved
and made by the writer, the text is ready for the marketplace.
Copy-editing and proofreading are sometimes a combined
service carried out by the same editor, particularly for fiction.
For non-fiction, the task is usually split between the copy-
editor and proofreader. The copy-editor does a deep dive in
the accuracy of the text, footnotes, citations, and arguments.
I hope this helps! Have fun editing…
FEBRUARY 2022 9
SUBMISSIONS
HOW TO
get discovered
Anna Davis of Curtis Brown Creative tells you how to write the
introductory letter and synopsis that will give you real agent appeal
J
anuary is a great time to pitch
your novel to literary agents.
You’ll find them re-energised and
keen to discover something fresh
and exciting to start the new
year. To maximise your chances
of getting an agent’s attention
amid the deluge of submissions, it’s worth
making the effort to perfect your pitch
package. I’ve read thousands of pitches
in my time as an agent and as managing
director of the Curtis Brown Creative
writing school – so here are my tips to
help you nail the tricky documents that
go alongside the opening of your novel
as the essential ingredients of the pitch
package: the agent letter and synopsis.
THE LETTER
1 Target the right agents
Take time over your research when
deciding who to write to. There are lots
of directories and databases you can
consult – but always cross-check them
with the agencies’ own websites as they
may not be up-to-date. Read interviews,
social media profiles, and look in the
acknowledgements of books you like, as
agents are often thanked. Pick agents who
are interested in the kind of book you’re
writing and are eager to find new writers.
2 Address the agent by their first name
Only the most old-fashioned agents are
uncomfortable about being addressed by
their first names – and those are not the
people you want to represent you.
3 Keep the letter short – just three brief
paragraphs
You pitch your novel, say why you’ve
targeted this particular agent, and then tell
them a little about yourself. People will
tell you the letter should be no more than
a page – actually I’d say it should be much
shorter than a page. Whenever we run
agent-letter workshops with our students,
10 FEBRUARY 2022
we end up telling at least 80% of the
students that their letter is too long…
4 Kick off with the pitch
Give your title and genre (if your novel
is in a clear genre) – then say what’s at its
heart. If there’s a central question which
drives your novel and hooks in the reader,
that’s definitely to be included – and
make sure you tell us whose story it is.
This should all be brief and to the point –
just a couple of sentences, or three as the
absolute maximum. That might sound
hard but remember that you also have
your synopsis to say more about your
novel. You’re just looking to whet the
agent’s appetite. People often mention
their word-count in the pitch letter but
there’s no need for this – it can just go at
the bottom of your title page.
5 Comparison novels
It can strengthen your pitch if you’re
able to liken your novel to a couple of
similar works which are current and
commercially successful. But don’t pick
novels which are really major works or
you may come across as hubristic. If you
can’t come up with good comparison
novels, perhaps mention one or two of
the relevant agent’s clients whose work
you particularly admire. Don’t worry too
much about the issue of ‘comparison
novels’ though, if you can’t come up with
any. It’s far from the most important
aspect of the letter. And don’t include lots
of them. Two is enough.
6 Talk about why you’re addressing this
particular agent
When it comes to pitch letters, this isn’t
a one-size-fits-all. Tailor your letter to
each agent by telling them why you are
addressing them specifically. If you’ve read
or heard something they’ve said about
writing or the kind of novels they’d like
to represent – or perhaps if you’ve met
them – you could mention this. If there’s
www.writers-online.co.uk
a reason you think you’d fit well on their
list, say what it is.
7 Tell the agent a little about yourself
The agent wants to know who you
are – but be selective about what you
include. Leave out details which are not
strictly relevant or engaging. If you have
an interesting job, say so – particularly
if it’s relevant to the book you’re writing.
Include any known writing awards you’ve
won or been shortlisted for, plus writing
courses you’ve taken (though only if
they’re selective and prestigious). State
any relevant publishing history – though
it’s not worth mentioning self-published
books unless they’ve sold well (ie, in the
thousands). If you have a massive social
media following, include that. But this
should only be a short paragraph, so be
sparing. And conversely, if you feel you
have very little to say, don’t be intimidated
– you don’t need to say much because
ultimately your work will speak for you.
8 Check everything through
First impressions are important – check
your grammar and spelling. You need
to be professional in order to be taken
seriously by a professional.
9 Some things NOT to do.
Finally, here are some big no-no’s for the
pitch letter…
• Avoid bragging. Let the agent be the
one to decide if your novel is gripping,
compulsive, beautifully rendered or if it
will be an international bestseller.
• Don’t say that your wife/husband/best
friend/children etc love your novel. The
agent doesn’t care about any of that.
• Don’t pitch more than one novel in
your letter. Be focused. If the agent
calls you in for a meeting, that’s the
time to talk about other projects,
future work, etc.
• Don’t ask for a meeting with the
agent or make a point of saying
 that you’re prepared to make editorial
changes. Let the agent read and
respond. They will in any case assume
you’re happy to come for a meeting or
do some rewriting if requested to. And
don’t make a point of saying that you’re
sending also to others… They’ll assume
that’s the case.
• Don’t crack corny jokes – it’s just
excruciating.
• Lastly, don’t apologise for taking up
the agent’s time – or indeed for anything
else. Read your letter through to make
sure that everything you say is positive.
THE SYNOPSIS
The synopsis is a short, lively overview
of your novel. You’ll find different ideas
online about how long they should be, but
I’d always say go with one page. Nobody
can object to a one-pager, and it’s long
enough to cover all the information that’s
needed while remaining easily readable and
digestible. Here’s what to include and what
not to:
1 Put your title at the top
Include it even if it’s just a working title –
and include your genre if you’re working in
an established genre such as romance, crime
fiction, etc.
2 Add your pitch line
We need just one line to express the hook,
key dilemma or driving force of the novel.
And this needs to be slightly different
from what you wrote in the agent letter.
Remember that the two documents go
side by side, so avoid repetition. Writers
understandably get very worked up trying
to get their pitch lines right – but just do
your best and remember that you’re in
any case going on to say more about your
story all the way down the page. It’s not all
about this one line. If you can’t come up
with one at all, you could instead include a
short quote from your novel which gives its
flavour.
3 Cover your plot in broad strokes
Set out your story in its simplest terms.
We don’t need all of the intricate twists,
turns and subplots, and we don’t need
chapter summaries – just the spine of the
novel so readers can see what it is and
where it’s headed.
4 Get your protagonist’s name in early
on – and their motivations
It’s good to show whose story this is. But
we don’t need many character names or
your page will be cluttered with them.
5 Give us the setting
We need to know where your story is
taking place – and if it’s not in the present,
we also need to know when it’s set.
6 Should I include the ending?
The honest (though annoying) answer is,
it’s up to you. Some agents want to see the
ending because it’s such an important part
of the story. But others don’t like any twist
to be given away because they want to
approach the novel as a reader would.
7 The best synopses convey the tone of
the novel as well as the plot
If you can bring the feel, atmosphere or
voice of the novel into the synopsis, it will
add an extra zing.
8 Go for story rather than ‘themes’
Don’t give a list of themes or imagery with
the idea that this will make it seem more
deep and meaningful.
9 Don’t say you have an unreliable
narrator
People often make an issue of their first-
person narrators being unreliable – but
any and every first-person narrator is
unreliable.
10 Unusual narrative structures
If it’s impossible to summarise your novel
in a synopsis because it’s so experimental
and non-linear, try a page that gives an idea
of what you’re trying to do in the novel,
and which talks passionately about your
novelistic endeavour. Or perhaps a page
from the perspective of a specific character
to entice the agent and draw them in –
even if it’s not an overview of the story in a
Anna Davis is the founder and managing
director of Curtis Brown Creative, the writing
school from the major literary agency which
runs courses online and in London and has
now seen over 150 of its students go on to
become commercially published authors –
many of them bestsellers. Anna is the author
of five novels that have been published in
twenty languages, and is a former literary
agent. She is also one of the judges for this
year’s Discoveries prize.
Discoveries is a pioneering writing
development programme run by the
Women’s Prize Trust in partnership with
Curtis Brown Literary Agency, Curtis Brown
Creative and Audible. It invites unpublished
women writers aged eighteen and up,
currently residing in the UK or Ireland and
writing in English, to submit their works
of adult fiction to the Discoveries Prize for
a novel-in-progress. The prize will accept
novels in any genre of adult fiction and
entrants will be required to submit only
the first 10,000 words of their novel and a
synopsis. It is free to enter and submissions
close at 11.59pm on 17 January.
• To find out more about Discoveries, go to
https://womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/
discoveries
To enter the prize, go to www.curtisbrown
creative.co.uk/discoveries-2022/
• To find out about Curtis Brown Creative’s
courses, go to
www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk
conventional sense.
You’ll also need a synopsis to enter
Discoveries, the writing programme
and novel-writing prize for women. For
Discoveries, you send us the opening of
your unpublished novel (which doesn’t
need to be finished) and your best one-
pager to tell us where the story is headed.
So whether you’re planning to submit your
work to agents or to Discoveries, polish
your pitch to a shine for the best chance of
success.

Would you like to start writing your own life story?
Acclaimed memoirist Cathy Rentzenbrink offers a guide on how to get started on life-writing
O
ne of the great joys of being a writer is that I get
to talk to other people about life writing and to
encourage them to give it a go. I do think that almost
everyone’s life would be improved by writing and am never
happier than when I get a letter saying that reading my work
has inspired my correspondent to start writing their own story.
Often they do feel a bit overwhelmed by the scale of the task
in hand. They have the urge and instinct to go for it but are
besieged by fears. The events they want to write about might
have happened a long time ago and they don’t know where to
start or are nervous about what others might say. And what
about getting it published? Can I give them any advice?
I do understand all this reluctance and resistance. I always
wanted to write but when my brother, Matty, was knocked
over when he was sixteen and I was seventeen, I could find
no words to describe what was happening and even stopped
keeping my diary. Over the years I tried to make sense of
Matty’s long death – eight awful years passed between his
accident and his funeral – but still I struggled to find a form
or shape for what I wanted to say. I tried to write other
things and would embark on contemporary novels but the
furthest I ever got was chapter seven before Matty would
arrive on the page asking why I wasn’t writing about him.
So I’d have another go but it would be too difficult and
upsetting and I’d decide I wasn’t talented enough and that no
one would want to read it anyway, and I would put it away
in a drawer and try to get on with life.
But I’d always end up back there again, and eventually I
realised that the only way to stop the cycle of starting and
giving up was to carry on and finish it, which I finally did
12 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
l i fe on
Your g e
t h e p a
when I was 42. I didn’t think it would become a book, but
just knew that I had to write the story out of myself. I had
this strong instinct that everything I had witnessed, all that
pain and suffering, was festering inside me and that I would
not be able to properly experience either life or writing
until I had liberated myself. I found a quote by William
Wordsworth that I loved: Fill your paper with the breathings of
your heart. I decided to just do that. I pledged not to worry
about what anyone would think, or whether it was any good,
or even to try to put it down in the right order, but just to
get down everything I could remember and boldly face all
the guilt and grief I was still carrying around.
Perhaps this was the way it had to happen. I now see I had
to write the first draft in private because I would never have
been able to do it if I’d imagined a reader at an early stage.
Once some words existed I could gradually, line by line, make
them into a story that would make sense for someone else.
Eventually, with lots more work, I transformed the breathings
of my heart into my first book, The Last Act of Love.
So that is broadly what I suggest. At the beginning try
not to get snagged on worries but instead just take some
deep breaths and write it all down. Don’t think you have
to know everything about what your finished book might
look like but start small and build. Imagine your book as a
tree. Rather than trying to sketch out all the branches just
start with a leaf. And then make some more leaves. If you
can enjoy and trust in the process then the leaves will start
fitting together and giving you clues about what your tree
might look like. I’d also suggest not telling too many people
what you are doing. You don’t want to put yourself under

pressure. These early shoots are tender and might not flourish
if exposed to the harsh glare of attention. And waste no time
on being judgemental and fretting over whether what you are
creating is any good. This is unkind, to you and the words,
and is a pointless endeavour as most of the writers I know
exist in a near-continual vortex of self-doubt and despair and
are never able to objectively
consider their own work. “Don’t think you have to know
When I look back now on
all the times I gave up, I can everything about what your
see that I was concentrating
on the wrong thing. I feared
finished book might look like but
I wasn’t talented enough, start small and build. Imagine your
but really what I needed
to cultivate was stamina book as a tree. Rather than trying
and endurance. I needed
to liberate myself from the
to sketch out all the branches just
desire for praise and the start with a leaf. And then make
fear of blame and instead
think about commitment. some more leaves.”
So, forget about talent.
Better questions are whether we are willing to carve out the
time and protect it, whether we can be robust enough to
tolerate the gap between our aspiration for our project and
the current dog’s breakfast we see in front of us. How will
we be able to command our attention for the length of time
it takes to write a book? How will we cope when the going
gets tough, when we are remembering the things we would
rather forget? Will we be able to resist the banal soothing of
the internet or the biscuit tin so that we have enough energy
for the challenging job of mining the self? Will we be able to
keep calm and keep going?
If I could go back in time and talk to that younger self,
the first thing I would say is to write it all down, then I
would suggest cultivating curiosity and compassion. Try to
celebrate yourself for being brave enough to try something
new, rather than being cross that you can’t immediately do
it all perfectly. And stop expecting it to be easy. I used to
think that if I was truly meant to be a writer, then it would
somehow magically just happen, that words would easily
and beautifully flow onto the page. I no longer expect that. I
have made peace with the fact that I am never going to feel
like it. It sounds mad, I know, that I spend so much time
and effort on something I don’t much like doing. Writing
is such a peculiar endeavour. I am completely obsessed and
make huge sacrifices for it, yet I’m never really ‘in the mood’
and it would always be easier to do something else. A part
of me would much prefer to lie in bed eating sweets and
reading someone else’s book rather than go to the mental
and physical effort of creating one of my own. I’m almost
embarrassed to say that writing books is hard work but it
is. It involves masses of dedication and commitment and,
especially at the beginning of a project, it is exhausting. I am
definitely one of those writers – there are a lot of us – who
enjoy having written more than we like the writing itself.
Getting started is the thing. And then sticking with it. If I do
C R E AT I V E N O N - F I C T I O N
those two things then enjoyment comes.
It is hugely worth it. There is such a sense of satisfaction
to be had when we manage to wrestle our complex stories
on to the page. That feeling as I stand next to my printer, or
press send to my editor, and then eventually hold a finished
copy in my hand is sublime. But, if my past self wanted to
ask more about whether
anyone would want to read
it, and how to be published,
I would tell her to forget
all that for now and think
only about getting some
words on the page. Do it
anyway, I would tell her.
Do it regardless of whether
anyone will want to publish
it. What matters is you and
the meaning and purpose
you will find in the act of
writing it all down. Forget
about everything except
the writing itself. Buy a notebook and then fill it with the
breathings of your heart. Stop expecting it to be easy. And
good luck.
Write it all Down: How to Put Your Life on the Page
by Cathy Rentzenbrink is published in hardback by
Bluebird on 6 January at £14.99
How to build a daily life-writing practice
• Start small and just do it.
• Buy a notebook and commit to finding five minutes a day.
• Start with a couple of sentences about your daily life: ‘I
am sitting at the kitchen table and have just had some
toast and later I will…’
• Don’t worry about it being interesting or well written.
We are warming up, like we would stretch before a run,
or play scales on the piano.
• Then add in a daily prompt of ‘I remember…’ and allow
your mind to alight on a scene from your past.
• Write it down quickly, without pondering too much over
your choice of words or reading it back.
• I find it works to do it at the same time of the day or
pegged to another habit, like ‘as soon as I get up,’ or ‘with
my coffee’ or ‘on the bus.’ This way the brain gets used
to the practice. It might feel odd and awkward at first but
you’ll get used to it and start to look forward to it.
• Try to ignore any questions in your own head about what
it might turn into, and who it is for, and what would
everyone say, and just focus on getting down some words.
• If you do this every day, you will start to have ideas, and
make connections and you will be amazed at what you
can achieve in little pockets of five minutes.
FEBRUARY 2022 13
S TA R I N T E R V I E W

HAUNTED
BY THE
PAST

14 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

Swimming against the tide comes naturally for supernatural
crime bestseller Stuart Neville, as he tells Tina Jackson

I
f there’s anyone out there still labouring under the
(tedious) misapprehension that crime writing is
formulaic, check out award-winning international
bestseller Stuart Neville. In particular, see his new novel
The House of Ashes. Set in his native Northern Ireland,
it blends crime and the supernatural to tell a chilling dual-
timeline story of past and present abuse with a kind of visceral,
appalled compassion.
‘It’s one of those books where it’s hard to pin down what
you’re writing,’ says Stuart. ‘My biggest struggle is figuring
out what I’m trying to write. Is it a short story, a novel, is
it a thriller, horror, a ghost story? I’ll start writing the thing
but then I figure out what I’ve actually got. The key here
was finding the voice. That’s the spine of the book, that real
Northern Irish voice.’
Giving Mary Jackson, the older character in the story, a
distinct Northern Irish voice unlocked the writing for Stuart. “I have no interest in violence
The original inspiration for the book was a news story. ‘A
real-life case, a murder suicide. It was a starting point, but real
for its own sake for being
people were affected by it and I couldn’t write a novel based salacious or sadistic, but if it’s
on that. So it’s moved from the actual event to something
more fully imagined. There was a lot of wrestling with the idea there it’s because it’s what the
and what really did it was Michael Hughes’s novel Country –
written entirely in that dialect. Once that clicked I started to
story requires. It’s always the
make progress on it.’ story: does it need violence,
Up to recently he kept the accent in his books quite neutral.
‘The odd colloquialism would sneak in but I don’t like to a supernatural element – it’s
include a forced accent in a book – so those writers who can
imply an accent but keep it readable, like Michael Hughes, it’s always the story.”
a balancing act. When I think of a writer starting to misspell
words or contract them or mangle them, it starts getting Stuart. ‘It’s a real issue in publishing,’ he says. ‘I’ve spoken to
problematic. It’s a skill, and magic. I’ve kept it readable.’ Val McDermid and she never had this problem for books
The House of Ashes is Stuart’s first book under his own name set in Scotland so why is Northern Ireland a pariah within
since So Say the Fallen. ‘I’d written two commercial thrillers [as storytelling? I’m just not prepared to hide that or to concede
Haylen Beck] and a short story collection [2020’s The Traveller it. I think the root of the hesitancy is that people think there’s
and Other Stories] but this is the first novel under my own only one story to be told – the Troubles. They’ll always be
name since 2016,’ he says. ‘The most difficult thing about this there as a back story but that doesn’t mean every story has to
book was not being sure what I had. I had a lot of false starts be about that. You can’t write a crime novel set in Northern
and I scrapped them. I couldn’t find my way into it, I couldn’t Ireland and not brush up against paramilitaries and if there is
find my way to write it. I set it aside and wrote different books resistance in the public it’s up to the publisher to find ways of
in the meantime.’ selling that story.’
Since the 2009 publication of his first book, which originally Stuart, who wrote The House of Ashes after setting two books
called The Ghosts of Belfast (and published in the US under in the USA, sees this as a parochial English issue. ‘American
that title) but retitled The Twelve by his UK publishers, Stuart publishing, writing in American, there’s more interest in gritty
has been determined that this book’s Northern Irish identity settings, a lot of stuff set in rural locations as well. Winter
would not be in any way diminished. ‘It’s not just the voice. Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden is a good example of a
The accent. It’s the setting as well.,’ he says. ‘UK publishers book that’s broken through.’
had quite firmly tried to dissuade me from setting books here He believes publishers don’t credit readers with wanting
and tried to hide the fact on the covers. It bothered me for to broaden their range of viewpoints through fiction. ‘Most
a long time and coming back to writing books set here in people see fiction as a window rather than a mirror,’ says
Northern Ireland, I realised that there was no need to hide it. Stuart. ‘The idea that everything has to be centred on major
No practical reason.’ urban centres is a fallacy – people want to see other places. If
Asserting his regional identity as a writer is political for you’d said “bizarre game show set in Korea” a few years ago,

www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 15

S TA R I N T E R V I E W
people would think you were mad. People want to see other
people’s lives.’
Stuart was an early reader who wanted to become a writer.
‘We came from a working class background, and my mum
worked for the library service. So I was always a reader and
wanted to be a writer from a very young age. I’d sit down with
a few pages of the story and find out it was very hard work.
And then I discovered the guitar and wanted to be a rockstar
– which didn’t quite work out. In my mid-thirties I had one of
those points of realisation I was at a crossroads so there was a
lightbulb moment of realising I had to do it now. I wrote three
novels in a short space of time. Two were dreadful and the
third was the first published book.’
His reading staples had been crime, and horror. ‘Most
writers are a product of what they read,’ he says. ‘I grew up
in the 1980s, reading Stephen King, very into horror, and as
an adult was very into crime. That grey area between horror
and crime and neo-noir authors like James Ellroy, Ted Lewis,
Dashiell Hammett. I started trying to write a horror but it
kept turning into a thriller, horror kept coming in. It was hard
to separate the two. I made an effort to write more straight
crime, but when I wrote a short story collection I realised I
missed that element. But the two, crime and horror, came
back together in The House of Ashes.’
Stuart thinks publishers are at odds with readers when
it comes to blurring genres. ‘It’s one of those areas where
publishers underestimate readers. They think they can’t handle
a blending of genres. My first book, The Ghosts of Belfast, they
said we don’t know if it’s a thriller or a horror, but I think
readers are far more open to that. I find it very hard to separate
these, writing. It’s all of a piece for me. If a story calls for it, it
will creep in without any effort.’
The horror element in Stuart’s work is all about suggestion,
and open to interpretation. ‘There’s always an ambiguity of
what the supernatural is. I’ve always had to walk a tightrope of
letting the reader decide what is real or not real. In The Ghosts
of Belfast a former killer is haunted by the ghosts of his victims,
but the reader is never told if they’re real or manifestations of
his guilt. The readers would decide and there was no budging
16 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
them – it was a real lesson for me about how much a reader
brings to a book themselves. It was a real eye-opener. A reader
filters everything through their own beliefs and experience.
The reader will do the work for you.’
Since The Ghosts of Belfast/The Twelve was published, Stuart’s
writing has encompassed tough crime and police procedurals,
with 2015’s Those We Left Behind delivering a particular punch
in its emotional depiction of two deeply flawed characters
connected by a terrible crime.
‘I think if there’s a theme I return to, it’s the past informing
the present,’ he says. ‘In some books more overtly than others
– House of Ashes, The Twelve, When We Are Left Behind. I
think one aspect of my books that I hadn’t grasped myself was
that the first book was the most violent with a protagonist
that people took to, but it was the emotional resonance that
people were connecting with. I think that carries through
to The House of Ashes. There is violence in the book but it’s
mostly off the page. It’s in the women’s relationships, their
dependence, the emotions. So when the violence comes, it is
brutal. Violence is dictated by the story. In Sara’s story there’s
not a great deal of physical violence but it happens on an
emotional and psychological level. But there is the same level
of brutality. I have no interest in violence for its own sake for
being salacious or sadistic, but if it’s there it’s because it’s what
the story requires. It’s always the story: does it need violence, a
supernatural element – it’s always the story.’
As writers, he says, you have to trust the story, and let the
characters lead the way. In The House of Ashes, Mary was there
from the start. ‘She was the constant element through all the
iterations of the story so she was the key. She was there both
as an elderly lady and a child. Once I found the voice she was
one of those characters that almost wrote herself. The two
timelines are late 1950s early 60s, and present day. It’s very
much a juggling act with The House of Ashes, it was every
time you move back and forward in time each timeline would
inform the other. I enjoy writing and reading dual timelines
but it’s not the easiest.’
Both Mary and The House of Ashes’ other lead character,
Sara, experience abuse. ‘Some women spoke to me about their
experience of domestic abuse. The question is always, why do
they stay, why don’t they just leave? It was getting to the root
of the psychology. The constant sense of the ground moving
beneath their feet.’
Instead of being victims to be investigated, Stuart writes
Mary and Sara as fully-realised characters – which makes
their stories emotionally harrowing. ‘I am interested in the
psychology of victims in as far as it serves the story,’ he says.
‘I’m not interested in the victim as a puzzle to be solved, a
body on the slab that a detective needs to pick over. The
victims in my books are usually quite present in the story.
I want them to be more than victims. Human beings, not
problems to be solved.’
He’s also interested in the people who are left behind in the
aftermath of a crime. ‘Knowing people who lost people in the
Troubles, parents have been murdered, it’s not something you
get past. Your life is
totally affected by that.
When my wife and I
“I’m not entirely sure it’s a good thing
went to view a house, not to be able to write a book every
the guy was at school
with me. His father was year. I’ve never been able to write a
killed in a paramilitary
attack and his room
series successfully, and come back to
was covered by cuttings a character again and again and find
about it. He was a
victim as much as his something fresh in them.”
father. So that’s how it
shapes lives.’
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a writer whose books explore
different possibilities within the crime genre, Stuart doesn’t
have a set writing process.
‘Not long after my first book came out someone said, it
gets harder each time,’ he says. ‘And they weren’t lying. I am
my own worst enemy because I don’t have a defined process.
It’s something I’ve never been able to establish, so I haven’t a
set way of doing things. Every time I do a new book it’s like
starting again.’
Stuart’s first published novel was written in ten weeks. ‘This
one was four years. That’s what I mean by having no process.
There is no set roadmap, every book is its own particular
trial. I think Those Who Are Left Behind is my favourite. That’s
where the one where I felt I had balanced all the elements, the
plotting and the character and the emotional heft of it. But
that was a difficult book, with a lot of false starts.’
He has nothing but praise for writers who can keep a series
going. ‘I’m not entirely sure it’s a good thing not to be able to
write a book every year. I’ve never been able to write a series
successfully, and come back to a character again and again and
find something fresh in them. It’s a skill I don’t possess. I’m
sure there are writers who write to formulas but even with that
there’s a skill in writing those and I’d never disparage a writer
for being able to work on that timetable. I wish I did, in some
ways and I’m sure my editor would be pleased.’
He’ll start by making notes. ‘The first thing is, I always have
a Moleskine notebook and I’ll start writing notes, doing notes
www.writers-online.co.uk
of a rough shape of story, ideas, glimpses, character traits,
questions, a lot of questions. ‘
The actual writing varies. ‘I might write in fits and starts,
it’s not a constant flow for me, it tends to be bursts. If I need
to get a lot of words down I’ll go to the local library, put
headphones on and get the words down. For concentration
and focus it’s the library that does it for me. When the first
draft’s done I’ll do work on the revisions and then it will go
to my agent, Nat Sobel in New York, who will give it a good
kicking. He once told me something I wrote was full of horse
shit. There’s a lot of revision goes on.’
Without a set process, Stuart needs to know how each
book will start, and finish. ‘The House of Ashes is a very bleak
novel and the thing I always need to know when I start a
book is how it’s going to end. The first version I couldn’t
get it to be the ending I wanted, and when I rewrote it, I
got Mary that ending.
I always want to know
how it begins, and how
it ends. Everything in
between is up for grabs.’
Characters, themes,
plots, tend to come all
as a bundle. ‘Every book
is different. Sometimes
it will spill out in a great
blurb that I have to
wrangle and pull apart.
Things will tend to move once I’ve put characters on the
page and they’ll often turn out to be different from what I
thought they were. I do find, more often than not, that the
act of putting words in characters’ mouths and actions in
their limbs gets them moving.’
Stuart may not have a defined process, but writing his books
has taught him to trust his instincts. ‘I’d like to think I’m a
better writer than I was twelve, thirteen years ago. I think I
am more inclined to do what I feel is right rather than writing
what was expected of me. I moved to police procedurals
because I thought that was what was expected of me. Now I
will write the book I am interested in.’
Unsurprisingly for such an individual writer, Stuart isn’t a
fan of prescriptive checklists for writing, or writers. ‘Advice is
bollocks,’ he says. ‘It’s a bit of a blanket statement but I feel
every writer is different, every process is different. I think it’s
a mistake to speak in absolutes because there’s no one way of
doing anything. The one practical piece of advice is as soon
as you’ve written one novel, write another one. Constantly
be moving. So many aspiring writers put everything into one
novel. Every one you write you get better at it. I’m always
dubious of list of ten things not to do – all you can do is just
write. Get it down on the page.’
Considering the horrors he conjures in his books, Stuart’s
amiability shines though. ‘I find the writing is therapeutic and
a reason why most crime writers are very nice people. Probably
more so than any other genre. We work out all that darkness
on the page.’
FEBRUARY 2022 17
 WRITERS
ONLINE
LEARN LIVE FROM
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to help you achieve your writing dreams.

