Writers' checklist

The Value of Free

2012-02-09T16:41:00.000Z

I’m a Yorkshireman; I don’t believe in free.

If I ask a plumber to fit a new tap in the kitchen he has a certain amount of money to pay out: cost of the tap, fittings washers, etc. It probably comes to just a few pounds, so why does he charge me £50 for the job? I pay for his time and expertise.

Why, then, do people assume that my time and expertise as a writer has no value? I work as hard as our plumber, the job takes a lot longer than he spends fitting a new tap. Why should I not be paid for that time?

That’s the underlying reason for my rejection of ‘free’. When I look at a new magazine or site calling for contributions, the moment I see the words “we are unable to pay you at this time,” I come away. Would they expect the plumber to fit their new tap for free just because they’re short of capital?

The same is true of my self-published titles. Their value as a commodity I based upon what I believe they’re worth. If I get that wrong, the thing doesn’t sell and I go back to the drawing board. I don’t give it away.

So how come I’m giving away my latest effort, Tales from the STAC Casebook?

Effective advertising is expensive. Ineffective advertising is just as costly. We’re in the middle of an economic recession and people are tightening their belts. My combined sales for the whole of January and the first two weeks of February are slightly less than those for the first two weeks of December.

Free, however, has a remarkable effect. People find free without the need for advertising. With some publicity to back it up, ever increasing numbers of people find free, and in doing so, they find links to my other titles which are included in the back of free.

This isn’t just theory. Within hours of uploading Tales from the STAC Casebook there were knock-on sales. Free works: I can recommend free.

If there’s a problem with free, it’s one of public perception. Free means badly written garbage, cobbled together in a hurry. There’s an element of truth in it, but to be fair, it can be said about many paid e-books, too.

If you’re going for free, don’t skimp on the work. Maureen edited Tales from the STAC Casebook and also consulted on the cover image. It is of the same editorial and design standard as all my other titles.

If you’re putting out e-books, if you’re setting up a website where you intend to put up short stories or articles as free reads, the word free should not mean shoddy. That work will become a window on your writing world, and second best should never be good enough.

Neither should it be a blatant advertising vehicle. Tales from the STAC Casebook is what the title suggests. A brace of short crime capers with Joe Murray, Chair of the Sanford 3rd Age Club. They’re constructed with the same care and attention to detail as the novels. They’re entertaining and intriguing (even if I do say it myself) and links to other titles are contained within the front and back matter. They don’t interrupt the stories.

Your readers download to be entertained, not pitched. So entertain them. It will help establish your reputation as a writer and entertainer, someone the reader will want more of. Sales will follow quite naturally.

It’s early days yet, but notwithstanding my ingrained Yorkshire thrift, I can recommend free.

David's bio

David lives and works as a novelist on the northeast outskirts of Manchester, England. He is a prolific author, having produced works in cosy crime, psycho-horror, sci-fi and humour.

The latest book in his popular whodunit series starring the members of the Sanford 3rd Age Club, The Filey Connection, will be published soon by Crooked {Cat} Publishing.

You can read free sample chapters of David’s books HERE.

David's website.

Writers’ Village Story Contest Spring 2012

2012-01-30T20:07:00.000Z

This short story competition from Writers’ Village is for prose fiction up to 3,000 words in any genre except playscripts and poetry. Entries are welcomed world-wide.

Prizes:

1st - £400

2nd - £100

3rd - £50

5 shortlisted entries - gain a free entry into the next round

All winning stories since 2009 can be found HERE

All entrants, winners or not, gain a helpful critique of their story - a feature thought to be unique among low-fee writing contests. Winners will be awarded the title ‘Winner, the Writers’ Village Best Writing spring 2012 Award’ and see their work showcased online.

Entry fee is £10 and multiple entries are permitted.

Deadline is 31 March 2012.

Character Profile Writing Competition

2012-01-29T20:14:00.000Z

Not a short story this time, but for this fiction competition you'll need to don your thinking cap and write a detailed character profile.

Use the picture here for inspiration to enter this contest from the Creative Competitor.

Prizes:

1st - £100

2nd - £75

3rd - £50

4th - 3 months Creative Competitor Premier1 Membership

Entry fee is £2.50 per story

Deadline 21 February 2012

Grace Dieu Writers’ Circle Short Story Comp

2012-01-15T22:26:00.000Z

The Grace Dieu Writers’ Circle 2012 Short Story Competition is open for tales of up to 2,000 words on any topic.

There are quite a few prizes up for grabs here.

Prizes:
1st - £500
2nd - £200
3rd - £100
4th - £75
5th - £50

Entry fee is £5 for one story and £3 for each additition entry.

Closing date is 28 February 2012.

Full entry details and a downloadable entry form on the website.
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Trevor Forest Book Giveaway

2012-01-08T12:38:00.000Z

I’m kicking off the 2012 Author Interviews with a chat and book giveaway from Trevor Forest (known also as Trevor Belshaw to his friends and various Nottingham authorities).

Trevor has stepped forward with only the slightest of shoves in the back and is offering one lucky Writers’ Checklist reader the chance to get their hands on a signed copy of his latest children’s book Stanley Stickle Hates Homework.

To be in with a chance of winning Trevor’s book just leave a comment telling us your own best excuse for not handing in that homework and we'll pick the most inventive.

Competition is open until Sunday 15 January 2012

Trevor, tell us (in no more than 20 words!) what Stanley Stickle Hates Homework is all about.

Stanley doesn’t like homework and he’ll do anything to get out of it. Literally anything, even if it involves Girls.

Your previous children’s books have been aimed at girls. Was it a conscious decision to write one for boys this time around?

I think Stanley can be read by both boys and girls. In fact, the lovely feedback I’ve had so far has been mainly from girls. I did take a conscious decision to create a male lead character after the reading coordinator at a local school asked me if I had written anything that would attract boys, especially reluctant readers. She said the book would need to be quite short, and really funny. Well, it is short… and hopefully funny. That’s for others to decide.

Did you have the complete plot mapped out before you began writing?

Yes and no. I try to work out the main idea in my head before writing anything down. Once I do start, it takes on a life of its own and I just let it take me anywhere it wants to take me within reason. I do try to keep within certain parameters these days. I’m not one for forming character lists and back stories. In a new book I like the characters to be as fresh to me as they are to the reader. As the series goes on I will probably have to be a little more careful to keep them consistent, but with a new book I just like to let them speak to me.

The kissing scene wasn’t planned at all really. I think it popped into my head one evening when I was eating chili and rice. I burst out laughing, spat the mouthful I was eating over the dog and I had to run to the computer to get it down while it was fresh in my mind. The dog didn’t mind. She likes chili and got to have the rest of the bowl while I was out of the room.

How do you choose your character’s names and why hasn’t there been a super-heroine called Maureen?

I tend to go for older or quite obscure names for my characters so Maureen might appear as a super heroine one day. I have a favourite web page with lists of old-fashioned names on it. If I can’t find one there I’ll try one of the numerous baby names websites. I always end up with three or four possibilities. Peggy Larkin was the only one that sprang directly to mind when I was working out the initial plot. It just seemed to fit the time I was writing about.

