Short stories let me experiment with different genres and different voices. I love writing about that moment when things are about to change and seeing how the characters cope with it.
On this page you’ll find details of my award-winning stories – I’ve included opportunities for you to read them and soon I’ll be adding links where you can see and hear me reading some of them too.
I won the 2008 Woman & Home magazine short story competition (in association with Costa) with this. The theme of the competition was ‘Passion’ and as I thought there would be plenty of entries about love affairs, I wanted to try a different approach. An image had been in my head for a while – that of someone I worked with running their hand lovingly along the flank of their new car.
This won the competition set by Writing Magazine – the challenge was to produce a story on the theme of 'A New Routine', but to do it in 750 words or less. I remember the first draft being way over that limit, but I find it much more useful to do this and then cut and cut, rather than trying to hit that target from the start.
Winner of the Yeovil Short Story Prize in 2009, judged by novelist, Rachel Billington. There was no theme, but at the time I had been reading a lot about Henry VIII’s wives and wondered what life would be like for the child of a much-married father.
Global Short Story Competition - First Place
Inktears Short Story Competition - Longlisted
Writers' Forum short story competition - third place
Published in 'The Ways of Love, A collection of stories in fresh voices' Edited by Elizabeth Bailey
Fish Story Prize - Longlisted
Writers' Bureau Short Story Competition - Third place
Writers' Forum - Shortlisted
Global Short Story - Shortlisted
Bath Flash Fiction Competition March 2018 - Longlisted
Hastings LitFest Writing Competition August 2019 - Shortlisted
My stories have also been published in the Sunday Express Magazine and My Weekly.