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Dark beginnings: How to write horror
Saturday 8th January, 10am-1pm
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Exploring spaces: How to write science fiction

Saturday 19th February, 10am-1pm
This webinar with Alex Davis will explore how you can develop new ideas for science-
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you really need, define the varied subgenres of the field and also look at the lively SF
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Magical territories: How to write fantasy

Saturday 19th March, 10am-1pm
Fantasy fiction is big business these days, but there’s far more to the genre than Game
of Thrones, and this session with Alex Davis will explore it! We’ll cover the many different
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IMPROVE YOUR TECHNIQUE

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Saturday 12th February, 11am-2pm
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Sunday 20th February, 4pm-7pm
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 i u p
m e l l i n g
& s e
o f f e
the c
I
Publishing has learned a lot from lockdown about office life, says Piers Blofeld
t seems extraordinary now to
think back to those first few
weeks of the first lockdown in
March of 2020. So much of
that time seemed dreamlike and
strange and there was the frightening,
but also perhaps a tiny bit exhilarating,
feeling that the world was changing in
front of our very eyes. The question
was, by how much.
Nearly two years later, the scale of
those changes are starting to become
apparent. For instance it seems
impossible to believe that we will ever
go back to working five days a week
in an office. There is just no reason
to lose that many hours a week to the
commute. Reinstating it will simply
feel like penalising people’s quality
of life by employers, however much
some traditionalists would like to see a
complete return to the old days.
That’s bolstered by the fact that
productivity remains high when
people work from home and – in
publishing at least – meetings are (by
and large) significantly improved by
doing them electronically. The kinds
of loudmouths who liked throwing
their weight about in physical meetings
are silenced on Zoom so meetings can
actually do what they are supposed to
do and allow all the relevant people
to have an input and for information
to be exchanged efficiently even from
shyer members of the team who
tended to go into their shells when
their extrovert colleagues threw their
weight about.
But the office is not dead. Far from
it. There are more creative occasions,
ideas meetings say, where we need to
be in each other’s company, where we
are reminded that relating to someone
digitally is a little bit like listening
to them on mono and in black and
white. Digital meetings are great at the
exchange of information – data – but
for the more subtle exchange of ideas
and nuance we need the full colour
stereo of being in someone’s presence
or else a vital spark goes missing.
But there is another really important
reason to engage with people IRL
(in real life) which is that publishers
had before the pandemic struggled
somewhat with the way that
members of staff were increasingly
demonstrating loyalty not to the
corporate entity of the company that
paid their wages, but to the corporate
entity that is their social media bubble.
For a number of years now this has
led to certain kinds of books either
simply not getting a look in or at
best being relegated to quite specific
ghettoes within the company. But
more and more tales filter back to me
www.writers-online.co.uk
From the
OTHE R SIDE
OF THE DESK
of publishing staff refusing to work
on books because they do not like the
outlook of the book or the author. Just
to be clear, this is publishing we are
talking about, these are the reasonable
opinions of thoughtful people.
Publishers are going to have to wake
up to the fact that while working from
home is great in many ways, it has the
fatal flaw of putting people’s work life
on an equal footing with their social
media life. One might hope that the
simple fact of a wage packet would
be enough to guarantee of loyalty,
but people are not straightforwardly
rational like that and there have been
too many instances of the opposite
being true for that to be much
reassurance to HR departments.
Publishers are also having to wake
up to the fact that getting people into
the office is also a way of building their
loyalty to the company they work for,
but I suspect they will need to work
harder than that. I know publishers
have been revising their contracts of
employment to meet this challenge,
but I would not be surprised if they
started offering training courses in ‘how
to work on a book you disagree with’
and creating team building exercises to
ensure that the conflicted loyalties that
are a feature of today do not become
the norm of tomorrow.
FEBRUARY 2022 19
 WRITING LIFE
Dyslexia
unbounded
Writing with dyslexia brings rewards with its challenges, says Alice Dunn
W
hen you picture students doing
exams (pre-pandemic), you might
imagine an enormous school hall full
of pupils sitting at separate desks
spaced evenly apart.
My experience was different. I remember doing my
GCSEs and A-Levels in a small side-room along with
a few other students in my year. We had extra time for
exams because of various learning difficulties. As my
dyslexia (and dyspraxia) impacts the way I get words
onto the page, I was offered a scribe, but I couldn’t
bear the thought of dictating my answers for someone
to write down, however kind or patient they were. So I
used a laptop instead. Without the extra time and use of
a typewriting device, I know I would probably not have
managed to finish a single paper.
As a writer and journalist, I’ve thought more and more
about what it means to be dyslexic. For a start, I’d be
embarrassed if anyone saw the convoluted route each
sentence takes before I finally leave it alone. Here, a line
by Thomas Mann rushes forth: A writer is someone for
whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
Reassuring as those words are, a quick glance at my
handwritten prose hammers home the colourful process
that writing with dyslexia can be. Pages are either
20 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
covered in carets (those little inverted ‘v’ shapes you put
between two words to show another word needs to be
squeezed in) or numerous asterisks signalling chunks of
text waiting at the bottom of the page and needing to
be read in that moment for cohesion. It is a picture of
chaos: impossible to decipher, and quite a mission to
bring about. Writing by hand for rough notes is alright
(although my handwriting itself resembles that of a
high-achieving twelve-year-old) but, still now, some
ideas never come to fruition because my hand cannot
keep up with my brain. This was a particular hindrance
in the classroom, although despite those challenges,
I was determined to study English Literature for my
undergraduate degree at university.
Books, reading, writing... you can’t help what you love.
I knew I wanted to be a writer so I wasn’t going to let
something like dyslexia stand in my way.
And I haven’t. Instead, on a good writing day, I try
to think positively about the way my dyslexia manifests
itself. I admire the way it helps me to see things
differently. In my own work, I’ll identify a pleasing
word pattern that I can play-up to make my writing
more interesting. Other times, I can spot a bit of funny
grammar that’s completely unconventional, and therefore
unique. It’s not a case of awkward phrasing, but of me
being a master of unusual syntax. Or so I tell myself.
It’s not always easy. By that, I mean it’s frequently
incredibly mind-wrenchingly infuriating. My patience
wears thin when I begin to write a word with the second
letter, not the first. Or sometimes, when I attempt to
pull together a simple sentence, I’ll suddenly feel like I’m
grappling with a second language. Basic logic will play
hide and seek and I can’t remember the rules.
When I’m reminded of what a slow reader I am, I’ll
persuade myself that it is a mixed blessing. How anyone
can get through a book in one day is beyond me. They
must be missing so much colour and texture, surely?
Cautious care goes into my reading. I feel the weight
of every word, and pause to examine it
as though it were a rare jewel, before
allowing it to travel up through my eyes
and into my head. “Books, reading, writing... you can’t help
If reading quietly to myself is a loving
and gentle process, then reading out loud
what you love. I knew I wanted to be a writer
is the polar opposite. Words pop out at so I wasn’t going to let something like
random. Reading aloud is as much an
exercise in creative writing as is voicing dyslexia stand in my way.”
what is on the page. Who knows what will
come out of my mouth? Something from
three paragraphs away? An antonym of the word I am
looking at? It feels like a lucky dip, vocabulary edition. If
I manage to read even half a paragraph out loud without
faltering then I know I’ll soon stumble. At university I
once pretended to have forgotten my glasses to explain
why I was struggling to read out a stanza of poetry from
the book in front of me.
I know I am not alone. The British Dyslexia Association
estimates that ten per cent of the population are dyslexic.
Recognising dyslexia can be difficult, however. ‘Dyslexia is
often identified in primary school, however some people’s
coping strategies are so good that the dyslexic difficulties
don’t become apparent until much later,’ the British
Dyslexia Association states. At primary school, common
signs to look out for include difficulty in holding pencils
and pens, and trouble following instructions. For me, the
writing was on the wall, and all over my exercise book, in
the margins or favouring one side or corner of the page, as
well as in my trouble forming letters and shapes.
Agatha Christie is famously said to have had dyslexia.
She shared her stressful experience of writing in her
autobiography. Reading was fine, she said, but ‘Writing
and spelling were always very difficult for me.’ She
adds: ‘My father said that, as I could read, I had better
learn to write. This was not nearly so pleasant. Shaky
copybooks full of pothooks and hangers still turn up in
old drawers, or lines of shaky B’s and R’s, which I seem to
have had great difficulty in distinguishing since I learned
to read by the look of words and not their letters.’ Sounds
comfortingly familiar.
It is thought that F Scott Fitzgerald was also dyslexic. In
his introduction to the book Dreams of Youth: The Letters
www.writers-online.co.uk
of F Scott Fitzgerald, editor Andrew Turnbull observes:
‘Fitzgerald was a lamentable speller. Following his ear, he
habitually made such slips as “definate” and “critisism”, and
proper names were his downfall. He always reversed the “ei”
in “Dreiser”, “Stein,” and “Hergesheimer,” and, despite the
hundreds of times he had seen “Hemingway” in print, he
wrote it either “Hemmingway” or “Hemminway” and was
capable of “Earnest” for “Ernest”.’
Fortunately for people with dyslexia today there is
help available. When the Equality Act 2010 was passed,
The Dyslexia Association summarised its impact for
dyslexics: ‘Under the terms of this legislation, employers
are under a duty to make “reasonable adjustments” for
persons suffering from disability. Dyslexia is recognised as
a disability within the meaning of the legislation because
individuals with the condition are considered to be at
a substantial disadvantage within the workplace when
compared to those who do not suffer from the condition.’
They suggest some reasonable adjustments for employers
to implement which include: adjusting deadlines to allow
more time for completion or issuing documents earlier;
providing text-to-speech software; giving verbal rather
than written instructions.
But what about us writers? I’d hate for any of my
work to be read or treated differently just because I
have learning difficulties. That said, notes in the margin
consistent with my particular weaknesses can enforce my
persistent insecurity about daring to make writing and
handling words my occupation. Are my struggles leaving
an indelible mark on the page? Can anyone see how
far my mind has leapfrogged during a paragraph before
having to reel its way back?
My writing-based worries are countered by some practical
steps collected over the years, for both dyslexia and
dyspraxia (I can’t detect a divide between the two, though
I’m sure others with both can). These include: writing
on yellow or buff-toned paper; keeping a voice-recorder
close by; enlarging font sizes when reading online; using
a week-to-view diary to help plan projects and deadlines;
mind mapping; gathering coloured pens and pencils to help
highlight key points in reading and writing.
Most of all, try to be kind to yourself. A helpful
reminder for all writers. Something that I had on repeat
in my mind while writing my first novel during our first
lockdown.
FEBRUARY 2022 21
 C R E AT I V E W R I T I N G
Are you ready
for romance?
Is being a romance author the ultimate romantic dream?
With Valentine’s Day looming, Rosalind Moody
prays the answer is ‘yes’
L
ove stories sell billions of books around the
world every year, wrapped up in countless
fictional worlds and character arcs. It’s my
favourite genre to read, and write too, even
though I prefer to write romantic non-fiction
(I’m currently pitching a romantic memoir with a spiritual
angle). I live for the will-they-won’t-they, in fiction and in
life, and I’m sure if you’re reading this column, you do too.
When you think of the romantic fiction shelf, Marian
Keyes might well be front and centre in your mind. In
fact, Keyes is so globally successful her team marked the
imminent release of Again, Rachel, the hotly awaited sequel
to her hugely popular Rachel’s Holiday, with none other
than a 150-people strong yoga class at London’s Tower
Bridge. However, for this piece, I wanted to step away from
chart-topping celebrities and talk to two successful romance
authors on the real happy highs and practical pitfalls of
going full time as a romance author. Meet Essex-based self-
published author Suzy K Quinn and Northern Irish Mills
and Boon author Karin Baine.
Straddling both straightforward romance and rom-com
genres, author of the bestselling Bad Mother’s Diary rom-
com series Suzy has to remind herself of the true wonder
of how she makes her living. ‘When I was in my twenties
working boring jobs, I was writing on the side. Now I write
and travel anywhere. It’s a liberating thing but you can’t
predict what will do well. You can spend a lot of time on
something that doesn’t do perform as you thought it would,
and not a lot of time on something that surprises you.’
Karin is currently working on her twentieth book for
M&B and says she also has to pinch herself. ‘My husband
agreed that if I couldn’t get published within a year I would
go back to work. Lucky for me, Mills & Boon picked my
entry for their So You Think You Can Write competition
in 2014 as a runner-up. It meant I got to work with an
editor until my book was ready and they offered me a
contract.’ Her eventual success wasn’t without its hard
graft, though. ‘One of my early attempts was when I was
fifteen and mostly written during history class! It was based
on a saxophone player who was very much like a certain
Curtis Stigers in the 1990s. I think most of it is down to
22 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
perseverance. I entered every competition which came
around and learned more with every story and rejection.’
Let’s dive into the juicy stuff: the sexy story-telling and
wondrous world-building. Suzy loves to research luxury hotels
and high-end restaurants for that funny ‘frothy-type feeling’.
Karin’s worlds are more grounded. ‘I base a lot of my stories
in Northern Ireland and Scotland because that is where I’m
most at home. Every now and then I will venture somewhere
warm and exotic.’ But Karin specialises in a sub-genre.
‘Because I write medicals, I watch a lot of documentaries
to get a real feel of what goes on behind the scenes,’ she
says. ‘I watch stuff about air ambulances, lifeboats and even
gory YouTube videos so that I can write confidently about
complicated surgeries. I’ll then send my writing to my
friend, Michelle, who is a nurse. She will keep me on the
right lines about proper procedures.’
For research around the sex scenes, however, Suzy has
some simple advice: ‘My romance novels include Jackie
Collins-type stuff, so I include sex wherever I can put it. So,
to write it plausibly, my advice is to get lots of experience. If
you enjoy writing about it, people are going to love it.’
I immediately want to come up with a tale of my own,
and Suzy breaks down how to do it. ‘I have observed that
people are either better at characters or at plot. A romance
novel is a wonderful balance between the two, but start with
the characters. I’m more commercial so I let plot lead. If
characters are your strength, people will want more language
and description. Play to your strengths.
‘However, with a true romance, my readers want escapism.
They want to be taken away and loved, late at night before
they fall asleep, with an alpha male. It sounds outdated but
characters must be archetypes – they want the masculine-
feminine symbolism. Yes, women also want strong women
who’ll talk back, but I haven’t heard of a successful romance
which features a feminised male lead.’
 Karin agrees. ‘First and foremost, you have to have likeable
characters readers are drawn to from the beginning, else they
won’t want to follow their entire journey. The hero/heroine
should be flawed and believable. If they have issues, we want
to care enough to see them to overcome them, preferably
with each other.’ Suzy’s main priority is two characters who
are sparky and have tension. ‘You can’t just pick two attractive
people and expect them to have that. But it must always have
a happy ending. I don’t storyboard – I just get to the word
limit and pull out an ending. I let it find its own way.’
For Karin, the pace is key to the plot. ‘We don’t need to
read every small detail. With Mills & Boon Medicals, we
only have 50,000 words to play with so every word has
to count. We need drama to keep the excitement going,
interspersed with emotional reveals which keep us invested in
our characters’ relationship. In romance it is all about conflict,
external and internal. There are always obstacles for them to
overcome before they can ultimately find their HEA (happy
ever after). As it was put to me – if these people were the last
couple left on earth, there have to be reasons why they still
can’t be together. There is always a “dark moment”, when
something happens so the characters think that all is lost.
Then, a grand gesture and a realisation that they can’t live
without one another.’
But surely the role of romance writer must have its
downsides, despite gifting characters the non-negotiable
HEAs? Suzy thinks of her stories out of order – ‘but I think
that’s the definition of creativity. It’s a joy and a challenge.’
To overcome this, she uses Ulysses – writing and editing
software where you can put scenes into folders then roughly
order them. ‘I get an idea for a book every day, from
everywhere, so after a month, I sift through all the good
ideas I can actually picture. Then I ask myself, “Do I have
the skill to write it?”’
For Karin, the adversity lies in how some perceive her
work. ‘The romance genre takes a knock from everyone and
Mills & Boon authors in particular seem to be fair game.
There is a certain snobbery around the genre – people
assume it’s easy.’ For me, it would be the early starts. ‘I begin
writing at 5am for a few hours before I’ve eaten anything or
been distracted,’ Suzy reports. ‘Then I’ll write again from
9am to 1pm and do admin in the afternoon. I write about
three or four books a year but writing a kids book, as I’m
doing now, is taking a year.’
We writers are only a product of the books we’ve digested,
and I love hearing Suzy and Karin’s stand-out stories. ‘My
biggest influence was The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole,’ says
the former. ‘I read things like Forever by Judy Bloom and
Nancy Drew. There wasn’t a Twilight of my era.’ For Karin,
it’s the Irish charm. ‘I read a lot of Maeve Binchy before
getting published myself. I like the homely, familiar feel of
her characters. I think Irish/Northern Irish people are born
storytellers. We love spinning a yarn and we have a dry sense
of humour which I think comes across in our books.’
But how, I want to know, has Marian Keyes so
dominated the field? ‘Having heard her talk, she is
www.writers-online.co.uk
naturally funny and I think that has a lot to do with it.
She’s also been very open about her struggles with mental
health and she is very good at digging deep for those
intense emotional moments in her books. She is excellent
at self-promotion simply by being herself.’
Now let’s talk shop: I want to know how the books get
out there to the masses. Karin’s publisher takes care of all
the official publicity, but in 2020, she was personally asked
to take part in a BBC Northern Ireland programme about
Mills & Boon writers. ‘It was a huge opportunity but you
can see how out of my comfort zone I was.
‘With Amazon,’ she goes on, ‘I will always just keep an
eye on the rankings, not that that makes an awfully big
difference to the payments. My advice would be not to get
too carried away with what you are or aren’t selling on there.
Of course it will be different for authors who self-publish.’
The best person to ask about this is Suzy. ‘I massively
recommend Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) – you
can choose to publish with them exclusively and it gets you
onto Kindle Unlimited promotions. I’d really recommend
doing that.
‘I’m an entreprenual spirit,’ Suzy continues. ‘If you’re self-
published, you have so much more input into the book’s
success because your profit is higher and you can advertise
yourself more. I was first published by Hachette and given
a big advance and fanfare, then they umm’d and ahh’d
about taking my next one. So I tried self-publishing as an
experiment and since then, I’ve sold half a million copies!
‘You have to do more legwork with advertising,
creating the right combo of title and cover and so on.
Now I run a Bestseller Course with the SPF aimed at
helping self-publishing writers put together a novel (see
selfpublishingformula.com). It ensures they’ve got
something really sellable before even writing.’
Then it comes to the all-important question. Is writing
romance for a living as amazing as it sounds? ‘It is for me,’
says Karin. ‘Ideally I would also own a coffee shop near
the sea where I would happily write and craft to my heart’s
content. But I’ve made great friends with other authors and
meet up in London regularly for cocktails and celebrity
stalking. Being a romance author is not a regular pay check
but if you work hard there’s no reason you can’t make a
living.’ Suzy’s answer? ‘I wouldn’t change it for anything.’
Sounds like the perfect happy ending to me.’
Meet the authors
• Download a free ebook in the Bad
Mother’s Diary series at suzykquinn.com
• Karin Baine lives in Northern Ireland with
her husband, two sons, and her out-of-
control notebook collection.
Visit karinbaine.com
FEBRUARY 2022 23
 M Y PAT H T O P U B L I C AT I O N
Saba Sams
The author of debut short story collection Send Nudes
remembers how writing set her free as a teenager
‘I
was first introduced to the idea that I could write
in an A-Level English Literature class. I grew up in
Brighton and went to a sixth-form college up behind
the station. It was a half-hour walk and included a
very steep hill. At the bottom of the hill was a viaduct
which housed what felt like Brighton’s entire population of
pigeons. When I think of college, I think of feathers and
pigeon shit and writing.
‘I wasn’t a particularly happy teenager. Before college, I spent
three years at a private school whose single mission was to
churn out excessively high grades. That school was a business,
and every student could feel it. I have more friends from there
with eating and anxiety disorders than anywhere else, and I
went to eight different schools (if you include universities).
Private schools are wrong for multiple reasons, and one of
them is this.
‘At the state college I joined for sixth-form, my English
Literature class took a module in which we were each asked to
write a short story. It was the kind of module that would never
have been chosen at my previous school, where teachers openly
discouraged students from taking arts subjects. We studied Jon
McGregor’s This Isn’t The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone
Like You for inspiration. It was the first short story collection I’d
read, as well as the first contemporary book I’d studied, and I was
intrigued. The stories felt brave, fresh and full of risk.
‘I wrote my story in bed on my chunky laptop in one
sitting. I remember the experience vividly. I wrote about an
invigilator who marked creative writing pieces for a living. It
was much more meta than my stories are now, and it wasn’t
very good, but the actual act of writing it was powerful. I felt
transported out of my world. For most of my teenage years I
battled very low self-esteem alongside an unhealthy obsession
with perfection, so being transported really was what I needed.
I’m not being dreamy when I say that writing came to me at
just the right time. Later I would start to enjoy myself, and as
I did my stories would become more and more like my life.
At the moment I’m reading Your Silence Will Not Protect You,
a collection of Audre Lorde’s speeches and essays, and in it is
a conversation between Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich, in
which Lorde talks about moving to Mexico at nineteen and
realising, for the first time, that she “did not have to make up
beauty for the rest of [her] life”.
‘I used the story that I wrote for A-Level in my application to
university, where I studied BA English Literature with Creative
Writing at the University of Manchester, and then later an MA
in Creative Writing at Birkbeck. I’m certainly a writer who was
made by institutions, and it’s largely due to this privilege that
I’m bringing out my first book at 25. There are other – perhaps
slower, but certainly more interesting – ways to get published.
24 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
‘Whenever I handed in a story to my teachers for a deadline,
I’d also send it to an online publication for their consideration.
I received a lot of rejections, but I had a few accepted too.
When I was submitting my work to publication, I was also
applying to various writing opportunities and competitions.
Amid all of this, I still wouldn’t admit to myself – or anyone –
how much I wanted to be a writer.
One of the opportunities I applied to was The Writing
Squad, a free two-year development programme that I joined
while I was living in Manchester. They run workshops and
give access to exceptional one-on-one writing tutors, as well as
linking their writers to wider opportunities. My two years was
actually up by the time The Writing Squad got in touch with
me – asking for permission to send my work to publishers for
feedback from an editor – which speaks volumes about the
kind of support they give.
‘When I was told that my stories had found their way from
The Writing Squad to an editor at Bloomsbury who wanted to
publish me, I was genuinely stunned. I knew that I was getting
somewhere with my writing – I’d recently had a story shortlisted
for The White Review Prize – but I had no literary agent to speak
of, and I hadn’t even realised that the stories I’d been working
on were beginning to form a collection. It struck me that my
characters decided for me that I was writing a book, which is
typical of the audacious young women that populate my stories.
‘I’m 25 now, and though technically all of the stories in Send
Nudes have been written in the last three or so years, I truly
feel that I started the book when I was sixteen, stomping under
the viaduct with the pigeons. I dragged it through parties and
bus rides and classrooms of creative writing students, and the
characters changed me as I changed them. I think that you
can see that in the stories, or I hope that you can. My writing
might have started out as escapism, but these days I try my
best to allow the life in.’
Send Nudes by Saba Sams is published by Bloomsbury
Saba’s top tips:
• If you’re desperate to be published, harness that desperation
and allow it into the writing. I read an interview with Raven
Leilani recently, and she said that the reason her debut novel
Luster has such frantic energy is because that’s exactly how she
felt when she was writing it; the book was her lifeline.
• You don’t have to be at a desk in order to write. Carry a
notebook in your bag, use the notes app in your phone. If a
few words come to you at an unlikely time, get them down.
Keep it a fluid, open process.
• Submit your work to publications and competitions. As
soon as you do, you’ll see exactly what’s wrong with it.
 Allegra Le Fanu, commissioning editor, Bloomsbury
‘My brilliant colleague Angelique
Tran Van Sang came across Saba
Sams and the stories that would
become Send Nudes through a
collaboration Bloomsbury did
with New Writing North in 2019
– and I can still remember Saba reading the beginning
of the short story Snakebite at an event we held in the
conservatory at Bloomsbury, and being immediately
drawn into Meg and Lara’s world.
‘It was clear from that night that Saba was a star: her
story Tinderloin had already been shortlisted for the
White Review Short Story prize, while Overnight had
been selected by Sally Rooney for Stinging Fly. Angelique
acquired the collection that would become Send Nudes
and a novel very shortly afterwards – and everyone at
Bloomsbury was thrilled to welcome Saba to our list.
‘Saba’s terrain is girlhood: the lives of little girls,
teenagers, and young women making their way in the
world, as they navigate ambivalent mother figures,
intense friendships, unhappily blended families, their
relationships with their own bodies. I’ve been struck
by how many of the advance praise picked up on
the materiality and texture of her writing; she has an
incredible eye for the textures of junk food and make
up and clothes, threading between clubs at closing time,
packed pub toilets, drenched music festivals and beach
holidays. Reading it, I felt so tender and so fearful for
each and every one of the girls in its pages: their hopes,
their secrets, their shame are rendered unforgettably.’
It’s rare to see a book inspire both admiration and
passion in the way that Send Nudes has – and it’s been
thrilling to see that excitement build in the lead-up
to publication. I’m so excited that Bloomsbury will be
sharing Saba’s work with the world, and I know people
will be reading her work for years to come.

e a b o u t g r am m ar ,
Unsur
n c es , s t r uc t u r e o r
sente
gu e in y o u r s t or y ?
dialo
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www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 25
 FREE
RANGE
w r iting
Find your happy
Are you finding winter a bit bleak?
Jenny Alexander urges you to embrace positivity
in these creative writing exercises
T
he first Monday in February is the day when UK
workers are most likely to call in sick and, although the
commonest excuses are colds, flu and food poisoning,
most people who opt for stay-ing under the duvet on
‘black Monday’ admit the real reason is because they
just don’t feel like getting up.
Lethargy and gloom can set in around this time, with cold
dark months behind us and weeks still to go before the arrival
of spring, but there is warmth and pleasure to be found in the
depths of winter too, and this month’s free-range writing is all
about finding it.
Pleasure is always the point of free-range writing. If you enjoy
doing something, you want to do it more, and the more you do
it the better you get at it. So rather than starting from theory
and technique, I encourage people to find and develop their
writing voice through writing. One rule: stick to the timings.
Memoir
In nature, many animals become dormant or hibernate
through the winter, and many plants die right back before
bursting with new growth in the spring. We humans need
periods of quiet inertia too, when we may feel directionless
or becalmed, while beneath the surface energy is building for
new beginnings.
Sometimes we might deliberately take time out with a
holiday or career break, but quite often, these fallow times feel
unwelcome, brought about by physical illness, for example,
or grief or depression. Some writers think of these inactive
periods as ‘writer’s block,’ rather than a natural part of the
creative process.
When has your life, or an area of your life such as your
writing or relationship, felt becalmed? Jot down some ideas
and choose one. What was your life like just before everything
ground to a halt? And what happened afterwards, what new
beginning, when you came out of it?
Write for twenty minutes, whatever comes. As one idea runs
out, move on to another one.
Fiction
‘Pathetic fallacy’ is when a writer uses the setting to reflect and
amplify the emotion of a scene. Is trouble brewing? Cue storm
clouds. Is romance in the air? Cue balmy nights and moonlight.
Is the pursuer closing in? Darkness, thunder, crack of lightning!
This month’s fiction is all about exploring the power of
pathetic fallacy by picturing a character in a wintry scene
26 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
i .
and describing the setting in a way that reflects their mood
or situation. Say they are lonely or depressed, your setting
could feel bleak and isolated, or if they are in love, it could
feel dreamy and beautiful. If it’s a happy family scene, it could
feel playful, with sledges and snowmen and brightly coloured
clothing. Think in terms of both the things you choose to
include in the setting and the way you describe them.
Start with the character. Who is it? What’s their situation at
this moment? How are they feeling? Then build the setting
around them. Play about with it – be prepared to do some
crossing out. You don’t need to tell the whole story – the task
is just to conjure this psychological moment and a setting
that amplifies the emotion of it. You could imagine it as an
atmospheric photo and describe what you see in that. Take
about twenty minutes.
Non-fiction
List three hobbies or activities you enjoy. Choose one.
Suppose you were starting a new magazine for fellow
enthusiasts, what would you call it? Picture the cover for your
February edition.
You have been sent a choice of articles on a winter theme.
Imagine sifting through them. There might be ideas for
winter trips related to the hobby or interest, how-to articles,
interviews with experts… What would your readers like to
read? Jot down some ideas. Select two or three.
Now write your editorial. For inspiration, check out some
back issues of Writing Magazine, and see how the editor
introduces the theme for some editions. That’s the kind of
length you’re looking for. Take up to twenty minutes.
Poetry
Start with a prose warm-up, writing whatever comes about
typical winter days at different points in your life. For
example, on winter weekends when my kids were young, we
often went for walks on the coast path and came home to
Bullseye or Ski Sunday, an open fire, and hot buttered toast.
Write, keeping the pen moving on the paper, passing on from
one idea to another, for ten minutes.
Choose one winter ritual for your poem. Capture the
feeling of the season through the physicality of the experience,
the chill of the outdoors air on your skin, the snuggly warmth
inside, the dark and the low winter light. How does that
winter moment capture the whole of that period in your life?
Take twenty minutes.
WIN! £500
IN CASH PRIZES & PUBLICATION
£250

SC H O O L TO BE
WON

CO M P E T I T I O N

SEE P63
FOR ENTR
Y
DETAILS,
FULL
RULES AN
D
ENTRY FO
RMS

Your story should be 1,500-1,700 words and the closing date is 15 March.
The winner will receive £200 and publication in Writing Magazine,
with £50 and publication online for the runner-up.

STILL TIME TO ENTER £250 to be won

With its closing date of 15 February, there’s still time to enter last month’s competition for dialogue-only
short stories. Prizes and length are as above. See p63 for full details.
SHORT STORY COMPETITION WINNER

S o m e o n e I U s e d
To Know By Amanda Fennelly
FIRST
PLACE

£200
Amanda Fennelly is a radio producer and presenter with RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster,
and has a degree in journalism. She has dabbled in creative writing since she was a child, doing
a number of courses over the years, and has tried her luck in WM competitions a few times but
until now was only shortlisted once. She was on the verge of taking a break from creative writing
so this achievement has given her confidence the boost it needed to keep working towards her
dream of one day having a novel published.

W
hen I saw you, it felt like
I hit the pause button on
everything around me. I
wasn’t expecting to run
into you on a cobbled
shopping street, with people rushing
around in all directions, unaware of
the fact that my whole world just
stopped turning for a second because
there you were.
It’s been ten years since my eyes
drank you in, since my nose was full
with the scent of your hair. Your hair.
It was long and dark when we were
together but now you had it in one of
those cute wavy bobs just below your
chin and it was a lighter brown with
blonde highlights. It somehow made
you look younger than I remembered
and yet more sophisticated at the
same time. You wore a long, belted
cream coat, skinny jeans and knee-
high black boots with a huge bag
dangling from your elbow and sun
glasses perched on your head. You
were looking up and down the street,
completely oblivious to the admiring
glances I saw some men shoot your
way when they thought the women
they were with weren’t looking, and
completely oblivious to me standing
across from you.
But then your head turned and
stopped. Your eyes met mine as if
they were two magnets who had
no choice but to follow the laws
of physics. Unlike me you didn’t
gasp, you didn’t show any surprise.
Instead, you looked uneasy and I
thought I should just walk away,
pretend that I didn’t see you, pretend
I wasn’t who you knew I was. But I
couldn’t do that, I’m sorry. I needed
to speak to you, to hear your voice.
I had been waiting for this moment
for ten years.
‘Beth? Is that you?’ I said as I walked
towards you.
They were not the words I wanted to
say, they were not the words that had
gone through my head on nights when
I lay in my bed, sometimes alone,
sometimes with a sleeping body next
to me, and imagined what it might be
like if I saw you again. But the words
I wanted to say scared me and would
scare you if I said them.
‘Wow, Adam, it is you, I wasn’t
sure…’
Your voice trailed off but your eyes
never left my face.
‘How are you? You look… great.’
Well that was an understatement,
you looked beautiful, sexy, elegant
but great was all I had the courage
to say.
‘Thanks, so do you,’ you smiled,
‘still wearing that leather jacket, I
guess you were right after all.’
Our third date together, we went
shopping before dinner and I bought
this jacket. We were poor college
students and I had saved up months
for this. You couldn’t understand
why I wanted to spend so much
money on a piece of clothing but
I told you it was an investment,
that this jacket would last me years,
decades even. Then on the way
home after dinner you were feeling
cold so I put the jacket on you. You
snuggled into it and finally admitted
it was a good buy.
‘So um, what have you been up to?
Did you ever end up writing that book?
I remembered nights when we lay
entwined together and you would
tell me about this idea you had for
a novel and as you explained the
plot to me and got so passionate
and excited, I would kiss your neck
and marvel at your imagination and
determination.
‘I work in PR.’
‘Oh right. Well, I bet you’ll get
around to it at some point.’
You nodded your head but didn’t
look so sure.
‘What about you? Did the band ever
take off?’
‘Ha! No but I went travelling for a
few years and now I’m back working
as a sound engineer… got a job in a
studio just around the corner from
here actually.’
You gave a half smile and
impatiently looked at your watch. I
realised then that us bumping into
each other was not the momentous
event for you that it was for me. What
was I thinking, that after all these