Faylinn Frost was an amazing find. I was writing about a frozen fairy kingdom and happened to look at a Gaelic dictionary of girl’s names to try to find something that might fit. Fairies are big in Celtic legend. Faylinn was in there. The name means Fairy Kingdom. All I had to add was the word frost and I had a character’s name that translated to Cold Fairy Kingdom, which is exactly what the book is about.

Stanley Stickle started out as Godfrey Good, but I was never really happy with it so I gave a few of my author friends a multiple choice question on Twitter and Stanley was the name that came out top. He was very nearly Stanley Stickley though.

Did you also hate homework and what was your most inventive excuse for not doing it?

I wasn’t a big fan. I once said I’d dropped my English composition book in the fish tank and I daren’t put my hand in to get it out in case I was electrocuted. That didn’t work. I got an extra dollop of English homework, a lecture on looking after school property, an hour’s detention and I had to pay for a new book out of my pocket money.

After that excuse, I couldn’t really take a dog-eared, but perfectly dry book back to school. We didn’t have a fish tank anyway. We had a goldfish bowl with a miracle fish in it; a fairground prize that survived for more than a week.

The book is hugely funny – you must laugh a lot while you’re writing. Do your neighbours wonder what you’re getting up to?

My wife does sometimes. But she mostly just shakes her head and lets me get on with it. I do laugh a lot when I’m writing. I know it’s said that you shouldn’t laugh at your own jokes but I have never let that stop me. The more ridiculous the scene, the louder I laugh. I have to stop myself pushing the scene to the limit. I’d still laugh but it might be a bit over the top for readers.

You also write for adults. How difficult is it to switch from that to children’s writing?

It’s a different mindset. When I write for children, I try to put myself in the middle of the action. I try to remember what it was like inside my ten-year-old head. It’s a strange place to be, believe me. From there it’s not too hard to come back. I just need to make a strong cup of coffee and shake my head a few times to clear the chaos of my juvenile thoughts. When I write for adults, I’m never part of the scene. I’m just directing it.

Did you have a clear picture in your mind of what Stanley looked like before your cover artist came up with the final design?

Not really. All my covers come directly from Marie’s imagination. (Marie Fullerton) I only give her basics like age, height, etc. She reads the book and comes up with the artwork. She’s brilliant. I did say I wanted thick curly hair for Magic Molly but that was the only time I’ve been that specific.

Apart from Stanley, who’s your favorite character in the book?

Soppy Sonia. She was so much fun to write. I laughed all the way through that chapter. (Once I’d finished choking on the mouthful of chili and rice.) She’ll be back in future books for sure.

So, there are going to be more Stanley Stickle adventures?

The next two are in my head, mapped out in general terms. The follow up will be called Stanley Stickle Does Not Have A Girlfriend. It will tell of Stanley’s struggles to rid himself of the limpet-like Soppy Sonia. It will be a huge struggle too and he’ll need a few more of his cunning plans to achieve his aim.

The third book will be called Stanley Stickle On Stage, or something like that. It will tell how Stanley gets roped into appearing in the school production of Oliver and his desperate attempts to be thrown off the project.

I’m not sure which one will be written first as I have more ideas for the third book than the second at the moment. But they’ll appear in order, hopefully this year.

Trevor Forest lives in Nottingham.

A published author and poet, he writes articles and fiction as T. A. Belshaw and his hilarious book Tracy's Hot Mail is to be published later this month with Crooked {Cat} Publishing.

WEBSITE

Trevor's Amazon page HERE

Buy Trevor's books in print HERE

Revisiting Characters - guest post from David Robinson

2012-01-04T16:35:00.001Z

David Robinson is a popular author with several book series under his belt – though his wife insists the resultant bulge is due to an excess of pork pies and real ale.

How difficult is it to bring back characters from previous books? Today I’ve invited David to reveal all to the readers of Writers’ Checklist.

People say to me, “It must be easy working with the same characters in title after title. You don’t need to go into great detail describing them or fleshing out their history because you did it all in the first book.”

Not entirely true, but it’s a valid point. That’s the upside.

The downside is the propensity for making mistakes. I published the first Spookies title in 2007 with Virtual Tales. In The Haunting at Melmerby Manor, Sceptre was 27 years old. I self-published The Man In Black in 2009 and in it, Sceptre was 26 years old. When I finally put the two together in the Spookies Compendium, I corrected the error.

Usually, when I write a novel, I set up a spreadsheet containing all the information regarding the characters. Once the novel is published, the spreadsheet along with all the early drafts is sent to the recycle bin and in the natural course of events, it’s cleared out.

But I can’t do that with series. I have to maintain a master sheet, and the amount of information is much more detailed. If I have character X smoking his head off in Book 1, I can’t say he’s never touched a cigarette in Book 3. If she divorced her philandering husband in Book 2, I can’t have her weeping over his recent death after years of happy marriage in Book 4.

There are other things I need to note, too. One character in my novel, Voices, had a habit of pausing with the muttered “–ah–”. If he reappears in later tales, it’s vital that I include this little foible.

There’s also a level of frustration. You get to book 4 and think, “why couldn’t I have written Joe as a six foot hunk?” But it’s too late. He’s five feet six inches of skin and bone and that is what I have to work with.

This process has to be the author’s responsibility. Maureen does a marvellous job of editing and tidying up my crap typing, but I can’t expect her to maintain in-depth character profiles from every piece I write.

And yet, having said that, it’s a tribute to Maureen’s skills that in the latest piece, she picked up on something I’d missed. When discussing Joe, I said that in his younger days, he wanted to be a cop but his father stopped him. Maureen pointed out that Joe could never have been a police officer. When he was a young man there was a height restriction (5’8” I believe) and Joe is only 5’6”.

Now that’s what I call attention to detail.

Working with the same characters is fun and there is a challenge in having them tackle different situations, but in many ways it’s more complex than producing stand alone stories.

It’s still early in the New Year, and it’s some time since I last guest posted on Maureen’s blog, so may I take this opportunity to thank her for allowing me the platform, and to wish Maureen and all her readers the very best for 2012. May all your dreams come to pass.

David's bio

David lives and works as a novelist on the northeast outskirts of Manchester, England. He is a prolific author, having produced works in cosy crime, psycho-horror, sci-fi and humour.

The latest book in his popular whodunit series starring the members of the Sanford 3rd Age Club is A Murder for Christmas You can read free samples chapters of David’s books HERE.

David's website.

My short story on CaféLit

2012-01-01T16:53:00.005Z

My story at:

The Creative Café Project

A little while before Christmas, the good folk at CaféLit accepted a short story of mine. It's called Frozen in Time and I'm very pleased to have it featured on their website.

For anyone who doesn't know, CaféLit is the ezine of the Creative Café Project and aims to promote writing by both up-and-coming and established authors. They look for thought-provoking stories that are just the right length to accompany a cup of coffee - so generally no longer than 3,000 words.

