Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the three hundred and sixty-ninth, is of novelist Jane Davis. If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at author-spotlights.
Jane Davis lives in Carshalton, Surrey with her Formula 1 obsessed, star-gazing, beer-brewing partner, surrounded by growing piles of paperbacks, CDs and general chaos. She spent her twenties and the first part of her thirties chasing promotions, but when Jane achieved what he had set out to do, although the money was nice, she discovered that it was not what she had wanted after all. Seeking a creative outlet, she turned to writing fiction, but cites the disciplines learnt in the business world as what helps her finish a 120,000-word novel.
Her first, Half-truths and White Lies, won the Daily Mail First Novel Award and was described by Joanne Harris as ‘A story of secrets, lies, grief and, ultimately, redemption, charmingly handled by this very promising new writer.’ She was hailed by The Bookseller as ‘One to Watch.’ Four self-published novels followed: I Stopped Time, These Fragile Things, A Funeral for an Owl and An Unchoreographed Life. Of her writing, Compulsion Reads wrote, ‘Davis is a phenomenal writer, whose ability to create well rounded characters that are easy to relate to feels effortless.’ Jane’s favourite description of fiction is that it is ‘made-up truth.’
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Jane describes her journey in self-publishing… Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: agent, Amazon, author, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, biographers, biography, books, characters, children’s, creative writing, critique, Facebook, feedback, fiction, flash fiction, Goodreads, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, historical, interview, Jane Davis, Joanne Harris, John Irving, Kobo, LinkedIn, literary fiction, literature, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, Neil Gaiman, Northampton, novelist, novels, pinterest, publisher, rejection letters, rejections, romance, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, story author, story authors, story writer, submissions, Twitter, What Maisie Knew, White Lies, Wordpress, writer, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing group, writing magazines, youtube
Do you write flash fiction? Northampton Literature Group Writing Circle’s 2014 Flash Fiction competition is now open. It is run by the writing circle who will judge it, and I, as Head Judge, will have the final say in the event of a tie.
You have until midnight (UK time) on 30th June to enter your <500-word stories which cost just £2 each or 3 for £5 to submit. You’re welcome to send as many stories as you like. No theme and the competition is open to writers of any age and nationality, located anywhere in the world.
Prizes: £50, £35, £15 and seven (unpaid) Highly Commended.
Click here for more details, here for advice on entering competitions, and writing tips click here. I’ve also blogged about writing short fiction and how To write a 28-word story!
Good luck and do remember that writing is mostly about practice. If you’ve never written a <500-word story before, give it a go. Once you’ve written a few, you’ll find it easier to keep it short. If you have already written a longer story, try summing it in one or two sentences. Now add a bit of detail to, say, 100 words. Now add a bit more… and a bit more… This will also help when writing synopses of your novel, or an outline (plan) for the one you’ve always wanted to write.
Tags: competitions, competitions tips, flash fiction, flash fiction competition, flash fiction competitions, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, NLG, Northampton, Northampton Literature Group Writing Circle, short stories, short story competition, short story competitions, submissions, writing advice, writing competition, writing competitions, writing tips
The H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, run by one of my writing groups, Northampton Writers Group, closes tomorrow, Monday 4th November (midnight UK time).
This year we have Della Galton as our Head Judge (as Chair of the Group, I see and mark all the entries).
If you have a short story (up to 2,000 words) that you’re proud of, take a look at https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/competitions-calendar/he-bates for details.
Tags: children’s, competitions, crime, Della Galton, fantasy, fiction, H E Bates, H.E. Bates Short Story Competition, HE Bates, historical, humour, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, murder mystery, mystery suspense, Northampton, paranormal, romance, science fiction, short stories, submissions, vampire, western, writing competitions, writing fiction, writing group, YA
Complementing my interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the three hundred and thirty-seventh, is of multi-genre author and interviewee Jim Sellers. If you would like to take part in an author spotlight, take a look at author-spotlights.
Jim Sellers is the author of the newly released YA book “Jacky the Brave”. Although he had written works in most genres, he was surprised and happy to see his first publishing success was in YA. His writing in that genre is based mostly on events in his own life with some inspiration from friends and other family members. “Jacky the Brave” is just such a collection of his experiences.
Born in Edmonton in north-west Canada, Jim spent a lot of time reading and imagining exciting adventures as a kid. That was the favourite pastime of boys who didn’t play hockey and lived before the age of video games. Like most writers, he has been creating stories since his teen years and found the pen and paper to be a regular companion on long trips and quiet days. He also doubted that any of his work would be published – it seemed unlikely after watching other writers he knew trying so hard. So he set his sights on film and TV. During his 20 years in that business he learned the process of writing screenplays for drama and documentaries as well as advertising and corporate communications before retiring from that industry. For the last 10 years he has been working in communications management for non-profits groups and universities.