28 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk


years you’d forgive me for breaking your
heart, would rush into my arms and kiss
me with your hands on both my cheeks
like you used to do?
And that’s when I saw them, as I
looked down at those hands that used
to caress my face, the wedding band and
diamond solitaire that match perfectly
on that finger of your left hand.
Suddenly he was there beside
you, your husband, looking at you
quizzically while clutching the tiny
hand of a little girl who was a mini
version of you and looking up at me
with those same brilliant blue eyes.
‘Who’s this Mama?’
Your husband glanced in my direction,
clearly wondering the same thing.
‘Someone I used to know in college
darling. Well it was great to see you again
after all this time Adam, take care.’
As you hurried away with them,
your husband looked back and I
could see he was asking you more
questions but you were dismissing
them, dismissing me.
Someone I used to know. That’s
how you described me. If someone
asked me to describe you, I would
probably say you are the love of my
life, the one who got away, the only
woman I’ve ever truly loved, the best
thing that ever happened to me.
Maybe it was better this way. You’re
married, you have a daughter, I just
want you to be happy. In my head all
this would have gone so differently.
You would be as pleased to see me as I
was to see you, I’d ask you for a drink,
you’d say yes and we’d go back to one
of our old haunts and we’d laugh about
how different it was or how it was still
the same. Then I’d take your drink
from you, and kiss you on the lips,
softly first and then harder and let my
kiss express the regret, the sorrow, the
desire for forgiveness and the hope to
SHORTLISTED AND RUNNER-UP
Runner-up in the Love Story competition was Christine Griffin, Hucclecote, Gloucestershire, whose story is published on
www.writers-online.co.uk
Also shortlisted were: Ana de Andrada, Bracknell, Berkshire; Valerie Bowes, Caterham, Surrey; Dianne Bown-Wilson,
Drewsteignton, Exeter; Andrew Brown, Mickleover, Derby; Felicity Cousins, Wadhurst, East Sussex; Mark Dorey, Pontypridd;
John Glander, Wickford, Essex; Jennifer Johnson, Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire; Katie Kent, Bicester, Oxfordshire; Diane M
Smith, Ewhurst, Surrey; Jackie Winter, Blandford, Dorset.
start over again. But instead, I walked
in the opposite direction to you, trying
to accept that now I was just someone
you used to know.
*****
I heard your laugh from across the
street. I’d recognise it anywhere, even
after all these years. That laugh that
never failed to make me smile. You
were standing across the street on your
mobile and wearing that same old
leather jacket. After all this time it still
looked so good on you. And just for a
moment I wanted to rush over to where
you were and place my hands over your
eyes like I used to do and say ‘guess
who?’ I’d wait to hear what crazy answer
you would come up with this time (the
Pope, Oprah, Madonna) and then I’d
say, ‘No silly, it’s someone you know.’
I glanced up and down the street and
hoped you wouldn’t notice me. Rob
had taken Molly for a hot chocolate
while I did some shopping and they
would be back any minute. There was
no way I could let Rob meet you. If he
saw us together, he’d just know. Know
that I loved you once in a way that I
have never and will never love him.
Know that I still love you and probably
always will.
I knew I should pretend I didn’t
see you but I couldn’t take my eyes
away from where you were, I wanted
to see you one more time. Then
our eyes met because you had seen
me too. And now you were walking
towards me, smiling that boyish smile
of yours. Your eyes had a few more
wrinkles than they once did and the
stubble that always dusted your chin
was now a proper beard but you still
made my heart beat faster.
I wanted to hate you back then
when you broke my heart but I
www.writers-online.co.uk
Read
the judges’
comments at
couldn’t. My http://writ.rs/
friends said wmfeb22
that you just
got scared of
how strong our
feelings were for each other. That you
just needed to grow up a little and
you’d be back someday to find me and
we’d be end game.
But you never did show up. I waited
and waited. I dated other men but
never got serious with anyone. So
then I just got tired of waiting. When
Robert asked me out I said yes and
this time I did allow it to get serious
and it was nice to feel loved again, to
feel wanted. So I said yes to moving
in together, yes to buying a house, yes
to getting married, yes to having a
baby. But every time I said yes, your
face would appear in my mind and I’d
wonder where you were and wish you
would come back before I took that
next step. Now here you were finally,
when it was too late, asking me about
things no one else knows but you.
Why didn’t you come back to me
earlier? Why didn’t you show up at one
of those moments when I said yes and
tell me ‘no, he’s not for you, this life isn’t
for you’. I’m not unhappy, Rob treats
me well, he’s a fantastic Dad and a good
husband but he’s not you.
And then they’re next to me, Rob
and Molly, wondering who you are and
I didn’t know what to tell them, I was
afraid my words would betray how I feel
about you. What I said is not a lie, but
it’s also so far away from the truth that
the words broke my heart all over again
when I dared speak them out loud. But
this is all you can be. It’s gone too far
now for me to turn my life upside down,
to walk away from all this. Instead, I had
to do the hardest thing I’ve ever had to
do, and walk away from you, someone I
used to know.
FEBRUARY 2022 29
 BEGINNERS
Has it g o t l e gs ?
How do you know if your work-in-progress is hitting the mark?
Adrian Magson provides some pointers.
I
’ve often been asked how to tell if a story is ‘right’
– that is, right enough to catch the eye of an agent
or editor. Well, the truth is, you can’t know until
you’ve finished writing it. Nor, therefore, can an
editor or agent.
Many books are written with all the promise in the world
of being brilliant… only to run out of steam along the way.
(And I should know – I’ve written some of them.)
With a short story of, say, 1,000 words, it’s easier to tell if
it works because, well, it’s short, innit? You can see quickly if
it flows, has a balance of characters (not too many), tension,
humour, setting and dialogue. (Sadly, if it’s a turkey, that
will also show. Welcome to the writing life.)
I’m not dismissing short fiction as easy. I know from
years of writing and selling hundreds of short stories that
creating a lucid, interesting and captivating short can be full
of headaches, deletions and screwed-up sheets of A4 being
slam-dunked into the wastebasket. (When it comes to that
last action, I’m the Meadowlark Lemon of paper-binners.)
Condensing characters, setting and interactions into a few
words allows no deviation, over-egging or a cast of characters
trooping across the page like wildebeest on the Serengeti.
The long road ahead
A book-length tale of 80,000 to 90,000 words, however,
allows you to let rip with more descriptive detail, larger
scenes, more points-of-view and character interactions. Not
30 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
that the road ahead isn’t daunting. Will the storyline have
legs? Can I hold a reader’s interest until the end – indeed,
can I hold my own creative drive that long or will it quickly
become flabby and wrinkled like a cheap party balloon?
Don’t forget the detail
One problem with a long work as the writing proceeds is
finding one’s memory of the earlier scenes becoming a little
hazy. Remember, everything is in the detail and readers have
an uncanny knack of spotting a gap. Forget or dismiss one
thing as unimportant and someone will let you know. Read-
throughs are vital, a practice some writers forget or find
tedious because they think once written, never forgotten. If
only that were true.
The list of things sent to haunt you can range from an
unintended change of physical detail – eyes, hair, clothes
and so on – to an interesting character who suddenly
disappears without explanation. Even an absence of detail at
a crucial point can leave a glaring plot hole in a story.
Find a friendly reader
One solution is to find a friendly reader who will go through
your work. Pick someone you trust. Not a family member
because, bless ‘em, they will say what they think you want to
hear. (My mother thought every word I wrote was Pulitzer
Prize material, but even I knew it wasn’t.) You should also
pick someone smaller than you. There’s no joy in being told
your writing is cobblers if you also get beaten up when
you take offence at this criticism of your baby.
With short stories, incidentally, trust your instincts. Not
everyone likes or can handle short fiction without asking,
‘Is that all?’ Yes, you might remind them that it’s called a
short story for a reason. But it’s best to stay friends because
if you do trust them you’ll need them even more when Thee Writers’’ Summerr School
you hit the ground running with a whole book. 13Ͳ199 Augustt 2022
Find what suits you
Join us for a unique experience in the beautiful
Since I’ve never written in a linear A-Z fashion, I’ve
Derbyshire countryside at Swanwick 2022
always tended to put down scenes in short form
and return to them later. This allows me to keep the Huge choice of courses and workshops
storyline moving and not get bogged down. (I’ve Entertaining and inspirational guest speakers
known a couple of writers who got hopelessly hooked Optional onetoone sessions with tutors
on getting early chapters so ‘right’ they were never able Sell your books in our Book Room
to move on. That’s a great shame.) Delightful surroundings
Returning to scenes of dialogue can be specially Page to Stage opportunity for scriptwriters
vital. An argument between two people is never The freedom to choose your own programme
without context; having a character tell another to go Evening entertainment
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usually some toing-and-froing, involving the setting,
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respective reactions, both emotional and physical. It’s “An amazing writing holiday with likeminded creatives”
how arguments happen in real life, so readers will relate
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across like overhearing one side of an interesting phone
conversation, with all the potentially juicy bits lost. Do
that in your book and it destroys context and leaves the
reader disappointed.

Leave markers
You don’t need to write everything in the first hit.
Using a form of shorthand to start with can still get
the main elements down while allowing you to keep
moving. As long as you leave markers so you can come
back to them later (aka editing). You’ve got the scene,
the characters and the setting, all you have to do is fill
out and enhance the detail which the reader needs to
make their understanding complete.
As my wife assures me, it’s the difference between
baking cupcakes and a Victoria sponge; cupcakes look
pretty good and are easier to judge. A sponge can, just
as you think you’ve got a winner, take a downward dip
in the middle and you end up with a saggy bottom.
If you have a project already on the go, try it with
a chapter that’s proving difficult. Write out the main
elements as if continuing with the story, but keep it,
shall we say, less than complete. That means truncating
the dialogue and scenery, putting in shortened scenes
but keep moving at a clip, leaving highlights or markers
where you need a revisit.
You’ll have plenty to go back to, but re-reading and
editing will make it more complete. And there’s nothing
better for your confidence than the sense that you’ve
done a first-class job.

FEBRUARY 2022 31
 Shelf life
4VSPM½GFIWXWIPPIVDiane ChamberlainWLEVIWXLI½ZIFSSOWXLEXLEZIQEHIXLIKVIEXIWXMQTEGXSRLIV

Charlotte’s Web
by EB White

‘When it comes to books that had an impact on me, I have to

start with Charlotte’s Web by EB White. When I was seven years
old, my teacher read us a chapter each day from this book. I still
remember sitting at my little desk, hanging on every word as she
painted Charlotte and Wilbur’s small world in the barn. I recall
laughing as she read, and I recall crying. Until that moment, the
books I’d read or had read to me were simplistic stories. Suddenly, White Horses
though, I was transported to another world filled with emotion
by Alice Hoffman
and I realised that a human being could write something that made readers feel. It was
that moment that I decided I wanted to be a writer. However, I never thought I could ‘Alice Hoffman has written many
make a living as a writer, so I followed my second passion and became a clinical social wonderful, intriguing and magical
worker instead. My writing career then grew out of a hobby.’ stories, but one of her early books,
White Horses, will always hold a
special place in my heart. I was
a hospital social worker when
Follow the River I stumbled across this book on
by James Alexander Thom the remainder table in a grocery
store over 35 years ago. Around
‘I’ve been part of a large neighbourhood book club for the last that time, I was starting to toy
sixteen years. We’ve read nearly 200 books during that time. A with writing, jotting down a story
few months ago, we took a vote on which book had the greatest on yellow legal pads whenever I
impact on us. By far, Follow the River was the winner. This got the chance. Reading White
realisation actually stunned us. We read Follow the River about Horses inspired me to keep going.
ten years ago. It was a small, undistinguished-looking paperback Some readers may find the story
with a bland green cover. But the gripping story inside captured offensive (it deals with incest) but
our hearts and minds. It’s the true story of Mary Ingles, a it wasn’t the story that captivated
pregnant 23-year-old woman who was taken prisoner by the me as much as Hoffman’s unique
Shawnee Indians in Virginia in 1755. She lived with the tribe for several months before voice and magical writing. The
escaping, traveling a thousand miles by foot to get back to her settlement. None of us book and Hoffman’s writing was a
who read the book will ever forget her horrendous, courageous journey.’ huge influence on my own work.’

32 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 © John Pagliuca
11-22-63 by Stephen King DIANE CHAMBERLAIN
‘I stopped reading Stephen King’s ‘The Last House on the Street is the story of two young
novels years ago after reading women, decades apart, who find themselves bound by
Misery. I was sitting on a beach an old mystery. In 1965, Ellie Hockley goes against
in Hawaii, engaged in the story her proper Southern family when she volunteers to
when the crazy woman chopped register Black voters. Many years later, Kayla Carter,
off the foot of the protagonist recently widowed with a three-year-old daughter, receives
(who happened to be a writer, like frightening warnings about moving into the house she
me). That was it. It was simply and her husband designed. The two stories collide in
too horrific and I was done with unexpected ways as, together, Ellie and Kayla discover
King. That is, until 11-22-63 came along. This is the long-hidden truths that bind them together.
engrossing story of a man who discovers he can travel ‘I’ve always had a strong interest in civil rights, perhaps
back to the 1950s. His plan is to try to prevent the because I grew up in a town that was integrated and I
assassination of President John F Kennedy. Of course could see what injustice was doing to my neighbours and
everything goes engagingly wrong. It’s one of the rare classmates. Voting rights have long been a controversial
books that I’ve read twice and it caused me to resume topic in the United States and unfortunately, they still
my fandom of Stephen King, though I stick to his non- are. Prior to 1965, though, Black citizens in the South
horror stories. He is second to none when it comes to faced violence, threats and impossible-to-pass “literacy
writing gripping fiction.’ tests” when they tried to register to vote. In 1965, college
students were brought to the South to help them register.
My protagonist Ellie becomes one of those students
Fried Green Tomatoes against the wishes of her family and community.
at the Whistle Stop Café ‘Despite having written 28 novels, I’m not a disciplined
by Fannie Flagg writer. I tend to dawdle, thinking about different
directions I might take a story without putting any of it
‘How I love this book. It on paper. I love researching the topics I’m writing about.
had such an influence on my Finally, my characters and I get down to business. I say
writing, especially in my stories “my characters and I” because I think of them as my
that are set in two different co-workers. I always have a sense of where my story will
time periods. In current day, go, but I also let my characters guide me, perhaps taking
an elderly woman tells the me in a direction I never anticipated. That’s the magical
story of her life to a younger part of writing a story for me.
woman who is struggling with ‘The best writing advice I’ve received was from Mary
the perceived emptiness of middle age. The old woman’s Kay Andrews, a dear friend and fabulously funny author.
story of two women who run a colourful café in Whistle She said “You can’t revise what you haven’t written.”
Stop, Alabama is both gripping and poignant. I love So once I do get to the writing part of my process, I
that there is a mystery that pulls the reader through the remember her words when I feel stumped or stuck and
book until the very end. As my books are often set in the downright lazy. Then I get something down on paper,
American South, I particularly enjoyed the Alabama and and usually, the magic begins to happen.’
the “feel” of this thoroughly engaging story.’

www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 33

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

Your writing critiqued

Sarah Larkham is a singer-songwriter who James McCreet
lives on a houseboat in a marina in central applies his forensic
Bristol. She also co-facilitates music criticism to the
workshops for people with mental illness. first 300 words of a
During the last year, she’s diversified reader’s manuscript
and has been teaching singing online,
and is grateful to have also had the time
to devote to her other great passion in
life – writing. Her YA novel is called The
Sensitives, and her dream is to write full
time. Her husband is also a musician,
and has just finished writing the book he
has been working on for the past year.
Sarah says they have quite literally been
in the same boat.

Willow was trying to move the feather with her mind.1
So far, it hadn’t gone well.2 She’d spent the best part of
the morning3 staring at it and now, not only did she have
a headache, but the feather hadn’t budged.4 The most
exciting thing to happen over the last couple of hours5
was when the window had blown open6 and the feather
moved,7 and it had taken her a couple of seconds8 to
realise that it was down to the wind and not the power of
her mind.9 Telekinesis was not coming naturally to her.10
She narrowed her eyes and concentrated, hard.11
‘Give up, for the love of god.12 I’m bored.’ Jordan
had been sitting on the top of her dresser for the
whole time, watching and waiting, silently.13 Now, he
stretched and yawned, his skinny frame silhouetted
by the light coming in from the window.14 His fuzzy
hair was outlined in white,15 and his features were
obscured;16 even more than usual.17
‘Leave, if you’re bored.’18
She knew it was only a matter of time – time and
focus.19 She’d already put out a match flame by staring at
it.20 It stood to reason that since a feather was heavier than
fire, it would be harder to control.21
‘You’ll be late,’ Jordan said.
He was idly kicking the dresser now – thump, thump,
thump.22
‘Stop it! Someone will hear you!23 Anyway, I don’t want
to go.’
Was she imagining it, or did24 the feather just move a
fraction of an inch?25
‘You have to go.26 It’s your birthday. It’s your party.
They’ll notice if you’re not there.’
She made a face at him.27 ‘I don’t like people.’
‘You like me.’28
‘You’re not people.’29
‘Thanks.’
But Jordan was right. Her party dress was hanging on
the back of the door;30 a shiny, pink thing with a ra-ra
skirt and layers of net.

1 A good start. It drops us

immediately into the scene with a
officially start and end? Are we talking
about 12 hours or two? Be specific.
outside. The scene is presented as
one of concentrated silence, but we
character attempting to do something.

2 The sentence would be more

effective if it didn’t start with
4 This sentence is a spaghetti of
clauses, telling us three things in
the same breath. Where’s the focus?
now find that the elements are frisky
and presumably audible through the
incorrectly sealed window frame.
the subordinate clause ‘so far’, which
disrupts the flow and puts the emphasis
Would this work better as two separate
sentences? 7 It would make more sense to use
past perfect tense: ‘the feather
in the wrong place (ie, on the duration
rather than the effort). Just switch it: ‘It
hadn’t gone well so far.’
5 Should we understand that those
two hours were the ‘best part’
of the morning? Or are we speaking 8
had moved.’
Two full seconds? That’s quite
a long time for a thought or

3 A cliché. What is the ‘best part of

the morning?’ We assume it means
‘most of the morning’ but what does
strictly about the previous two hours?

6 Do windows casually blow open?

that signify? When does the morning
If we accept that, then we must
also assume that there’s a lot of wind
realisation. Time it. Also remember
that the feather moving would have
happened only after the window
noisily blowing open. Two seconds

34 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 If you would like to submit an extract of your
work in progress, send it by email, with synopsis
and a brief biog, to: jtelfer@writersnews.co.uk

doesn’t seem credible. white or blond hair and the light clause correctly.

9 None of the words after ‘realise’ are

strictly necessary because they repeat
what we were just told. Explaining
something in excessive depth is always a
humour-killer.
was shining through it as a kind
of halo. ‘Outline’ suggests a single
line, whereas a silhouette implies a
brighter background in general – not
just his hair but his whole head. It’s
22 It might be better to spell out
that he’s kicking the dresser
with his heels while still sitting on it. I
like the repeated ‘thumps’ to emphasise
the sound, but I also wonder how such

10 Another repetition of what we’ve

already grasped. There is some
imprecise. No comma is necessary
after ‘white’.
a fidgeter managed to stay motionless
and silent all morning.
humour in the understatement, but it
would work better if pithier and more
sarcastic. ‘Telekinesis was tricky.’
16 If he’s silhouetted, this already
implies that his features are
obscured or just plain blacked-out. The
23 I think we have to acknowledge
the irony of her shouting for him
to be quiet lest somebody hear them.

11 . A comma is not used in this way

(for a dramatic pause). A dash
would do the job. A full stop and italics
would do it even better.
semi-colon is wrong. A dash or full stop
would work. 24 A more suitable tense would be:
‘...or had the feather moved?’
17 What does this mean? That his
face is somehow obscured in 25 With both of them moving
and talking, it would be

12 Again, the comma’s not right.

You can either delete it or switch
the sentence – ‘For the love of God,
normal daily activity? A hood? A mask?

18 No comma required.
entirely predictable for the feather to
move a fraction. Nor, presumably, is she
still trying to move it telekinetically if
give up.’

13 How long is the ‘whole time?’

It seems unlikely that he would
19 I like the rhythm of this
sentence. The dash is used to
good emphatic effect.
she’s talking to him.

26 I’d add who’s speaking here.

In context, it initially could be
have sat there, silent and unmoving,
even for two hours, watching her stare
at a feather.
20 This raises doubts. We’d
assumed from the start that she
was hopeless at telekinesis, but in fact
either of them: he telling her to attend
the party or she telling him to leave
because he’s being noisy.

14 I like the effect of silhouetting

him against the window. It’s a
she does have some impressive ability.

21 Does this stand to reason? It’s 27 It would be good to know what

kind of face so we can picture it.
very visual technique. It also means
that he will have noticed the window
not only about weight. A flame
is an elemental force supplied by fuel 28 This needs italics to capture the
tone of how it’s said: ‘You like me.’
blowing open two seconds before she
realised.
and fed by oxygen. Extinguishing it by
telekinesis alone is no easy feat. If you’re 29 Funny.

15 This image doesn’t quite work.

At first, I thought he had
going to use a comma after ‘fire’, you
also need one after ‘that’ to mark the 30 Can’t use a semi-colon like this.
A colon or a dash would work.

In summary Read James McCreet’s suggested rewrite of this extract at http://writ.rs/wmfeb22

One important thing is missing from this piece: consideration
of the reader. When we write with the reader in mind, we try
to portray a scene visually and tonally so that the reader can
picture it, feel it and – most importantly – believe it. Here, the
writer seems to be telling the story to herself, feeling it out. As
readers, we’re faced with inconsistencies or ambiguities or facts
that are hard to swallow. How long have they been there? Has
Jordan really watched her all morning in immobile silence? Did
she really wait two seconds after the window blows open before
realising the effect wasn’t her?
These may seem like trifling things, but they add up. If
we also throw in wrong punctuation, convoluted sentences,
imprecise description and unnecessary repetition, the overall
effect is a piece that is functioning only at 30% of its true
potential. The reader spends more time trying to reconstruct
what the writer wanted to say than simply reading it. In
short, the writing isn’t ready yet. It needs more time in the
linguistic oven.
Conceptually, it’s a promising scene. It starts with clear focus:
the character Willow has a curious telekinetic challenge. Her
relationship with Jordan is sardonic and humorous. There’s the
tension of having to attend a party she doesn’t want to attend.
That’s a lot of information in just three hundred words – a good
beginning to a story. As I say, the problem is the writing itself.
How to improve quickly? Get a book on punctuation and
learn the rules. They are not difficult but they are critically
important for professional prose. Then start thinking about
which part of the sentence is most important and start with
it. Better to write two sentences than one that contains the
information of three.
Finally, imagine the scene before writing it. Does it seem
credible and possible. Picture it and then describe it. I always
try to imagine the most pedantic possible reader (me?) and the
nit-picking comments they’re likely to make. Then I create the
scene in terms that can’t confuse the reader or give them scope
to whinge.

www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 35

 Editorial calendar
Strong forward planning will greatly improve your chances with freelance
submissions. Here are some themes to consider for the coming months.

100 years ago : APRIL 1922

80 years ago : APRIL 1942

• Huddersfield Town AFC won the FA Cup Final. • The Women’s Timber
• Dr Mabuse the Gambler, part one of Fritz Lang’s Corps, a civilian
silent film series about the Dr Mabuse character, organisation to replace men
premiered in Berlin. in the armed forced who
• Actress, singer and animal welfare activist Doris had worked in forestry, was
Day was born in Ohio. established.
• ‘Angry young men’ novelist John Braine, author of • Actress, model, style icon
Room at the Top, was born. and Rolling Stones muse
• Novelist Kingsley Amis was born. Anita Pallenberg was born.
She died in 2017.
• Actor, singer and
filmmaker Barbra Streisand

90 years ago: APRIL 1932

was born.

• Ramblers and members of the

Young Communist Party took
75 years ago : 1947
part in the Mass Trespass of
Kinder Scout, a protest that • How Does Your Garden Grow,
walkers in England were denied which later became BBC Radio 4’s
access to areas of open country. Gardeners’ Question Time, was first
• The Shakespeare Memorial broadcast on the BBC’s Northern
Theatre was opened in Stratford. Designed by Elisabeth Scott, network.
it was the first important public building in England to be • As a result of the 1944 Education
designed by a female architect. Act, the school leaving age in the
• Actor and singer Debbie Reynolds, whose breakthrough role UK was raised from 14 to 15.
was in Singin’ in the Rain, was born. • Private healthcare provider BUPA
• Actor Anthony Perkins, who starred in Alfred Hichcock’s was founded in the UK.
Psycho, was born. • In Operation Big Bang, the British
• Actor Omar Sharif was born in Egypt. navy detonated thousands of tonnes
• Country singer Loretta Lynn was born. of ammunition in an attempt to
blow up the island of Heligoland
and remove it as a fleet base for
Germany.
• Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl
set out on his Kon-Tiki expedition,
70 years ago : APRIL 1952 sailing from Peru to Polynesia on a
balsa-wood raft.
• Country singer Emmylou Harris was
• Mr Potato Head was the first toy to be born in Alabama.
advertised on US TV. • Reggae star Bunny Wailer was born
• French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier in Jamaica. He died in March 2021.
was born. • Rock icon Iggy Pop, the ‘godfather
of punk’, was born in Michigan.

36 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 60 years ago : APRIL 1962
50 years ago : APRIL 1972
• The first panda crossing was opened
outside Waterloo Station in London. • The Brighton Belle, since 1931 the world’s
• TV presenter Phillip Schofield was born. only all-electric Pullman train, made its
• Singer and model Nick Kamen, who died last journey from London to Brighton.
in 2021, was born. • The BBC Radio comedy panel game I’m
• Scottish actor John Hannah was born. Sorry I Haven’t a Clue was first broadcast,
and is still running.

40 years ago : APRIL 1982

• The Falklands War began.

• Canadian actor Seth Rogen was born.
• US singer Kelly Clarkson was born.
• Actor Kirsten Dunst was born.

30 years ago : APRIL 1992

• Betty Boothroyd became the first woman

to be elected Speaker of the House of
Commons.
• The Lost Gardens of Heligan in
Cornwall were first opened to the public,
for Easter.

20 years ago :
• After calling an election, John Major was
re-elected as Prime Minister when the
Conservatives won a majority.
APRIL 2002

• The funeral of Queen

Elizabeth the Queen
Mother took place at
Westminster Abbey, It’s
estimated that 10 million
people in the UK watched it on TV.

Looking ahead 10 years ago : APRIL 2012

2025 will be mark the centenary of the birth of
influential science fiction author and editor Brian
Aldiss. What is his legacy to the continuing evolution
of sci-fi?
• The wettest April on record paved the way for a year of severe
weather conditions and flooding.
• Grumpy Cat, who became an internet celebrity, was born. She
died in 2019.

Pics, all CC BY-SA, Wikipedia:

Kon-Tiki, Bahnfrend; Iggy Pop, Man Alive!; Jean Paul Gaultier, Captain Catan; Brighton Belle, Tony Hagon; Grumpy Cat, Gage Skidmore; Brian Aldiss, Lars (Lon) Ollson; flood, Richard Smith.

www.writers-online.co.uk
. FEBRUARY 2022 37
 WRITERS’ CIRCLES
ABRACADABRA!
E
veryone needs a little magic in our lives and that
applies to our writing too. We could all do with
a magic potion or incantation that will encourage
the words to flow and magic us all a publishing
contract. Or a spell to enchant us all to do the
hard work needed to get published and actually sit down
and write. Or maybe a spell to bring pens or our computer
keypad to life to write for us so we could get twice as much
writing done. The world of magic has inspired much poetry,
many books, films and songs, and this month your writing
group is going to delve into the world of wizardry and
witchery and conjure words out of thin air to inject some
magic into their writing.
For the first activity, ask the group to write down the
magical power they would like to possess and why. Maybe
they’ve always wanted the power of flight so they could
soar through the skies like a bird and see the world from a
different angle. Maybe they would like the ability to teleport
to avoid the queues at the airport and cut down on travelling
time. They might have a yearning to make sure people
who do bad things, are rude or inconsiderate, get their
comeuppance in some way, or have the ability to be in more
than one place at once. How handy would that be?
Then mime that magical power to see if the rest of the
group can figure out what it is. Discuss what the advantages
and disadvantages of having that power might be and how
might it be used for less than honourable reasons. What if
the magical power they have isn’t one they want? Or maybe
it malfunctions in some way and doesn’t have the effect they
were expecting. Could that magical power be more of a
hindrance than help?
Choose a song title featuring magic in some way, for
example: I Put a Spell on You, It’s a Kind of Magic, Black
Magic, Every LittleThing She Does is Magic, etc, and write
either a character biography based on the song titles and/or
lyrics, or some poetry inspired by it. Perhaps a news report is
more some of your members’ forte?
Write a short piece involving the character they wrote the
biography for, or continue the poetry or news report where
the magical power goes wrong and the chaos that ensues.
38 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
Cast a spell over your writing
group in these magic-themed
exercises from Julie Phillips
Perhaps there is someone who the character knows that
has the power they want – so how are they going to obtain
it? To throw in some conflict, perhaps they are not aware
of their magical power and can’t understand why certain
things appear to be happening around them – people who
are saying unkind things suddenly find themselves unable
to speak, or someone trying to rob someone else falls flat on
their face. How do they handle the realisation that they are
causing these things to happen? Maybe their magical power
is waning and they will do anything to not only stop it from
disappearing forever but strengthen it. What lengths might
they go to?
For an alternative activity, have a selection of objects
associated with magic in the room – you can use pictures
of such objects if preferred – potion bottles, wand, fortune
telling cards, crystal ball, linking rings, playing cards, etc.
Some obscure objects would be interesting too. Can the
group identify them all and what they’re used for? Ask
the group to choose an object or picture of an object and
incorporate that into the piece they’ve already written.
A bit of research is always the writer’s friend and a good
skill to have, so have the group look into the history of
magic – legends and myths, witches and warlocks, also
present-day witchcraft practices and traditions. Find out the
most interesting facts or fiction they can find and read a few
out. They might spark an idea.
For a bit of fun, do the group know any magic tricks they
can perform? Perhaps they could have a go at some. What skills
does it take to make a good magician – sleight of hand, good
hand-eye coordination, etc? Do any of those skills translate into
improving their writing? Magicians practise their tricks until
they get them right, just as writers must keep writing, trying
new things to improve and expand their repertoire.
The world of magic can open many doors for writers in
unexpected ways, so encourage your group to delve into
the far corners of that world as they never know what they
might find that could spark an idea for their next project.
Trying something new like a magic trick, or reading about
an unfamiliar aspect of magic, can be just the thing to
boost creativity.
 WRITERS’ CIRCLES

CIRCLES’ ROUNDUP
If your writing group would like to feature here, whether you need new members,
have an event to publicise or to suggest tips for other groups, email Tina Jackson,
tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

SPOTLIGHT ON... Writers at the Gate

The Covid-19 pandemic had brought
about restrictions for us all and for
those of us who write, it became
obvious we needed to explore
alternative angles by which we could
promote our work, writes Mal Foster.
Almost by accident, Writers at the
Gate, a small group of Woking-based
independent authors, was born.
The whole thing started with the
blog of the same name which allows
us to showcase our latest titles and
share stories of our various routes to
publication and ideas for future books.
The blog at https://wokingwriters.
blogspot.com/2021/05/ also includes
guest posts by invited authors including,
Judith Cranswick, Carol Hedges and
Deborah Swift to name but a few.
Over the last few months, the group
has gone from strength to strength
with a healthy number of authors
submitting work to our online Woking
Writers’ Week in May.
Since Covid restrictions were
lifted, many of us have now had the
opportunity to meet in person while
becoming good friends in the process.
We’re also fortunate enough
to have our titles stocked and
displayed by an independent
bookshop in the town in its
prominent ‘local authors’ section.
Further initiatives are being planned.
These will include a series of book-
signings as new books are published.
Any other independently published, or
soon to be published writers from the
Woking area are always welcome to join
us. Contact: admin@malfoster.co.uk
Pictured are Sunny Angel, author
of Wings, Lelita Baldock, Mal Foster, Sue
Mackender, author of Girl on the Hill,
and poet, Greg Freeman, whose latest
collection, Marples Must Go! is out now.  
(Not in picture, Alan Dale, Jackie
Luben and Harriet Steel)

Harrogate Writers’ Circle

Harrogate Writers’ Circle was formed in
1951, at a time when computers filled
a whole room and the potential of the
worldwide web had not been dreamed
of, writes Peter Caunt.
We have always had a varied group
of members including highly successful
published poets and authors as well as
some just beginning to write. We run
manuscript evenings and competitions for short stories, poetry
and articles judged by external adjudicators. And authors such
as Simon Whaley visit us to talk about their work and give us
advice on writing.
With the closing of our normal meeting room due to
Covid, we put aside our quill pens and decided that dipping
a toe into the 21st century of communications might be a
solution to our problem.
Starting to run our meetings electronically over Zoom was
not without teething problems. But after a few faltering steps
at the initial meetings we ended up with a core of regulars
who quickly accepted the new way of working and we now
run to our original timetable and with an interaction between
members that is easily as good as we had
with face to face meetings.
The use of Zoom meetings has
not been to everybody’s taste but we
have been able to expand the scope
of our membership. We currently
have a few members from just outside
of Harrogate and a relative of one
longstanding member joining us
regularly from Spain and we had a short story adjudicator
from Scotland. Also the prospect of having winter
meetings being cancelled because of bad weather is a
thing of the past.
As the current year draws to an end, the prospect of how we
move forward into 2022 cropped up. The opinion of most of
the membership was that the use of online meetings had more
advantages than disadvantages and we committed ourselves to
another year online.
But the main lesson we have learned is that we can change
with the times and move forward with confidence into
whatever tomorrow may bring.
Website: https://harrogatewriterscircle.weebly.com

www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 39

 SUBSCRIBERS’ NEWS
SHARE YOUR NEWS
To feature in subscribers’ news contact: tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

Right up our street

‘I’ve loved writing ever since I
was a child,’ writes subscriber
Glenda Young.
‘I live in the north-east and my
novels are set in the coalmining
village of Ryhope where I was born
and bred. You don’t need to know the village to
enjoy the books, which are gritty and dramatic
and have a feisty, young heroine at their core. All
of my books are published by Headline, they’re
standalone and you can read them in any order.
The novels are inspired by my love of soap opera,
really dramatic with lots of action and some great
female characters.
‘During lockdown last year I had so much time
on my hands between writing sagas that I wrote my
debut crime book, Murder at the Seaview Hotel. It’s a
fun, cosy crime set in Scarborough and stars twelve
Elvis impersonators (called Twelvis). When one is
found dead with his blue suede shoes missing, hotel
landlady Helen Dexter and her rescue greyhound
Suki are on the case to solve the crime.
‘As a life-long fan of the soap opera Coronation
Street, I’ve written TV tie-in books about the show
and also run two Coronation Street fan websites.
The Coronation Street Blog has been praised by the
Manchester Evening News as ‘excellent’ and ‘essential
reading for Street Fans’. I also run and own the
internet’s first and original Coronation Street fan
website Corrie.net, online since 1995.
‘I’ve also built an impressive reputation as an
award-winning short story writer. Plus, I have
an unusual claim to fame. I’m the creator of the
first-ever weekly soap opera Riverside to appear
in The People’s Friend, the longest running
women’s magazine in the world. My short fiction
has appeared in magazines including Take a
Break, My Weekly, Best and The People’s Friend.
In 2019 I was a finalist in the Clement & Le
Frenais Comedy Award.’