Further details and submission guidelines can be found HERE

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WRITELINKERS Christmas Magazine 2011

2011-12-04T16:58:00.002Z

Packed with Yuletide fun and frolics, this will be the third year running I've been involved as a co-editor of this publication.

The content - stories, poems, nostalgia, recipes - is the work of Writelink members, a community of writers at every stage along the writers' path. And it's free for everyone to read!

My co-eds this year were David Robinson and Laurie Clayton - talented writers, both. At times it was hard work getting it all together, but, as always, it was huge fun. Thanks guys. And many thanks to all the Writelink members who entrusted us with their work.

Open publication - Free publishing - More articles

Or if you prefer, you can download it as a pdf by clicking HERE.

Changes - a guest post from author David Robinson

2011-11-24T16:25:00.001Z

Prolific author and good friend, David Robinson, has taken time out from his busy schedule to provide Writers’ Checklist with an astute guest post. Here he shares his views on the consequences of being a little too precious with our prose.

Here’s one of my favourite old jokes. I received two emails. One from my publisher, the other from my wife.

Publisher: I need changes to page 210.

Wife: I’m leaving you for the bloke across the street. We’re going to live in Rotherham.

Here are my responses:

Publisher: That page is the crux of the tale. I’ll not change a single word. If you don’t like it, I’ll pull it and you can stick your advance where the sun doesn’t shine.

Wife: Rotherham?

That bit of nonsense hides a conundrum for the writer (as well as marriage guidance counsellors). When you’re asked to change something, do you or don’t you?

For my sins, along with Maureen and another friend, Laurie Clayton, I co-edit a magazine on a writer’s community, and we recently got into a bit of a spat with a writer who objected to changes we requested. I’m not going to go into great detail here. It was all a storm in a teacup and eventually it blew over. No one is suggesting the author was wrong, but is there anything we can learn from it?

Some authors are fearfully protective of their work, others, and amongst this number I include myself, are happy to go along with editorial suggestions, as long as they make sense. Copyright, as we all know, is vested in the writer. Any piece, even a 100-word filler, is the intellectual property of the author, and it cannot be reworded or changed without permission. If changes are suggested and the writer says, “No” then that is the end of the matter.

But hold on.

As a writer, how badly do you want to see your work in print? If you’re asked for changes and you refuse, you leave the editor with only one option. Rejection. If you don’t see the need for the change, you can, of course, negotiate, but if the editor sticks to his/her guns, then you will be rejected.

You have to ask yourself, why were you asked to change it? Does the change make more sense than your original? Does the change affect the underlying message? Does it make you appear more or less erudite, and if so, is that a reflection of the magazine’s/book’s potential audience.

The underlying theme here is, if you want to see your work in print, then don’t be too protective of it. Be prepared to give a little ground. Be ready to accept changes. By all means challenge them if you feel they’re unjustified, but even so, prepare to back down if you have to.

As an example, about 4 years ago, I published a paperback novel through a US imprint. We all know there are major differences between English in the USA and English in Great Britain, and it’s not just about spelling. Amongst the numerous changes the editor asked for was the phrase, “ticked off”. If you are ticked off in Great Britain, it means you’ve been scolded. If you are “ticked off” in the USA, it means you are mildly annoyed.

The character at the core of this passage was an English aristocrat, and “ticked off” would accurately describe matters from her point of view. Did I change it? You bet I did. Publishing that novel was more important to me than those two words.

Not all changes are so simple or clear cut, but ultimately, it’s up to you, the author, to decide how much you want to protect your prose.

And what about editors? My advice is simple. If you have a piece which is borderline and you really want it, ensure that the changes you want are valid and you can justify them. Don’t make changes for the sake of change or for the sake of wielding power.

David Robinson lives and works as a novelist on the northeast outskirts of Manchester, England. He is a prolific author, having produced works in cosy crime, psycho-horror, sci-fi and humour.

The latest book in his popular whodunit series starring the members of the Sanford 3rd Age Club is A Murder for Christmas

You can read free samples chapters of David’s books HERE.

Flash 500 - Fiction Competition

2011-11-22T13:07:00.000Z

This great flash fiction competition is open to entries for the final quarter of 2011.

As the title suggests, short stories of 500 words are the order of the day here. This is an open-themed contest with some very generous prize money.

Prizes:
1st - £250 + publication in Words with JAM
2nd - £150
3rd - £50
Highly commended - a copy of The Writer's ABC Checklist

Entry fee is £5 for one story or £8 for two.

Deadline for this quarter is 31 December 2011.
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Words Magazine Short Story Comp

2011-11-20T20:04:00.001Z

This short story competition is open to writers everywhere. There is no set theme for this one but stories must not exceed 2,000 words.

All winning stories throughtout the year, along with the commended entries, will be published in WORDS Magazine and in an online anthology that will be produced during March 2012.

Prize:
Winner takes all.
Example on the Words Magazine website: 250 entries x £3 = £750

Entry fee is £3 per story.

Closing date is 31 December 2011.

Full entry details HERE
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2011 H.E. Bates Short Story Competition

2011-11-15T16:32:00.000Z

Run by the Northampton Writers Group, and with novelist Katie Fforde as the head judge, this contest is open to all writers.

The short story competition is for work of no more than 2,000 words and may be written on any topic.

Prizes:
1st - £150
2nd - £100
3rd - £50
A prize of £50 will also be awarded to the best story from a Northampton writer.
!n addition, £50 will be awarded to the best story from a writer who is under 18 years.

Entry fee is £4 per story or £1 per story if you're under the age of 18 by the closing date.

Closing date is December 1st 2011.

Full rules HERE
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Foreign Flavours: A New Anthology from Writers Abroad

2011-11-12T19:21:00.000Z

Online writing group Writers Abroad are proud to announce the publication of a new anthology of short stories and non-fiction articles, entitled Foreign Flavours.

The anthology takes as its theme food, drink and recipes from around the world. It is a tantalizing collection of fiction and non-fiction, full of spice and flavour and sprinkled with mouth-watering recipes. The wide-ranging, sometimes bittersweet contributions show how adaptable an ex-pat has to be to leave familiar dishes behind and venture into the culinary unknown.

This is the second anthology published by Writers Abroad. All the contributors are, or have been, ex-pats living in places around the globe. Alexander McCall Smith*, acclaimed author of The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series who himself was born abroad, has written the foreword.

Following a call for submissions, 64 contributions were selected for the anthology. Since Writers Abroad is a virtual writers’ group, all the work to produce Foreign Flavours was done online.

All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to The Book Bus, a charity whose aim is to bring literacy and the joy of reading to children in the developing world.

Writers Abroad is an online writing group, founded in 2009. It provides a forum for ex-pat writers to exchange ideas, views and news on writing and to offer support and constructive feedback on each other’s work. Membership numbers are limited but ex-pat writers can apply to join if they are able to support the group’s initiatives and aims.

