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?

• Fantasy author Eric Goebelbecker
• Crime/women’s novelist and non-fiction author and Self-Pub Fest founder Morgen with an ‘E’ (host)
• Literary dystopian novelist and short story author MS Clements

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.

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…

• Non-fiction author and editor Andrea D Woolhead
• Science-fiction, fantasy, cosy mystery, thriller and comedy author David Wake
• Thriller novelist and soon-to-be romantasy novelist Jack Chandler
• Historical, crime and romance novelist Janet Pywell
• ‘Dark’ novelist and music non-fiction collaborator Martin Tracey
• Fiction and non-fiction author SJ Banham

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.

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.

Starting Saturday 28th March, and running most Saturdays from 7pm (UK time) to 7.45pm, Short Story (& Poetry) Saturdays feature Morgen and up to five other writers reading out their flash fiction, short stories or poetry (up to 2,000 per person each time). See Short Story (& Poetry) Saturdays for more details. Below is the first episode…

On Thursday 26th March I talked about the best/worst aspects of publishing. The recording is below.

If you’d like to take part in any of these sessions, do take a look at the Calendar. 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.

CALLING SHORT STORY WRITERS

During my author spotlight chat with HJ Furl, we talked about our first love (after our spouses!) that is short stories. HJ was telling me about events he ~ yes, HJ is a man in real life! ~ goes to where he reads out his short stories in front of an audience…

My brain went ping! I thought why not have sessions where short story authors read out their stories on a Zoom panel. How wonderful would that be?

Having already said how busy we are (HJ and myself), he suggested I start them in October. So ~ because I always do everything I’m told ~ they’re starting Saturday 28th March! And run most Saturdays from 7pm (UK time) to 7.45pm.

If you write short stories ~ they don’t have to be (self-)published ~ go to the Participate page for details and/or email Morgen for the information pack.

I’m yet to work out the format but they will consist of a maximum of six authors including myself (Morgen with an ‘e’) reading our stories ~ of no more than 2,000 words ~ then… get feedback? Clap politely? I’d love your suggestions…

• Do you simply want to read your story for audience reaction?
• Would you like feedback from your peers?
• What would you like from these sessions?

See the Short Story Saturdays page for the scheduled dates.

On Tuesday 24th March the panel below discussed how to self-publish ~ our journey as well as providing tips on how to go from a Word document to the finished product.

I’ve also created a sub-page of ‘Information’ on this site on this topic. I will be adding to it in due course.

• Non-fiction (biographer) author Andrea Woolhead
• Fantasy author Eric Goebelbecker
• Crime/women’s novelist and non-fiction author and Self-Pub Fest founder Morgen with an ‘E’ (host)

The recording is at the end of this page…

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 page for this event is: https://self-pub-fest.co.uk/the-t-and-t-panels/tt3-how-to-self-publish.

On Monday 23rd March 2026 we discussed description vs dialogue including…

• How much should you use of each in your stories (short stories or novels)?
• What purpose do they provide? How are they useful?
• We’ll talk about showing vs telling, peaks and troughs in relation to description and dialogue.
• As a reader, which do you prefer?

The recording is below featuring the following panel…

• Science-fiction, fantasy, cosy mystery, thriller and comedy author David Wake
• Crime/thriller novelist Jill Todd
• Crime/women’s novelist and non-fiction author and Self-Pub Fest founder Morgen with an ‘E’ (host)
• Crime novelist, flash fiction and short story author Nikki Copleston
• Science-fiction/fantasy novelist Phil Oddy

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

Having searched on Google for ‘book festival Aylesbury’, I discovered a site called YoTix was leading enquirers to the (official) EventBrite . Thank you!

The EventBrite ticket link is https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/self-publishing-book-festival-aylesbury-tickets-1828267319769.

Please note this is a ticket-only event. Ticket sales close 6pm the evening before, Saturday 25th April.

Yes, we have new pages. My brain was whirring at 5.30am this morning so I went on the laptop and created some new pages.

Firstly there’s now a new Calendar page which lists all the upcoming Monday Mini-fests and The T&T Panels in one place, to save you looking at both pages… unless you want more information, then you can click on the relevant date’s link.

As Calendar sub-pages, there are also:

• Overseas Writing Events
• UK Writing Events

and I’ll be adding the links (and more events) to those when I have time. <laughs>

There’s also now a Links page which lists some (again, still in development) writing groups (including the brilliant New Street Authors), magazines and organisations.

As if that’s not enough (my brain was in overload!) under the Information page, there’s now a sub-page for Writing Competitions & Opportunities.