The Cat Is In The Library? A quantum-inspired short story

So, the Quantum Shorts story competition has come round again. I didn’t think I’d manage to write a story for it this year, what with NaNoWriMo and everything, but then Twitter sparked off an idea… Who can’t get behind a story featuring cats and libraries? I started off with a spin on Schrodinger’s Cat, basedContinue

Penny for the Guy: a story for Bonfire Night

Here’s a cheery little story for Bonfire Night. Hope you enjoy it! Penny For The Guy ‘Hooligans, that’s what they are,’ he said, tugging the curtains closed and turning up the volume on the telly. Samson woke, and barked twice before settling again. ‘Every damn year, crash bang wallop. I’ll be glad when it’s over.’Continue

Happy Halloween!

The horror story here is that our dishwasher isn’t working…other than that, we’re good. I’m looking forward to two things this Halloween. One is going trick-or-treating with the kids later – sweeeeeets! The other is taking part in C.L. Monaghan’s Halloween takeover event, Midnight Mayhem and Magic, to celebrate the launch of her new book, MidnightContinue

Match Point: a tennis tale

As Wimbledon’s on, here is a little flash story I wrote a while ago. Imagine it narrated by your favourite tennis commentator! Match Point   ‘Get out of the way, Marnie!’ Dylan shouts, pointing his racket at her. ‘I want to plaaaaaaayyy…’ Marnie whines, Bambi eyes pleading. ‘No. You’re too small. You’ll probably hurt yourself,Continue

An approaching bookiversary

I did have a vague feeling that something was coming up! It’s very nearly a year since the launch of The Secret Notebook of Sherlock Holmes, and Facebook very helpfully put a memory in front of me a couple of days ago…the moment when I cleared my throat and announced that I had a book comingContinue

My World Book Day

This year I was invited to come to my kids’ primary school on World Book Day and do a little talk about writing and how I get my ideas. My thoughts, in order, were: Great! I get to talk about writing! Ah. It’s World Book Day. I need to dress up. Not that I haveContinue

An Invitation Refused: a short story for Valentine’s Day

Here’s a daft little story I wrote a while back, a version of a fairytale which you might recognise. Hope you enjoy it! An Invitation Refused ‘You shall go to the ball!’ The Fairy Godmother waved her magic wand. Cinderella stared. ‘Really?’ ‘Oh yes,’ replied the benevolent dame. ‘Pazowie!’ With a few swirls of her wandContinue

My first writing workshop!

So this weekend I did something a bit different from usual. I ran a writing workshop! It came about through a meeting of the Friends of Penketh Library (FOPL for short), who have been organising lots of events to support and promote the library. There’s recently been a big consultation about the future of Warrington’s libraries,Continue

Paperback Writer!

Book post is the very best kind of post – especially when it’s proofs of your own paperbacks! It almost makes the agonising over typefaces, spacing, etc etc etc worthwhile. I’m delighted to report that the paperback versions of Bitesize and A Jar Of Thursday are now available on Amazon. I’m also working on an offer for my EtsyContinue

Firewords, Thursday and Mirrors, oh my!

It’s like buses, you wait for ages and then three come along at once! Firewords Quarterly I’m full of a cold and battling with the paperback edition of A Jar Of Thursday, but I’ve been cheered today by the arrival of some very fine book post courtesy of Firewords. This is issue 7, Dark/Light, and yes, itContinue