He continued to write screenplays as show pilots or spec film scripts, most ending up in the rejection files. It was after he decided to get his Bachelor’s degree (at 50) that he learned to appreciate the sheer joy and freedom of writing fiction. It was this appreciation for fictional writing that caused him to re-evaluate all the abandoned stories he had filed away and all the adventures he had logged in his notes. In 2004, he made a project of writing a series of YA stories based on his previous writing. Each of these stories (4 in all) received different levels of interest from publishers and agents, with results ranging from boilerplate rejections to requests for full manuscripts (followed eventually by rejections). During this time he established a variety of websites about writing, posted his short stories and wrote a serial novel.
After repeated rewrites and editing, his first Young Adult novel was accepted for publication in 2013. He is working on a sequel for the book, a short story collection and a novel.
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And now from the author himself:
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humorous fiction, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Jim Sellers, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriter, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to the two hundred and eighty-fifth in this series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011. I have since published (as eBooks) the 2012 and 2013 collections, detailed on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine/short-stories/story-a-day-may.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a story in second person-viewpoint from the keyword prompt of ‘chase’. Here is my 356-worder.
The photo that no-one else can get
You’ve been chasing her for days, to get the photo that no-one else can get. She knows you’re there. There’s always someone there.
It’s a lifestyle she’s had to become accustomed to, only you don’t think she ever will. It’s not one you’d want, except she’s become your job, your life.
When she emerges out of the building, you reach over to your camera, on its dashboard tripod, and set it to continuous.
You follow her car through narrow streets, wide streets – her executive to your jalopy, the only thing you could get at short notice. You’re used to this place, she’s been here a lot.
Most of the shots are of the back of her head but you know she could look round. She has before.
As her car gathers speed so does yours. It complains but it’s not yours so you’re not bothered.
As she heads into the tunnel, she edges forward and you floor the accelerator, a little too close for comfort but you decide to go alongside, get level, no other cars in sight, so you swivel round your camera in anticipation, a momentary lapse in concentration.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humorous fiction, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriter, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the one hundred and ninth piece in this series. This week’s is a 467-worder by freelance writer, blogger and book reviewer Angela Sturm. This story will be podcasted in episode 34 (with two other stories and some 6-worders) on Sunday 1st December.
Watcher
I can see him making his way up the stairs. No one else appeared to notice. I called to him and he smiled. I took his outstretched hand and in an instant we were walking through the cornfield, talking laughing, knowing. I suspect this will be our last outing together. I want to cry but for some reason I can’t. I am strangely happy, content to say nothing.
I know what he is doing and why he’s doing it. He loves me. He wants me to be the first to know. I can hear crying in the background and people talking in hushed tones, moving about, but I can’t see anyone. “Can you see them?” I ask. “Yes, I can,” he said. You will see them soon enough.”
We continued to walk and although our lips weren’t moving, our conversation carried on. I am having trouble remembering much of anything said, I only know how peaceful this is and I never want to leave. I held tightly to his hand. Memories of early morning fishing expeditions, milk toast and that awful smell of head cheese he loved to make, filled my mind and made us both laugh. I remember him clothing and feeding the homeless and that silly dance he did every morning while singing the wake up song, pulling at his hair and making it stick up. I was laughing so hard I barely noticed that we’ve stopped walking. He is looking at me now, time standing still. He looks so serious, gently placing his hands on my cheeks, searching deep into my eyes. I think I saw a tear trickle down his face. I have only ever seen him cry once, and it was when he told me stories about the war and how no man should have to endure what he witnessed. War killed his spirit. I can feel my tears now. Our journey has come to an end.
The fields have disappeared. He’s not holding my face anymore. Desperate, I call out his name. “I am right here princess, do not be afraid.” I can barely see him. I call out again, “Why are you so far away?” “It is time,” he said. “I am going home.” Then a soft white light… well, more like a white cloud, appeared. He drew closer and smiled at me for the last time, then disappeared into the white fog.
A door opened somewhere, more crying. I hear my name. Something has my shoulder. “Ava, Ava, wake up, honey.” I turn to look at the clock. It’s after midnight. “Dad and I need to talk to you.” My room is filled with family. They are staring at me. “Grandpa died in his sleep,” they said, “in heaven now,” but I already knew this.
I watched him go.