From fact to fiction

‘I think there must be something
contagious about writing crime
fiction,’ writes subscriber Brian Price.
‘I became immersed in this world
when I attended Crimefest, the Bristol
festival of crime writing. Delighted by
the friendliness of crime writers and
their readers, I set up a website to help authors
avoid scientific mistakes. When I got a contract to
produce a book on the subject I was thrilled and
the result, Crime writing: How to write the science, was well
received.
‘I was perfectly comfortable writing about science,
researching topics such as poisons, weapons and knockouts,
and putting the results into understandable English. But
something must have rubbed off from my contacts with
crime writers. I realised I wanted to write a detective thriller.
‘This was a very different process. Scientific facts can be
gleaned from textbooks, journals, academic websites and one’s
own training. But a story has to come from the imagination.
Did I have what it takes? I had written some short stories,
which friends and family liked but which failed to
make an impact in writing competitions. Writing a full-
length novel was a different prospect altogether. What
really got me going was winning a competition, run
by Crime Fiction Coach, for the best first sentence of
a crime novel. Someone said they couldn’t wait to read
the rest, so I was under an obligation to write it.
‘Months of enjoyable, but sometimes frustrating, work
resulted in a draft which I sent off for critiquing. Author
Louise Voss’s comments were supportive and extremely
helpful so, after revisions and with boosted confidence, I started
to approach publishers and agents. No luck.
‘After over thirty rejections I began to wonder whether I
should self-publish, an entirely new area for me, but before
I took that step, the lovely people at Hobeck Books asked
for the full manuscript. They liked it and offered to publish
it. The result is Fatal Trade, a fast-paced and twisty police
procedural, published in September 2021. The sequel is in
draft and book three is in preparation. And I am now a crime
fiction writer.’
Website: www.brianpericeauthour.co.uk/

40 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 Comedy duo
‘Two years ago, I was delighted
to be able to tell people that I’d
been published (by the wonderful
Claret Press) for the first time at
the (relatively) advanced age of 66,’
writes subscriber Steve Sheppard.
‘That book, A Very Important Teapot, a comedy
spy thriller set largely in Australia, has so far sold in
the region of 500 copies rather than the 500,000
it clearly deserves to have done (haha), but it has
received so many positive reviews, many from
people who have never met me including some
residing in far-away lands (and not forgetting WM’s
very own Adrian Magson), that it seemed churlish
in the extreme not to write a sequel.
‘So I did, and that sequel, Bored to Death in
the Baltics, was published last September, again
by Claret Press (three cheers for them). As you
may have guessed, this one is not set in Australia
but it again follows our occasionally hapless
hero, Dawson, as he is kidnapped for no obvious
reason following a bomb blast in the home
counties and ends up in the hold of a tramp
cargo ship heading for the Gulf of Riga. Why this
has happened, who is involved and the vexing
question of whether his decidedly less hapless
girlfriend, Lucy, will find him, will of course be
revealed, but it is safe to say that it entails at least
as much murder and madcap mayhem as in A
Very Important Teapot. And quite a lot of water.
And twins. And it’s as hilarious as Teapot.’
Website: www.stevesheppardauthor.com
Hasta la fiesta!
‘It had always been a far-off dream to settle in
Spain,’ writes subscriber Mary Mae Lewis.
‘After so many years travelling around the
world, living in exotic places such as Grand
Cayman and Malawi, my dream was close to
being realised. However, with husband Chris
content to tinker with all kinds of machinery
back home in Staffordshire, how was I going to
persuade him that Spain was the ultimate place
forus? All was solved with the idea of his converting
an ex-Liverpool Council single-decker bus into a
serviceable mobile home – and, with that accomplished, we
were on their way – along with beloved dog, Josh. After saying
hasta la vista to our British life, we set off for a grand adventure
www.writers-online.co.uk
A light-hearted view
‘As a volunteer at our local museum
I’ve had fun taking out to the
retirement homes the Museum
Box, a collection of interesting items to
stir memories,’ writes regular Writers’ News
contributor PDR Lindsay.
‘The residents tell me wonderful stories, but demanded
in return that I write them a novel: “A light hearted bit
of local history.’ I was researching a serious 17th-century
novel, and the request was promised but postponed.
‘Then Covid struck. Filling in time, wondering what
to write, I was asked to check the museum photographs
online to find photos to turn into postcards. And there
it was, an 1880s photograph album of a local family’s
trip in the southern Alps. My local town’s people and my
local area of New Zealand, perfect. Inside were the most
amazing photos, and there was my inspiration. Looking
just like the Gilbert and Sullivan ‘three little maids’, hats,
gloves, parasols, long skirts and frilly petticoats, prettily
posed on mountain scree high up in the Alps near Aoraki
Mount Cook. That photo became the base for my new
novel cover as I set out to tell the tale of Melisande, who
had to leave a cossetted life in India to become a colonial
wife in New Zealand in 1898.
‘The ebook version of Wild Colonial Girl launched in
March, the print version in May. All my senior residents
from the retirement homes came to the launch party in
May and thoroughly enjoyed telling everyone that theirs
was the suggestion which gave rise to Wild Colonial Girl.
They must have enjoyed the story too as they have been
giving the book five-star reviews.’
Website: www.pdrlindsay.co.nz
and – twenty years later – we’re still having it.
‘It hasn’t all been plain sailing though; it was initially hard for
us to settle into a more relaxed pace of life… and the endless
excuse of manana! It was then that I realised that manana
doesn’t just mean the very next day, but just means sometime
the day after; that could extend to even a week or more.
‘Don’t Stop The Fiesta is aptly named, as we’re determined
that nothing will put an end to our casa life of: sea, sun,
music and parties. This jam-packed book is a non-stop
rollercoaster of a read; the pace never slows down, even when
family ties pull us back and forth to the UK.
‘If you’ve ever wondered what life in Spain could look like
for you, then read on… it hasn’t always been roses around the
door for us – but we never want to stop our fiesta.’
FEBRUARY 2022 41
GRAND PRIZE WINNER

Coffee Ghosts FIRST

PLACE
£1,000
by Alastair Chisholm
WINNER: ALASTAIR CHISHOLM
Alastair Chisholm is a children’s author
and short story writer. His latest sci-fi
adventure, ADAM-2, is the Blackwell’s
Children’s Book of the Year 2021, and
his short stories have appeared in various
collections. Alastair lives in Edinburgh
with his family, and his hobbies include
writing, and playing games on his phone
when he should be writing. You can find
him on Twitter at @alastair_ch.

‘I
saw a ghost, once,
perhaps.
It was in daylight, right
in front of me, in a coffee
shop off the high street.
There were others around, it wasn’t
just me. I don’t know what they saw.
I was sat in a corner at one of the
fake wooden tables, scattered with
tiny crumbs and screws of torn paper
napkins, and faint brown circles
from the base of my cup, like animal
tracks. Janet had a name for them,
those circles, and I was trying to
remember what it was.
‘Danny? Danny, are you listening?’
I looked up into Janet’s face and
saw her expression. It was one I’d
been seeing a lot recently, I thought.
The one that said she wasn’t angry,
or cross, or even disappointed, but
felt that there was something that
needed to be resolved; and that we
could resolve it, but we both had to
just focus, if we could. If we could
try. I nodded.
‘Yes. Yes, of course.’
She sighed. ‘Well… it’s what they
say, isn’t it? It’s not you, it’s me.’ She
gave a rueful smile. ‘But it really is,
I promise. I’m just in a place where,
well, things aren’t the same anymore.
With me, I mean. This new job, and
the travel, and… and…’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘That is what they say.’
Her brow crinkled. ‘Danny, it’s
just—’
A door clattered behind her, and
a man entered, and I watched him.
Just for somewhere to look, really,
somewhere that wasn’t Janet. He
struggled with the door; he seemed
to find it very heavy, and one of
the large metal handles had caught
in his jacket. No one came to help
him. I wondered if I should go
across, but I didn’t, and eventually he
disentangled himself and staggered
inside. He stood just inside the
doorway and ran his hands along the
side of his head as if to smooth his
hair down. His hair was black, and
long, curling at the base of his neck,
and his face was long, and he had
long, pale fingers.
‘I mean, it hasn’t been easy for
either of us, these past few months,
has it? You’ve not been happy. I’ve
not been happy.’
‘I was happy,’ I said, surprised. ‘I
thought I was happy. I thought you
were.’
She lifted her hands in a half-shrug.
‘Well, really, Danny, how could you…’
My eyes drifted towards the man
again. He was wearing a dark-green
linen jacket, far too large for him; it
hung around his thin shoulders like
a sheet on a clothes horse, slipping
from side to side. Underneath was
a T-shirt with a print faded almost
to nothing. His trousers were black,
and too short, and on his feet were
black pumps and no socks. His
ankles flashed pale and white. Was he
homeless, come in for the warmth?
But there was something about his
face that didn’t seem right. His eyes
were very round, the pupils a flat
pale green that reflected the lights of
the café. He had high cheekbones,
and his mouth sagged, hanging
open with something like fear, but
something like delight, too. He gazed
at the menu above the counter, and
the pictures of coffee cups, as if they
were holy relics.
‘And I know that what happened
with work wasn’t your fault. It’s not
that, believe me.’
I blinked. ‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, you know, the promotion,’
said Janet. She seemed embarrassed.
‘I mean, it wasn’t your fault, I’m
sure, it just—’
‘Oh.’ I shrugged. ‘Hadn’t really

42 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk


thought about it.’
She shook her head. ‘But— But I
thought that was why you were being,
you know. Like this.’
‘Like what?’
She blew a sharp breath of
exasperation. ‘Danny, we were just
talking about this. This distance.
With you. Like at Christmas, I mean,
I know you don’t like Dad, but you
could have made some effort…’
The man was still staring at the
board, entranced. Customers bustled
around him and he twitched at each
one, as if not knowing what they
were there for, or scared they might
hurt him. But they ignored him, and
he relaxed. His skin was waxy in the
warm café. He must have been very
cold outside in that thin coat, the
rain was freezing, although in fact he
appeared completely dry. He glanced
away from the board and around the
room, and for a moment we made eye
contact. I looked back at Janet.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I know I’ve not
been my best recently.’
Her face collapsed into sympathetic
misery. ‘Oh, Danny, please, I
didn’t mean to…’ She moved one
hand hesitantly forward, in vague
exploration, not quite finding mine.
‘It’s awful, this, isn’t it? I’m sorry.’
‘But really, isn’t this something we
can sort out?’ I tried. ‘Like before?
We can do that, can’t we? Remember,
we were going to try a retreat, get
some time to ourselves. Remember,
we said we’d do that?’
She paused. Then her hand
returned to her side of the table, and
her face darkened. ‘Yes, Danny,’ she
said, quietly. ‘You said you were going
to arrange something.’
‘Exactly—’
‘You said that six months ago.’
‘…Ah.’ I nodded. ‘Yeah.’
The man was watching a couple
in the corner, two teenagers eking
out their drinks and cooing over
them. He stared at them in frank
fascination, his mouth an ‘o’ of
wonder.
Janet shook her head. ‘Look, isn’t
there anything you want to say?’
I thought. I wondered how I felt,
but everything seemed far away and
happening to someone else. She was
always the one with the energy, I was
always the calm. I’d thought that
made us a team. Now, when I needed
energy, I’d lost the knack of it. I
studied the table.
‘Coffee ghosts,’ I said. She
frowned, and I gestured at the faint
brown rings under my cup. ‘That’s
what you called them, remember?
When we first met. You were so
quick. I loved that.’
I shrugged. ‘I loved you.’
She closed her eyes. ‘Danny…’
The man, perhaps swept along by the
other customers, had joined the queue,
and was shuffling towards the front. He
was still looking around, as if uncertain.
The people in front walked away, and
the barista smiled at him.
‘What can I get you?’ she asked.
He gaped at her.
‘I don’t know,’ he said. His voice
was thin, and dry as fireplace ash. It
carried a strange accent, perhaps posh,
perhaps old. ‘I’m not…’ He hesitated,
then pointed to the tray carried by the
people before him. ‘That?’
The barista frowned in puzzlement.
‘Large cappuccino?’
‘Yes?’ he whispered.
‘And a pot of tea?’
He swallowed, and nodded. The
barista shrugged. She rang it up.
‘That will be four seventy-five,
please.’
His lips moved, and I was sure
he wasn’t going to pay, but then he
reached into his jacket pocket and
pulled out a handful of coins, of all
kinds. They were filthy, and some
looked far too ancient and small to be
proper currency. The barista watched
in horrified politeness as he counted
out the newer ones and carefully
pushed them across the counter. He
seemed to concentrate hard as he
pushed them.
‘What are you doing, Danny?’
I snapped back to Janet. ‘You’re
drifting,’ she said. ‘Work… us… I
mean, what is it you want?’
I opened my mouth to answer, but
couldn’t think of anything to say. She
watched me.
www.writers-online.co.uk
Read
the judges’
‘It was nice, comments at
at first,’ she http://writ.rs/
said at last. ‘I wmfeb22
mean, when
we met. You
know me, I’m
always rushing about, arranging stuff,
parties, mad crazy, right?’ She smiled.
‘You were so calm. It was… nice.
It was like I could relax with you. I
thought… But we don’t do anything.
We stay in. We sit in coffee shops.
We’re wasting our lives, Danny! I
want to do something.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like, anything!’
Behind Janet, the man received his
tray, a brimming coffee cup and a
white teapot, and regarded them with
that same expression of delight and
terror. The barista pushed it forward,
and he retreated a half-step, then
steadied himself. He placed his hands
at the sides of the tray and gripped it
in shaking fingers.
‘Are you all right, sir?’ asked the
barista. ‘Do you need a hand?’
‘No,’ he whispered. ‘No, thank you,
madam.’
He glared at his hands until they
stopped trembling, and then – as if with
every ounce of his strength – he lifted
the tray and tottered a few steps away.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Janet.
I sighed. ‘It’s okay. I understand.’
Now her face twisted. ‘That’s it?
You understand? That’s all you’ve got
to say?’
‘Well, what do you want me to say?’
‘For God’s sake, doesn’t this mean
anything to you?’
‘I—’
There was a crash.
The man stood alone in the middle
of the café, shaking and sweating. At
his feet was the tray, and the coffee
cup and the teapot smashed on the
floor, scalding liquid everywhere, a
teaspoon bouncing away with a tinny
noise like a bell. Janet turned and
stared. Everyone stared. The man’s
face was ridden with dismay.
‘I’m… I’m so sorry,’ he said, in his
strange accent. ‘I’m so terribly sorry,
I—’
The barista came around the
FEBRUARY 2022 43
counter with a tub and a cloth.
‘It’s okay,’ she said, without looking
at him. ‘Not to worry.’
‘I just wanted to… to feel again…’
He stopped. His trousers were soaked
to the knee, but he didn’t seem to
notice. He was… faint, suddenly.
Washed out, as if the light could
shine right through him, and his
hands, he lifted his hands and I could
see, I thought I could see…
Janet turned back, her lips pursed.
She said nothing. The barista was
still collecting broken crockery, and
someone at the back was laughing.
The door swung open and the man
was there, heaving at the handle.
He squeezed through the gap, still
looking back in shame, and the rain
lashed around him, but not on him,
and for a moment, I was sure, I saw
the handle under his hand, through
his hand; and his green jacket was
pale and faint but more like velvet,
and the white T-shirt was a blouse
with a ruffled throat…
Short Stories always required for
And then he was gone.
Janet fastened her scarf and jacket. RUNNER-UP AND SHORTLISTED
She seemed annoyed, but also Runners-up in the Grand Prize
relieved, as if having completed an competition were:
unpleasant job. I felt a little sorry for • second, £250, Amanda Marples,
her. It couldn’t have been easy. Rotherham, South Yorkshire
‘Most of my stuff is sorted,’ she • third, £100, Steven Mitchell, St
said. ‘I’ve been boxing it in the back Albans, Hertfordshire
room. I’ll come around and collect • fourth, WM critique, Judith Wilson,
it sometime when you’re on shift. I’ll Altrincham, Greater Manchester
leave the key.’ • fifth, WM subscription, Guy Carter,
I sighed. ‘Yes.’ Petersfield, Hampshire
She nodded. ‘Well, then.’ She Also shortlisted were: Kiran Ahmad,
stood, and hesitated. ‘Good, ah. Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Terry Baldock,
Good luck.’ Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire; Ellie
I shrugged. ‘Thank you.’ Broughton, London E17; Michael
Then she left, and I was staring at the Callaghan, Glasgow; James Ellis,
table, and at my own hands, examining Lewes, East Sussex; Diane Kneafsey,
them in the light. They seemed solid, Knowle, West Midlands; Jackie Morris,
but I watched them for a long time, Wormley, Surrey; Gillean Somerville-
wondering if they were about to Arjat, Edinburgh; Hilary Taylor,
change, wondering if she would come Sudbury, Suffolk.
back, wondering what to do.
The coffee ghosts were still there
on the table. After a while, I took my
napkin and rubbed them away.
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 Win
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After an incredibly strong showing
in its first two years, we’re pleased
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your contact details on the first page. For full formatting guidelines, please see p63
 How do you create an effective ending in fiction?
Margaret James has advice on how to wrap up your stories.
hile you’re reading some kinds of stories,
W it’s advisable to keep a box of tissues handy,
especially as you race towards the end.
I certainly made use of my own stack
of Kleenex while I was turning the final
few pages of Jojo Moyes’ bestseller Me Before You and had
realised that very soon the two central characters were going
to be saying their last goodbyes.
Saying a final farewell to someone we love – a child, a sibling,
a parent, a friend – is one of the hardest and saddest thing we
ever have to do in real life. It can be almost as difficult to say
goodbye to characters in a novel or even a short story, especially
if we’ve become their friends, have been on challenging journeys
with them, and know that we’ll miss them so much that we’ll
be reluctant to return to the real world.
But it has to be done, so how should you go about it?
First of all, you’ll need to ask yourself: what will my
reader expect? Also, what will be in keeping with the kind
of fiction I’m writing? A fan of cosy crime isn’t going to
expect an attack by a deranged lone gunman that leaves
everyone bloodily dead. A reader of light-hearted romantic
comedies won’t want to watch the hero and heroine walking
not into the sunset, but over a cliff. A violent political
thriller shouldn’t end with the hero taking his mother to
do her weekly food shop in Tesco, because that would be
ridiculously anti-climactic, wouldn’t it?
What kind of ending will be in keeping with your own
46 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
story-in-progress?
Make the right decision(s), and your reader will not only
be satisfied with your ending, but will also hope to meet
your characters again. Or, if that’s not going to be possible,
to read your next story.
You probably won’t be able to please everyone. The final
line of The Great Gatsby (So we beat on, boats against the
current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.) doesn’t really do
it for me, but it tends to be the highest-ranking one in many
lists of the best novel endings. This link will take you to
Gatsby’s ending and also to ninety-nine more: https://writ.
rs/closinglines. It’s worth checking them out.
At some point in the production process, even the non-
planners among us have to think about ending their stories,
and ask themselves how they can best tie everything up.
Or almost everything. Do you hope to write a sequel to
your current work-in-progress? A few very peripheral but
intriguing loose ends, or an unresolved issue for a minor
character, might prove to be the perfect portal into your
next book.
But try not to leave your central characters stranded,
wondering what to do next. We’ve all read reviews which
complain that the ending of a story is so weird, unlikely,
confusing or banal that the reviewer wonders if the author
hoped readers would be happy to do the author’s job for
him, and make up their own minds.
I’ve certainly finished reading novels whose endings

have confused me, whereas on a second reading I’ve found that
everything has clicked into place. So I do accept it’s a possibility
that some readers might miss those vital clues which would help
them to understand an apparently ambivalent ending.
Sometimes, however, the clues aren’t there. They might be in the
author’s head, but they’ve never made it to the printed page. This is
where a beta reader can be really useful, so it’s always worth trying
to find one, especially if you are writing crime or mystery fiction.
Planner or determined non-planner, there will almost certainly
come a time – maybe at second or third draft stage – when you
should to look at your story and make a few notes on how you
could best plant a few tips and hints about the backgrounds of your
central characters. This is important because you won’t want your
readers to complain that your ending is convenient. Convenience
in fiction is rarely satisfying. A character suddenly revealing that
he or she can conveniently fly a plane (because the pilot has had
an unexpected heart attack) or conveniently play the violin to
performance standard (because the original soloist has been killed or
held up in traffic) when nobody has ever suspected anything of the
sort, is likely to make a reader laugh, but not in a good way. So, if
you’re ever tempted to round off a story conveniently, at least drop
a few hints about a character’s hidden talents early on.
What will happen to your characters in the afterlife of your story?
Many readers enjoy speculating about what their favourite
characters might do in the future. Some readers are even moved
to write about it. These days, fan fiction is huge, especially on
dedicated websites about characters in popular television series,
movies and children’s fiction. There are also commercially published
novels that offer new takes on characters in classic fiction that’s
now out of copyright. Since their creators first introduced them
to us, I’ve met Mr Darcy and Mr Rochester several times in other
people’s material which I feel is basically fan fiction, although I
doubt if novelists of the stature of the late PD James, who wrote the
bestseller Death Comes to Pemberley, would agree with me. Here is
a link which you might find interesting if you think writing fan (or
tribute) fiction might be for you: https://writ.rs/fanfic
You might not want to write fan fiction yourself, but it could be
worth looking at how other writers continue stories whose endings
their original authors must have hoped were done and dusted to
everyone’s satisfaction. What else could there be to say? Well, you
might be surprised.
NOW TRY THIS
As you work on the ending of your current story or stories in progress,
maybe you could think about your own reading, and about whose
story endings have particularly impressed you, then ask yourself:
• Why did these endings impress you?
• Why did other story endings not impress you?
• Whose stories have tricked you, fobbed you off, misled you, made
you feel stupid, asked you to make up your own mind, depressed you
or short-changed you?
• Whose endings have satisfied and delighted you?
I wish I’d
known
with Bibi Berki
‘Just shut up and keep writing.
‘This is easily the most important piece of
advice I should have given my younger self
when I couldn’t see beyond rejections. I’d
set my heart on becoming a novelist, and it
never even occurred to me that I should write
anything except novels. But what harm could it
have done to diversify a little? The aim is to be
read, after all.
‘To be fair, when I started out, the publishing
world was a little different. You sent three
chapters and a self-addressed envelope to a
literary agent, then waited a couple of months
for that same envelope to land on your doormat.
I was always convinced that rejection meant the
manuscript was no good, so I’d write another
book – and another, and another.
‘Nowadays, the landscape is very different.
Self-publishing is not only acceptable, but it
can also makes sound business sense. Blogs
and websites mean that your work can be
accessed very easily, and social media helps you
to reach interested readers. There are countless
competitions which bring with them untold
opportunities. And everyone is looking for
stories, not least production companies making
podcasts or short films.
‘Nobody, apart from a handful of agents, ever
saw those early manuscripts. At the time, I was
too proud, too embarrassed, too self-critical, and
all that work was shelved.
‘I think the biggest change in my writing
habits – which brought with it a modest change
in my fortunes – has been a more collaborative
approach to my writing. A critical friend is a
necessity. Or, at least, it has been for me.
‘If you wish to carry on writing, I feel that
thinking in terms of success or failure can be
problematic. I’ve learned that all you can do is put
your head down, and keep telling your stories.’
FEBRUARY 2022 47
 T h e
power
of
three
Helen M Walters explores the possibilities of the number three in fiction,
with a short story by Andrea Lee
T
his month’s story tells us what it’s going to do
right from the first sentence. Three by Andrea
Lee starts out by telling us it is going to be the
story of three people who have died, and that’s
what it delivers. As always, you’ll get the most
out of this masterclass if you read the story for yourself, but
please be aware that there are some sensitive and potentially
upsetting themes in this story: https://writ.rs/andrealee
We know the number three is going to be important in
the story since it appears in the title and then is immediately
reflected in the first sentence. We know that we are going to
hear about three people who are important to the narrator:
Ombretta, Francescon and Remo. The three people are all
connected to the narrator, and in various ways to each other.
Notice how the three strands of the story intertwine as
the three people’s lives and deaths overlap. Ombretta dies in
a room where the ceiling is adorned by flowers painted by
Francescon. The narrator remembers seeing Remo weeping
on the day of Ombretta’s funeral and when Francescon lies
dying in hospital, five months on from Ombretta’s death, the
narrator hears that Remo has hanged himself. We have already
been warned that the three will die in the course of the story
but there is still a sense of tension as the inevitable plays out.
The number three recurs elsewhere throughout the
story. Ombretta has three sons, for example. She lives on
her second son’s land in a house of three dark rooms, set
amongst the three villas occupied by the rest of the family.
Note the description of the villas stacked on a hillside like
‘the layers of a cake’. This is not only a great visual image,
48 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk
but also draws a parallel to the story which also has many
layers as we dip into it.
As a young woman we are told that Ombretta enjoyed
dancing waltzes – a dance with three beats. The family cat
is trapped in a tree for three days before Remo rescues it.
Towards the end of his life, Remo becomes involved in a
love triangle with two women competing for his affections.
Numbers other than three also take on a significance
within the story. There is a six-month period spanning the
three deaths, with Remo killing himself five months on from
Ombretta’s death. Francescon is described as being six feet
tall, although he seems taller when his illness makes him lose
weight. Six men carry his coffin when he dies.
The narrator is a second wife and feels the vulnerabilities
associated with that. Remo lives in a two-room annexe to
Ombretta’s cottage and she treats him like a fourth son.
Ombretta has a silver lily with seven petals which is argued
over by two of her daughters in law after her death. Remo
cheats on his wife with ‘ten or twelve’ other women. The
significance of numbers is everywhere in this story.
At the end of the story we realise what should have been
obvious from the start. This has not been the story of three
people, but that of four. We get the first clue to this when
the narrator refers to a ‘quartet’ early on in the story. But it
is only at the end that it is fully articulated. The narrator has
been so invested in the other three and their lives that she
only realises when they are gone that she is the fourth part
of the picture. Completing it.
Ombretta is her mother-in-law and she loves her with a

fierceness only realised just before she dies. She sleeps in a
bed made by Remo, in a house decorated by Francescon. She
also reflects that she is an outsider, as they all were in their
own way. Perhaps it took their deaths to make her realise
how much she was a part of their lives.
Let me draw your attention in particular to the final
paragraph. Beautifully crafted, it brings an element of all
three storylines into a closing vignette. The iron bed made
by Remo, and the letter to his lover that never arrived.
Francescon’s art, and Ombretta’s crumbling lavender sachets.
Now that’s how you end a story!
THREE TIMES
Three is a very satisfying number, isn’t it? That’s probably
why it appears in so many popular expressions, like three
wishes and third time lucky.
But how can we use the number three to help us in our
short story writing?
THREE’S A CROWD
As the old saying goes: two’s company, three’s a crowd.
Inserting a third person into a situation where two people are
coexisting happily can really get sparks flying.
Maybe your story starts with a married couple, just settling
into wedded bliss. How would your story play out if you
inserted a cantankerous in-law from one side of the family or
the other descending on them because they are ill and need
care. Or because they’ve had a falling out with their own
spouse. Or perhaps you could start with two best friends
who have grown used to each other’s company and see what
happens when you throw in a new romantic involvement for
one of them. How will that change the dynamic between the
original two characters?
And don’t forget the plot possibilities of the eternal triangle
where one character can’t decide between two possible love
interests. How many different ways can you think of to bring
three characters into conflict and create a compelling plot?
THE POWER OF THREE
In writing terms the power of three means the grouping
together of three words, phrases or events for maximum effect.
Grouping three words or phrases together results in
powerful, memorable combinations like ‘Stop, Look, Listen’
as part of a road safety campaign, ‘Snap, Crackle and Pop’
as part of an advertising campaign and ‘I came, I saw, I
conquered’ as attributed to Julius Caesar.
As well as the satisfying feeling of three words or phrases
working together, the power of three also lies behind, for
example, Scrooge being visited by three ghosts (the ghosts
of Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future),
Goldilocks visiting the home of three bears and tasting
porridge that was too hot, too cold and then just right, and
the three little pigs whose houses all suffer different fates when
attacked by the big bad wolf. It’s almost as though if the reader
only gets two things in a row, they are waiting for the third
thing to happen and only feel satisfied when it does.
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MASTERCLASS
Can you think of any more examples of this in literature? I
nearly gave you a fourth, but then I thought better of it.
Of course, you’ll also find that your writing is split into
three in the sense that your story has a beginning, a middle
and an end. Sometimes, in screen writing or novel writing
they may be considered as three acts. In short story writing
you may not necessarily follow a strict three-act structure,
but those three things all have to be there in order to make
your story work. Your challenge is to get the balance right
between the three.
TRIPTYCH
Triptych is actually a term from art and photography, but
bear with me while I explain how it could also be relevant
to writing. In the artistic sense it means a picture in three
parts – usually a bigger central part flanked by two smaller
side panels. Usually the panels work together in some way,
showing aspects of the same scene or subject. If you look
up the subject on the internet you’ll be able to see some
examples which will show you what I mean.
In writing terms this encourages us to think of how we can
show different aspects of a story. In this month’s story we have
three characters who are all presented to us through the eyes
of a fourth character – the narrator. How could that story
have played out differently? What would it be like if the three
people’s stories had been told in their own words, or in each
other’s words, rather than through the eyes of the narrator?
In a short story you do have to be careful about swapping
between too many different points of view, but sometimes it
can be a useful tool. Think back to the section above where
we were talking about scenarios where three characters are
thrown together and put into conflict with each other. You
could certainly bring those to life by including all three
points of view.
But, if you didn’t want to do that, how could you help the
reader see the three points of view in a different way? Well,
if you used the triptych approach you could have the main
panel – the bulk of the story – in your main character’s point
of view and then find a way of bringing in ‘side panels’ to
give the reader glimpses into the other two people’s thoughts.
There are various ways in which you could do this. You
could do it through dialogue. Just have the characters come
out and say what they think and feel. Or perhaps they
could be talking to someone else while your main character
eavesdrops. Alternatively, they could put it in writing. They
could send the main character a letter or email. Or they
could write it in a diary which the main character could end
up taking a sneaky peek at. Either way, that allows you to
bring their thoughts in without overshadowing the character
you want to be the centre of attention.
See how many other ways you can think of to use the magic
power of three in your writing. You might be surprised.
VISIT
https://writ.rs/andrealee
TO READ THE STORY
FEBRUARY 2022 49
 FA N TA S T I C R E A L M S
The ROOTS
OF fantasy
Alex Davis explores the journey
of the genre from its origins
F
antasy is a genre often seen
as one that evokes the past,
drawing upon distinctive
historical periods in creating
its unique worlds and
locations. As such, it seems only suitable
that it should be a genre with its own
long past, which arguably still hangs
over much fiction in the field today.
With that said, the term itself only
came into common usage in the 1940s,
so much work that came before it has
been retroactively argued to fit into a
definition that simply didn’t exist at the
time – and that is not a problem solely
50 FEBRUARY 2022
encountered by fantasy either.
Of course, as writers, it is hugely
beneficial to know the roots of our
chosen ‘patch’ in order to provide a
better understanding of the tropes and
archetypes that fill it, as well as the
stories that have laid down the facets
that helped define it. In this piece we’re
going to look back – and I mean way
back – into the stories that provided
the genesis for what would come to be
known as fantasy fiction. In the next
pages we’ll be exploring the history up to
the emergence of one JRR Tolkien, but
not further…
www.writers-online.co.uk
Mysteries of the mythic
There’s plenty of argument about just
how much the Greek Myths can truly be
considered fantasy fiction, and you’ll find
plenty of these semantical and content-
based discussions going on across many
genres. For example, you could easily say
that modern fantasy as we know it takes
place in a world besides Earth in the vast
majority of cases, whereas the famed tales
of Ancient Greece were located in the
real world – though this was presented
as a place infused with the mischief and
caprices of powerful gods. With that said,
it’s not hard to see Homer’s Odyssey as one
of the most fundamental quest narratives
of the sort that would become so popular
with fantasy fiction. And much fantasy
has called upon beasts and even gods
from the Greek Myths, and plenty
more folklores and mythologies beyond
that – the Norse pantheon is another
striking example.
I’d argue there’s a huge amount of value
to a fantasy writer to go back to the works
of this era, where stories of magic and
heroism and glorious battles were so often
seen. While they may not have had all the
hallmarks of fantasy as we know it now,
many of the pivotal aspects of the genre
had their first outings within this milieu.
Early texts
A wide range of very early works of
poetry and fiction are also well worth
the time of any aspiring fantasy writer,
though I won’t have time to explore all
of them here. The epic poem of Beowulf
remains a vital text in the field, and
sees the titular hero battling monsters
and dragons in a way that would be
echoed many times over the centuries
to come. Even before the likes of The
Odyssey and The Iliad we had The Epic
of Gilgamesh, which is widely believed
to have influenced those tales with the
incredible exploits of its protagonist.
Early Chinese ‘youxia’ fiction – the
roots of the very popular ‘wuxia’ genre
that we see today – also provide further
valuable background for authors
wanting to know more about fantasy’s
route into existence. In many regards
it’s almost impossible to read something
‘too early’ where it comes to a history of
this particular realm of fiction.
Fairy tales can come true
Another place to call upon for the roots
of fantasy fiction would be the original
fairy tales. While again largely taking
place in the world as we know it, these
would feature all sorts of magic and
witchery, the likes of which would also
become key elements of fantasy fiction.
It was common for these also to feature
quests – Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty
leap to mind – and, like much fantasy
in the years to come, they would feature
characters who were good, virtuous and
were always out to help others. Good
would invariably triumph over evil,
which was a long-held industry standard
for fantasy fiction. You could argue this
type of classic fantasy hero has perhaps
become a little less popular today – with
the emergence of ‘grimdark’ seeing
far more dubious, morally ambivalent
protagonists come to the fore – but the
early days of the genre were fuelled by
heroes taking up arms for those not able
to fight for themselves.
True romance
It also has to be said that today’s fantasy
owes a large debt to yesterday’s romance
fiction – well, not strictly yesterday’s, but
that of many centuries ago. Knightly
romances were not uncommon, with
chivalrous and brave warriors facing a
wide range of adversaries in their quest
for right – and some of the strange and
supernatural beings they fought would
in time become staples in fantasy fiction.
That’s without even mentioning the story
of King Arthur, which remains a pivotal
tale in the field, with Merlin so often seen
as the archetypal wise older wizard still
employed in stories today.
Fantasy and the gothic
Bear with me here, because I haven’t
suddenly forgotten my topic and started
writing about horror. It has to be added
that the early works of Gothic fiction
were a strong influence on fantasy,
bringing ever more supernatural elements
into stories – although in some cases
they left it up to speculation whether
these supernatural elements were real
or not. But works like Walpole’s Castle
of Otranto and particularly William
Beckford’s Vathek have elements that
would recognisably become embraced
by fantasy in time, particularly in what
would become known as dark fantasy.
You might even want to include authors
like Edgar Allan Poe and HP Lovecraft in
that particular evolution.
The spirit of adventure
An interesting thing that began before
the emergence of the pulps – and indeed
might have been instrumental in them
becoming so successful – was the growing
popularity of adventure stories in the
early 1900s. While H Rider Haggard was
debatably the first one there – particular
in what would become known as the ‘lost
world’ subgenre – the most popular and
well-known name in the area would be
Edgar Rice Burroughs, invariably linked
with Tarzan but also an active author of
fantasy and SF fiction, not to mention
many other genres beside.
I’ve long argued the point that while
the Tarzan series ostensibly takes place in
Africa – for the most part, at least – it is
a version of the continent so far removed
from the geographical, physical and
cultural realities of it to be a fantasy world
in all but name. While fiction of this era
doubtless has some highly questionable
content in the context of 2021, the focus
on action, battles, courage and triumph
over adversity will still be recognisable to
a modern reader.
Pulp and proud
No history of fantasy, SF or indeed
horror would be complete without
giving a mention to the pulp magazines.
While so often derided today – even
the term can be seen as being somewhat
denigrating – the likes of Weird Tales
and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science
Fiction played a key role in the emerging
careers of many writers who would go
on to be titans in the field, as well as
heavily influencing generations of writers
to come. Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz
Leiber, Robert E Howard and CL Moore
would all obtain early breaks in the
pages of the pulps before creating some
of the most iconic characters in fantasy,
particularly Howard’s Conan and
Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.
And I think it’s fair to say that many a
fantasy writer would love to see as lively
www.writers-online.co.uk
a magazine scene as we had just under a
century ago. While there are many fine
publications doing good work today, the
audience for magazines of this ilk will
likely never be what it was back then.
And then a little book called The
Hobbit emerged in 1937, and the fantasy
genre would start to take off like never
before. But that feels a little too modern
for our purposes…
Tracing the origins of a genre is often
a challenge, because in every case it
stretches far beyond the birth of the
term, let alone the genre being widely
recognised in common parlance. As
readers we go looking for those facets
that have come before it, the sort of
‘proto-genre’ stories that authors who
would come to call themselves fantasy
writers would reflect upon and employ
numerous elements of.
Unlike its close neighbour science-
fiction – which I think you could safely
say generally looks forward – fantasy
is a genre that often looks to the past
for its inspiration, calling upon not
just great stories of yesteryear for raw
source material, but often the culture
and societies of yesteryear themselves.
In this way, I would argue that a
knowledge of the origins of fantasy is
perhaps more important than in the
case of any other genre. It’s no surprise
that updated retellings of myths and
fairy tales have become popular, because
they call upon fictional elements that
live within our common psyche – an
advantageous string that fantasy has to
its bow.
For me, what’s been heartening of
late is to see that while the awareness of
fantasy’s past has not dimmed, what we
have increasingly seen is a genre looking
to move in new directions more than
ever before. As new subgenres grow
in popularity, tropes and archetypes
are not being used in old and familiar
ways, but pushed into new shapes and
forms, giving a tired wallpaper a fresh
lick of paint, and in some cases simply
eschewing these genre staples entirely.
No doubt traditional epic and heroic
fantasy will always have its place, but
the influences of the past are there to be
played with in what is increasingly an
open field.
FEBRUARY 2022 51
 WRITING FOR CHILDREN