Foreign Flavours contains 64 contributions. Thirty-four are non-fiction articles and 30 are short stories. The anthology also includes 33 delicious and appetising recipes. Writers Abroad members supplied 24 of the contributions; the remaining 40 were selected from 96 external contributions.

Contributors live in and have written about the following places: Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Corsica, Cyprus, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malawi, Mallorca, Morocco, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, USA, Wales.

*Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most popular and prolific authors. He was born in the former Rhodesia and was a Professor of Medical Law for many years. His No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series has sold over 20 million copies. His various bestselling series of books are available in more than 40 languages. He has received numerous awards for his writing and now lives in Edinburgh.

The Book Bus is a registered charity that aims to improve child literacy rates in Africa and South America by providing children with books and the inspiration to read them. Find out more on their website.
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Flash Fiction – 300 Word Challenge

2011-11-08T16:23:00.000Z

This flash fiction contest from The Creative Competitor asks for stories of just 300 words based on the picture here.

Prizes:

1st - £100

2nd - £50

Entry fee is £2.00 per story.

Closing date is 25 November 2011

Interview with Christina Hollis

2011-11-03T10:35:00.000Z

Bestselling author, Christina Hollis, writes Modern Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon, which appear in the US as Harlequin Presents/Extra. You can catch up with her here...

Website -- Blog -- Twitter -- Facebook

Christina's book page HERE

What was the first thing you had published?
That would have been in various school newspapers, but I first went ‘public’ as you might say with a technical piece about growing cyclamen from seed. That was in the Royal Horticultural Society’s journal The Garden back in the 1980s!

Tell us about your proudest writing achievement.

I try and produce my best work every time so I’m always delighted with each new acceptance, but I think all the lovely messages I received, both in public and private, after the blog I wrote for the tenth anniversary of 9/11 will stick in my mind forever. Read it HERE

What are your writing strengths and weaknesses?

I love to try and capture the English countryside in my writing, and from the comments I get readers like my descriptive work as much as I enjoy writing it. As for weaknesses, I have to be careful not to go overboard on the drama - maybe a childhood spent reading Sherlock Holmes stories is to blame for that! Rather than being desperate to find out what my heroine would do when faced with a cobra, I’ve discovered it’s more satisfying for readers to discover why she feels she has to put herself into a dangerous situation like that in the first place.

Do you have a writing routine or any odd writing quirks?

I write every day, between school runs. Mornings are my best time for inspiration, then I spend the afternoons re-reading what I’ve done, typing up work and editing it. At the weekends, I catch up on paperwork and try to update my website and blog. As for quirks, I’ve got some really silly ones. Firstly, if I’m not using my beloved Alphasmart Neo I much prefer to write longhand, with a pencil. It’s a Woolworths pencil for preference, although of course they’re a vanishing breed!

Secondly, ever since I was tiny I’ve loved the feel of writing on the very first page of a brand new exercise book or pad. I really hate turning over and using the back of it, so nowadays I write on all the right hand side pages of an exercise book first, then turn the book over and work back the other way. It works as long as I remember to number the pages, and as quirks go it may be weird, but it’s pretty harmless!

Is there a special place you like to write?

I can write anywhere, but what makes it really special for me is the accompaniment of a mug of tea and a big slice of home-made chocolate cake. Unfortunately, the more of that I enjoy, the more I have to suffer on the treadmill...

How important is it to you to plot your novels?

It’s extremely important, as the type of books I write have a strict word count. I want to give my readers an enjoyable heroine and irresistible hero, a roller coaster ride of emotion with plenty of sensuality, character development and a satisfying ending. Fitting all that into a mere 50,000 words takes planning!

Are your characters ever based on people you know?

Not really - I’m like a magpie, collecting a turn of phrase here, a gesture there and putting them together with what I consider to be attractive physical features. I love men with dark hair and eyes for example, so my descriptions are heavily biased toward that type without being based on any one particular person.

How much of you is there in your heroines?
I try and make them all different, physically and mentally, but they all do something that I enjoy. Their careers and hobbies are usually based around the countryside, and using their hands. That way I get to write about the natural world and cooking, among other things. Kira Banks in The Italian’s Blushing Gardener loved plants, while Gwen in The French Aristocrat’s Baby was a chef, for example.

Who is your favourite romantic author and why?

I have great admiration for both Nora Roberts and Debbie Macomber. They create vivid, satisfying stories and both work really hard to give their readers what they enjoy.

What qualities do you think writers should have?

Imagination, first and foremost, but persistence is also vital. In these days of social networking and self-publishing it helps to have an enquiring mind and a sociable nature, too.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve just started work on a new romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon about a woman who thinks she’s perfectly happy with her safe, boring life in an English village until a reckless foreign stranger makes her hunger for more. It has the working title “Love in a Garden”, so you could say I’ve gone back to my roots!

What advice would you give to an aspiring romantic novelist?

Write first for your own pleasure, but if you intend to be published be prepared to listen and learn from every scrap of advice you can get. Join the RNA, learn as much as you can from writing magazines, seminars, courses and by talking with other authors but above all - never give up. If you have a good story and you can tell it well, you’ll get there in the end.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to interview me, Maureen - I really enjoyed the experience.

Christina

Christina Hollis was talking to Maureen Vincent-Northam, co-author of

The Writer's ABC Checklist (Secrets to Success)
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Writers’ Village Story Contest Winter 2011

2011-10-30T15:59:00.000Z

Enter this round of the Writers' Village short fiction competition to win a share of the £500 prize money. Any genre of prose fiction - up to 3,000 words - is eligible, apart from playscripts and poetry. Entries are welcomed world-wide.

Prizes:
1st - £250
2nd - £100
3rd - £50
Five runner-up prizes of £20

Winners will be awarded the title 'Winner, the Writers' Village Best Writing winter 2011 Award' and see their work showcased online.

All entrants, whether winners or not, gain a helpful critique of their story - a feature thought to be unique among low-fee writing contests.

Entry fee is £10 for two entries.

Deadline is 31 December 2011.
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Grumpy Blogger Book Giveaway + Guest post from Flatcap

2011-10-05T12:30:00.001+01:00

Call me a glutton for punishment, but a blog slot to fill and a whole morning without so much as a whiff of a mint Aero has brought on a reoccurring bout of psychosis and an interview with the cantankerous Flatcap is the result.

All is not lost, however, as I have procured no fewer than FIVE free e-book copies of his hilarious musings, Grumpy Old Blogger. Now, if you knew Flatcap like I know Flatcap, you’d realise that the words FREE and FLATCAP uttered in the same breath is as scarce as hen’s teeth.

All you need to do to get your hands on one of these rarities is leave a comment below and in a week or so, the lucky names will be plucked out of a cap. Simple, innit?

Thanks to everyone who commented. The winners have been notified. You lucky people. :-/

Here's Flatcap...

Given my record of dealing with people, it’s not often I get invited anywhere, and I certainly never get invited twice. So it was a bit of a surprise when Maureen wossname, as what runs this blog, invited me to guest post here.

