I Finally Get To Do a #Shelfie

Hellooo!

I can’t quite believe I’m saying this (where HAS the first quarter of the year gone?!) but Happy Easter to you all.

I hope you get some time to relax, read, write or whatever makes you happy (and of course, that lots of chocolate comes your way too).

A few little notices from me:

Readers’ Digest Magazine is running its (if not quite annual, then still very frequent) 100-word story competition, which closes on 1st May 2022. You can enter on-line or by post.

All the details are here but in short (ha, no pun intended), it’s free to enter, you can enter as many times as you like, there are 2 children’s categories too and the winner in the adult category will receive a rather lovely £1000, plus a reading light/lamp worth £400.

As always though, read the rules carefully. Your story must be exactly 100 words long and they do say “We may use entries in all print and electronic media” which implies they have the right to print your story and not pay you for it (although in the past I’ve noted that they have paid anyone whose non-winning story has subsequently appeared on the website).

Good luck if you decide to have a go!

Resonate Festival, Coventry.

Thank you to Michaela for alerting me to the Resonate Festival, being held in Coventry, on the Warwick University campus from 19th – 21st April, as part of Coventry’s City of Culture activities. All events are FREE.

For writers, there’s a Crime Writing Masterclass led by Mark Billingham, an event with Annie Garthwaite, talking about her debut novel, Cecily, plus Mike Gayle, Lemn Sissay and an evening with Ruth Jones … and more! And it’s all free but you do have to book.

Here’s the full programme of events.

My book is in The Works! Or at least, it’s in the Midlands’ stores. (So far it’s been spotted in Sutton Coldfield, Evesham, Stratford-on-Avon and Derby). I managed to swipe a little photo in the Evesham store, which was fun, as it’s the first time I’ve seen the book on a bookshelf.

In The Works!

It’s only £2, so a complete bargain (and if you buy 2 other books, you can get 3 for £5). Amazon price-matched The Works for a couple of weeks, so the novel was only £2 on there too but it’s gone back up to the usual price now. (Tip: if you’re thinking of buying it – and it would be lovely if you did – get it from The Works. Even if you have to pay £2.99 to buy it from the website, it will be cheaper than the ‘A’ place).

Whispering Stories

And finally, I was invited onto Stacey’s website ‘Whispering Stories’ to write about what I’ve learned since I’ve been published and it appeared yesterday. Here it is, if you’re interested (I tried to keep it chirpy but quite a lot of moaning crept in…! Sorry).

Finally, a #shelfie!