A BOOK FOR
EVERY CHILD
Amy Sparkes talks to three children’s authors
about the vital importance of celebrating difference

T he children reading today are the adults of tomorrow. The

books we write can engage, educate, and empower them.
There are two key things we can do: firstly, we can ensure every
child can see themselves in a book; and secondly, we can use
books to explore the similarities and differences between us as
people in an authentic and sensitive way, to break down barriers
and increase understanding.Three authors share their experience
of creating books which accomplish these things.

Louise Gooding: people, just like them. from underrepresented, marginalised or

Just Like Me
‘Just Like Me (Studio
Press, 2021) is about
forty neurologically
and physically diverse people who broke
stereotypes and features biographies from
all around the world. People such as
Stephen Hawking, Selena Gomez, Usain
Bolt, Sudha Chandran, Naoki Higashida,
Greta Thunberg, and many others. Each
story includes struggles and triumphs, a
motivational quote and information on
each condition to help increase awareness
and understanding.
‘The book was illustrated by an
international team who also identify as
neurologically and physically diverse too;
Melissa Iwai, Dante Gabriel Hookey,
Angel Chang and Caterina delli Carri.
‘I came up with the idea for the book
after attending a conference, which
included talks about the need for diverse,
inclusive books. But each time this topic
was mentioned it seemingly left disabilities
out of the conversation.
‘After the conference, I looked for role
models online – people who were also
different, unique, challenging stereotypes
and making a difference to the world
around them and how people saw them.
I was surprised that there was nothing
on the market and approached the
Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency with
a proposal. I was delighted when I was
paired with Chloe Seager, who could see
my passion for helping get these stories
into the hands of people like myself, to
show them the amazing achievements of
I hope that the children who relate
to the people in the book enjoy seeing
such positive stories being shared. Being
able to see yourself, or people like you or
who look like you in a book can be really
validating – people like you being seen,
acknowledged and celebrated.
‘And I hope this book challenges
potential misconceptions of what living
with a neurological or physical difference is
like. Disabilities and illness are just a part
of our journey, our story; we are actually
much more than that, it’s just a part of us.
‘I am a strong believer in the need
for Own Voice representation. When
you personally experience something,
you really have a deep knowledge and
understanding of how something affects
you, and those around you. The triggers,
the thought processes, the trauma and
yes, the joy too. My only worry is that
when we put the spotlight on only Own
Voices, some people begin to judge their
worthiness of being able to step up and
have that pressure on their shoulders. I
know authors who worried whether they
‘‘were autistic enough” to write stories
with autistic representation.
‘Your story is your story. Your
experiences will be unique to you. Stories
need to be told, and your voice and
experiences will relate to so many, as well
as be different from so many. Try not
to worry about pleasing everyone, it’s
impossible. Write your story in the way
you feel it’s best to be shared.
‘If you’re writing stories which aren’t your
own experiences but feature characters
neurodiverse communities, then research,
research, research. Speak to people in these
communities and explore why you feel
it is your place to write these stories or
include these characters. Are you seeing
that character through their eyes and
experiences? Are you just including that
character to tick a diversity box, or does
it mean something to you? We of course
need characters from all backgrounds,
we need to normalise their inclusion, but
it’s important that we take care of them
and make sure they aren’t projecting any
negative stereotypes or tropes.
‘Even for those with lived experience,
it’s worth making sure that your work is
inclusive and represented fairly. I highly
recommend that people contact Inclusive
Minds (www.inclusiveminds.com) who
specialise in breaking down barriers and
challenging stereotypes in kidlit. They offer
different services to make sure that you
are offering the best representation in your
stories and are avoiding harmful tropes.
‘Please do include diverse storylines and
characters, we really need them, but make
sure you do your research and look after
your characters.’
Louise is a children’s author from the
UK, currently based in Zurich.
Inspired by stories from her own
experiences and within her family,
she took up writing to find a way of
discussing neurological and physical
diversity, and how to explore other
sensitive issues within children’s books.
Website: www.louisegooding.com

52 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 Rachael Davis:
I Am NOT A Prince
‘I am NOT a Prince is
an inclusive, rhyming,
twisted fairy tale that
challenges gender
stereotypes, published by Hachette on
20 January. It is a debut picture book
for both me and the illustrator, Beatrix
Hatcher, which makes it extra special for
us. On a misty lagoon in a fairy tale land,
young frogs wait patiently to be turned
into princes. When Hopp refuses to be
kissed, the magical frog sets off on an
adventure to prove you can be whatever
you want to be.
‘The idea came to me as if by magic. I
had known for a while that I wanted to
write a story about breaking stereotypes,
but I was waiting to find the perfect plot
to deliver the message. One day, a little
frog popped into my head shouting “I am
NOT a Prince!”. I wrote the first draft
in one writing session, which is always a
good sign for me (and incredibly rare). I
Serena Patel:
Anisha, Accidental
Detective series
‘Anisha, Accidental
Detective is currently
a four-book series
with two more coming in 2022.
I work with the amazing Emma
McCann who brings the books to life
with her illustrations and the books
are published by wonderful Usborne
Publishing.
‘I always loved reading but never
saw myself in books. When I became
a mum, I realised how important it
was for my children to have books that
represented their life and background.
That was the driving force for me
starting to write. I had a character in my
mind, a combination of my daughter
and a younger me. Then I started
thinking about our large extended
family and the characters sort of came
based the story around the refrain “Oh, I
am not a prince,” Hopp said, which is used
throughout the book as the story stakes
continually escalate.
‘I sent it to my critique partners and
my Writing Magazine Writing Courses
tutor, Amy Sparkes, and after a few small
tweaks I submitted it to Alice Williams,
who went on to become my literary
agent. We submitted it to editors within
a week and it was taken on by Hachette
three weeks later. But that was just part
one of the editing process. Working with
the editors at Hachette, we redrafted plot
points and page turns to really make the
book the best it could be and let Beatrix’s
illustrations shine through.
‘I think twisting a traditional fairy tale
can be a great way for new writers to
break into writing picture books. You
already have a framework for the plot
which allows you to focus on developing
your voice. You can bring a fresh
perspective to the story, based on your life
experiences, that no other writer could.
to me by themselves from there.
‘Over about a three-year period I
wrote the first book in my spare time,
in between pick-ups and drop-offs, late
at night, etc. I did a writing course and
entered competitions, one of which
landed my work on the desks of agents
and publishers. From there I spent two
years working on it with my publisher.
It was published in March 2020.
‘I never thought anyone would
read my books. I get messages every
week from readers who love Anisha,
see themselves in her stories or have
learned something new about a culture
different to their own. It’s just the
best feeling. Anisha has helped me to
believe in a future where children can
see themselves as the hero of the story.
‘I think all children should be able
to see themselves in books as the main
character not just a sidekick. Books can
act as mirrors where we see ourselves
www.writers-online.co.uk
‘I wrote the picture book I wished I had
as a child, a twisted fairy tale, to remind
me that you don’t have to conform to
what others think you should be, you can
just be yourself. I drew on my own lived
experience of stereotypes and expectations
as a cis woman of colour. Being mixed-
race and female, I often felt stereotyped
and pigeon-holed – and sometimes still
do. I wanted to write a story that was
inclusive to as many children as possible.
I hope lots of readers can relate to it,
including the LGBTQ+ community.’
• Rachael Davis is a mixed-raced
children’s author and book reviewer.
She writes fiction and non-fiction for
children of all ages, both fiction and
non-fiction, and is passionate about
books with inclusive representation.
Rachael is also a judge for the
inaugural Jericho Prize for Black-
British children’s writers.
Website: www.rachaeldavis.co.uk
and our life reflected and also as a
window for us to look through and
experience someone else’s world. Both
are very powerful and important.
‘Your voice is important, tell your
story in your own unique way. Real life
can be a huge source of inspiration too.’
• Serena Patel is the author of the
Anisha, Accidental Detective series which
won the Sainsbury’s Children’s book
Award for Fiction. She lives in the
West Midlands with her family. Serena
believes all children deserve to feel seen
in the stories they read and that books
are an important tool for empathy.
When she’s not writing Serena enjoys
watching movies, reading and eating
cake. Chocolate cake preferred.
Twitter: @serenakpatel
Instagram: _serena_patel_
FEBRUARY 2022 53
 POETRY WORKSHOP
Alison Chisholm explores a
well-crafted poem with a sculpture theme
S
ometimes the idea for a new poem slides
gently into being. Sometimes it crashes
through the poet’s consciousness. Sometimes
a combination of circumstances lead up to
its birth.
For poet Barbara Mosse of Emsworth, Hampshire, a quote
from Michelangelo ignited an idea that started in a workshop
discussion. The discussion was on meta poetry, poems about
poetry, and how most poets seem inspired to write them.
The comment was made that it’s difficult to write an original
meta poem, as they’ve been covered so frequently.
That’s when Michelangelo’s words splashed across Barbara
Mosse’s mind, and quoting them inspired the start of the
poem. But where the artist reports seeing the angel and
knowing the need to carve, here the poem – the angel’s
equivalent – is the narrator, urging the poet to give it the
words that will make it sing. With a neatly crafted metaphor,
the poem uses parallel vocabulary, with a block of verbal
marble that waits for my sculptor to liberate it.
There’s a delightful flight of fancy next, where the potential
poem muses on the tone and form it will be given; and it
promises the poet that its completion will not detract from
54 FEBRUARY 2022
SETTING
IDEAS
free
any store of future ideas.
Barbara Mosse points out that she thoroughly
enjoyed writing her meta poem. As soon as she recalled
Michelangelo’s words, she says, ‘It seemed natural to give
a voice to the poem waiting to be created.’ After an initial
reading to a poetry group, she has ‘tinkered with it a little
bit… mostly by adding some punctuation rather than
messing around with the words.’
The punctuation also involves some indenting of lines, and
this has been done to good effect. The indented appearance
endows these lines with a fraction of extra emphasis. So this
is given to the words of the quotation, then the direct plea
to the poet in the first stanza, and to the qualifications of
the happy and sad references in the second. In stanza three,
it stresses the words implying the timescale, and in the final
stanza, that wonderful evocation of the poet’s rôle. So the
tiny additional stress is neatly placed, and designed to help
the reader phrase the wording easily.
The whole experience of the poem evolved gradually after
the initial flash that triggered it, including the idea about
making the trapped poem the narrator and having it speak
to the poet. Although the poem talks – necessarily – in
 P O E T RY W O R K S H O P

general terms, there is enough concrete material to keep it

grounded; and at its heart the highly specific simile with A potential poem addresses the poet:

THE SCULPTOR
the possibility that the emerging poem will be light and air-
whipped as the froth / on your morning cappuccino.
Does the poem need its explanatory comment before
the title? The only way to decide this is to show it without
the comment to someone who has not yet read it, and see Do you know how long I have been waiting for you?
whether it makes sense. Leaving it in allows the reader to Michelangelo said
approach it from an informed stance. Removing it would ‘I saw the angel in the marble
add a puzzle. Both are acceptable. and carved until I set him free.’
The poem makes excellent use of the sound values I have needed you to do this for me for oh – so long.
of its words. Look at the opening line. The long vowel All potential is here, trapped
sounds, both the monophthongs -oo, -ee and -aw and within my block of verbal marble
the double-sounded diphthongs -oh, -ow and ay draw waiting for you
out the line, aided by the sustained consonants -n, -ng, my sculptor
-l and -w. It would be difficult to speak this line aloud to bring me release.
with a briskness belying its content. The same drawing
out of sound slows the last two lines of the second What form will you give me?
stanza, highlighting the concept of melancholy. A more What thoughts and emotions will quicken my spirit?
brisk wording opens the final stanza. Of the thirteen What mood will emerge?
words in its first two lines, eleven are monosyllabic, and Happy – witty and amusing, light and air-whipped as
the others have only two syllables. This turns the mood the froth
to something sharper, more businesslike. It’s a rallying on your morning cappuccino?
call for the writer to pick up a pen. Or will your sadness take hold of me,
While the poet never loses the attractive conversational crafting and shaping me
tone, she fills her free verse with slant rhymes to retain from the depths of your melancholy?
the poetic voice. There’s repetition in the long of the
first stanza, and with What opening the first three lines Do not fear that what you take from me
of the second, offer recurring in stanza three, and all the today
in stanza four. There is consonance in angel / marble / will diminish what I can offer you
potential / verbal, needed / trapped, shapes / moods, and tomorrow
plenty of assonance, with needed / me, quicken / spirit, for the possibilities I offer are
sadness / crafting, will diminish / possibilities / infinite and infinite…
shapes / safely.
Knowing how and when to end a poem can be a All the shapes and moods
minefield, but The Sculptor covers this expertly. Each stanza of all the poems you will ever write
of the poem has a subtly different voice, and the final one, lie safely within the depths of my unhewn form.
the encouraging and energising factor, sums up the whole Which one will emerge today?
situation in its first three lines and then challenges the poet You are
who is being addressed. There’s a simple question: Which the artist
one will emerge today? That’s followed by an assurance that the word-sculptor
You are… with its accompanying list. The list gives three the explorer –
assertions. The poet is the artist with the skill to identify You decide!
and communicate the poem’s message; the word-sculptor
with the gift of shaping language along the best route;
and the explorer, leading the reader through the voyage of
discovery that is the poem. And at the end, the question is tomorrow… there are an infinite number of poems resting
answered as the baton is placed firmly in the poet’s hand within the verbal marble and every one is available. It just
with the imperative You decide! needs to be hewn out.
This is a poem that starts with uncertainty and moves This meta poem, then, becomes a rallying cry to all
through reassurance to an excitement that is irresistible to poets. Pick up your pen and sing. Or rather, let the poem
the poet and the reader. All the poems are there. The only that’s waiting for you to discover it sing to you, and for
thing to do is unearth the one to address today. As for you, and for all the people who will read it in the future.

FEBRUARY 2022 55
 Let love in
Alison Chisholm launches Writing Magazine’s annual
Love Poetry Competition with advice on crafting a heartfelt love poem
I
f love really does make the world go round, love poetry
has been spinning it at dizzying speed for millennia.
There are love poems among the 305 works in the
world’s oldest collection of Chinese poetry, dating from
the 11th to the 7th century BC. There are love poems in
the poetry magazine delivered last week; and there have been
rather a lot in between.
Our next competition gives Writing Magazine poets the
opportunity to add to this incredible hoard by writing in
any style on any aspect of love. Whether the object of your
affections is a partner, parent or child – or a cat, diamond
tiara or cream doughnut – celebrate that love with a poem.
If you prefer, consider some aspect of love in general, with
the added challenge of making that universal, hard-to-define
emotion the object of concrete wording and imagery.
The introduction to this theme should strike an immediate
word of warning. If – like every other poet on the planet –
you want to write something fresh and original, be prepared
to take time and trouble to think through your ideas very
carefully before you put pen to paper. Or if the ideas only
flow when the pen’s in your hand, be prepared to try any
number of approaches until you can find the response that
inspires and excites you, and will in turn inspire and excite
your readers.
Don’t limit your ideas to a simple description of the
object of your affections. If you can transcend that simple
description while still giving a clear impression of love, you
are already part way to finding a unique poem. Look for
unusual comparisons or metaphors, surprise with apparently
uncomplimentary images, tell your beloved how you feel, or
comment on your feelings of loneliness and the lack of love.
And just when you think these suggestions are offering you
some truly fresh approaches, read Burns’ My love is like a red,
red rose, Shakespeare’s My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s How do I love thee? Let me count
the ways, and Roger McGough’s Vinegar.
Particularly at the start of the writing process, it’s important
to remain open to new possibilities that might pop into
your mind at any moment. As soon as words begin to
land on paper or screen, it’s tempting to feel that you are
locked into that version of your poem without exploring
i .
www.writers-online.co.uk
P O E T RY L A U N C H
further. Sometimes you do, indeed, need to persevere with
that version; but remember that the work-in-progress is
purely that – open to adjustments, improvements and even
complete re-writes. Just as an artist might make and reject
dozens of preliminary sketches, so a poet can acknowledge
the need to start over.
While this can apply to any poem you’re writing, there’s
something about a love poem that makes its creator
feel over-protective of the initial foray and resistant to
changing it. The secret is to keep a copy of every version,
on paper or electronically, and to let them all rest for a
while after working on them. Come back later, and one
version or another will assert itself as the one to pursue.
If that doesn’t happen, repeat the rest. It’s like resting
the poem between revisions. Allowing it to snooze and
breathe between checks helps you to see it more clearly
and make better decisions for it.
Choose your vocabulary with care. There’s an obvious
traditional vocabulary to use in a love poem, but test it before
you apply it. Clichés abound in this theme. If your lovers are
sighing under a moon in June, you are unlikely to be saying
anything original. Watch out for marring a tender love poem
with an unwanted double-entendre. Anything that can be
misconstrued to have a risqué connotation can turn tender to
crude at a stroke. There’s one.
Like every other kind of poetry, love poems needs to work
poetically as well as communicating their message. If you are
using a form, apply it with accuracy and flair throughout.
If there’s rhyme and metre, makes sure they’re exactly right.
If you are using free verse, have plenty of slant rhyme
and careful lineation to establish its credibility as poetry.
Whatever style you choose, don’t forget that appropriate
grammar and syntax will ensure a seamless delivery.
Compromise on these and your poem is like to be weakened
as a result.
After this rather clinical consideration of the love poem,
there’s just one piece of advice to offer. Your theme is
emotion. Write it with heart. Throw yourself into the poem,
find its joy or pain, explore its depths and its lightness,
become one with it; then you have the best chance of success.
Good luck.
SEE P63
FOR ENTRY
DETAILS, FULL
RULES AND
ENTRY FORMS
FEBRUARY 2022 56
NEW AUTHOR PROFILE
Sarah Bonner
The new psychological thriller author
D
ebut author Sarah Bonner has something
good to say about the pandemic: it brought
about redundancy and allowed her to
concentrate on her writing. Net result: Her
Perfect Twin sees publication by Hodder &
Stoughton imprint Hodder Studio this month.
A psychological thriller about identity and the possibility
of re-invention, involving sibling rivalry and a toxic
marriage, it began life as a short story.
‘Originally,’ says Sarah, ‘it was about a woman debating
if she should go on a second date with a man who thought
she was her identical twin. Once I’d decided that he
thought Megan was the other twin because she was trying
to cover up a murder, I realised her story was far too big to
be told in a few thousand words!’
The book was completed quickly. ‘I started writing at the
end of August 2020, completing the first draft in about a
month. I didn’t have a day job or children, and there were a
ton of Covid restrictions, so my social life was non-existent.
After a couple of rounds of edits, including getting some
beta readers to provide feedback, something I really believe
in, I was ready to submit to agents at the end of November.
‘Like most authors, I have a novel tucked away in a
drawer that will probably never see the light of day. I call
it my “training novel”, which taught me how to write, plot
and create characters. I must have re-written it about a
dozen times.’
‘I’ve always been a huge bookworm – my mum taught me
to read when I was about three – and grew up in a house
full of books. Visiting the library was a weekly affair and
I’d read the entire kids’ section by the time I was ten. As
a teenager, I trained in the performing arts and wanted to
become a playwright and a theatre director. Then, for some
unfathomable reason, I ended up doing a hospitality degree
and becoming an accountant.’
‘I started writing when I was 36. I was going through
a bit of a tough time and needed something to pour my
emotions into. Writing gave me that opportunity, but then
I fell in love with it and couldn’t stop.
‘Writing during the pandemic, with nowhere to go
and very little else to do, I think some of the oppressive
claustrophobia made its way into the story. It presented
www.writers-online.co.uk
tells Adrian Magson how she
profited from the pandemic
some unique challenges for research though, as everything
had to be online. It’s the reason why the book is set in
places I know extremely well. The main action is in
Guildford, my university town and somewhere I have lived
on and off over the years. There is a point in the book
where one character goes on a trip and I set this part in Las
Vegas, which is where I got married and where my husband
and I went on holiday in 2020.
‘I was incredibly lucky landing an agent. I spent a lot of
time researching and shortlisted about 10-15 agents in the
UK. One of them was with the DHH Literary Agency,
who I discovered were running a pitching event, with a
closing date of that week. I spent a hectic couple of days
pulling together a covering letter and giving my synopsis
and sample a final polish, before submitting at the final
hour. A few days later I was offered a spot at their pitching
event and was able to meet Hannah Sheppard over Zoom
for a 1-2-1 session. Hannah was really excited about the
book and asked me to send her the full manuscript that
afternoon. She read it over the weekend and offered to
represent me on the following Monday.
‘I have a two book deal with Hodder Studio and my
second psychological thriller (the title to be decided) will be
published in early 2023.
SARAH’S TOP TIPS
• Read lots – in the genre you write, in other genres, books
about writing, articles and blogs and non-fiction. I’ve even
read a few books about reading!
• Get feedback. It’s the only way to understand what works
and what needs more focus. Join a writing group or even
consider a creative writing course that has a workshopping
element to it.
• Try not to compare your first draft to a published
novel. That will have gone through numerous rounds of
editing with multiple people providing insight.
• Write the kind of book you want to read. You don’t
have to write ‘the next great British novel’ or something
that will change a generation: write to entertain, to bring
joy, to offer escape.
FEBRUARY 2022 57
THE BUSINESS OF WRITING
Promo
post
Simon Whaley chats to three authors
who use promotional email newsletter
services to boost their writing business
L
aunched in January 2012,
BookBub is a promotional
email newsletter service
offering bargain books to
their millions of subscribers.
For many self-published authors,
getting a BookBub promotion, or deal
as it is sometimes known, can send
their book to the top of the charts,
boosting sales by thousands, if not tens
of thousands, of copies.
Unsurprisingly, services like BookBub
are now attracting the traditional
publishers, but where one leads, others
follow, and there are now several similar
services authors can use to boost their
writing business, many with more
affordable costs. But when should we use
these services to get the maximum benefit,
and what’s the best way to use them?
Emily Organ (https://emilyorgan.
com) is the author of the Penny Green
Victorian Mystery series, and the second
book in her Augusta Peel 1920s mysteries
comes out this March. She uses BookBub
mainly to promote her backlist.
‘I usually use newsletter services
like BookBub when I want to run a
promotion on one of my backlist titles,’
she explains. ‘I find it’s a really good
way to keep readers interested in a
series. It’s no secret that older titles can
lose their visibility on retailers such as
Amazon, so regular price promotions
can raise the profile of those books and
help them find new readers. They’re
particularly useful for the first book
in the series as that can result in more
buy-through for the rest of the series.
Box-set promotions work really well too
as readers can get very excited about
getting a few books for the price of one.
And if they enjoy the boxset, hopefully
58 FEBRUARY 2022
they’ll be tempted to buy the next one.
I like to time the promotion of backlist
titles with a new release.’
Plan ahead
Promotional slots in these email services
get booked up quickly, so Emily suggests
planning well in advance.
‘At the beginning of each year, I draw
up a plan for my new releases and the
books I would like to promote. The plan
often changes a bit, but I usually try to
schedule backlist promotions with new
releases. For example, I’ll promote the
first book in the series just before the
newest one is released. I usually book my
promotions a month or two in advance.’
But these services don’t just offer a
sales boost. There are other benefits to
be had, too.
‘While an uplift in sales can be a
benefit,’ says Emily, ‘the sales spike is
often brief. My main goal is to find
new readers and hope that they’ll buy
my other books if they enjoy the one
they bought in the promotion. I think
regular promotions are important as they
put your books in front of readers’ eyes
– even if they don’t buy the promoted
book there and then. Once a reader
has seen a few promotions in my series,
they might be tempted to give it a try
when the next promotion comes along. I
usually see an uptick in newsletter sign-
ups too, which is certainly a benefit as
my mailing list is very important to me.’
Alison Morton (www.alison-morton.
com), whose latest thriller is Double
Pursuit, has experimented with other
promotional newsletter services.
‘BookBub featured deals are the gold
standard,’ she says, ‘but it’s hard to get a
slot in their schedule. The average success
www.writers-online.co.uk
i .
rate is one featured deal secured per five
applications. Even if you only bag an
international (non-US) deal, the results
outweigh those from any other promoter
by several times. For my alternative
history thriller series, I use special
science fiction and fantasy services like
BookBarbarian, which has the benefit of
a niche subscriber audience.’
Wider strategy
Timing is important, as Alison
understands, which is why she uses
these services as part of her wider
marketing strategy.
‘When launching a book, I use blog
tours, organised and self-organised from
my own launch list, as well as sending
out to my own newsletter subscribers.
This is the period when the ebook is at
its full price, typically £3.99.
‘I use Bargain Booksy as a secondary
boost, she continues, ‘the first usually
about six months after initial launch.
Their subscribers are, as you might
guess from the name, looking for a
great deal, so I will offer my book at
99p or 99¢.’
Again, it’s important to plan, and
Alison usually books her slot with
Bargain Booksy about four to six weeks
in advance. Like Emily, she finds these
services offer more than an increase in
book sales.
‘The benefits are an uplift in sales,
which is always gratifying; reaching
different readers, and; highlighting other
books in my series. Newsletter sign-ups
are a bonus.’
Target readers
Author MJ Porter (www.
mjporterauthor.com) writes historical
novels set in 7th, 9th and 10th century
England, and has recently published
The Automobile Assassination, the
second in a new 1940s Erdington
Mysteries series. Previously, MJ has
used BookBub but was keen to use
other newsletters to target different
readerships in specific countries.
I chose the Fussy Librarian for my
latest promotion because I wanted
to try out some of the alternatives to
BookBub,’ says MJ, ‘and I had recently
attended a conference where the Fussy
Librarian had been mentioned by a
fellow author. The Fussy Librarian was
also a way of connecting with a US
audience, as to date, my BookBub deals
have all been international ones.’
Like Emily and Alison, MJ opted to
promote an existing book, rather than a
latest release.
‘I decided to run a free promotion for
a book that has been out for some time,
to give it a boost, because my more recent
titles have been quite different in tone, if
not in setting, and I wanted to highlight
that not all of my books were filled with
gory battle scenes set in the Saxon period.
I haven’t yet used it for a new release but I
will do so in the future.’
So far, MJ is pleased with the results,
particularly the sales.
‘The Fussy Librarian certainly ensures
your book is seen by many people. I
was really impressed by the number of
downloads, and the ability to connect
with an audience in the US. Almost
all of my downloads were from the US
while the book was offered as a free
deal via Amazon. I currently only use
Amazon to sell my books. The Fussy
Librarian service can be used with all
ebook platforms. As the promotion
was only done quite recently, I can’t yet
say what the long-term benefit will be,
but I hope to gather more reviews on
Amazon US and hopefully, readers who
enjoyed the book will decide to read the
EMAIL NEWSLETTER SERVICES
• www.bookbub.com
• www.thefussylibrarian.com
• www.bargainbooksy.com
• www.freebooksy.com
two other books in the trilogy.’
Multiple approach
Having so many promotional newsletter
services means we can take a mix-and-
match approach to our marketing plan.
Emily finds this helps her to extend
the sales boost in her books, which can
influence the retailer’s algorithms. ‘I like
to use a variety of newsletter sites so that
I can “stack” the promotion. This means
promoting on different sites on successive
days to prolong the promotion. Visibility
on retailers such as Amazon isn’t really
improved by a brief sales spike but if you
can prolong the spike by using different
sites, and maybe support the promotion
with some advertising too, then a retailer
will take a bit more notice and hopefully
start putting your title in “also boughts”
and giving it more prominence in
search results.’
MJ finds this mixed approach allows
for more specific targeting of readers in
different markets.
‘I have tried BookBub and Freebooksy.
I very much enjoy BookBub and it’s a
huge boost to sales when you’re lucky
enough to be selected for a promotion.
To date, I have only secured international
deals (the UK, Australia, Canada and
India) and so using these smaller sites,
mostly based in the US, is a great way of
tapping into the market while I continue
to try and get a US deal, although
they are much more expensive than an
international deal. Freebooksy was also
worthwhile using. It seems to work in a
very similar way to The Fussy Librarian.’
We’re all encouraged to build our
own mailing lists, and using these email
promotional newsletter services can be a
fantastic way of attracting new readers to
buy our books and, hopefully, join our
author mailing lists too.
Although BookBub may be the biggest
kid on the block, there are many more
affordable services that are perfect for
• www.hellobooks.com/authors
• https://bookbarbarian.com
• www.bookmelon.com
www.writers-online.co.uk
authors wishing to use these services. And
who knows? Used well, they could boost
your writing business to a position where
you can afford a BookBub promotion in
the future.
BUSINESS
DIRECTORY
TOP TIPS FROM
THE AUTHORS
• Alison Morton: ‘Regard it
as a marketing exercise rather
than a purely sales one. If
you write a series, promote
the first in series at a bargain
price and even if you don’t
cover the cost with sales of
that book, you will attract
a proportion of readers who
will go on to buy your other
books at full price.’
• MJ Porter: ‘Give it a go
and make your own decision
as to whether you like it or
not. The Fussy Librarian is
certainly a reasonable cost,
and much easier to access
than BookBub, as you get to choose
the date of your promotion. If you
have more than one book in a series,
make the book free as opposed to
99p/99c. I certainly think the service
is worthwhile, especially when you
have more than one book in a series
to promote.’
• Emily Organ: ‘Subscribe
to a service like BookBub
to begin with so that you
receive the daily emails and
can see the books they’re
choosing to promote –
especially the titles in your
genre. Some promotion sites
accept most books which are
submitted to them, whereas
BookBub is known for being more
choosy. There’s a lot of competition
for BookBub promotion slots and
it’s important to not get disheartened
or even offended if your book’s
not selected. You can resubmit to
BookBub each month so keep trying
and, in the meantime, use the other
promotion sites too.’
FEBRUARY 2022 59
 RESEARCH TIPS
Youth
Tarja Moles helps you get your head around
finding accurate information about young people
Y
outh culture can be understood as norms,
values, beliefs, interests and behaviours of the
adolescent segment of society. It’s a varied topic
and covers numerous subcultures as well as
issues that shape young people’s experiences of
life. As a topic, it lends itself well to both fiction and non-
fiction writing, regardless of whether you’re interested in the
past or the present.
Focusing on your target group
Before you start your research, consider the exact parameters
within which you want to proceed. General youth culture
related searches will give you vague results, so narrow your
focus as much as possible. Do you want to research a particular
subculture (eg, teddy boys, flappers, dark academia)? Do
they conform to a specific geographical stereotype (eg, Essex,
Sloane Square)? Do they have particular interests (eg, religion,
sports, music)? What kinds of issues affect their lives (eg, sexual
orientation, bullying, environmental concerns)? What is their
socio-economic position within the society (eg, class, ethnicity)?
You should also consider the time period you want to research
as youth culture and their subcultures change constantly: the
hippies of today are not the same as what the movement was in
the 1960s.
Factual and analytical sources
Online searches are a great starting point. However, you
need to use very precise keywords to get useful results. If you
have paused to think about your focus, the keywords will
have become clear during this narrowing-down process. For
60 FEBRUARY 2022
www.writers-online.co.uk
culture
example, if you’re interested in flappers in 1920s’ London,
you would use the keywords ‘flappers’, ‘1920s’ and ‘London’
as your search terms. You could also add ‘youth culture’ as
well as ‘female’ or ‘women’ if you wanted to.
An increasing number of books and journal articles have
emerged since the latter half of the 20th century. This
body of literature includes a wide range of young people’s
subjective experiences in contemporary society. While in the
past the youth were often viewed as troublemakers rebelling
against prevalent social norms, these days their role in
society as well as in social change is considered in a much
more balanced way – and this is evident in the analyses
written about them.
Libraries, and research libraries in particular, are good
places to find books and journal articles. You can also
search for scholarly material online with the help of Google
Scholar (http://scholar.google.co.uk). If your focus is very
specific and you struggle to find information, have a look at
EThOS, the Electronic Thesis Online Service by the British
Library (http://ethos.bl.uk). It’s a portal that stores many
UK theses electronically. Its search function allows you
to find relevant theses which you can then order for free.
However, you do need to register first.
In addition to using material that is solely focused on an
aspect of youth culture, consider reading sources that offer
a wider perspective of the society within which the young
people’s experiences are taking place. After all, we can’t take
youth culture out of its context. For instance, reading books
in the fields of sociology, psychology, anthropology, cultural
studies and media studies can be fruitful.
.
Personal views and experiences
To write convincingly to an adolescent audience
and/or write accurately about young people, it’s
imperative to understand their mindset, how they
view and experience the world and their place in the
world. This is where interviews and observational
skills will come in handy.
If you have children who are teenagers or young
adults, or if you work at a place where you’re
interacting with young people regularly, you have an
advantage: you may already be familiar with their life
experiences. You could deepen your understanding
by asking questions. Many young people appreciate it
when adults are genuinely interested in their lives and
are willing to listen to what they have to say.
If you don’t know any young people, there are
ways to find out about their lives. Social media is
probably the first place to check. However, you will
first need to figure out which social media platforms
are mostly used by the youngsters you’re researching.
You can do this by searching for recent studies
about social media use by different age groups.
Youth magazines and online forums are also full of
material that can be useful for research. You can do
an online search with your keywords to find suitable
publications and forums.
Youth organisations may be able to help you find
information on different aspects influencing young
people’s lives. These organisations are often centred
around a specific issue or activity, such as sports
or political views, or they work among youth in a
particular location. You can find such organisations
by doing an online search or by searching the
Charity Commission’s database of registered charities
in Britain (https://writ.rs/charityregister). When
you have found a suitable organisation, check out
their website for further information and, if relevant,
contact them to arrange an interview.
Although young people tend to be treated as a
homogeneous group, this is by no means the case.
No two youngsters are the same, in the same way
that no two adults are the same. Researching a
group while keeping in mind the individuality of
each human being can help bring out more nuance
in your writing.
LANGUAGE
Young people instigate new ways of using
language. New words and new meanings to
words arise all the time. When you are doing your
research, pay attention to language and how young
people use it.
Lisa Cutts is a crime fiction author and retired detective sergeant, having spent
most of her career within the Serious Crime Department. She has returned to
work as an Investigating Officer on historic crimes. Her novels are published by
Myriad and Simon and Schuster.
Behind the tape
Expert advice to get the details right
from police officer Lisa Cutts
If you have a
query for Lisa, plea
se
send it by email to
lisacuttsenquiries@
Q My main character is suspected to have been
the driver in a hit and run accident in which a
gmail.com
pregnant woman was killed. Immediately after the incident
the character goes into hiding. His wife gives his location to
the police and he is arrested. Would he be granted bail for the
time leading up to the court case?
If he is granted bail, could he continue running his business
and how long would it take the case to come to court?
Sally Jenkins, via email
A It very much depends on several things as to whether he
would get bail or not. If he’s gone into hiding, he is likely to
be remanded rather than given bail. The police have to give details
about the defendant to the court, such as whether the defendant is
likely to abscond or not before the trial. The police would highlight
that he went into hiding after the incident, and so bail would
probably be refused. That’s not to say at a later date, it wouldn’t be
granted by the court if his legal team gave certain sureties.
If given bail, it’s again likely he could continue to run his business
whilst waiting for the trial. If he is remanded, the trial will start within
six months. This is so he isn’t in prison for a lengthy period whilst
awaiting trial. If he isn’t remanded, it could be any amount of time.
There is such a huge backlog at court, some trials are taking over a
year to begin. For something like this, it’s more likely to be sooner
than twelve months, but the courts and Crown Prosecution Service
are absolutely swamped with a backlog of work.
Q If a sixteen-year-old ran away with their baby brother and
was not found until a few days later after a nationwide
search, would they be arrested and charged with abduction?
If so, would they be taken to the police station for
questioning and put in a cell?
Caroline Watt, via email
A They’re very likely to be arrested, taken to a police station, put
in a cell and interviewed. Depending on the circumstances and
if they had done similar or committed serious crimes previously, they
may well be cautioned rather than charged. It’s a very difficult one
as there would be many factors to take into account, including why
they took their brother
and any mental health
problems or concerns.
 Personalised writing courses
to help you achieve your goals
• Choose your own tutor from the comfort of your home
• Up to two years to complete • Spread the cost and pay monthly