*
I asked Angela what prompted this piece and she said…
My grandfather and I were very close. I remember like it was yesterday when he passed. I was sixteen, eating a tuna sandwich watching the wheel of fortune. My grandma called and simply said, “I think Grandpa is dead. Can I talk to your dad please?” Calm as could be. I know now she was in shock, but back then, I kept wondering how she remained so composed.
The flash fiction piece I wrote is based on actual events, but fictionalized. I miss my grandpa as much today as I did those many years ago when he died. I think about him often, the impact he had, and continues to have, on me, so I decided to memorialize him. “Watcher” was written with him in mind.
**
Thank you, Angela. It was very moving, and having lost my father September 2001, I feel just the same.
Angela Sturm is a freelance writer, blogger and book reviewer currently working on a novel.
Angela lives in Minnesota, is mother to three children and one grandchild, and blogs at http://insideasanemind.com.
***
If you’d like to submit your 6-word or 500-word max. stories for consideration for Flash Fiction Friday take a look here, or up to 1,000 words for critique on my Online Short Story Writing Group (links below).
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping List, various short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post a spotlight or interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique directly (see Editing & Critique) or for posting on the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, Angela Sturm, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humorous fiction, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriter, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Welcome to the two hundred and eighty-fourth in this series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011. I have since published (as eBooks) the 2012 and 2013 collections, detailed on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine/short-stories/story-a-day-may.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a story from the one-word prompt of ‘yellow’. Here is my 163-worder.
Once A Month
She’d been on before. Dan recognised her brooch, yellow like the bus, but it wasn’t until she handed over the £2 coin, that he spotted the bandages round each wrist.
He handed over the change. He wasn’t supposed to – the rules were exact money only and it was only 40p, but it gave him an excuse to speak. “I like your sunflower,” he said, but felt it a lame thing to say.
“Thanks,” she said, looking down at the coins and blushing.
“Nice to see you again,” he continued.
“You remembered?”
Dan nodded.
“Once a month,” she said, tears forming.
Unsure of what to say, Dan felt as if he’d been let into a secret.
A man behind the woman coughed and as she put the change into her purse, Dan was sure he spotted a hint of a smile.
He watched her walk towards the back of the bus and hoped he didn’t have to wait another month before they spoke again.
***
Photograph above courtesy of morguefile.com.
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping List, various short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post a spotlight or interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique directly (see Editing & Critique) or for posting on the online writing groups listed below:
Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: 5pm fiction, agent, Amazon, author, author interview, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, Barnes and Noble, biographers, biography, blog, blogger, blogging, books, characters, children’s, competitions, copyediting, copyeditor, copywriter, copywriting, cozy mysteries, creative writing, crime, crime novelist, crime series, crime thriller, crime thrillers, critique, critique groups, debut novel, editing, editor, erotic romance, erotica, exercises, Facebook, fantasy, fantasy horror, fantasy writer, feedback, fellow authors, fiction, fiction author, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, future tense, Goodreads, grammar skills, graphic novels, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, historical, historical author, historical writer, horror novel, humorous, humorous fiction, humour, iambic pentameter, indie, interview, interview with writer, interviewees, Jane Wenham Jones, Kobo, LinkedIn, Literary Festival, literature, memoirist, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mysteries, murder mystery, mystery author, mystery series, mystery suspense, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novelists, novels, open mic nights, pantoum, paranormal, paranormal romance, paranormal romances, past tense, pinterest, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry collections, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, present tense, pseudonyms, publisher, publishing, query letters, reading books, red pen, rejection letter, rejection letters, rejections, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, romance fantasy, romance writer, romantic suspense, science fiction, scriptwriter, scriptwriters, second person point of view, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, sonnet, story a day, Story A Day May, story author, story authors, story collections, story writer, submissions, suspense novelist, suspense thriller, tanka, terza rima, travel memoir, travel writer, triolet, Twitter, vampire, villanelle, Waterstones, western, western author, Wordpress, writer, writer interview, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing exercises, writing fiction, writing group, writing magazines, writing novels, writing poetry, writing prompts, writing workshop, YA, young adult novels, youtube
Jane Davis lives in Carshalton, Surrey with her Formula 1 obsessed, star-gazing, beer-brewing partner, surrounded by growing piles of paperbacks, CDs and general chaos. She spent her twenties and the first part of her thirties chasing promotions, but when Jane achieved what he had set out to do, although the money was nice, she discovered that it was not what she had wanted after all. Seeking a creative outlet, she turned to writing fiction, but cites the disciplines learnt in the business world as what helps her finish a 120,000-word novel.