Her Indoors said it would be impolite to refuse, so naturally I refused. Mo’s a bit more persistent and on the promise of a couple of pies and a bottle of brown ale, I agreed.

I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. As I understand it Mo is an editor. I’m a bit deaf and I thought she said an ’ead hit her, so right away I asked, “Whose head?” and before you knew it we were discussing the relative merits of kick-boxing contests at Brownie camps.

Mo’s big question was, where does my sledgehammer humour come from. Easy. I look at this world, I look at people and I think, “How utterly absurd.” Take The X-Factor for instance. Someone please take The X-Factor and melt it down for scrap.

Now that is an example of paraprosdokian. You didn’t expect the final line, did you?

It takes a special kind of person to recognise the humorous potential in everyday life. Either that or you have to bribe your editor. God, she isn’t half expensive this Maureen woman.

It’s not just about what you’re saying, but knowing when to cut off. Add two more words and the gag can fall flat. I’d give you an example, but there are two reasons why I won’t. First, I can’t think of one, and second I’m not getting paid for this gig.

Try this.

“He died from strychnine poisoning,” the copper said.

I patted my knees. “I didn’t know they could be poisonous.”

“What?” asked the inspector.

“Trick knees. I didn’t realise they could be poisonous.”

By the time we get to comparing the homophones, strychnine and trick knees, the gag is falling off. Try again.

“He died from strychnine poisoning,” the copper said.

“I didn’t know trick knees could be poisonous,” I replied patting my arthritic patellae.

That’s what the writer should aim for, and if he misses the mark, then it’s up to the editor to point it out. And there’s no point bleating about it being the wrong time of the month (i.e. when United are hard at work in the Champions’ League). You just have to get on and do as you’re told.

I’m good at that. Doing as I’m told. Ask Her Indoors.

An editor is also good at making writers do things they don’t want to, but I told Mo, “I don’t mop our kitchen floor, never mind yours.” Take my latest megatome, which will be plugged somewhere on this page. I thought the perfect ending was a desire to be tuppence behind J.K. Rowling in the bank. It’s honest. Maureen didn’t think so and insisted I change it. I refused, Mo read me the riot act and I capitulated (capitulation is perfectly legal in a democracy and it’s practically compulsory in a dictatorship like men vs women). I’d still like to be tuppence behind JKR but telling everyone I didn’t wish them a Happy New Year because I couldn’t be bothered is much more Flatcap-ish.

Professional editors willing to withstand the curmudgeonly onslaught of insults, ignorance, mule-headedness, innuendo, general bad manners and crap typing that sums up Flatcap, are as hard to find as egg & chips in a DIY store. I consider myself lucky to have found Mo.

There, Mo, I’ve done as you asked. Now about that cheque you promised…

Flatcap is the resident philosopher at the Jolly Carter where, for the price of a pair of pork pies and a brace of brown ales, he will give you the benefit of his wisdom on politics, relationships, the modern world and the VV carburettor.

Flatcap is the creation of novelist, David Robinson and you can follow his absurdities at Flatcap Fritters

Write a Story for Bedtime Comp

2011-10-03T18:49:00.000+01:00

Write a story for bedtime is a short fiction competition with some rather nice prize money and, even better, there is no entry fee for this one!

It's open to UK residents over the age of 18 only and stories must be previously unpublished.

This contest has been open since March and will be closing soon. Every month, the organisers choose a story for their Pick of the Month slot and award a further £50 prize.

Stories must be between 1,500 and 3,000 words and may be in any genre apart from children's or erotica.

Prizes:
1st - £500
2nd - £300
3rd - £100

Closing date is 28 October 2011.

Full rules can be found on their website
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Critically Speaking - Guest post by Lorraine Mace

2011-09-23T11:07:00.000+01:00

A warm welcome to my blog guest and very good friend, Lorraine Mace. Lorraine is an experienced writer, writing tutor and humour columnist as well as the co-author of The Writer’s ABC Checklist. Here she gives us some excellent advice on how we can get the most from a critique.

Critically Speaking

In the course of my work I get to see a lot of rewritten stories and novels and I’m always astounded at how quickly writers resubmit after receiving a critique.

Considering the writers are coughing up good money for the benefit of someone’s advice, it seems a bit odd not to take the time to at least digest the comments and suggestions. All too often, within a few days of a critique going out, the story reappears in my inbox (often with a note saying it has been rewritten following the advice given). Um, no, usually all that has happened is a few minor corrections have been made to tidy things up, but the major errors to do with plot, characterisation, dialogue and other important factors remain.

So, here’s some advice on how to get the most from a critique, whether it has been paid for, given freely on a peer review site, or is feedback from a writing buddy.

Do Nothing

That’s right. Do nothing. Don’t set to and rewrite immediately. Take a few days to read and reread the comments and suggestions. Only after absorbing the feedback and letting it run through your subconscious will you be able to decide which aspects of the criticism are valid and which would take your work in a direction you don’t want it to go.

Make Notes

Once you’ve absorbed the criticism, make notes on how to deal with it. How are you going to fix the plot holes? What layers can you add to give depth to the storyline? How are you going to flesh out the characters to make them less wooden? What can you do to improve the dialogue? How can you make transitions into and out of flashbacks smoother? What can you do to improve the settings? How can you balance telling and showing?

On this last point, don’t let anyone tell you that you should always show and not tell. A piece of advice given to me some time ago, which I felt summed up the balance perfectly, is to show (using dialogue and interaction to dramatise) what’s important and to tell (using narration to link dramatised scenes) what isn’t.

Rewrite

Okay, now you have your notes, it’s time to rewrite. If you’ve followed steps one and two above you should now be in a good position to make a really good job of the rewrite.

Be Patient

Put your rewritten story out of your mind for a few weeks. Don’t read it again until at least a week has gone by, but the longer you can leave it, the better it will be for you. It’s impossible to read something objectively too soon after you’ve been working on it. Take the time to write something new – or rewrite another story.

Read Critically

Get out the original critique and your notes and read your story with these in mind. Have you covered everything? If you stumble over a minor point, don’t tell yourself it’s nothing to worry about – make notes on how to fix it.

Finished? Nope, not even close. Repeat steps 1-5 until the story is the best it can possibly be. Then, and only then, resubmit it to the competition. However, by then it might be so good that you could submit it to a competition with even better prize money.

Lorraine Mace is the co-author of The Writer’s ABC Checklist, a columnist with Writing Magazine and writing agony aunt for Words with JAM. She has had fiction published in various magazines including That’s Life, The Lady, My Weekly and Ireland’s Own. Lorraine, a tutor for Writers Bureau, is part of the Freelance Market News appraisal panel for both fiction and non-fiction. A writing competition judge and member of the short story critique team for Writers’ Forum, she also runs her own critique service for writers.

Critique Service
Flash 500 Flash Fiction Competition
Flash 500 Humour Verse Competition.

Journal Fiction Competition

2011-09-11T13:57:00.000+01:00

From The Creative Competitor, this fiction contest requires you to write just one page in a fictional journal.