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 Competition rules and forms
Enter online at www.writers-online.co.uk or by post, with the ref code in the address,
to: Writing Magazine Competitions (Ref Code xxxxx), Warners Group Publications, West
Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH. Remember to add a front sheet with full contact
details and the name of the competition you are entering (see Rule 3)

To enter:
• Dialogue-only short story • School Competition (see p27)
competition (see p27)
For short stories in dialogue only,
Prose on ‘school’ theme, 1,500-
1,500-1,700 words; entry fee £7.50, £5
1,700 words; entry fee £7.50, £5 for
for subscribers; closing date,
subscribers; closing date, 15 March.
15 February.
Ref Code: Feb22/School
Ref Code: Jan22/Dialogue

• Love poem competition (see p56) • First line short story competition
For short stories beginning ‘That
Poems, up to 40 lines, on ‘love’ theme;
wasn’t supposed to happen.’ 1,500-
entry fee £7.50, £5 for subscribers;
1,700 words; free entry, subscribers
closing date, 15 March.
only; closing date, 15 February.
Ref Code: Feb22/Lovep
Ref Code: Jan22/Firstline

How to enter Competition Entry

Competition Rules
1 Eligibility
All entries must be the original and unpublished work of the
entrant, and not currently submitted for publication nor for any other
competition or award. Each entry must be accompanied by an entry
form, printed here (photocopies are acceptable), unless stated.
Open Competitions are open to any writer, who can submit as many
entries as they choose. Entry fees are £7.50, £5 for subscribers.
Subscriber-only Competitions are open only to subscribers of
Writing Magazine. Entry is free but you can only submit one entry
per competition.
2 Entry Fees
Cheques or postal orders should be payable to Warners Group
Publications or you can pay by credit card (see form).
3 Manuscripts
Short stories: Entries must be typed in double spacing on single
sides of A4 paper with a front page stating your name, address, phone
number and email address, your story title and word count and the
name of the competition. Entries will be returned if accompanied by
sae. Electronic entries should be a single doc, docx, txt, rtf or pdf file
with the contact details, etc, on p1, and your story commencing on the
second page.
Poetry manuscripts: Entries must be typed in single spacing with
double spacing between stanzas on single sides of A4. Entrant’s name,
address, telephone number and email address must be typed on a
separate A4 sheet. Entries to poetry competitions cannot be returned.
Electronic entries should be a single doc, docx, txt, rtf, odt or pdf file
with the contact details, etc, on p1, and your poem on the second page.
All manuscripts: Receipt of entries will be acknowledged if
accompanied by a suitably worded stamped and addressed postcard.
Entrants retain copyright in their manuscripts. You are advised not to
send the only copy of your manuscript. Enclose an sae if you want your
manuscript to be returned.
I am enclosing my entry for the .......................................
......................................................... .............................
Ref code .....................................and agree to be bound
by the competition rules
TITLE..................................................................................
FORENAME .......................................................................
SURNAME .........................................................................
ADDRESS...........................................................................
...........................................................................................
...........................................................................................
POSTCODE ........................................................................
EMAIL................................................................................
Q I’m happy to receive special offers via email from Warners Group Publications plc
TELEPHONE (INC. AREA CODE) ...............................................
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ENTRY FEE (please tick one)
Q £7.50
Q£5 for subscribers
Q
Q Free entry (subscriber only competition)
I enclose my entry fee (cheques/postal order payable to Warners Group
Publications) OR I wish to pay my entry fee by:
Q Maestro Q Delta Q Visa Q Access Q Mastercard
CARD NUMBER ................................................................
Competition Entry
I am enclosing my entry for the .......................................
.................................................. .....................................
Ref code ................................................ and agree to be
bound by the competition rules
TITLE..................................................................................
FORENAME .......................................................................
SURNAME .........................................................................
ADDRESS...........................................................................
...........................................................................................
...........................................................................................
POSTCODE ........................................................................
EMAIL................................................................................
Q I’m happy to receive special offers via email from Warners Group Publications plc
TELEPHONE (INC. AREA CODE) ...............................................
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ENTRY FEE (please tick one)
Q £7.50
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Q
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I enclose my entry fee (cheques/postal order payable to Warners Group
Publications) OR I wish to pay my entry fee by:
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CARD NUMBER ................................................................

4 Competition Judging VALID FROM........................EXPIRY DATE ..................... VALID FROM........................EXPIRY DATE .....................
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Winners will be notified within three months of closing date after
which date unplaced entries may be submitted elsewhere. Winning CARDHOLDER NAME ...................................................... CARDHOLDER NAME ......................................................
entries may not be submitted elsewhere for twelve months after that
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 Your essential monthly round-up of competitions, paying markets,
opportunities to get into print and publishing industry news.

Books of the century

Emerging novelists,
make a splash
The Bath Novel Award
2022 is inviting entries.
The international prize for
emerging novelists has a
£3,000 first prize.
The annual award
is given for novels in
any genre for adults or young adults. Entries may be
unpublished, self-published or independently published.
The 2022 judge is literary agent Nelle Andrew. The
winner will receive £3,000. Shortlisted writers will get
manuscript feedback and literary agent introductions.
The writer of the most promising longlisted novel, as
judged by Cornerstones Literary Consultancy, will get a
free place on the eighteen-week online course Edit Your
Novel the Professional Way.
Writers entering the competition may be agented or
unagented, but writers who have accepted an offer of
publication that includes an advance for the submitted
novel or any other novel are not eligible.
To enter, send the first 5,000 words of a novel
manuscript of at least 50,000 words, plus a one-page
synopsis.
The entry fee is £29 per novel. Sponsored places are
available for writers on a low income.
The closing date is 31 May 2022.
Website: https://bathnovelaward.co.uk
Last October The New York Times decided to find out what its readers thought was
the best book of the previous 125 years. Subsequently, the paper’s book review editors
whittled down thousands of nominations to a shortlist of 25, from which readers
then were able to vote for the ultimate winner. That title wasn’t due to be announced
until after WM had gone to press, though you can find the result online. Meanwhile
the top 25 makes for a fascinating reading list (listed in alphabetical by title order
as by the NYT): 1984 (sic), George Orwell; All The Light We Cannot See, Anthony
Doerr; Beloved, Toni Morrison; Catch-22, Joseph Heller; The Catcher in the Rye, JD
Salinger; Charlotte’s Web, EB White; A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole; The
Fellowship of the Ring, JRR Tolkien; A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry; A Gentleman in
Moscow, Amor Towles; Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell; The Grapes of Wrath,
John Steinbeck; The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald; The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret
Atwood; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (sic), JK Rowling; Infinite Jest, David
Foster Wallace; To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee; A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara;
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov; Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry; One Hundred Years of
Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez; The Overstory, Richard Powers; A Prayer for Owen
Meany, John Irving; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith; Ulysses, James Joyce.
The list is overwhelmingly American, and though the original intention was to
span the last 125 years, the oldest title, Ulysses, was first published in serial form
between 1918-20. It seems particularly odd that just the first part of The Lord of
the Rings was selected, rather than the complete novel, but what we want to know
is, how could they leave out Winnie-the-Pooh?

STAR SUBMISSIONS In the

Fiction, flash fiction, creative
non fiction, poetry and
hybrid genres are invited by
the online literary magazine
Arcturus, a sister publication
to the Chicago Review of Books.
The magazine takes its name
from the star which was seen over Chicago at
the opening of the 1933 Century of Progress
World Fair.
Editors say there are no restrictions on what
is published, only that they are passionate about
new perspectives. All submissions must be
original and not have been previously published.
Simultaneous submissions are okay with the
usual proviso.
For poetry submit, as a single document,
3-5 poems totalling no more than ten pages
with each poem on a separate page. Prose
submissions of fiction, flash
fiction, essay, reportage or
hybrid genre should be a
maximum 7,000 words.
Although editors strongly
believe writers should gain
payment for their work they
are at the time of writing looking for funding
opportunities to be able to do this. Check
out the website for any upcoming prize
winning contests.
Email your work as a doc or pdf document,
each genre in a separate email, with a cover
letter and third person bio. Your email should be
addressed to the appropriate editor, listed on the
website ‘About’ page. Include the genre and title
in the subject line.
Email: arcturusmag@gmail.com; website:
https://arcturus.chireviewofbooks.com/
aftermath
The theme for the 2021/22 Never Such
Innocence Poetry Competition for
young poets is ‘Life After Conflict’.
NSI hopes that poets entering the
competition will be inspired to think
about how people, communities and
countries will be inspired to build a life
after conflict.
Prizes (TBA) will be awarded in the
following age categories: 9-11, 11-14,
14-26 and 16-18.
Enter original, unpublished poems
up to forty lines. All poems must have
a title. Entry is free. The closing date
is 18 March.
Website: www.neversuchinnocence.com

64 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 WRITERS’ NEWS

GLOBAL MAGAZINE MARKET

Tune in to Popular Science
Gary Dalkin

Popular Science was launched in the US in 1872 and is one of the longest Snowed
running scientific magazines in the world. In 2021 it became a fully digital
title, with a readership of over a million people per issue. Also known as
under with
PopSci, the title sets out to explain how new technologies work and how they will affect readers’ lives.
There is particular focus on the environment, electronics, recreation, the home, DIY and sustainability,
submissions
photography, aviation and space, computers and software.
Stories range from complex in-depth pieces requiring substantial reporting to shorter posts offering There are categories for poetry
practical advice. Recent features have included a report on the Pentagon’s carbon footprint, an exploration and fiction in the 2021-22
of how ‘young cities are solving age-old problems’, and a look at how mail drones are simplifying the Subnivean Awards.
postal system in Siberia. Other posts have reported on ‘Five ways to keep your glasses from fogging up The winners in each
with a mask’ and ‘How to keep a Christmas tree fresh for as long as possible’. category will be published in
The editorial team welcomes pitches – do not send a finished article – emailed to editorial@popsci. the summer issue of Subnivean
com. If your pitch is accepted you will be expected to deliver a story which is up to the minute and and the writers will receive
scientifically accurate, interviewing any sources who are essential to the story, as well as experts who can $150. The final judges will
provide analysis and perspective. Depending on the story, you should be willing and able to make visits to blurb the winners.
see the technology first-hand, including trying it out if appropriate. • Poetry: enter up to six
Your pitch can range from investigative journalism to an interview, a product review, list style post or a original, unpublished poems.
piece of practical science/technology-related advice. Whatever it is, the editors require well-written work The final judge is Juan Felipe
that is distinguished by good storytelling, human interest, anecdotes, analogies, and humour. Stories Herrera. The entry fee is $7.
should be free of jargon, vague statements, and unconfirmed facts and figures. If commissioned, as well as • Fiction: enter original,
the text, you will be expected to provide any necessary photos, diagrams or illustrations. unpublished short fiction up
Your pitch should include a brief summary of your proposed article and provide an indication of how to 6,000 words. The final
you plan to execute any reporting. Links to past work are useful but not essential. Payment is at high US judge is Daniel Handler. The
professional rates. Essential to follow the detailed guidelines at www.popsci.com/writers-guidelines/ and entry fee is $7.
read some of the magazine at www.popsci.com to get a flavour of the very wide range of stories required. The closing date is 22
You can also follow on Facebook / Twitter: @PopSci February.
Website: www.subnivean.org

NORTHERN EXPOSURE
The 2022 Northern Writers’ Awards are open
for entries, with New Writing North offering
£40,000 in development awards for writers based
in the North of England.
Each writer may enter one award. The awards
available in 2022 are:
• Hachette Children’s Novel Award: for debut
authors of middle-grade or early teen fiction.
One winner will be offered a publishing contract
with Hachette Children’s Group and £5,000. Enter a writing sample,
3,000-6,000 words, and a synopsis up to 600 words.
• The Northbound Book Award: for a full-length work by new,
emerging and established writers of fiction and narrative non-fiction.
One winner will be offered a publishing contract with Saraband and
£5,000. Submit a full manuscript and a synopsis up to 600 words.
• Northern Writers’ Awards for Poetry: for emerging and
established poets working on a full collection. Winners will receive
awards between £2,000 and £5,000. Submit up to thirty poems and a
commentary up to 600 words.
• Northern Debut Awards, Poetry: for poets yet to publish a
full collection. Three poets will each receive £2,000 and mentoring.
Submit up to thirty poems and a commentary.
• Northern Writers’ Awards for Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction:
for emerging and established writers working on a full-length novel,
work of narrative non-fiction or short story collection. Winners will
receive awards between £2,000 and £5,000. Submit a writing sample
between 3,000 and 6,000 words and a synopsis up to 600 words.
• Northern Debut Awards: Fiction, Narrative Non-Fiction and
Young Adult: four writers who have yet to publish a full-length work
of fiction, narrative non-fiction or a short story collection will each
receive £2,000 and mentoring. Submit a writing sample between
3,000 and 6,000 words and a synopsis up to 600 words.
• Sid Chaplin Award: for writers of fiction
and narrative non-fiction who identify as
coming from a working class background. The
winner will receive £2,000, manuscript appraisal
from The Literary Consultancy and advisory
sessions from writer Michael Chaplin. Enter a
writing sample between 3,000 and 6,000 words
and a synopsis.
• The Finchale Award for Short Fiction:
for a single unpublished short story up to 1,500 words by a new,
emerging or established writer. The winner will receive £1,000.
• TLC Free Reads: up to three poets, prose writers or children’s
writers will receive an in-depth report on their work in progress.
Submit an extract between 3,000 and 6,000 words and a synopsis.
• Arvon Award: a prose writer will win an Arvon course. Submit
an extract between 3,000 and 6,000 words and a synopsis.
• Northumbrian University Students and Alumni Award: for
Northumbria University student or graduate writers of fiction or
poetry. One writer will receive £2,000. Submit an extract between
3,000 and 6,000 words and a synopsis.
• Young Northern Writers Awards: for young writers aged 11-14
and 15-18. A winner in each category will receive £150.
• Matthew Hale Award: £500 and mentoring for a young
writer who shows promise but has limited opportunity to pursue
their talent.
• The Channel 4 Writing for Television Awards (Lime Pictures
and Bondfide Films): TBA
To be eligible to enter, all writers must be based in the North of
England (the areas covered by Arts Council England in Yorkshire,
North East and North West).
The closing date is 17 February.
Website: https://northernwritersawards.com/

www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 65

WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES GLOBAL FICTION MARKET

Let Live Novel bring your story to life
The quarterly
Bath Flash Fiction PDR Lindsay-Salmon
Award is inviting
entries for the Live Novel calls itself ‘an audiobook for your fingers’. Indie authors are especially welcomed to submit their
next contest, The novels are: ‘Real authors. Real novels. Brought to novels and will be allocated an editor who will help them
which closes life.’ It’s not ‘interactive fiction, interactive novels, or handle the code needed to translate plain text into a Live
on 6 February. choose-your-own adventure stories’. A Live Novel is a Novel. All a writer has to do, says the team, ‘is think
Submit original, mobile application that brings traditional novels to life. logically, and copy and paste the story in the correct
unpublished flash Designed for swift reading in little chunks on a mobile input boxes’. Think of a Live Novel like an audiobook
fiction up to 300
phone it’s unique ‘because it adds interactivity, open- and the format allows a writer to reach a new and wider
words to win prizes
of £1,000, £300, world elements, and real-time activity to a traditional audience, especially the slow and reluctant readers. It
£100 and 2x£30. novel.’ This, the editor-creators claim, ‘allows the reader works offline, takes up very little storage space, and loads
The entry fees are to feel like they are a part of the story.’ in a second. Spend time at the website and read the
£7.50 for one, £12 A reader may read a Live Novel story in bite-size guidelines carefully.
for two and £18 for pages, each ‘bite’ always a complete thought. This allows To begin with all Live Novels are free to download
three. the reader to quickly put down and pick up where they and try. The author can choose where to add a paywall
Website: https:// left off. A simple swipe left to proceed, swipe right to in their novel. After reaching the paywall, the reader can
bathflashfiction go back, and swipe down for the table of contents is all a purchase the rest of the novel via an in-app purchase.
award.com/ Submit online and mark the submissions as an
reader needs to know.
The Romantic
What Live Novel does is add ‘Explore view’ which individual application or for publication in the Live
Novelists’ makes reading for pleasure on a smart device as much Novel Digest which takes short stories. An independent
Association has fun as any other game or application. A reader can submission should be at least 25,000 words. For the ‘Live
sent an open investigate the story surroundings by tapping highlighted Novel Digest’, stories should be 2,000 to 6,000 words.
letter, signed by words to reveal additional details. They can move from Response time is ‘an automated confirmation email
496 signatories, place to place to explore the environment or engage within 24 hours’ then the review takes ‘up to three
to literary editor with or observe characters as they progress through the weeks’. Payment is $100 for a short story and ‘a contract
Andrew Holgate, story. ‘Descriptive text can generate at any time, further with a royalty pay out structure’ for novels. The Live
protesting the bringing the environment to life.’ Characters might Novel of the story remains the property of Live Novel
Sunday Times’
wander around and if the reader and a character are in Publishing but authors ‘retain full rights to any story
exclusion of
romantic fiction the same place, the reader has the option to interact with published in the Live Novel Digest. Live Novel Publishing
from its Best Books that character. Different words and phrases can also be LLC does not retain the rights to publish or distribute
of 2021 roundup. highlighted. Readers can tap those highlighted phrases to your work.’
Romantic novelists reveal more details. Website: www.livenovel.com
Milly Johnson and
Philippa Ashley
were both in the
Sunday Times top
ten when it was
published.
‘Romantic fiction
is the financial Enigma
backbone of
the publishing variations
industry and brings
countless joy to
millions of readers,’ Enter writing on the theme of ‘Enigma’ for
said chair Jean the Elmbridge Literary Competition, which
Fullerton. ‘We’ve
earned our place in
has categories for poem and short story. A sustainable prize
In the adult categories, there are prizes
the literary world
and refuse to be of £250, £150 and £100 for the winners, Cheshire Prize for Literature 2021 is inviting entries on this year’s
ignored.’ and there is an Elmbridge Award of a £50 theme, which is ‘Sustainability’.
book token for the best story or poem by Entries may be in the form of short stories, children’s literature,
Chicago-based an Elmbridge resident. In the children’s scriptwriting and poetry, all on the ‘sustainability’ theme. This
Arne Weingart won categories, the winners will receive book year’s contest has various age categories for children and adults.
the Moth Nature tokens. The winning entries will be A winner from each category will be awarded a prize and their
Writing Prize published as a chapbook by Sampson Low work will be published in an anthology by University of Chester
for the ‘quietly publishers. Press. Winners in the children’s categories will receive book tokens,
devastating’
To enter, send original, unpublished short and winners in the 17-25 and over categories will be awarded a
Cicadas. He
receives €1,000 and
stories up to 1,000 words (8-13 years) or cash prize.
a week’s retreat 1,500 words (14+) and poems up to thirty The competition is open to anyone who has lived, worked or
at the Loire Valley lines, all on the ‘Enigma’ theme. studied in Cheshire, including the Wirral and Halton.
writing retreat The entry fee for adults is £5 per story or Enter short stories up to 1,500 words, poems up to 100 lines,
Circle of Misse. poem. Entry for young writers is free. Each children’s literature up to 1,500 words and scripts no longer
Cicadas is writer may enter one story and one poem. than fifteen minutes in length. All entries must be original and
published in The The closing date is 28 February. unpublished.
Moth’s winter Website: www.rcsherrifftrust.org.uk/ Entry is free. The closing date is 31 January.
issue. elmbridge-literary-competition Website: https://writ.rs/cheshireprize21

66 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 WRITERS’ NEWS

ONLINE NON-FICTION MARKET

Branch out
Understanding today’s work issues
Published in print and digital formats three times a year,
Jenny Roche West Branch is a literary magazine from the US Bucknell
University and welcomes submissions of poetry, fiction
and creative non fiction. All submissions should be
original, previously unpublished work. Simultaneous
submissions will be considered with the usual proviso.
Send, using the online submissions manager, a
maximum of six poems, thirty pages of prose or three
pieces of short-form fiction that is under fifteen pages
long. Submit poems and short-form pieces as a single
file and make no more than two submissions in a
given reading period.
Submissions are read
from 1 August to 1
April. You should gain
a response within ten
With a focus on reported narrative features Worklife is a BBC.com weeks or less although if
site about ‘the way we work, live and think in a rapidly shifting world, your work is considered
where the boundaries between the professional and the personal are to be interesting this
increasingly blurrier’. may take longer.
Aiming to inspire and guide readers through the issues of today’s world Payment rates are
and help them to empower their lives, the site is not news orientated. $50 for poetry, 5¢ per
With a global outlook articles feature experts and research to give word for prose to a
objective narratives in human-centric stories for a worldwide readership of maximum payment
‘ambitious, curious professionals with a wealth of experiences’. Not wanted of $100 for printed
are ‘how-to’, opinion or advice articles, listicles or personal essays. See First North American
website for full details of article wants and not wants. Serial Rights or First
Articles are generally 1,200-2,000 words long, are timely and should World Serial Rights for
be ‘brisk, authoritative and smart’. The site has three sections – How digital publication. If
We Work, How We Live and How We Think with occasional overlaps. published you will also
There are example article which can be read on the website. receive two copies of the issue containing your work and a
In the first instance submit a pitch of a maximum three paragraphs one year subscription to the magazine.
rather than a completed article. Pitches should sell your story in no Website: https://westbranchsubmissions.bucknell.edu/
more than 68 characters, say what the story is about, its immediacy
and what it will accomplish. Say how you will report the story, eg
expert sources or case studies, and mention what the reader will learn.
Include also a note of your previous writing experience and why you’re
the best person to write this story.
Email pitches to Editor Meredith Turits: Meredith.Turits@bbc.com
More Weird Tales
Website: www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200417-bbc-worklife-
author-brief Submission details aren’t available
yet, but the classic American
pulp magazine Weird Tales has
announced it is joining forces with
Win and develop Blackstone Publishing to launch a
new print, ebook and audiobook
your theatre piece imprint called Weird Tales Presents.
The new line will initially publish
The 2022 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards for full-length fifty books over the next five years,
plays and theatre works is underway and you have until 1 February to which will include ‘original novels
submit your work. No entry should have received a full production and anthologies, compilations,
and carrying on from the idea that ‘The arts have always had strong and more, penned by some of the
creative connections to the sciences, including computational science’ biggest names in horror and dark
the theme for this year’s award is ‘What does it mean to be human in a fiction, while also introducing
computerised world?’ new voices’. The first titles will
Submit using the form on the website. As judging will be blind do appear in the autumn, while in 2023 a special 100 Year Weird
not include your name on your work. Do, however, include a bio and Tales Commemorative Anthology will mark the centenary of the
a note on the production history of your piece. Also include a one- magazine, which – now a digital and audio title only – will
page statement saying how your piece addresses the theme and what also be distributed by Blackstone. Jonathan Maberry, who took
your goals are for your submission in its current form. In addition to over as editor in 2019 will continue in his position.
a $5,000 honorarium for the winner their play will receive readings The original Weird Tales magazine was instrumental in the
at the Dartmouth College VoxFest and the Northern Stage at White careers of such leading genre writers as Ray Bradbury, Robert
River Junction, Vermont, USA. You should say when entering how you E Howard and HP Lovecraft. Blackstone is a well-established
would use this two part development process to achieve your goals. 35-year-old independent publisher with a back catalogue of
Website: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/neukominstitutelitawards/ approximately 13,000 books.

www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 67

WRITERS’ NEWS

GLOBAL SPECFIC MARKET

FLASHES
Cat talk
The annual Flash
Jenny Roche
500 Short Stories
Competition
has a £500 first Fun speculative fiction stories about may be submitted during the current
prize, for original, cats are invited by CatsCast, which is submission window which closes on
unpublished short published in text and audio formats 2 February.
fiction, 1,000-3,000 in the Escape Artists series. As stories Submit an rtf, doc(x) or odt file
words. All themes are speculative cats can be different using the form on the website and
and genres are from the ones we usually see and include a short cover letter with your
welcome, including
hear but should have a ‘happy, or at name, story title and word count
stories for children.
Prizes are £500, least hopeful ending for all featured and mention whether it is original
£200 and £100. cats’. Humour is much appreciated or a reprint. You can list up to three
The entry fee is £7 but not a requirement. What is not previous publication credits you may original fiction, flat rates of $100
for one story, £12 wanted are graphic descriptions of have and any relevant experience. for reprints over 1,500 words and
for two, £16 for cruelty to animals, depictions of sex Submissions from writers around $20 for flash fiction reprints of less
three, £20 for four. and offensive stereotypes. There are the world are welcome as are than 1,500 words for one-time and
The closing date is example stories you can listen to and submissions from writers who have archival rights.
28 February 2022. read on the website. been historically underrepresented or Website: https://escapeartists.
Website: https://
Stories should be a maximum excluded from traditional publishing. net/catscast/catscast-submission-
flash500.com/
short-stories/
6,000 words and up to three stories Payment rates are 8¢ per word for guidelines/

