In one of my stories, “The Pink Teddy Bear” (Originally published in the award-winning collection, Once Upon a Decade: Tales of the Fifties (under the title “Going for the Gold”) I came up with a character very much like so many men who watch sporting events while sitting in an easy chair drinking beer and eating fast…
Morning the loss of kwality fikshun
‘Lies damn lies and statistics.’ Book sales were up last year. You would think that was good news, but should adult dot to dot books really be included? Even when you take those out and look at the rest of the sales it can make for depressing reading. Whilst there has been much criticism of…
The Nearly Boy – Alyson Faye
Lovely story. We can all relate to Sam’s situation in life..His chance discovery, drawn out from a negative experience, of a path to fit in and thrive in his formative years. An opportunity given to him, allowing him an anchor as he steps into another chapter in his life, brimming with confidence 🙂 Robin Bhattacharya 4/12/16…
Alyson Faye – Writers’ Notes
I spend time most days either rewriting/editing/blogging, but I write original creative fiction about 2-3 times a week. I live in a small town, Bingley, near Bradford- probably most famous for the building society which is based there. I write at all times of the day, sometimes into the early hours if I feel I…
Pamela Woolford – Writers’ Notes
When did you fall in love with writing (your defining moment)? Wow. Not one defining moment, but there were several transforming times for me. As a child my mother would tell me stories of her life growing up dirt poor in rural North Carolina, and I was fascinated by her stories of a life so…
Nancy Christie – Writers’ Notes
How much time do you spend each day writing? How much time do I spend writing? It would be easier to answer the question when am I not writing since I spend much of my time writing in one fashion or another. Sometimes, it’s actual fingers-to-keyboard writing; other times, I am out running errands or…
Allison Symes – Writers’ Notes
How much time do you spend each day writing? At least two hours. I write different things in these sessions, starting with my Facebook author page, my website blogs, my regular slot for Chandler’s Ford Today before moving on to fiction. I also use my Mslexia diary to note down what I have written each…
Writers’ Notes – Roger Noons
How much time do you spend each day writing? Obviously it varies, but I would hope to average 3/4 hours during a 7 day week. When on holiday it is often much more. On some days nothing, but I’m disappointed if I don’t average 5 hours a day. What’s more satisfying than sitting in the…
Susan Jones – Writers’ Notes
How much time do you spend each day writing? Time spent on writing depends on whether it’s a good day, then I’ll write for 4 – 5 hours, or on a bad day it’s a shopping list. Weekends are more productive unless we’re having family time. What is your favourite time of day for writing? Best time for…
Alan C. Williams – Writers’ Notes
How much time do you spend each day writing? My wife says ‘too much’ but relents whenever I sell a short story (3 last week). Most days I spend at least two hours physically writing but I’m often composing a story in my head whilst awake during the night. What is your favourite time of…
G. Lloyd Helm – Writers’ Notes
How much time do you spend each day writing? Depends very much on the day. I don’t measure by time I measure by number of words. I try to write 1000 Words per day. If it is going easily I knock that out in an hour. If it is going hard as with the script…
Anita Louise Jay – Writers’ Notes
How much time do you spend each day writing? I do not spend any specific time writing each day, as I still work part-time as a teacher during some weekdays, so I write mostly in the evenings and weekends. I might spend 4 or 5 hours on a Saturday or Sunday depending on what story…
The Road at My Door – Lori Windsor Mohr
This is the most gripping book I’ve read for some time. It’s the story of Clarice Cavanaugh (Reese to her friends) growing up in cold-war USA. Reese is the younger of two daughters in a very dysfunctional family. If this book had been written 25 years earlier, George Bush might have wanted American families to…
Author Profile – Valerie Dawson-Miles
Valerie Dawson-Miles Val lives just outside Edinburgh in Scotland, having grown up in sunny Africa! As well as writing stories, she is a keen artist, needle woman and crafter, and also loves classical music, playing the piano rather badly!Until now her stories have all been about cats, as she has always shared her home with…
Author Profile – D. A. Cairns
D. A. Cairns David¹s love affair with reading and writing began in primary school with his now family famous story of the tale he wrote when he was eight years old which featured an old man of 50 running down a beach. His 50 year old grandfather was mortified to be thought of as old.…
Author Profile – Greta Yorke
Greta Yorke Greta Yorke started writing at primary school where paper from unfinished jotters was fashioned into ‘books’ and stories created, then life took over and stories ceased. Bringing up 5 daughters was a full time occupation! With children grown and time on her hands Greta went back to school and gained qualifications which…
Author Profile – Valerie Holmes
Valerie Holmes I was born in a coastal town on the edge of the beautiful county of North Yorkshire, England. When I married, moved south and then started a family I decided to leave my business career. Two children later I entered Writing Magazine’s annual ghost story competition and was delighted when I won…
New Year’s Writing Resolutions – Karenne Griffin
My new year resolution is to avoid stress. I reached December 2015 completely adjacent from my marbles having written 90,000 words in three months and gone through a couple of weeks of major stress due to technical breakdowns. Somehow I managed to publish my latest novel (Scream at the Mountains, available from Amazon). My project for 2016…
Author Profile – Martin Gale
Martin Gale I was born in Walthamstow, originally a part of Essex but now absorbed into East London as the London Borough of Waltham Forest. At school I loved to read books and write stories. Much to my English teacher’s dismay, I could turn any creative writing project I was given into something…
Author Profile – R F Marazas
R F Marazas R.F. Marazas wrote stories in high school and college, and even won a prize or two and saw them published. The stories and a fledgling novel hit the back burner when he entered the rat race and developed a bad habit of procrastination. Once he retired he finished his novel, polished is…
Author Profile – Michelle Barber
Michelle Barber Although I won writing competitions and had my letters published in magazines as a child, it never occurred to me to be a writer. It wouldn’t in Lancashire in those days. Looking back, I’m glad that it didn’t and that I accidentally stumbled into something else. This meant that I had wonderful and…
Between Times – Henry Mitchell
In this soul-sustaining sequel to The Summer Boy by Henry Mitchell, the character whom readers love, grows up, moves through an adventurous career, and learns even more about himself in the process. The trilogy (third novel coming soon) by Henry Mitchell follows Benjamin Drum in and out of the Laurel—a misty place in the southern…
Adam’s First Case – Patsy Collins
Adam’s First Case is an uplifting and often humorous story, by Patsy Collins, with the familiar theme of good overcoming evil. It highlights a young boy, Adam, who dreams of becoming a policeman when he grows up. Until then, he has promised the community bobby that he’ll keep a lookout to help track down a prolific…
Author Profile – Tamara Jones
Tamara Jones I am an Antipodean who dreamed of living in England since day dot, and now it’s my home, though it looks like I might be migrating to France in the near future. In any event, growing up in New Zealand made every other country seem exotic, sophisticated, unattainable. In those days Freddie Laker and…
Author Profile – Sharon Marie Jones
Sharon Marie Jones I grew up in mountainous North Wales, enchanted by myths of giants and fairy rings. I devoured Enid Blyton’s books, and the crab apple tree at the bottom of our garden, which had the shape of a little door halfway up its trunk, became a hidden kingdom of Crabble Fairies in my…