In February this year I had the great pleasure of attending the inaugural Book It! literary Celebration in Oxted, Surrey as a guest author. As you can see from the programme there was a week long series of events, on all aspects of literature. I was invited to lead a writing workshop and appear as part of the Friday evening panel discussing the short story, alongside three writers whose stories formed part of my education into the form which began back in 2008. Alison MacLeod, Vanessa Gebbie, Tom Vowler and myself throughly enjoyed the hour or so we were given to discuss the craft of short story writing. This was my first time as a guest at a literary festival, and it was a great first experience.

It seems it will be far from my last.

First off, I will be appearing at Lincoln Inspired 2014 on May 8th at 4pm, reading from Looking Out of Broken Windows at The Bookstop Cafe in Lincoln. Full details of all the Lincoln Inspired 2014 events can be found in the festival programme and you can follow the event on twitter @LincolnInspired.

I am delighted to be able to say that I will also be reading at the first ever London Short Story Festival which runs from the 20th-22nd June. Take a look at the Spread The Word blog for the impressive list of authors who will be appearing over the three days. I am seriously stunned to be asked to appear alongside so many of my favourite short story writers. The date and time of my reading event is still to be confirmed but I will post full details to the blog as they become available. For all the latest on the festival follow @LSSFest and @STWevents on twitter.

Also, later this year, I will be leading a workshop, Writing Short Stories, at Wolds Words 2014. Save the date now: Saturday 18th October 2014, 9:30am-12:30pm. The venue is still to be confirmed but it is likely to be in or near Horncastle, Lincolnshire. All the latest information regarding this year’s Wolds Words events can be found on twitter @WoldsWords.

2014 is shaping up to be a busy year for me. Hopefully see some of you at these events.