Category: writing

Ideas revisited

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Following on from the first T&T panel which took place on Thursday 12th March…

On Tuesday 7th April I, crime/women’s novelist and non-fiction author and Self-Pub Fest founder Morgen with an ‘E’, talked about ideas.

The recording from this session is below.

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If you’d like to take part in any of these sessions, do take a look at the other topics on The T&T Panels page, and there’s also the weekly Monday Mini-fests. The Participate page outlines the process of getting involved.

These are free events but we’re raising money for book charities local to the Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire, England) area and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.

The 9th MMF is on YouTube

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On Monday 6th April 2026, the panel listed below talked about beginnings:

  • Historical fantasy novelist and short story author BB Elsin
  • Crime fiction/non-fiction author and festival committee member Denise Beddows
  • Children’s (as Esther Moonstomp) and short story author Esther Chilton

The discussion included:

  • what should a beginning do and not do?
  • how you start/ed writing your book/s once you had your idea
  • what do you think of prologues?
  • do beginnings differ depending on the genre/format (i.e. novels vs short stories, non-fiction, poetry if you write it)?
  • your favourite openings
  • anything else we could think of…

These are free events but we’re raising money for local book-related charities and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.

Two new Self-Pub Fest guests on T&T #6

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Following on from the first T&T panel which took place on Thursday 12th March…

On Thursday 2nd April at 6pm the panel below talked about what they’d learned through their journeys (Andrea and John are accidental writers!) and advice they’d pass on.

The recording from this session is below…

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If you’d like to take part in any of these sessions, do take a look at the other topics on The T&T Panels page, and there’s also the weekly Monday Mini-fests. The Participate page outlines the process of getting involved.

These are free events but we’re raising money for book charities local to the Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire, England) area and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.

The latest T&T session on the Writing Process is on YouTube

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On Tuesday 31st March the panel below talked about their writing process, i.e. When do you write? Where do you write? Do you like quiet or a busy environment? If the latter, are you inspired by those around you? Do you listen to music when you write?

What format do you use, e.g. paper/pen, Word or Scrivener document? Do you find you write differently depending on the format? Has using a computer more often changed the way you write by hand?

The recording from this session is below…

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If you’d like to take part in any of these sessions, do take a look at the other topics on The T&T Panels page, and there’s also the weekly Monday Mini-fests. The Participate page outlines the process of getting involved.

These are free events but we’re raising money for book charities local to the Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire, England) area and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.

The Mixed Genres and Forms panel is on YouTube

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This latest Monday Mini-fests panel, Mixing Genres and Forms… or I should say Forms and Genres (as I focused on forms rather more than genres but we got there later in the session, sadly after Martin had gone.

The recording is below.

On Monday 30th March 2026, the panel listed below will be talking about mixing genres (e.g. authors who write more than one genre) and forms (authors who write more than one form, i.e. novels, short stories, poetry and/or scripts).

In between going off at tangents, as we always do, I ask them whether they find it easier to switch to avoid the dreaded writer’s block, which ~ if any ~ they prefer, it’s more difficult (to find a) market for one genre or form over the other. Whether they use different author names for their different genres or forms? If so, why/how did they choose their other names? Everyone but me, sensibly, sticks to the one name. I’m still in a debate, with myself, whether to keep Rachel Cavanagh or not. I’m fond of her but…

These are free events but we’re raising money for local book-related charities and we’d be really grateful if you would donate whatever you afford via the Charities & Donate page. Thank you so much.

*NEW* 300-Word Competition

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In addition to my ‘300 Words a Day’ Podcast, I will be running a bi-monthly flash fiction competition with submissions of up to 300 words, with a different theme each month.

The competition opens on 1st April with the theme of ‘the opening’ which closes on 31st May (midnight UK time). The next theme (‘working nights’) then takes over on 1st June 2026 to 31st July 2026… and so on.

There is a fee (£3 for one story, £5 for two) but a prize pot (after PayPal fees): 50% with the remaining 50% split between the three Charities.

See ‘300 Words’ Flash Fiction Competition for full details.