fiction

  • I actually bought ‘One Day in December’ in December 2018 after hearing it was the book of the moment. I had good intentions – I was going to read it. Then, as always, life gets in the way and it gathered dust on my bookshelf. Fast forward to December 2019 and I’d just finished a…

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  • Markets For Writers

    Do you enjoy writing dialogue? Then why not write a story that’s dialogue-only? This is the requirement for one of Writing Magazine‘s latest competitions. ‘No attribution, no description – just tell us what was said. You’ll need to use all your narrative skills to paint a scene, define a character and tell a story, while…

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  • This week, I’d like to welcome Eva Jordan as my interviewee. I met Eva at the Deepings Literary Festival at their wonderful Read Dating event. Eva was a joy to talk to and I found the concept for her books very interesting. Here, she shares her writing passions, her inspirations, and there’s a taster of…

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  • Markets For Writers

    You’ve got plenty of time for this week’s market – the closing date for The Writers’ and Artists’ Short Story Competition is 13th February 2020. Stories are invited on any theme, up to 2000 words. The competition is free to enter. A winner and two runners-up will be chosen. Prizes include a place on one…

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  • Markets For Writers

    Iron Press is looking for short stories for a new anthology, titled Aliens. Here are some details for you: ‘This is not a competition. There is no fee and no prizes. Authors included will receive two free copies. Extra copies can be ordered at trade price and writers may be invited to read their work…

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  • Book Review: The Magicians

    I had high hopes of this book – the first in the series by Lev Grossman. The Times described it as ‘…Harry Potter for grown-ups’. Now, being a massive Harry Potter fan, I settled down, expecting to be taken on a gripping, enchanting and thrilling journey. The blurb says: ‘Quentin Coldwater’s life is changed forever…

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  • Free – For You!

    For those of you who haven’t yet read my latest book of short stories, A Walk in the Woods, you can get it free – today and tomorrow! Tempted? Here’s an extract from one of the short stories, The Dark Place: I hate this dark place. A cobweb gently glides over my cheek, its maker…

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  • Book Review: The Family

    My partner knows psychological thriller writer, Louise Jensen, and he was invited to the launch party of her latest book, The Family. He could take a guest so I jumped at the chance when he asked me if I’d like to go along. I had met Louise at the Harrogate Crime Festival earlier in the…

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  • I met the lovely, chatty Margaret at an author and blogger meet-up recently in Stoke. She talked to me about her book and I was keen to know a little bit more about it and about what inspires her to write. Q. Your book, Footsteps in the Past, was published last year. Can you tell…

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  • I’d wanted to read The Handmaid’s Tale for some time. Friends raved about it and when the TV series came out, there was a lot of talk about it and the concept. But, as many of you bookworms out there will appreciate, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to read all the books…

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