News

Here's where I'll let you know what's happened to me in the world of writing.

Meg Gardiner

If you've never heard of Meg Gardiner, then you don't know what you're missing. She has been championed by Stephen King as the next big thing in writing, and deservedly so. Her latest Jo Beckett novel, The Memory Collector, has a rather interestingly named character.

Me!

Yes, I won a caption competition on Meg's blog last year to have a character in her latest book named after me. But don't take my word for it - buy Meg's book and see if you can find me!

Stephen King Halloween Story 2008

I’ve taken part in a collaborative Halloween story over on Stephen King’s official message board, hosted by his PA, Marsha DeFilippo and webmaster, Jordan. Twenty of us took part, each of us with 24 hours to write 500 words of a story. Not too difficult until you consider that you had to follow on from what the person before you has written. 24 hours suddenly doesn’t seem so long! Anyway, my submission met with a response of "Good Job" from Marsha, and boy, was I happy with that. If you're interested, head on over to SK's web pages and have a read: Halloween Story 2008

Oh - OK, the link's dead - it appears that old stuff has been purged. And there's little point in me posting my bit here - it'll make limited sense without what came before. Never mind.

Writers' & Artists' Yearbook

My debut novel, Depot 573, was selected as one of the 100 winners in the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 100th Anniversary writing competition. Woohoo!

The prize was a manuscript appraisal from The Literary Consultancy which was full of head-swelling comments, such as, “This is a lively and entertaining read, with an excellent page-turning quality – and a great title!” It also contained lots of advice and suggestions, so it is with these in mind that I am embarking on a redraft before I start the frightening task of trying to catch the eye of an agent.

I’ll keep you posted.

55 Words

Wow – I’ve just had a short story accepted for web publication (and when I say short, I mean short!).

55 Words, is a great little site that publishes 55 words stories (and that means exactly 55 words – no more and no less). I’ve just heard from Anca Szilagyi that they've published one of my offerings, Plummet

Waterstone's

When I was in the very early stages of writing Depot 573, I entered the first few chapters into Waterstone's "The WOW Factor" competition. I didn't win, but was very pleased that it was shortlisted to be entered into the regional finals. The book has subsequently been completed and has undergone some serious revision/polishing.

BBC

Are you afraid of Vampires? was my first ever short. I hadn’t written anything since school, and one day I came across the BBC's Get Writing website, so I just decided to have a go. The idea of a monologue came into my head, and I wrote this in one sitting.

It was published on the regional BBC website.