In an annual
letter to authors, GLOBAL BOOK MARKET
Hachette UK CEO
David Shelley
warned that supply
Make an impact
chain problems
PDR Lindsay-Salmon
are causing the
‘most extreme’
Poetry is important to this
challenges he has
seen in his career. team who offer a Puncher
The Bookseller and Wattmann First Poetry
reported his annual Book Prize and co-publish
letter to authors World Poetry, an international,
explained how bilingual journal in English
factors including and Mandarin.
the pandemic and Submissions are open from
Brexit have led to 15 November until 30 January
increased costs
each year. Submit to the correct
on paper, printing
and shipping costs,
email account a package with a
along with delays. synopsis, manuscript and short
The problems will biography plus the query letter.
at least persist Response time is ‘around six
throughout 2022, months’. Rights and royalties
he expected. Puncher & Wattmann is an non-fiction’. They like work with are discussed with the contract.
Australian publisher of what ‘eclecticism, wit and iconoclasm’ Details: Puncher &
Dettie Gould won the editorial team call ‘sh*t-hot and are proud to have won or Wattmann, email subs: fiction@
the Harvill Secker writing.’ Publishing since 2005, be shortlisted for a variety of puncherandwattmann.com or
Bloody Scotland
the team have ‘published over 200 literary prizes. As well as the main poetry@puncherandwattmann.
Crime Writing
Award for The titles: poetry, fiction, life writing, publications, Chris Brown curates com; website: https://
Light and Shade poetry anthologies and critical the Slow Loris chapbook imprint. puncherandwattmann.com
of Ellen Swithin,
a ‘deliciously dark
thriller’.
The prize, for
exciting new crime
Rewarding indies
fiction by writers
of colour, is worth
The international Rubery Book Award accepted, and there are no publication
£5,000, plus a
publishing deal
2022 is for books by indie and self- date restrictions. The categories
with Harvill Secker. published writers and independent presses. are fiction, young adult, children’s,
Two runners- The winner of the book of the year biographies, non-fiction, self-help,
up were highly category will receive £2,000, with £200 cookery, poetry, photography.
commended: Black for each category winner. The entry fee for one book is
Heart, Dominic All entries must be books that were £39/$60/€50/Can$75 up to 31 January,
Nelson-Ashley, and either independently or self published. when higher fees will apply.
Grudge, Emma Authors and publishers may enter. The closing date is 31 March.
Allotey. Printed books and ebooks are both Website: www.ruberybookaward.com

68 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 G O I N G TO M A R K E T

GLOBAL NON-FICTION MARKET

Times for news solutions
Gary Dalkin

The New York Times publishes an ongoing series of personal essays

called ‘Solver Stories’ devoted to various aspects of puzzles, games
and our relationship to them. Editor Deb Amlen says these might
range from an issue you have faced and how solving puzzles
helped resolve it, to a feel-good news story from the world of
games and puzzles, a piece about how solving puzzles has affected
a relationship, or how games and puzzles or the use of language
have served as agents of cultural change. The most important
thing is that the writing be emotionally honest and for the story
Which way
to be freshly and compellingly told. As an example of the sort
of story required Amlen recommends reading, The Language of
Letting Go at https://writ.rs/nytsample
forward?
You should send your completed essay (no pitches) to solverstories@nytimes.com. It
must be previously unpublished and preferably be between 800-1,300 words. Do not use Be clear about what you want
pseudonyms (including for yourself ), composite characters or invented situations. In other publication to achieve, urges
words, everything must be completely true. Amlen recommends including dialogue if
appropriate, as this pulls the reader in and makes them feel part of the conversation. Attach Patrick Forsyth
your submission to your email as a Word-compatible file and also paste the text of your essay

E
into the body of the email. Payment is $200 per published story. Response time is around ssentially my theme here always
four weeks. relates in some way to making
money from your writing.
But… here’s a thought.
Watch out for this poetry prize Getting a book published is a goal
for many. Yet, unless you are very lucky,
realistically achieving that goal can take
some time. With that in mind it may
be useful to consider exactly why you
want to be published. To make money
surely, but there are other reasons, not
least just to have people (including
friends and family) read what you
The Sentinel Literary Quarterly Poetry Competition, from the magazine of world literature, is write. If you put money first and
inviting entries of original, unpublished poems up to fifty lines. equate maximising that with getting
The winner will receive £250 and there are second and third prizes of £125 and £75. There an agent and a deal with a significant
are further high commendations (3x£30), commendations (£20x3) and special mentions publisher, this may take time.
(£10x3). The judge is Mark Totterdell. All placed poems will receive print and online Other routes may be faster but may
publication. well make less money. Here are two
The entry fees are £5 for one poem, £8 for two, £10 for three, £12 for four, £14 for five, possibilities for books. First, a small
£16 for seven and £22 for ten. press, an outfit which does a full
The closing date is 31 January. publishing job and ensures a good
Website: https://sentinelquarterly.com/ result, but which is light on publicity
and is unlikely to get you into every
bookshop in the land. Second, there
is the self-publishing option. Both can
Searchlight on be good, may make some money (and
occasionally a great deal) but do get
children’s stories your work out there.
Dare I add a further thought?
Age. If you are younger you may be
The Searchlight Writing for Children Awards are inviting prepared to take more time in an
international entries for their newest contest, for Best Short attempt to get published. If you’re got
Story for Children or Young Adults. less time ahead of you then a quicker
The competition is for original, unpublished short stories route may allow you achieve your
suitable for a child or young adult, up to 1,000 words. other objectives and get your work out
The winner will receive £500. The winner and nine other there faster.
shortlisted entries will be published in the Winners’ Collection, The principle here is worth
which is sent to agents and publishers, in the Winners’ considering. As a final thought, I
Gallery on the Searchlight Awards website and in the Annual recently wrote a magazine article (about
Searchlight Awards Anthology. This year’s judge is literary agent a hospice I wanted to help) and, much
Chloe Seager of the Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV and Film Agency. against my usual practice, got no
The entry fee is £10 per story. fee – but I did ask for and got a free
The closing date is 1 March. subscription and a promise to consider
Website: www.searchlightawards.co.uk other ideas I might put forward.

www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 69

WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES ONLINE NON-FICTION MARKET

Dame on
Win £1,000 for
1,000-word short Gary Dalkin
fiction in the
Oxford Flash Dame Magazine is an independent US news, politics and
Fiction Prize 2022. culture website for ‘women who know better’. It aims
The international to offer both smart, fast-paced news and opinions on
biannual prize what matters most in women’s lives, as well as having
is for original, a ‘commitment to analysis over hot takes’. It looks to
unpublished short provide ‘critical context around the political, cultural, and
stories no longer
societal issues of our time’. Content ranges from breaking
than 1,000 words.
The winner will news to moving essays, expert advice and commentary
receive £1,000 and on ‘politics, policy, gender, race, pop culture, the arts,
their entry will be business, economy, climate, internet culture, health and
published online. everything in-between’. Dame is ‘women-owned and
The entry fee is £6, women edited’, which implies that articles may be written should have an underlying theme.
£10 for two and by men, though the majority of content does have a Take a good look around the DAME website before
£14 for three. The female byline. pitching, then email editorial@damemagazine.com.
closing date is 31 The editorial team, led by editor-in-chief Kera Begin with a sentence outlining your pitch. Include
January. Website:
Bolonik, are ‘always on the lookout for great writers links to clips, your website, and social media presence.
https://oxfordflash
fictionprize.com/
with great ideas’. They want ‘works that introduce new, Don’t send attachments or pitch art, poetry or fiction.
thoughtful takes on stories that haven’t gotten a lot of Pay is between $150-$500. If you don’t have prior
Independent attention or analysis, and fresh perspectives on those professional publishing credits you can still pitch to the
publisher Inspired that have’. Pitches can fall into one of several categories: ‘Newcomer Corner’, the goal of which is to introduce
Quill, which began Essays pegged to the news are quick, semi-reported new writers to the Dame audience. You can pitch to
in a student house pieces that offer context or a unique perspective on this 1 January-15 February, then again 1 April-15 May.
in Leicester, is something in the current news cycle. Features are long- Newcomer guidelines are at: https://writ.rs/dameguide
celebrating its form reporting, which must have a strong element of while regular guidelines can be found at: www.
tenth anniversary analysis. Think and trend pieces explore issues that damemagazine.com/about/#submission-guidelines
– after weathering
aren’t necessarily in the news but indicate wider cultural Payment for Newcomer Corner is $150-$300 per
the Covid storm
that saw many shifts. First person are memoiristic or sometimes semi- published piece.
publishers reported personal essays. Interviews can be with any You can also send pitches via the form at https://
suffering – by interesting political figure, celebrity or personality, but writ.rs/damepitch
giving back to the
community. A free
paperback will be
donated to charity Costa shortlists History to the
for every ten books
sold through the
The shortlists for the 50th Costa Pugmill
IQ website: www.
inspired-quill.com
Book Awards (Whitbread from
1971-2005) was announced The Pugmill Press Hidden Gem Prizes is
HarperCollins has in November. The nominated a new contest for local history writing,
acquired Pavilion books were: with categories for essay writing and
Books along with 2021 Costa First Novel Award: synopsis.
all of its imprints, The Manningtree Witches, AK The Pugmill Press Hidden Gems Prizes
except Batsford Blakemore; Fault Lines, Emily from the independent Pugmill Press
and Pitkin, which Itami; Open Water, Caleb Azumah celebrate new local history writing and
have been retained Nelson; The Stranding, Kate Sawyer; research. Pugmill Press is committed to
by owner and
Unsettled Ground, Claire Fuller. local history that tells the tales of less-
publisher Polly
Powell. 2021 Costa Novel Award: Unsettled Ground, known heritage.
Claire Fuller; The High House, Jessie Greengrass; The Fortune Men, Nadifa • The essay writing contest is for the
Merlin Sheldrake Mohamed; The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak. best essay between 1,500 and 2,000
won the £25,000 2021 Costa Biography Award: Consumed: A Sister’s Story, Arifa Akbar; words related to any aspect of local
Royal Society The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War and Everest, Ed history. The winner will receive £75
Science Book Prize Caesar; Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell, John Preston; Free: Coming of and their essay will be published in a
for Entangled Age at the End of History, Lea Ypi. forthcoming compendium.
Life: How Fungi 2021 Costa Poetry Award: All The Names Given, Raymond Antrobus; • The synopsis prize is for the best
Make Our Worlds,
A Blood Condition, Kayo Chingonyi; Eat Or We Both Starve, Victoria 300-word synopsis in relation to a book
Change Our Minds
and Shape Our
Kennefick; The Kids, Hannah Lowe. proposal on a local history topic. The
Futures, which was 2021 Costa Children’s Book Award: Maggie Blue and the Dark World, winner will receive £25 and a publication
praised by judges Anna Goodall; The Crossing, Manjeet Mann; The Midnight Guardians, agreement with Pugmill Press.
for its scientific Ross Montgomery; The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh, Helen Rutter. Entry is free. The closing date is 22
rigour and for The category winners should be available online by the time you read March.
‘illuminating an this, while the overall winner will be announced on 1 February. The total For more details about Pugmill Press
important but little prize fund is £60,000. Each of the category winners receives £5,000 and and how to submit to them, see p80.
understood topic’. the overall winner receives a further £30,000. Website: https://pugmillpress.com/

70 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 WRITERS’ NEWS

GLOBAL MAGAZINE MARKET

Making History
Jenny Roche

Published quarterly, History Magazine is published by Moorshead
Magazines and is available in North America and elsewhere by
subscription. It features articles that are ‘interesting rather than
academic’ and relate to a phenomenon, achievement or occasion rather
then a profile of a person associated with the subject. For example,
an article on early telephones would be preferred to an article on
Alexander Graham Bell. Articles are wanted, however, on unrecognised
people such as engineers or inventors who have shaped the world.
The magazine’s articles are generally set between the fall of the
Roman Empire and the end of the 1950s. Examples of recently
published pieces are Medieval Pilgrimages and Alice and Victoria:
The Two Women Who Shaped Prince Philip’s Childhood. See website
for more.
A query is preferred to a completed article and this should contain a
brief descriptive proposal of your idea with suggested section headings
and the proposed word length, which should be a preferred 2,000
words. A list of research sources is not a requirement at the query stage
but keep hold of them if later requested by
editor Edward Zapletal. At the end of your
query include a 20-30 word bio, suggested
captions and copyright credit/permissions
for any photographs.
Payment for published articles is 8¢ per
word, and $7 for a photograph or image
supplied, for First World Serial and Electronic Rights. Writers from
countries other than America or Canada are usually paid in US dollars
although this is negotiable.
It is suggested that if you are new to the magazine you try writing
a trivia piece of 450-550 words. The origins and evolution of various
customs and the historical etymologies of particular words or phrases
are ideas given as suitable for trivia items.
Email queries as a doc/docx document or similar word processing
format to: edward@moorshead.com
Website: www.history-magazine.com/anotes.html

UK BOOK MARKET
A rare beast in the book world
Tina Jackson

Unicorn Publishing Group Royal Museums Greenwich, Royal contact me at ian@

is a leading independent
publisher with four
distinct imprints.
‘Our imprints are
Unicorn, Uniform,
Universe and Unify,’
explains chairman Ian Strathcarron.
‘Unicorn encompasses visual art and
cultural history – from beautiful artists’
monographs to creative, cultural and
political biographies, to quirky, fun gift
books. Uniform covers military history
from ancient battles to contemporary
warfare; Universe is our historical fiction
imprint and we have also recently launched
a fourth imprint, Unify, focusing on health
and wellbeing.’
Unicorn Publishing Group is an
independent publishing company that
was established in 2013 when four like-
minded, talented individuals got together to
publish artists’ monographs and exhibition
catalogues. ‘We soon established ourselves
at the heart of art publishing and from
there our list expanded and our subjects
broadened to include cultural history,
biography, military history, gift and
historical fiction,’ said Ian. ‘We have been
steadily growing our company and list so
hopefully we can continue to do more of
the same, with lots of happy authors and
artists making beautiful books with us.’
UPG also includes Unicorn Sales &
Distribution, which is its client publishers’
division, with worldwide sales and
distribution operations. ‘Our partnership
clients include Imperial War Museums,
Armouries, Notting Hill Editions, Lee Miller unicornpublishing.
Archive and most recently Exbury Gardens.’ org with as much
UGP uses quality designers, editors, information as you feel
researchers, photographers and indexers will be fruitful. We do
and project managers. ‘We want to also accept postal submissions.
create beautiful high-end books worthy Unicorn Publishing Group publishes
of anyone’s bookshelf or coffee table,’ primarily in hardback and paperback,
said Ian. ‘We are a small team and enjoy with some ebook and audio editions.
celebrating the achievements of authors Each book is treated individually, but
and artists from an array of cultural fields, normally authors are paid a yearly royalty.
introducing them to a wider audience and Website: www.unicornpublishing.org
inspiring curiosity.’
UPG currently publishes about sixty titles
a year across all four imprints and this is
steadily increasing. ‘We very much welcome
submissions from authors and artists with
an exciting body of work or a tale to tell.’
said Ian. ‘Our choices depend partly on
the timescale and viability of the project.
It is also favourable if a topic has not been
written about previously or brings a new
angle to a well-known subject. Interesting
and thoroughly researched stories are key to
any submission.’
Authors who can really connect with
readers are what UGP are looking for.
‘Engaging authors and stories always make
wonderful books as it gets readers excited
and attracts publicity too. For us it is about
a partnership to create a book everyone
is pleased with – readers, authors and
publishers alike!
UPG is delighted to hear from
prospective authors with proposals for
extensively researched and well-written
books. ‘If you have a project which you
think might be of interest to us please

www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 71

WRITERS’ NEWS

UK SCRIPT MARKET
FLASHES
Have your play published
A one-woman Jenny Roche
press specialising
in ‘intimate, Original Works Publishing is a publishing and licensing
visceral and house for stage plays and brands itself as a home for ‘bold,
powerful’ female innovative, original new plays’. It publishes trade acting
narratives is to
editions and ebooks of all stage plays in its catalogue with
launch in 2022,
reports The
the exception of eTens plays which are only published in
Bookseller, with ebook form. Playwrights receive standard contract fees for
authors including both print and ebook sales and a standard 80%/90% on Format your play as a pdf or doc file and include a cover
Nina Bouraoui, amateur and professional production licensing. page, short synopsis, character breakdown and your bio.
Caroline Lamarche, Submissions are considered year round for full-length Include also your play’s production history with theatre
Laura Vogt, and plays which have received at least eight performances in a company name and dates and review highlights together with
Gemma Ruiz Palà production run and have been reviewed. One-act plays of quotes and award or nominations received and any available
already signed. 25-45 minutes, monologue shows and fringe festival hits posters or logos from the productions.
Héloïse Press will will also be considered and only need to have been fully Submit as an email attachment one complete play
focus on books that
produced. Adaptations, translations, musicals and works package per email with the play title and length in the
depict ‘the global
experience of for younger audiences are not wanted. At the time of subject line.
women’ writing the publisher was not accepting ten-minute eTens Email to: subdept@originalworksonline.com
Website: www. plays but check the website for any changes. Website: www.originalworksonline.com/submit
heloisepress.com

Commentator and
former cricketer
GLOBAL BOOK MARKET
Michael Holding
won the £30,000 Make for Steerforth
William Hill Sports
Book of the Year PDR Lindsay-Salmon
prize for Why We
Kneel, How We
Rise, described US publisher Steerforth Press was
by the judges as launched in 1993, and the first
‘one of the most catalogue featured a ‘Manifesto for a
important sports New Press’ which declared that ‘Our
books you will interests fall into no category, no
ever read’ for its field, no niche; our tests of a book’s
examination of the
worth are whether it has been written
roots of racism in
sport. well, is intended to engage the full
Also shortlisted, attention of the reader, and has
each receiving something new or important to say.’
£3,000, were: The editorial team still follow that
Rob Burrow, Too manifesto.
Many Reasons to Steerforth Press currently ‘is
Live; Tris Dixon, exclusively considering works
Damage; Sasha of narrative non-fiction, such as thoughtful and reliable, qualities at
Abramsky, Little
investigative or literary journalism, a premium in the Internet age, and
Wonder, and Ed
Caesar, The Moth
true crime and history for a general that inform through storytelling, not
and the Mountain. audience.’ Send a query or proposal argument.’ Submissions follow the
by email. same guidelines as for the Steerforth
The shortlist for In 2020 the team launched a new Press core imprint.
the Portico Prize non-fiction imprint, T2P Books Response time is ‘slow’. Right
for Literature, (Truth to Power). The team want ‘a and royalties are discussed with the
for outstanding radical devotion to the truth, Truth contract.
books by Northern to Power Books publishes personal Details: Steerforth Press, email
writers, is: Jenn accounts, investigative journalism to submissions@steerforth.com;
Ashworth, Ghosted;
and iconoclastic histories that are website: http://steerforth.com
James Corbett, The
Outsiders; Sairish
Hussain, The
Family Tree; Tabitha
Way out West Country for poets
Lasley, Sea State; The Teignmouth Poetry Festival Poetry Competition is inviting entries of original,
Sally J Morgan, unpublished poems no longer than 36 lines.
Toto Among the In the open category, which will be judged by Katrina Naomi, the prizes are £600, £300
Murderers; Andrew and £200.
O’Hagan, Mayflies. The local category for poems by Devon residents has been renamed the Graham Burchell
The winner,
Award for Devon Poets in tribute to the great friend of Teignmouth Poetry Festival who
receiving £10,000,
is announced on 20
passed away in May. The judge is Rosie Jackson and the prizes are £200, £100 and £50.
January. The closing date is 31 January.
Website: www.poetryteignmouth.com

72 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 WRITERS’ NEWS

INTRODUCTIONS
Writing Magazine presents a selection of current submission calls. We strongly recommend
that you read back issues, familiarise yourself with their guidelines before submitting and
check websites for submission details.

You’ll have to get work is selected receiving a £200 writers’ fee. history and inheritance. Editors whose
your skates on but The best submitted script will receive the Joy anthology pitches are accepted are paid
there’s still time Guan Award of £250. The closing date is 31 royalties at the same rate as writers.
to submit to BBC January. Website: https://bellpressbooks.com/
Writersroom’s open Website: www.dripaction.co.uk
call for drama and Prestigious Irish litmag
comedy drama The Fiction The Stinging Fly will
scripts. Up to 100 Desk has be publishing an All
shortlisted writers will be offered various added a call New Writers issue
opportunities including script development for short story in November 2022,
with the BBC’s Drama Room and Voices submissions about books, looking at them featuring stories, poems
groups. Submit scripts suitable for television, as physical objects and exploring the role and essays by writers
with distinctive voices and compelling they play in people’s lives. Submit original, new to the magazine. Submissions for this will
characters that represent the UK in all its unpublished short stories between 1,000 and be accepted during the early months of 2022.
diversity, bearing in mind that the BBC is 10,000 words. Both realist and speculative, Accepted fiction and non-fiction is paid at a
looking to develop writers with promising imaginative stories are welcomed. Accepted rate of €35 per magazine page, and poetry at
voices rather than projects. The closing date is stories are paid at a rate of £25 per 1,000 €25 per page (with a minimum payment of
13 January. words. The closing date is 31 January. €60 per poem).
Website: www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/ Website: www.thefictiondesk.com Website: https://stingingfly.org/
opportunities/send-a-script/ submissions/
Bell Press, a
Drip Action Canadian small- Ghost Orchid Press will
Theatre Company press publisher of be opening submissions
is inviting literary anthologies early in 2022 for
submissions for which was founded Rewired: An Anthology
the Arundel in 2020 by Angela of Neurodiverse Horror.
Theatre Trail in Caravan, is on Short horror fiction is invited on themes of
2022. Submit the lookout for perception, communication and the idea of
scripts for plays of 30-40 minutes’ duration, anthology editors, being ‘differently wired’. Submit original,
easily staged, with a cast of no more than and is accepting pitches for new anthologies. unpublished short fiction between 1,000 and
four performers. Seven plays will be selected To date Bell Press has published anthologies 6,000 words. The closing date is 30 April.
and performed, alongside one specially of fiction, poetry, essays and creative non- Website: https://ghostorchidpress.com/
commissioned piece, with each writer whose fiction about imagined timelines and memory, submission-calls/

UK LITERARY MARKET A tight

Dream on screw
The Screw Turn Flash Fiction
PDR Lindsay-Salmon Competition, The Ghost
Story’s Winter 2022 contest,
Lucent Dreaming is a British biannual print and online magazine with an has a $1,000 first prize, for
editorial team intent on publishing ‘beautiful, strange and surreal short stories, original, unpublished fiction on
poetry and artwork from contributors worldwide’. Submissions are open until supernatural or uncanny themes
6 February. Writers must have read a recent issue or be a subscriber in order to between 250 and 1,000 words.
submit work. Writers who cannot afford it or access the magazine at their library, Stories may be any kind of
should email dreaminglucent@gmail.com to receive a free copy. fiction that engages with the
Stories, 1,500 to 3,999 words, should be ‘beautifully written fiction,’ and the uncanny or paranormal, from
team like ‘writing which embraces and explores inner-lives’. They want characters ghost stories to magic realism.
they ‘can root for and care about’, and prefer ‘longer fiction where they can see The winner will receive $1,000
character development’. and two runners-up will each get
Fantastic fantasy yes, but not ‘Zombies, vampires, werewolves, especially sexy ones,’ or ‘Elves, dwarves, $200. All three winners will be
and other fantasy scenarios that come across as LOTR fan fiction’. published online, and in TGS’s
Submit online using their submissions system. Stories should be unpublished, saved in a doc/docx file print anthology, 21st Century
and be formatted in standard manuscript format. Ghost Stories – Volume III. This
The team also run an international writing competition for unpublished poetry and short stories. The year’s judge is Tara Lynn Masih.
competition opens this month on the theme of ‘hope’ with a first prize of £1,000. The entry fee is $15. The
Response time is ‘up to eight weeks’. For payment, the fixed rate is £100 and a free contributor copy, per closing date is 31 January.
word approximately 2.5p-6p per word, for exclusive first rights. Website: www.theghoststory.
Website: https://lucentdreaming.com com
FEBRUARY 2022 73
WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES UK LITERARY MARKET

London literary agency
Lovetovisit.com
is a new travel Jenny Roche
website launched
in December 2021 Darley Anderson Literary, TV and the time of writing the agency was Postal submissions should not
and editor Jack D Film agency has been around for not accepting poetry, short stories, be sent in bound book form and
Wynn is looking over thirty years and considers screenplays, radio plays or theatre should include a SAE if you would
for pitches from itself to be ‘the most commercially scripts. See website for any changes. like your work to be returned.
London-based minded agency in London’. It has Submissions should be made to There is a blog you can consult
journalists on fun many bestselling authors on its the relevant agent. See website for for further guidance on the
and exciting things list and has a reputation for ‘talent each agent’s submissions policy submission process in addition to
to do in the capital
spotting authors and launching and if they would like to receive information, tips and guidance
in 2022. If you’d
like to write about
careers’. submissions by post or email on getting your work ready for
some great but The Agency’s list includes For all submissions send, as a doc submission.
little known place thrillers, mysteries, psychological or pdf file, a cover letter with a brief Details: Darley Anderson
in London that few suspense, crime, horror, fantasy, biography, a one page synopsis and Literary, TV and Film Agency,
have ever come chick-lit, accessible literary, comedy, the first three consecutive chapters, Estelle House, 11 Eustace Road,
across before then women in jeopardy, sagas, historical or first fifty pages of your book. London SW6 1JB; website: www.
pitch Jack on Twitter works, children’s and YA fiction. At Email submissions as an attachment. darleyanderson.com/submissions
@mrjackdwynn

The ‘sobering’ This

Is How They Tell Me
the World Ends: GLOBAL FICTION MARKET
The cyber weapons
arms race, by
Nicole Perlroth,
Into the Knight
has won the 2021
Financial Times and PDR Lindsay-Salmon
McKinsey Book of Small indie Knight Writing Press has a founder editor,
the Year Award. Sam Knight, who loves short stories. He prefers the
Awarded for ‘the
kind that makes a reader forget where they are and
most compelling
and enjoyable
what they were doing. Knight Writing Press publishes
insight into only anthologies using a shared royalty system through The deadline is 1 March.
modern business Draft2Digital. Read the sample contract and the details • The Modern Magic anthology looks for stories
issues’, the prize is about this at the website and make sure to read each which apply a little magic in today’s world. A little
worth £30,000 to anthology’s guidelines something special that gives someone an advantage.
the winner, with • Magic Portals needs ‘stories about magic portals No stories about ‘witches and warlocks surrounded by
£10,000 for each that open up to other places, other worlds, other times, vampires and werewolves that hide in the shadows,’
of six shortlisted or just other. Where to, and what happens there is up the team want stories ‘of real, everyday people, in our
authors. to the writer.’ real, everyday world, and that one little magic charm
Stories should be no more than 7,000 words. they found, or that one spell they learned that actually
The White Review
has launched Anything under 2,000 words is classed as flash fiction. works, or that one gift they were born with, and how
a £10,000 The deadline is 1 February. they can make it work for them in today’s world. And
crowdfunding • The Wishing Well anthology needs stories about maybe how it works against them, too…’
appeal to wishes granted. ‘Whether they played out the way the Deadline is 1 April.
safeguard its future wisher wanted is up to you.’ For each anthology, reprints, poetry, flash fiction,
after struggling Max length is 7,000 words. Deadline is 1 February. and B&W art are welcome. Multiple and simultaneous
to weather the • The Mermaidens anthology is a little different. submissions are acceptable. Submit by email:
combined impact The team want writers to think about the mermaid’s enrapturing.tales@gmail.com
of Covid and Brexit.
tail problem. Either they want to get rid of their tail Response time is ‘reasonable’. Payment is a royalty
The literature and
culture quarterly,
to walk or they want to their tail back to swim again share for ‘worldwide, nonexclusive, English Language
which recently or they love a tail-less person. Writers should come up publication rights, for both print and electronic, for as
celebrated its with a story, 100 to 7,000 words, any genre, dealing long as the anthology remains in print.’
tenth birthday, with the tail problem. Website: https://knightwritingpress.com
has faced tougher
competition for
public funding, Quick, Rescue
rising production
and distribution Open for submissions until 15 essays, experiments, how-tos, manuscript’. Attach the full-length
costs and new
VAT regulations.
January, Rescue Press call themselves interrogations, manifestos, notes, manuscript, of 55-350 pages
Rewards for ‘an independent publisher of chaotic poetry, stories, and anything else in a pdf or doc file, by email:
donors include and investigative work’. They that transforms us’. rescuesubmissions@gmail.com
back issues, books publish work by ‘activists, artists, They will read manuscripts in Response time is ‘by early
and a manuscript craftsmen, list-makers, philosophers, any genre which fits their brief. summer 2022’. Rights and
consultation. poets, scientists, writers, and Query by email with a cover Royalties are discussed with the
Website: www. creative thinkers of all kinds’ and letter ‘introducing yourself, contract.
thewhitereview.org like ‘collections of artwork, comics, your previous work, and your Website: www.rescuepress.co.uk

74 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk

 ONLINE NON-FICTION MARKET
Buzzy book coverage
Gary Dalkin

Farrah Penn, editor of Buzzfeed Books, a

section of the hugely popular Buzzfeed news
and entertainment website, is accepting pitches.
She is looking for roundups, quizzes, book
content related to film and TV adaptations, and Novel
‘Anything out of the box,’ for which she gives an
example of a feature titled ‘25 Thoughts I Had
While Watching 10 Things I Hate About You
For The First Time As A Big Shakespeare Nerd’:
Ideas
https://writ.rs/buzzybits
That should give you the idea that Buzzfeed Books isn’t looking for anything highbrow,
and a quick visit confirms that any successful pitch will be aimed squarely at the popular
end of the market. There is a particularly strong emphasis on list-style articles, including ‘A
What a
Former Librarian Shared 15 Secrets And Stories About Working At A Library, And Some
Of These Are Very Juicy’, ‘22 Famous Sayings With Weird Origins You Might Not Know’
and numerous pieces about every possible aspect of the Harry Potter franchise.
wonderful week
Pitch your idea to buzzfeedpitches@buzzfeed.com and cc Penn at farrah.penn@ It’s important to remember
buzzfeed.com. She strongly recommends reading some of the content posted at www.
buzzfeed.com/books so that you don’t pitch something similar to post they just ran. when things go right, says
Payment is $100-$300 depending on the length and format of each piece. Lynne Hackles

B
ack in September I was having a
Your story could blow up slow time. The ideas weren’t coming
and it was ages since I’d written a
Word Balloon Books is a modern hybrid press with new short story then, out of the
a podcast and unusual books, many of which are blue, came a request from a magazine. The
graphic. They sell print editions at comic cons, editor was asking if I could write a Christmas
Renaissance fairs and book festivals and are very story for him. That was on Monday. It was
popular with the balloon books and anthologies the start of a Wonderful Week.
appropriate for readers aged ten and up. A request like that, I discovered, was the
Currently there are three anthologies needing equivalent to a good kick up the backside
stories, all with a deadline of 11 February. because I wrote the first draft on Tuesday.
Keep the word count around or under 3,000 I played about with it on Wednesday, sent
and reprints are welcome. Submit by email: it off on Thursday and on Friday found the
submissions@inorbit.com editor’s reply. ‘I love it,’ he said.
Rockets and Robots needs science fiction adventure stories set on alien worlds, space ‘You should really make a postcard or
ships, or the post-21st century future. Beware the Bugs needs stories about giant bugs something of all the good things that’ve
(or, perhaps, normal sized bugs and tiny humans?). Paradoxical Pets seeks stories about happened to you this week – something
‘wondrous pets, be they alien, magical, artificial, or common pets with some special you can have handy for next time things
power.’ Fantasy or science fiction stories are welcome. aren’t going well,’ wrote my cyber-sister,
Response time is ‘reasonable’. Payment for all anthologies is 1¢ per word advanced Glynis Scrivens, in her daily email. ‘It will
against royalties, with a possible bonus based on crowdfunding plus copies. help keep alive the memory of the positive
Website: www.jamesmaxey.net/word-balloon-book-anthologies.html stuff. We all need reminding.’ And that’s
what I did.
‘It’s always lovely when an editor emails
Writers help writers to say how much they like your work. I
keep those ones in a separate file,’ emailed
The Writers’ Co-op grew from ‘a small group of writers, published and unpublished, who Simon Whaley. I did that too. I’d told
met on the Book Country website’. They established a website marketing platform, for Simon all about it when he came to visit on
which articles about writing from writers anywhere are welcome. the Wednesday and updated him on Friday.
Each year they publish an anthology, The Rabbit Hole, and are now open to submissions He was staying nearby and his visit helped
of stories and poems for the 2022 anthology, Just Plain Weird, the fifth in the series. make my Wonderful Week as we hadn’t
They want writers ‘to explore how “weird” fits into numerous genres or themes... a wide seen each other for a long time.
range of stories, with the protagonist(s) transiting from the land of the normal to some These times don’t happen often. A good
other place... a journey into the strange and different’. Their definition of weird does not day is more usual. A whole week is a real
always mean outlandish and could be ‘subtle, discreet, even furtive’. gift. I urge you to keep a file or a book of
Stories, no more than 5,000 words, and flash fiction is accepted. Poems and all the good things that happen in your
experimental work are also accepted. Submit by email with ‘Co-op submission’ in the writing life. When you get rejections or
subject line, to: rabbitholecoopiv@gmail.com think you have writer’s block or your Muse
The deadline is 30 April. Response time is ‘reasonable. Payment is a share in the has gone awol, you will have proof that
anthology royalties. there have been good times and, I promise,
Website: https://writercoop.wordpress.com they’ll be back.

