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Why you should apply for an RSL Brookleaze Grant

 Awarded by The Royal Society of Literature’s Council, Brookleaze Grants support writers (novelists, playwrights, poets, short story writers) who need time away from their normal lives – to take sabbaticals from their jobs, for example, or to travel abroad for research – to write. A total of £5,000 is available annually, and this may be awarded either…

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Perfect Halloween Reading

 Halloween is almost upon us and the Wales Art Review’s Halloween Special, full of tricks and treats, is the perfect literary accompaniment. From walesartsreview.org: This year we are very proud to publish an exclusive and free collection of short stories from a selection of top writers, including Niall Griffiths, Rebecca F. John, Jo Mazelis and many…

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Beautiful Trees review

 Just over a year ago, I began my review of Nik Perring’s Beautiful Words with the imperative ‘Do not read this book,’ and I meant it. I didn’t want readers to simply quickly flick through the pages of the book. Perring’s dictionary come love story, beautifully illustrated by Miranda Sofroniou, deserved better than that. I…

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Characters and Stories @ Wolds Words 2015

 This time next week I will be leading a writing workshop on character as part of the brilliant Wolds Words 2015. Wolds Words is an annual celebration of reading, writing and performance with events taking place in Louth and the the Lincolnshire Wolds, with events for adults running over October 21st-25th and the children’s and…

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Charles C May on Half-mown Lawn

 Charles C May’s blog, Reading the Short Story, is a must read for anyone interested in the critical study of short fiction. Mr May is an academic who has spent many years reading and writing about short fiction and has published a number of books on the subject, including, most recently, the excellent ‘I Am Your…

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Being Dad Kickstarter final few days

 As I type this, there are only 5 days to go before the Being Dad Kickstarter ends. Pledges currently stand at £2778 which means that there is still just over £700 needed before the deadline of Monday 12th October. It all feels tantalisingly close at this stage so if you have been thinking of pledging and haven’t…

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The End is coming

   From The Fifteen Paintings website: The End is a collaborative project that explores the nature of ‘endings’. Fifteen paintings, depicting ‘the end’, by artist Nicolas Ruston will provoke fifteen short fictions by fifteen writers. Ruston wanted to examine and interrogate the notion of ‘the end’ by exploring how a temporal art form can operate through different…

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Being Dad Kickstarter is go!

 While I was away last week the Being Dad Kickstarter kicked off. I’ve been unable to blog about it until today though, as I returned home from the First Story Young writers’ Festival to find my broadband (and I say broadband but here in rural Lincolnshire it’s more ‘moderately-wideband’) was on the blink. Normal (slow) service…

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First Story Young Writers’ Festival 2015

 This week I was fortunate enough to once again be part of the fabulous First Story Young Writers’ Festival. On Wednesday and Thursday over 800 students gathered in the gorgeous grounds of Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford to take part in workshops and performances led by more than 30 writers from across the UK. I…

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Being Dad

 Been a bit quiet here on the blog, what with the kids off school for the summer. My writing and blogging time has been squeezed by the inevitable increase in Dad time. Thursday was the kids first day back at school and yesterday I was able to grab a couple of hours between washing, food shopping and the school run…

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First Story Summer Residential 2015

 Regular readers of this blog will know that I am currently a writer-in-residence with the charity First Story. For those of you not familiar with First Story, here’s their intro from the website: First Story changes lives through writing. We believe that writing can transform lives, and that there is dignity and power in every…

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2nd Place in 2015 Bath Short Story Award

 I am thrilled to be able to share that my story, ‘Dancing to the Shipping Forecast‘ has been selected as Second Prize winning story in this year’s Bath Short Story Award. The Bath Award is a fantastic prize that since its founding has celebrated some fantastic short fiction.   The judge this year was Carrie…

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Driver and the Beautiful Highway short film adaptation

 In 2011 I was asked by eMergent Publishing editor, writer and all round inspiration, Jodi Cleghorn, to write an story for an planned anthology of post-apocalyptic love stories called (Nothing But) Flowers. The anthology was part of eMergent’s Literary Mix-tape lineup and contained 24 alternative takes on love at the end of the world, all of…

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What have I been up to lately? Well…

 One: I recently attended the launch of Banovallum School’s First Story Anthology, Writing Outside the Box. It has been my privilege to work with the boys at Banovallum and their teacher Miss Lord since September last year. First Story is a UK charity that places writers in secondary schools to work with students on the…

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Unthology 7 @ Project U

 After it’s successful London launch event on Saturday, tomorrow night sees the return of the Unthank Prose Event with the launch of the rip-roaring Unthology 7 and a sensational line-up of short story stars. I’m thrilled to be able to say that I am reading alongside Elizabeth Baines, Gary Budden, Adrian Cross, Elaine Chiew and Debz…

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Unthology 7 launches

 Unthology 7 launches at the London Short Story festival today. Here’s the official announcement regarding the latest in Unthank Books superb short fiction anthology series: UNTHANK BOOKS are very proud to announce the publication of UNTHOLOGY 7, the latest in our series showcasing the finest short fiction from new and established writers. Flinch at the things…

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Counting Words vs Words That Count

 Since I started writing I have been interested in the process and methodology of successful writers. I find other writer’s habits, particularly those of my favourite authors, intriguing, and often the way in which some writers approach their work is downright fascinating. For example, I love how Beryl Bainbridge describes beginning each novel with ‘ nice new notebook’…

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The Importance of Being Mentored

 About this time last year I was lucky enough to be selected for the Writing East Midlands’ mentoring scheme, a fantastic opportunity to be mentored by a successful author for six months, with the sessions focusing on my writing goals. Following my selection last year, I posted at length about the selection process and how valuable…

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