Happy hallowe'en!

How do you feel about writing and reading spooky, ghostly or horror stories? I'm on the wimpy side and prefer the cosy kind.

My news

If you like reading ghost stories which aren't too scary, you may enjoy one of my four collections of slightly spooky stories. Slightly Spooky Stories II is currently reduced to 99p / 99c.

Free entry competition news

 Thanks to Alyson for the link to this competition. There's £500 on offer for a memory recounted in 400 words. These don't need to have a hallowe'en theme.

Yellow Room now not reopening

I've received the following message from Jo Derrick –  "I am afraid I have decided not to relaunch The Yellow Room Magazine after all. There are far too many obstacles and so few resources available. I had hoped to receive several subscriptions or orders by now, but only received four. This is in contrast to nearly fifty submissions. 

I'm very sorry to disappoint you and your blog followers."

Whilst I don't feel it's the job of writers alone to keep magazines running, it's worth remembering that if they're not supported then they won't be able to operate. If there's a particular magazine you really don't want to stop publishing you might like to consider buying a few issues, or perhaps buying a gift subscription for a friend or family member.

Competitions and hairy beasties

I've not posted many competition links lately, but I do have excuses of sorts, and I have some free to enter competitions for you today.

The excuse first – We're travelling in our campervan in fairly remote Scottish locations, which means internet access isn't always available.

Also I've been attempting some promotion stuff for my new novel, Acting Like A Killer. I'm spectacularly bad at this, so if you can help at all with spreading the word, that will be very much appreciated. 

The paperback is already available from Amazon at £10, or can be ordered through bookshops and libraries. The ebook is on pre order at the early bird price of £1.99 and will be released at the end of November.

Now the competitions ...

This one from Hamer is for lyrical non-fiction of up to 500 words from UK writers who are over 40 and haven't had a book published by a trade publisher. Top prize is £250.

For this one you need to write a lot more words and include a serious crime. The prize is a $10,000 advance.

The Commonwealth short story prize offers regional winners £2,500 and £5,000 for the overall winner.

Seven Days

The new womag Seven Days is out now – and I'm delighted to say that I have a story in the first issue and several readers of this blog have also had stories accepted.

I do hope that as many of you as possible will consider buying an issue, subscribing and/or spreading the word about this publication to those who might be interested in reading it. Editors can only buy our stories if enough people by the magazines.

Along with my story they published a mini bio and mentioned my romance novel, Escape to the Country

Isn't this illustration great? Until you've read the story you'll have to take my word for it that it's perfect for the story.

Over to you!

 Do you have any womag news?

Are you researching, writing, subbing? Had any acceptances or rejections? Any other news?

Feel free to use the as a picture prompt. If you'd like other writing prompts, short exercises and story/scene suggestions then you might find this book useful.

I'd love to hear your competition news.

Have you entered any writing comps? Had any luck? Heard about interesting contests? Got any tips to pass on? (Although I only feature free to enter competitions in my posts it's fine to share news about other competitions too.)

Do you have writing tips to share, questions to ask, or suggestions for this blog?

Intentions realised

Today is release day for my latest short story collection! Thank you so much to everyone who has already ordered Criminal Intent and/or has been helping me let people know it's available. Your support means a lot to me.

The ebook will be remain at the introductory price of 77p (99c) for a few more days, then go to the full price of £1.99 ($2.99). It is also available through kindle unlimited.

 The paperback is now available too. You can get it from Amazon, or order through your local library and some bookshops (ISBN 978-1914339103).  If you get hold of a copy I do hope you enjoy reading it.

Free entry writing competition

The Green Stories novel writing competition offers £1,500 in prizes.

Free writing course

If you've ever intended to write a novel, then you might find this free masterclass from Cat Lumb of interest.

Another change at YOU

South African magazine YOU have 'decided to close for submissions until January' at which time there will be a new fiction editor.