www.writers-online.co.uk FEBRUARY 2022 75

WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES
GLOBAL NON-FICTION MARKET
Win a £500 prize for
21st century fables Neverending Chicken Soup
written in the style
of the great Scottish PDR Lindsay-Salmon
author Robert Louis
Stevenson for
the international The editors of the Chicken Soup funerals, birthdays and gift-giving.
competition from anthologies want to cheer us all up in The deadline is 30 April.
The RLS Club. the covid pandemic and seek stories Closing on 28 February is Counting
Prizes are £500 for
about ‘Crazy, eccentric, wacky, lovable, Your Blessings/Attitude of Gratitude,
the winner, and
£100 for the runner-
fun family members’. The stories must an anthology for stories to help people
up. Enter original, be true and names may be changed tough it out during the pandemic,
unpublished fables, to protect the author and the family ‘finding the silver linings, and
no longer than 350 member. The editorial team want counting your blessings, whether the LGBTQ community and people of all
words. Entry is free. true stories and poems about those challenges you are facing are Covid-19 ethnicities, nationalities, and religions’.
The closing date is family members written with ‘love and related or other kinds’. Response time is slow. Payment is
2 April. appreciation, please. No mean-spirited Limit stories to 1,200 words or $200 and ten free copies.
Website: www. stories wanted.’ Think of their faux fewer, in first-person POV. Stories in For submission detail, and other
mrrls.com/fable pas, gaffes of all kinds, eccentricity, the books are from as diverse a group future titles needing stories, see the
Waterstones named
at family events like weddings and of writers as possible, ‘including the website: https://writ.rs/chicken
Paul McCartney’s
The Lyrics: 1956 to
the Present its Book
of the Year for 2021.
GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET
Kiran Millwood
Hargrave’s Julia
and the Shark won
Right up your street
the Children’s Gift
of the Year award. Jenny Roche
Blackwell’s Book
of the Year was A US annual literary anthology, Upstreet is open to accepted elsewhere.
Amia Srinivasan’s submissions of fiction and creative non-fiction until 1 Payment, made upon
‘conversation- March. publication, is $50-$250
changing’ title Founding editor and publisher Vivian Dorsel likes per fiction or non-fiction
The Right to Sex, unusual topics or familiar topics told in an unusual way piece plus a complimentary
and Non-Fiction and likes to hear an ‘interesting, distinctive, narrative copy of the anthology.
Book of the Year. voice, one that will keep the reader engaged from Submit, using the online
Meanwhile, the beginning to end’. Selections from previous anthologies submissions manager, no
fiction winner was
Francis Spufford’s
can be read on the website. more than two fiction or
Light Perpetual and All submissions must be a maximum 5,000 words and non-fiction pieces, each
Alastair Chisholm’s not wanted are previously published work and pieces submitted separately.
Adam-2 took the which have a political theme/topic or contain ‘partisan Poetry submissions are
children’s award. political references’. only considered by invitation. Queries can be emailed to:
Mention when submitting if your piece is submitted poetry1@upstreet-mag.org
Christie J Newport elsewhere and let editors know immediately if it becomes Website: https://upstreet-mag.org/guidelines/
won the inaugural
Joffe Books Prize
for Crime Writers of
Colour for Branded, UK TRUE LIFE MARKET
the first instalment
of her police
procedural series. Read this, please
Her prize includes
a deal; the book
will be published Tina Jackson
in the autumn. The The Borough Press is inviting submissions for bestselling The Borough Press and
new competition novelist Joanna Cannon’s non-fiction project, Will You everyone whose story is
celebrates Read This, Please? Joanna is a former doctor of psychiatry, selected will receive £1,000
underrepresented
writers from
and this project is a book of real-life stories, written by and a share of royalties.
Black, Asian and professional authors, based on the lived experience of In the first instance,
minority ethnic people in the UK who have faced mental illness. Stories people interested in sharing
backgrounds, for are welcomed across the spectrum of mental illnesses and their story are invited to fill in a form, downloadable from
debut, previously experiences, and the project’s perspective is that everyone’s the website, that includes completing a 500-word account
published or self- story is unique and valuable. of the mental health condition, how it was treated, and
published books. People whose story is chosen will work with a writer what the experience felt like.
It reopens for to tell their story on their own terms. The pieces will Submissions are open until 7 February.
submissions in May. be assembled into a collection that will be published by Website: www.boroughpress.co.uk/submissions/

76 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk


McCoy’s Monthly is a zine with a team who
despise literary conventions. They like to
publish ‘original, unique writing unrestricted’
by conventions of what is literary. They also
like writers of all backgrounds and styles.
Submit long or short stories, no word limit,
‘Genre stories are welcome, but they must
do more than check genre boxes. They must
stand out.’
Read back issues, guidelines, and what the
editors think about writing on the website:
www.mccoysmonthly.com
Submit a doc or pdf file by email:
editorinchief@mccoysmonthly.com
Response time is usually ‘within a month.’
Payment is $20 per story.
Space Squid is a
‘hybrid publication
of hand-scrubbed
SF, fantasy, and
humour’. They
‘accept and publish
any media within
our technical
abilities, including
but not limited
to fiction, art, comics, music, spoken word,
features, humor, lists, DVD commentaries,
and xeroxable found objects’. The team hate
being bored so the zine is ‘oriented to people
who are bored easily. It doesn’t have to be
S.F. It doesn’t have to be funny.’ They even
accept fantasy, bizarro, and experimental, just
don’t be boring. Submit stories, 750 to 2,000
words. Response time is less than 45 days.
Payment is $5. Website: www.spacesquid.com
Synthetic Reality
Magazine is a
brand new digital
and limited print-
run magazine of
new SF, fantasy,
SHTF, slipstream,
horror, sword
and sorcery and
surreal fiction.
Submit stories up to 5,000 words. They
are open to poetry other genres, especially
humour, and articles, up to 2,000 words,
on the writing process. Submit through the
website: http://syntheticrealitymagazine.com
Response time is ‘about three weeks.’
Payment is 1¢ per word plus three copies.
INTERNATIONAL
ZINE SCENE
Typeslash Review
is a new fiction
journal showcasing
all types of writing
‘from emerging and
established writers
alike, regardless of age or background’. Their
tastes ‘skew more lyrical and literary’, but they
like ‘fiction that takes you on a ride of sensory
indulgence’. Submissions for short stories
and flash are always open unless stated on
the guidelines page on the website: https://
typeslashreview.wordpress.com
Cover letters are optional, but the
team ‘love seeing a friendly email’:
typeslashreview@gmail.com
Response time is ‘within a week.’ There is
no payment yet.
Short Story Stack wants to create a library of
short stories of all genres for their subscribers.
Writers with a collection of already published
short stories might like to consider submitting
as reprints are welcomed. The team has
chosen a novel way to encourage writers
to submit: a large pay out in a special kind
of competition. One chosen winner each
month receives a base payment of $100 ‘plus
50% of the subscription revenue. Submit
stories, 6,000-10,000 words, by the end of
each month, as a doc or Google doc file, to:
shortstorystack@gmail.com
Website: https://shortstory.substack.com
Not Another Lit
Mag is a new online
literary magazine,
publishing ‘literary works inspired and
informed by pop culture’. They are open to
‘nostalgia, current obsessions, or criticisms of
badly aged content, and so forth’. They love
film parodies and pastiche which ‘cement
the idea that old tropes and references can
be recreated into something new and fresh’.
Submit creative fiction and non-fiction up to
2,000 words, for flash up to three pieces each
under 750 words, or up to five poems, by
email: notanotherlitmagazine@gmail.com
Response time is ‘reasonable.’ Payment is
$15 for first-time electronic publishing rights.
Website: www.notanotherlitmag.com
The Blood
Pudding is
a boutique
online publisher of microfiction, flash fiction,
short stories, nonfiction, poetry and art.
Editors Liam Kim and Heather Feather,
like ‘raw voices, stories about the human
condition and untold perspectives’. They
www.writers-online.co.uk
WRITERS’ NEWS
by PDR
Lindsay-Salmon
enjoy work set around ‘Imperfection(s).
Vulnerability. Mistakes. Being alone.
Empathy. And The Big. The Bad. The Mad-
Bad Weirds.’ Submit flash fiction, 1-1,000
words, stories and non-fiction, 1,000-4,000
words, and poems of any length, through the
website: http://thebloodpudding.com
Response time is ‘within 12 weeks’.
Payment is $40 per piece.
Breath & Shadow is
the online literary zine
of Ability Maine, ‘a
space for gathering and
sharing information
about living with
disabilities’. The
journal is ‘exclusively
written and edited
by people living with
disabilities’ of all ages.
The editorial team
accepts writing on
any topic for poetry,
fiction, creative non-fiction, and drama,
which do not have to be about disability, but
non-fiction, academic, and similar articles
(profiles, interviews, opinion pieces) do.
They’re particularly seeking work ‘that speaks
to living, beingness, inspiration, imagination,
spirit, expiration, endings, movement of time,
shadow sides, hiddenness, mystery, darkness,’
and especially want writers to be casting new
light on the subject.
For poetry, submit up to three poems,
written or as audio/video links.
For prose, the limit is 3,000 words. Any
subject matter or style of creative nonfiction
is accepted. Query if you have an idea for a
non-fiction article, such as interviews with
people involved with the disability movement
(artists, writers, leaders, activists), reviews
of books, performances, movies, etc, as they
relate to disability, and insightful commentary
on trends or issues facing the disability
community.
Be aware that ‘inspirational stories of
people overcoming their disability, or simply
coming to terms with it, morality tales, ‘sing-
songy rhyming “Hallmark card” type poems’,
medical articles, stories about cures or miracle
treatments, or religious agendas are not
wanted or accepted. This magazine is about
living well and enjoying life.
Submit with full details and an
indication of your disabilities by email:
breathandshadow@gmail.com
Response time is reasonable. Payment is
$20 for poetry, $30 for fiction and non-fiction
Website: www.abilitymaine.org
FEBRUARY 2022 77
WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES GLOBAL LITERARY MARKET

Wildfire Words Subs open all year at Black Lawrence
New Voices
First Pamphlet PDR Lindsay-Salmon
Competition 2022 is
for first collections
by poets aged 25 Black Lawrence Press is a US
and under. The indie publishing contemporary
winning entry will poetry, fiction, and creative non-
be published as fiction. The editorial team find
a 32 pamphlet,
their authors through annual
plus fifty copies
and publication in
contests and open reading periods.
wildfire words. Enter They seek ‘innovative,
ten original and electrifying, and thoroughly
unpublished poems. intoxicating manuscripts that
The entry fee is £10 ensnare themselves in our hearts
until 31 January, and minds and won’t let go.’
then £12. The closing The Big Moose Prize, the open
date is 28 February.
Website: https://
wildfire-words.
com/new-
voices-2022 competition for novels, is open There are also general open
until 31 January, followed by the reading periods during June and
Marjoleine Kars Hudson Prize for poetry and short November.
won the $75,000 story collections, open 1 Feb-31 Submit only the correct form
Cundill History Prize March, the Spring Black River for the period, after checking
for Blood on the Chapbook Competition for poetry specific guidelines for each
River: A chronicle and prose chapbooks, 1 April- one on the website: https://
of mutiny and 31 May, the St Lawrence Book blacklawrencepress.com
freedom on the wild
Award, 1 July-31 August and Response time is reasonable.
coast, a research-
led account of a
the Fall Black River Chapbook Rights and royalties are discussed
little-known slave Competition, 1 Sept-31 Oct. with the contract.
rebellion in 1763
in a Dutch colony
in present-day
Guyana.
Website: www. A new way to tell a story
cundillprize.com
Writers interested in AI technology and what it can
Sarah Harkness won
the Biographer’s
do for their writing might like to start with a look at
Club’s £2,000 Tony Chatables, a friendly place to find out how to work
Lothian Prize for with and turn writing into sound. The creator, Amy
uncommissioned Stapleton, offers good support for beginners and a
biographies for her simple way to get used to writing for audio.
proposal, Alexander Chatables uses ‘the voice technology powering
Macmillan, Amazon Alexa to create virtual characters who
Advocate for the invite you to join them in fun interactive stories’
Ignorant – The Life – effectively turning an audiobook into a two-way
and Times of a
conversation between the narrator and listener,
Victorian Publisher.
available through its app, Storyteller Cafe.
Mathelinda Chatables is geared towards being company for the
Nabugodi won the lonely. Writers will be guided through the Expresso
£10,000 Deborah scripting editor, which Amy says makes it easy to write
Rogers Foundation interactive dialogue or ‘script flowing conversations character(s) in the story’. The piece must contain ‘an
Writers Award for for your chatbot or virtual human’. interaction with the listener at least once every 2½
first-time writers Writing must be for an adult audience and written minutes,’ but more frequently is preferred. Keep it
who need support with the four cafe characters in mind (they are clean and decent, PC and kind. Think of friendly chat
to finish their books, Maddison, Alex, Lilly and Collin) ‘so that one or between old friends.
for The Trembling
Hand: Reflections
more of these adult voices may realistically “voice” the The hardest part about writing for listeners is giving
of a Black Woman them ‘an active and understandable role in the story’.
in the Romantic Episodes are short, usually 2-6 minutes, and should
Archive. Runners- be part of a series. Stories must absorb the listener in
up were novelists action happening in the present, rather than relating
Yasmine Awwad, past events. Use questions that make the listener feel
for The Shrills, and like they are part of and having an influence over the
Sophie Meadows, events in the story, and draw them into conflicts or
for The Frog, each sticky situations.
receiving £1,000.
Website: www.chatables.com

78 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk


ONLINE NON-FICTION MARKET
Political pulse
Gary Dalkin
Novara Media is a UK multimedia outlet
founded in 2011 which specialises in ‘political
commentary that addresses the defining issues
of the 21st century’. They publish opinion,
news and features. Opinion pieces are usually
short-form commentary and analysis on
unfolding political developments. News and
features focus on original reporting about
issues that matter to Novara Media’s audience,
which is heavily left-leaning with a strong
concern for social justice, anti-racism and
environmental issues.
Many articles are commissioned from writers already known to the
editorial team, led by head of articles Charlotte England, but they ‘also
welcome pitches from prospective writers’. Before pitching, read the website
at https://novaramedia.com to get an idea of the house style and preferred
approach.
What they are definitely not interested in includes academic essays, gossip,
‘hit’ pieces, poems, fiction, conspiracy theory-based pieces or news that
is likely to have been covered extensively elsewhere. Recent articles have
included a series examining why disability is a political issue, a look at the
role of the media in climate breakdown and how Islamophobia is ‘fed to us
from the top’.
Editors will try to respond within five days, but if your pitch is especially
time-sensitive state this in your email’s subject line. For opinion pieces send
your pitch to opinion@novaramedia.com. For news and features pitch to
news@novaramedia.com. For all other enquiries relating to articles, email
Charlotte England at charlotte@novaramedia.com. Payment is £100-£175
per published piece.
Queer and here!
The new PFD Queer Fiction Prize
2022 has categories for LGBTQIA+
adult, young adult and children’s
fiction.
Launched by literary agency PFD,
the prize for new writers is intended
to discover emerging talent. The
competition is for unagented writers
working on fiction who have not
previously published a full-length
novel or picture book. Manuscripts
don’t need to be completed at the
time of entry. Works don’t need to
address the LGBTQIA+ experience
(although the judges are particularly interested in entries with LGBTQIA+
characters and themes) but must be written by writers who identify as
LGBTQIA+.
Winners will be signed to the agency and supported to complete their
novels.
• The adult category is for upmarket and literary fiction in all categories.
It will be judged by author Okechukwu Nzelu and agent Cara Lee Simpson.
Submit three chapters and a synopsis.
• The young adult category is for YA fiction across all genres, and will
be judged by author E Latimer and agents Silvia Molteni and Lucy Irvine.
Submit three chapters and a synopsis.
• The children’s category is for middle grade and chapter books across all
genres, and will be judged by E Latimer, Silvia Molteni and Lucy Irvine.
Submit three chapters and a synopsis.
Entry is free. The closing date is 1 March.
Website: https://writ.rs/pfdqueerfictionprize
E L W RI
V T
IN
TR
G
W
N
K
O W-H O
Short and sweet
Succinct descriptions can work
wonders, says Patrick Forsyth
t may all change again, but as I write
I the UK government’s red countries
list has shrunk to a handful. Dare
I think a holiday I’ve rescheduled
three times might actually happen?
The amount of travel being undertaken seems to
be increasing and there are now predictions of
capacity problems as people (some of whom have
saved a good deal of money in lockdown) now
rush to book.
That said, wherever one goes (or just recalls or
researches) one thing that often needs to feature
in travel writing is description of the culture or
character of a country or place. For example,
Songkran, the Thai New Year, is in April (the
hottest month in that country) and is celebrated
with gusto and much water. It started reflecting
the Buddhist custom of a light sprinkling of water
being a symbol of purification. Now it is an excuse
for music, dance, eating and drinking and soaking
everyone you meet with as big a quantity of water
as can be managed. If someone approaches you
in the street with a bucket: beware. Much can
be written about such things and doing so can
illustrate more than just the event, but provide an
insight into peoples’ attitudes and more.
Equally it’s possible to conjure an image in
a few well-chosen words that say a great deal
more than their number suggests is possible.
Another characteristic of the Thais is their
attitude to time. Ask what word in Thai is
equivalent to manana and you are likely to be
told that there is no word with the same degree
of urgency. Such quips are useful, adding feeling
and description, and maybe producing a smile
too. Pure description can also be brief and yet
do a powerful job. I believe it was Peter Mayle
in A Year in Provence who described a typical
Italian square as being like the result of a parking
competition for the blind. I love that and I love
things like that: by picking something that might
seem mundane so much is said about Italian
character. Let me end with another favourite.
Paul Theroux, whose travel has involved many
a train journey, wrote: A train is not a vehicle. A
train is part of the country. A train is a place.
It’s not always easy to be so succinct, but if
you can, a few words can do a great deal of
describing for you.
FEBRUARY 2022 79
WRITERS’ NEWS

FLASHES UK NON-FICTION MARKET

Stories, previously untold
The Baen Memorial
Short Story Award Tina Jackson
for short stories
up to 8,000 words Pugmill Press is a new independent Pugmill Press aims to publish four
on the near future non-fiction publisher that wants to titles in the coming year. ‘However, if
of manned space tell stories that are, or have been, things go well, we may release more
exploration offers overlooked. publications, and we would certainly
publication online ‘We are looking for lesser-known aim to increase this number year-on-
at industry pro and untold stories,’ said editor year. Our emphasis, however, is on
rates. Entry is free.
Ada Jenkins. ‘We do not publish quality rather than quantity. ‘
The closing date is
1 February. academic or instructional non- A good book for Pugmill Press
Website: www. fiction, but rather seek the creative is one which has a compelling
baen.com/contest- and untold subjects which more story to tell. ‘We are firmly a non-
jbmssa commercial publishers may overlook fiction publisher, but our books
or neglect. What we would love must have something interesting
Journalist Philip most of all would be to publish and captivating about their subject
Clark and novelist something previously unknown or and content,’ said Ada. ‘Our first
and essayist Javier unappreciated, but which is powerful book, Scotland’s Tall Chimneys,
Montes won the for example, takes an aspect of
and engaging. ’
British Library
Eccles Centre & Hay
Pugmill is just starting out on its industrial heritage and celebrates it,
Festival Writer’s publishing journey. ‘We are a new even though tall chimneys are often
Award, each earning publisher, having published our overlooked in favour of structures
£20,000 and a year’s first book in October 2021,’ said such as lighthouses and bridges. This
writing residency Ada. ‘The story behind Pugmill is the type of book that we aspire to
at the British Press originates from a frustration publish, telling the stories untold.’ Well-thought-out submissions are
Library to develop with some existing publishers who Ada encourages prospective welcomed. ‘We would invite prospective
their forthcoming overlook material that is both writers to believe in the stories they authors to send in a synopsis of 350
books using the fascinating and important, but want to tell, or retell. ‘Our advice words detailing the core idea behind
Library’s Americas
which may have less commercial to prospective authors would be the book,’ said Ada. ‘We will then, if
collections.
Website: www. appeal. Pugmill Press also seeks to simple: have confidence in your own we feel the idea is viable, seek further
bl.uk/writers-award pay authors a fair amount for their work; if you have a compelling non- information. An idea about potential
creative work, something which fiction story to tell, do not be afraid stockists of the book and opportunities
Sarah Maycock won mainstream publishers do not always to put it forward for publication. for review is also good. We’re excited to
the £2,000 2021 prioritise. We want Pugmill Press Not everything in publishing must hear from you!’
ALCS Educational to produce high-quality material be about mass market appeal and Pugmill Press pays royalties and
Writers’ Award for and are committed to rewarding enormous commercial success. To primarily publishes in print. ‘Our
Sometimes I Feel: our authors for the considerable us, the best non-fiction work is that first books are heavily illustrated
A Menagerie of which is underappreciated. Consider and, therefore, do not work well as
time, effort, and passion it takes to
Feelings Big and
Small. Runner-up
complete their book.’ your knowledge and area of expertise ebooks, although this is something
was I Am Not a and try to weave that into something we may look at in the future. We
Label by Cerrie compelling. Once you have done believe that physical books, if
Burnell. that, send your idea to us for designed well and printed using
consideration. On a more practical good quality materials, are beautiful
The Future Worlds level, we would also encourage objects, and this is will always be our
Prize for Fantasy prospective authors to think carefully primary format. We have aspirations
and Science Fiction about illustrations and how easily to publish some hardback titles going
Writers of Colour these could be obtained and at what forward. ‘
(formerly The
cost, as this is something which Details: email: pugmill-press@
Gollancz and Rivers
of London BAME
   authors sometimes forget to take into gmail.com; website: https://
SFF Award), shortlist consideration.’ pugmillpress.com/
is as: A Shadow in
Chains, MH Ayinde;
The Sawling, Write for Rosemary
Jordan Collins;
Frankincense, The Rosemary Goodacre Memorial Short Story Competition is a new award in
Salma Ibrahim; In memory of the saga writer, for fiction on the theme of ‘friendship’.
the City of Villages,
Rosemary died in October 2020, five days before the publication of her trilogy
Franchesca Liauw;
Margot, Who Is
The Derwent Chronicles by Hera Books. The new contest has been organised
Beautiful Now, by Rosemary’s friends to commemorate her life, with the proceeds going to her
Bea Pantoja; The favourite charity, Spadework.
Warden, Madeehah The winner will receive £150, and there are second and third prizes of £100
Reza; Contracts and £50.
Made in Gold, Enter original, unpublished short stories on the ‘friendship’ theme, up to
Aqeelah Seedat; A 1,500 words.
Box Full of Stories, The entry fee is £7.50 per story. The closing date is 31 March.
Fatima Taqvi. Website: https://writ.rs/rosemarygoodacre

80 FEBRUARY 2022 www.writers-online.co.uk


Lori Ann
Stephens
The author and professor tells Lynne Hackles about Paris,
Texas, and how she writes best in the comfy chair
L
ori Ann Stephens is a full-time university
professor. Her days are filled with teaching and
grading undergraduate and graduate students.
She gets the creative writing done whenever
she’s not teaching.
‘I love researching and planning for classes,’ she says,
‘but it’s a very different kind of mind-space to writing –
methodical and addictive in its own way – and it can be
hard to step away from during the school semesters. I have
to mentally step into a very different brain space – a creative
space – to write fiction.
‘When I’m in the thick of writing a novel and inspired,
I can sit down twice a day, once in the mid-morning,
and once in the late afternoon, and draft a chapter by the
end of the day. My partner brings me a glass of wine and
a tiny bowl of saucisson, and I slip easily into my story
world, whispering my dialogue and looking like a slightly
delusional woman. When I’m between novels it’s chaos. No
structure at all. I’d like to say that I jump in with a cup of
coffee and knock out a few thousand words before I allow
myself to post a picture of my cat on Instagram, but recently
my writing schedule more often begins with a few hours of
mind-numbing social media scrolling, exhausting all possible
avenues – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, emails, back to
Twitter, anything new on Facebook now? – before I force
myself to confront the page.
‘Procrastination does tend to make a writer productive
in all manner of household chores and redecorating. My
house and inbox are never more organised than when I
need to start a new novel or continue one that has lost its
direction. I think the core of procrastination is fear of the
empty page and one’s ability to inspire others. I’ve found
that switching creative gears to write in a less-explored genre
actually awakens and rustles up creative energy. If I’m not
“feeling it” or face a writer’s block, I sit down to jot some
lyrics or an entire song instead. I have to say the words
out loud or sing them (poorly) as I play with the lines and
possibilities. Sometimes I write lyrics for fun, other times, I
write on commission for composers. But this very different
exploration of word play creates a kind of frisson that carries
over to my fiction. I find that I can finally sit down and
there are new possibilities for my stories.
‘A perfect writing day would be to wake up in an
apartment in Paris, stay in my pyjamas all day, and write a
M Y W R I T I N G D AY
few chapters. Then I’d sit on the couch with a cup of coffee
while my partner reads the chapters and asks questions that
make me realise just what needs revising. Then he cooks
a delicious, gourmet dinner as I get back to the draft. I
never set foot outside the apartment, but I do linger on the
balcony and watch the Eiffel Tower lights twinkle on the
hour. This scene has actually played out a few times. My
partner is French and I’ve the extraordinary luck of traveling
there. It’s a gorgeous city, and the newness has worn off just
enough so that I think of it more as a special place to write
than a city to visit.
‘I debuted with a literary novel for adults, and then wrote
a YA adventure/romance, two middle-grade novels, and
now, Blue Running, a thrilling, coming-of-age adventure.
‘Blue Running is about a girl who has grown up in
the Republic of Texas, which has turned into a haven of
conservative, xenophobic isolationists. Gun ownership is
required, abortion is illegal, and a huge wall surrounds the
Republic to keep people out and in. Crime is rampant.
It’s the only world Bluebonnet Andrews knows, but she’s
beginning to question its logic. When an accident with
a gun results in an accusation of murder, Blue becomes a
fugitive. She joins up with a mysterious older teenager, and
together they make the dangerous journey to find their
relatives – and refuge – beyond the border wall. It’s a story
of survival, of girls fighting for their rights and their lives.
‘When I began writing the novel a few years ago, I had no
idea we’d be where we are now politically in Texas (the recent
passage of the abortion ban). I was only thinking, “Look where
we could end up? Look at how fragile human rights are?” But
these issues were actively bubbling below the surface.’
WRITING PLACE
‘Although I’ve had a writing office for a few years now, I
more often prefer the giant, red, comfy chair in the living
room. We’re living in a quiet house, so it normally works to
settle into this chair to write. (I’m sitting in it now!) I hear
the soft whir of the air conditioning and, a few feet from
me, Monsieur the cat is snoozing in his hammock beside
the “Cat TV,” our patio filled with potted flowers and rose
bushes and visiting rabbits, butterflies, hummingbirds,
squirrels, and opossums. It’s incredibly peaceful.’
 UNDER THE COVERS
A SPO O NF UL
OF SU CC ES S
To get th
good start, G
the flavours
ay th e le ss p a la table bits)
aw
H
as anyone got a spoon?
As I type this column
I am sitting, not at the
enviable Instagram-style
writer’s bureau you might
imagine, but at a rudimentary, scratched
old beast of a second-hand desk, piled
high with endless papers and abandoned
‘to do’ lists. I’m a metaphorical (and
comparatively youthful) Miss Havisham,
letting the dust settle around me and
quite unable to find my second shoe.
In my defence, I don’t like the clutter.
It’s just something that’s accumulated,
like the white mould that engulfs the
bright orange of a tangerine. Over the
past few months, it slowly, insidiously
accrued until I found myself sitting at
a desk covered with paperwork, coffee
cups, yoghurt-smeared teaspoons and
my own tears.
But despite the revolting,
TV-reality-show worthiness of my
surroundings, it’s my head that most
needs a good cleanout. Over the past
couple of years since I signed my
first publication contract, I’ve built
up a bank of cluttered thoughts and
emotions: feelings that do me no
good, abandoned dreams and new
ideas. These spin around like clothes
in a washing machine and I can’t
distinguish the threadbare knickers
from the new lingerie.
Reader, I need a Clean Sweep.
But wait!
Tempting as it is – I can’t simply brush
everything into the bin and pretend
nothing’s happened. Desk-wise and
head-wise I need to chuck out the stuff
that no longer serves me, but hold onto
anything of value (plus, bills).
So here’s what’s headed to the bin:
1 Self-flagellation
I’m a perfectionist, which means I
tend to brand anything that isn’t
82 FEBRUARY 2022
e n ew w r it in g year off to a
H a r v e y is tasting
il li a n
ss (a n d throwing
o f su c c e
100% a successful a complete failure.
Rather than wallow, I need to
embrace the ‘not too bad’ and strive
for more – even if that means simply
‘failing better’.
2 One-dimensional(ness)
Yes, I’m an author. Yes, I’m working on
a book. But in the last couple of years
it’s felt as if that’s ‘all’ I am. I’ve placed
my feelings of self-worth entirely in the
hands of others – editors, publishers,
readers. It’s great to have this string
to my bow but it’s unhealthy to let it
define me. There is more to life and
more to me. Side-note: has anyone seen
my kids?
3 Regrets
I’d like to be all ‘je ne regrette rien’. But
I’d be lying. I have regrets at the way I
handled various situations the last couple
of years. I wish I’d spent time learning
more about the realities of publishing
rather than finding things out as I went
along. I wish I’d used more head and
less heart when it came to some of the
decisions I made.
I wish I’d taken the chance to fly to
the UK for the one real-life event I could
have attended (a new-author event in
late 2019).
Regrets are natural but ultimately
energy-sapping. I’m going to bin the lot
of them and focus on the future.
So, after all that, what’s left?
1 Hope
Yes, there’s still some there. Look! Right
in the corner. Come on, little fella.
Aww, well, look at that. Without the
self-doubt demons, there’s room for it to
grow. It’s time to start looking forward.
2 Author connections
Back before I got my first publishing
‘yes’ – I had zero author friends. I didn’t
get involved or connect with other
writers because I didn’t feel I qualified.
Now I’ve experienced the full strength
www.writers-online.co.uk
of the online #writingcommunity and
feel part of a team rather than a solo
player. And I wish I’d done it sooner.
3 Pride
I almost missed this out. But I’ve published
two books. Yes. Two books. Like many
authors I’ve met, I find it hard to celebrate
my success. But I should, right?
4 A new perspective
I’ve seen this industry from the inside
and it’s more complex and intertwined
and downright baffling than I’d realised.
I’d always set my sights on traditional
publishing (it was the only thing
around, after all, when I started on this
path aged five). But I’ve since watched
writers self-publish, go down the hybrid
route, write in different genres under
different names and dabble in all sorts
of things. I’m going to open my eyes to
all the possibilities ahead.
And that means taking a little advice
from the fictional guru Joseph Tribbiani
from Friends (admittedly, his words
were about women, but I think they’re
apt here too): ‘There’s lots of flavours
out there. There’s rocky road, cookie
dough – bing! – cherry vanilla…
Welcome back to the world, grab a
spoon!’ With a clear head, and the
benefit of experience, I’m ready to move
forward with positivity.
And the desk? I’ll get to it eventually.
 Star t y our w r i t i n g j o u r n ey i n
2022 wit h W r i t i n g M a g a z i n e
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