Journal entries must be written in the first person viewpoint and the judges are seeking 'creative and imaginative responses'.

Word count is a maximum of 350 words and they would like you to use the picture for inspiration.

Prizes:
1st - £250
2nd - £150
3rd - £100
4th - Creative Competitor Writing Course (to the value of £80)
5th - Personal Coaching Session (on any aspect of writing fiction)

Entry fee is £3.50

Deadline is 1 November 2011
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Words with JAM Short Story Competition 2011

2011-09-05T19:52:00.000+01:00

The second annual short story competition from those lovely people at Words with JAM is now open for submissions.

Stories can be up to 2,500 words, must be previously unpublished but may be in any genre.

Full rules and entry details can be found on the website.

Prizes:
1st - £500
2nd - £100
3rd - £50
The three winners will also be published in the April 2012 issue of Words with JAM.

Entry fee is £6 for one entry or £10 for two entries.

Closing date is 27 January 2012.
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Editing - Guest post from David Robinson

2011-08-28T14:43:00.002+01:00

Author and good friend, David Robinson, has kindly taken time out to provide a guest post. Here he shares his thoughts on the importance of an editor to those choosing to take the self-publishing route.

The fact that I'm David's editor has in no way influenced this post (!)

It’s no big secret that Maureen edits my work.

I’m an indie. I don’t submit my work to agents or publishers. Like thousands of others, tired of the same old dinosaur run around, I gave it up, and jumped aboard the Kindle/Smashwords self-publishing bandwagon.

Back in the days when I was traditionally published, I learned that editing is part and parcel of preparing a work for publication. As an indie, it ceased to be necessary and became vital.

The first and most obvious reason is spelling, punctuation, grammar and consistency. They’re all tied up in one big bundle, but taken together, they ensure that the reader is not distracted by three different spellings of where (we’re and wear). It ensures that “Kick, Cheryl,” is interpreted as an instruction to Cheryl to kick, and not an order for someone else to kick the woman named Cheryl.

These are the kinds of error it’s so easy to miss when you’re proofing your own work. Why? Because you wrote it, and despite your best intentions, you are more than likely to “speed read”. In other words, at some point, you will read only every third or fifth word and the sentence will still make perfect sense to you.

Editors like Maureen point out more than simple errors, however. I had a rather long piece of dialogue towards the end of my novel “Voices” and it was Maureen who pointed it out. I broke up that paragraph by inserting a comment from another character and some animation.

There is a final part the editor has to play in the development of your masterpiece: imagery.

Ask yourself, what constitutes the process of writing fiction? You entertain a mental image and you transfer that image to paper (or screen) in the form of written words. It makes perfect sense to you. But does it to your readers? How do I know that when you read my words, you will understand what I’m trying to get across?

I don’t.

But when Maureen reads through it, if she does not understand it, she will say so and I know I have to reword it.

It’s all part of the process of polishing this thing before unleashing it on an unsuspecting public, and we should not pretend that we’re above it just because we’re independents.

Long live the editor.

David Robinson lives and works as a novelist on the northeast outskirts of Manchester, England. He is a prolific author, having produced works in cosy crime, psycho-horror, sci-fi and humour.

At least two further books in the popular whodunit series starring the members of the Sanford 3rd Age Club will make an appearance this year. You can read some shorter works from the STAC Casebook for free.

The latest story in David’s other series, Space Truckers – fun sci-fi stories – is The Pirates of Penzarc, which is the much awaited follow-up to Coronallium Conundrum.

(All of David's books can be found in the sidebar to the right)
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Writers' Village Best Writing Award

2011-08-18T14:11:00.000+01:00

The autumn short story contest from Writers' Village is for prose fiction up to 3,000 words in any genre including children's.

Prizes:
1st - £250
2nd - £100
3rd - £50

Five shortlisted entries will win an entry to the next round of Writers' Village awards.

Entry fee is £10 for two entries. Each entry, whether a winner or not, will get a brief expert critique.

Closing date is 30 September 2011
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Interview with Christina Courtenay

2011-07-11T12:20:00.000+01:00

Christina is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Historic Novel Society and has been awarded both the RNA’s Elizabeth Goudge Trophy for a historical short story and the Katie Fforde Bursary (2006).

WEBSITE
BLOG

Christina’s books

Trade Winds

The Scarlet Kimono

Author photo by Helen Bartlett

What was the first thing you had published?

A Regency novella called “Marry in Haste” – it was published by D C Thomson’s My Weekly Pocket Novel series.

Tell us about your proudest writing achievement.

Being shortlisted for the RNA’s Pure Passion Awards this year in the Historical Prize category was great! But just getting a full-length novel published at all was wonderful too, especially since I’d been trying for so long (20 years!).

What are your writing strengths and weaknesses?

I don’t really know what my strengths are, that’s for other people to say, if any, but I do write quite fast which is good I think. My weaknesses are probably that I can be too impatient and prefer to write ‘by the seat of my pants’ rather than plot the story out properly beforehand.

Do you have a writing routine or any odd writing quirks?

I don’t have a routine as such, I write whenever I feel inspired – sometimes all day, every day for a while, sometimes not for days. Although obviously if I’m working on edits or rewrites I have to do it every day until they’re done.

Writing quirks – I write whichever scenes first come into my mind in no particular order, then I have to try and join them up afterwards with the bits that should come in between. I find that works for me because some scenes come into your head and they’re really vivid, and if I don’t write them down then and there, they disappear or they won’t be as good if I try and recreate them later.

Is there a special place you like to write?

I have a little desk in what is jokingly called ‘my office’ (a cluttered corner really) and I prefer to sit there and write because I have a proper keyboard hooked up to my laptop there. I find laptop keyboards really hard to type on, although I do sometimes sit on my bed or on the sofa to write.

How important is it to you to plot your novels?

As I write historical novels, obviously I have to have a time line for actual happenings during that period, but as I said, I don’t do much plotting and only follow that loosely. I start with a scene and some characters and just sort of go with the flow for as long as I can. If I grind to a halt or the story doesn’t seem to be working, I might sit down and try and do an outline for the rest of it, but only if I have to.

Who is your favourite author and why?

I don’t have just one favourite, sorry – it’s impossible to choose because there are so many wonderful ones! Some of the ones I like are Georgette Heyer (wonderful characters and dialogue), Barbara Erskine (love the combination of ghost stories and romance), Susanna Kearsley (fabulous writer of romantic time slips), Elizabeth Chadwick (ditto of historicals), Ellis Peters (who could fail to like Brother Cadfael and the romantic sub-plots are brilliant), Johanna Lindsey (early favourite with larger than life heroes) and Steve Berry (love the thriller/historical mystery combo).

What qualities do you think writers should have?

Great story-telling is the most important one for me. If an author can transport me into the world they’ve created, then I don’t care how it’s done, as long as I’m carried away. I’ve read some badly written books that had me hooked from page one, but also some beautifully written ones that leave me cold because the story didn’t engage me.

What are you working on at the moment?

The copy edits/rewrites of Highland Storms, the sequel to my first novel Trade Winds. It’s due out in November this year so I’m looking forward to that. I’m also working on a sequel to The Scarlet Kimono, my second book.

What advice would you give to an aspiring novelist?

Don’t give up, listen to critique (even if it hurts!), believe in yourself and find a writing buddy, someone you can swap critiques with and who’ll support you when it feels like a struggle.

Christina Courtenay was talking to Maureen Vincent-Northam, co-author of The Writer's ABC Checklist
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Story and Poetry comps

2011-07-05T10:12:00.000+01:00

There are currently two competitions running at the Writelink 'Challenges' site.

The first is for poems with the theme 'Time to Muse'. Length is up to 24 lines not including the title. Click HERE for details.

Prize:
£20

Closing date is 31 July 2011

Entry fee is £3 for unlimited entries. But if you're a member of the Writelink community, it's free!

The second contest is for short stories with the theme 'Summer Sunday'. Length should be no longer than 1,200 words. Click HERE for details.

Prizes:
1st - £40
Two runners-up will get £10 each

Closing date is 30 September 2011

Entry fee is £5 for four entries.
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Starring The Writer's ABC Checklist

2011-07-03T19:48:00.000+01:00

I've been having a bit of a play with an animation program on You Tube; it's a really fun way to create a promotional vid. This is what I came up with for The Writer's ABC Checklist.

Another starring role goes to A Death at the Seaside (STAC Investigates) by David Robinson - one of the books I've edited.

Litro & IGGY Young Person's Short Story Comp

2011-06-27T18:40:00.000+01:00

If you know a young writer, aged between 11 and 19 you might like to point them in the direction of this competition.

The organisers are looking for short stories up to 3,000 words long for the Litro & IGGY Young Person's Short Story Award. Entrants can be from anywhere in the world.

Prizes:
1st - £2,500 + publication in Litro Magazine + part of the story will be displayed on a poster in a London Underground station.

The winner and two runners-up will be published in Litro Online and on the IGGY website.

Deadline for entries is 25 July 2011

Full details are on their website along with last year's winning entry.
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Memoirs & Journalism Competition 2011

2011-06-25T17:31:00.000+01:00

A non-fiction writing competition from Earlyworks Press open to anyone aged 16 or over. Article length is up to 2,000 words and work must be previously unpublished.

There are two categories:

1. Write your story from your own, or your family's, perspective.

2. Write an opinion piece that involves a current event or issue that's in the news anywhere in the world.

Prizes:

1st - £100

2nd - £50

Up to ten £10 runner-up prizes

Entry fee is £5

Deadline is 30 August 2011

Interview with Gabrielle Kimm

2011-06-20T11:35:00.001+01:00

Gabrielle Kimm’s novel His Last Duchess was published by Sphere (imprint of Little, Brown) in August 2010, her second book, The Courtesan’s Lover, is to be published by same imprint in November 2011. Gabrielle has sold her books to the USA, to Turkey, Brazil, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Croatia.

Author photograph by Charlie Hopkinson 2010

WEBSITE – BLOG

Gabrielle’s books

His Last Duchess

The Courtesan's Lover

What was the first thing you had published?

The first piece of writing of mine I saw in print was the first chapter (as it then was) of my second novel, ‘The Courtesan’s Lover’ – which was then entitled ‘The Courtesan’s Choice’. It was shortlisted for the Impress Prize for Fiction at the end of 2007 and all ten ‘shortlistees’ were included in a published anthology. My first novel, ‘His Last Duchess’ was at the time being touted round agents. I was taken on by the Greene & Heaton literary agency very shortly after that, and ‘His Last Duchess’ was published by Little, Brown (Sphere) in 2010.

What are your writing strengths and weaknesses?

Oh, that’s such an impossible question! I don’t know if it’s a strength, but I just love the whole process of writing – everything from the wild excitement of initial inspiration and first drafting, through to the painstaking, line-by-line business of copy-edit checking. I’m a horribly nit-picking perfectionist (as my writing group will tell you, holding their heads and groaning). I can lose confidence, though, and I’m never fully satisfied with anything I write. (Now you’ve asked that question, I’m worrying that I have some awful weakness that I don’t know about!)

Do you have a writing routine or any odd writing quirks?

I don’t really have the luxury of having a routine. I teach a couple of days a week, and have teenage children and an elderly dog, and all these things take up time. I basically write in every moment I have available in which to do so (and quite a lot of moments in which I ought to be doing something else). Having said that, I do write best in the morning, so I tend to try to organise my free days around that. But I so badly crave time to write that I wouldn’t want to limit it by demanding any sort of routine. I always write straight onto my computer – partly because I like the ease and the neatness and the ‘printed’ look of it, but also because about five years ago I cut my right hand very badly (I fell over whilst carrying a big glass bowl and severed a nerve) and since then, holding a pen for any length of time is quite uncomfortable for me.

Is there a special place you like to write?

I always write in my little study – it’s chronically untidy, but rather charming, and I love it. It looks out over my quiet village street, so I can keep a nosy eye on what my neighbours are up to. There’s a desk on which are: my computer, a blizzard of bits of paper, a rather embarrassing collection of part-empty mugs and a very small teddy bear called Robert. In the room there is also a lovely old junk-antique velvet-upholstered chair, a small table, hundreds of books and a dog basket. Once a year or so, I try to get away for a week, just me and the dog, to write uninterrupted, away from the internet and the telly and other distractions.

How important is it to you to plot your novels?

Before I start a book, I have to know roughly how it’s going pan out, and how it’s going to end. It’s not a ‘fixed in stone’ sort of plan, but I do need a definite ‘throughline’, though that might be pretty fluid, and I’m happy for it to change if it needs to. But having that rough sense of how I want the story to go gives me a sort of map, so I don’t feel lost as I step out into the uncharted waters of a new narrative (sorry – that sounds rather ‘Pseuds’ Corner-ish’!)

Are your characters ever based on people you know?

No. Not intentionally, but sometimes as I read back over what I’ve written, I find things that unexpectedly remind me of people. One funny story – when I was shortlisted for the Impress Prize, with ‘The Courtesan’s Lover’, I went to the reception for the presentation of the prize (the winner was a wonderful writer called Carol Fenlon). I got into conversation with one of the judges; after a few minutes chat, he said, “Do you find yourself identifying very strongly with your characters? What I mean to say is, is Francesca you?” (Francesca being my eponymous courtesan). I tried to keep a straight face, and said, “Well, given that she’s a wildly promiscuous and extremely wealthy Neapolitan whore, I suppose the answer to that question has got to be ‘no’, really.” The friend I was with fell about laughing and the aforesaid judge went a rather delightful shade of dark pink.

Have any authors influenced your own work?

I fell in love with historical fiction as a child, when I first read Rosemary Sutcliff’s lovely novels for children set in Tudor times (The Armourer’s House, The Queen Elizabeth Story, Brother Dusty Feet, etc). Her delight in the minutiae of domestic life in previous centuries has stayed with me, I think. It’s harder to pinpoint specific influences more recently. I’m probably influenced in some way by everything I read – and like all writers, I read a lot!

What qualities do you think writers should have?

Tenacity and determination. Without a doubt. Writing a novel takes AGES and needs a huge commitment both in terms of time, and emotional energy, and you need to be seriously determined to see the project through. You need empathy, too, and curiosity about people and the ways they think and feel and behave. Being observant is important – I watch and record people and things all the time, usually just mentally but sometimes into a notebook (oh dear, that makes me sound rather dodgy and obsessive ...). And you need to love the process of writing, too, obviously!

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m in the very early stages of my third novel – I’m not ready to talk about it yet, though! It’s like a little tender shoot, that hasn’t been hardened off yet.

What advice would you give to an aspiring novelist?

Believe in yourself and your work, and never, ever give up! It can be so tough getting started, and very few people have an easy ride to a publishing deal. I didn’t! (See my blog post about my search for an agent – (http://gabriellekimm.co.uk/2011/03/09/pack-a-bag-and-prepare-for-the-long-haul). But if you want it badly enough, you need to stick with it. Agents and editors always say that ‘a story that HAS to be read, WILL be read, eventually’ – so if you are writing a story that you know in your heart simply HAS to be read – keep going, and it’ll happen. A lovely MA tutor said to me several years ago when I was feeling disheartened, “Stand on the doorstep with your finger on the bell, and don’t stop ringing. Eventually they’ll open the door and let you in just to shut you up!”

Gabrielle Kimm was talking to Maureen Vincent-Northam, co-author of The Writer's ABC Checklist

The Virginia Prize

2011-06-19T15:02:00.003+01:00

Aurora Metro is an indie publisher of drama, adult fiction, teen fiction, non-fiction and biography.

The Virginia Prize for fiction is open to all women aged 18 or over who have a completed, unpublished manuscript.

Prize:
£1,000 plus the [conditional] offer of publication by Aurora Metro Press.
Shortlisted entries may also be published.

Entry fee is £5 per manuscript.

Closing date for entries is 15 July 2011

Full entry details HERE.
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3 Character Fiction Competition

2011-06-18T13:16:00.003+01:00

This short story competition is another goodie from The Creative Competitor. All you have to do is write a story of up to 3,000 words - in any genre - that contains just the three characters above.

Prizes:
1st - £150
2nd - £100
3rd - £75

Entry fee is £3

Deadline is 30 June 2011.

Interview with Simon Cheshire

2011-06-11T13:04:00.000+01:00

Simon Cheshire is one of my favourite children’s authors so I’m delighted that he’s agreed to be a guest on Writers’ Checklist.

Simon grew up in Warwickshire and has been published in many countries around the world. He's the author of some wonderfully humorous books for children and teens including the popular Saxby Smart detective series.

WEBSITE

BLOG

Simon’s BOOK PAGE where you can download chapters of his books. Do take a look!

Simon's AMAZON page.

Q: What was the first thing you had published?

A: My first published book was “Jeremy Brown Of The Secret Service”, an action-packed comedy about spies, which was published in 1997. I'd been an unpublished wannabe for about fifteen years before then.

Q: What do you love (or loathe) most about the writing life?

A: Love: being yer own boss; the freedom of the open page; seeing that you really can make a difference, when you visit schools and get kids reading.

Loathe: the poverty; the fact that your future depends almost entirely on how much publicity you generate.

Q: Do you have a writing routine or any odd writing quirks?

A: I try to stick to a daily routine, because at heart I'm a lazy slob and I need to have a definite timetable to stick to. I try to be at the keyboard by 8:30am.

Q: Is there a special place you like to write?

A: I tend to move around the house a lot. I find that a change of chair, or room, helps freshen up the thought processes! I'll often shift writing location three of four times a day, dragging notes, coffee cup and laptop power cable along with me.

Q: How important is it to you to plot your stories?

A: It's vital. I always like to know the last sentence of a story before I write the first one. I greatly admire those writers who can sit down and launch themselves onto a blank piece of paper. That's talent I can barely dream of.

Q: Are your characters ever based on people you know?

A: Very often, yes. Although, having said that, I'm one of those writers who say you can't put real people into books. Real people are too weird. You have to tone them down, and prune back their behaviour, before they become realistic. There's something of me in a number of my characters, and there are bits and pieces of my family, my old teachers, my in-laws, all sorts. Although, they don't know that. So say nothing.

Q: How would you fare as a spy or private detective?

A: I'd be rubbish. I'm not nearly observant enough.

Q: What qualities do you think writers should have?

A: Self-discipline, imagination, and an ego the size of a major municipal building. These days, it also helps if you're a shameless self-publicist. Which is dreadful, but true.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: A non-fiction book aimed mostly at 8-12 year-olds, but hopefully useful for anyone aged 8 to 80. It's a beginner's guide to great writers and the history of books, everything from cave paintings to superhero comics, via Shakespeare, Dickens and the Ancient Greeks. At the moment it's called “You've Got To Read This!”, but that may change.

Q: What advice would you give to an aspiring children's author?

A: Listen to your inner 10-year-old.

Simon Cheshire was talking to Maureen Vincent-Northam, co-author of The Writer's ABC Checklist
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Life Writing Competition

2011-06-09T14:26:00.001+01:00

This is organised by the Society of Woman Writers and Journalists, but the Life Writing Competition is open to ALL writers over 20 years of age.

There are two categories - aged 20 to 40 years old and aged 40 +

"Life writing" can cover memoir, diaries, letters, blogs, email, biography and essays.

Prizes (in each category):
1st - £3,000
2nd - £1,000
3rd - £500

Entry fee is £7.

Closing date is 30 September 2011.
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Doris Gooderson Short Story Comp 2011

2011-06-07T10:15:00.000+01:00

From Wrekin Writers, the Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition is now accepting entries by email as well as snail mail and is open to all ages from anywhere in the world.

Stories should be no longer than 1,200 words.

Prizes:
1st - £150
2nd - £70
3rd - £40

The winning entries will be published in the Wrekin Writers 2011 Anthology and may be published on the Wrekin Writer website.

Entry fee is £3 per story or £5 for 2 entries.

Closing date is 11 July 2011 and winners will be notified by 30 September.
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First Chapter Children's Book Competition

2011-06-03T22:02:00.000+01:00

If you write for children, the 2011 competition from The Writers' Advice Centre for Children's Books is open until 31 August.

The theme this year is First Chapters. Send in an opening of up to 1,000 words of a story or novel. The story can be aimed at any age group from picture book readers to young adult.

Prizes:
1st - £100 plus a signed copy of Louise Jordan's book, How to Write for Children and Get Published
A free professional editorial & marketing assessment of your entry.
The chance to have your work submitted to a mainstream publisher for consideration.

2nd - A signed copy of Louise's book plus a free professional editorial & marketing assessment of your entry.

Entry fee is £5

Closing date 31 August 2011.
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