Thank you for inviting me to be your guest, Valerie. I’m very happy to be here!

The inspiration for the first novel in the Charton Minster Trilogy was the famous Red Cross recruiting poster for nursing volunteers to serve alongside the professional nurses working in the various theatres of operation during World War One. This image has reproduced thousands of times, so I’m sure it must have inspired plenty of other novelists, too.

Are there plans to release more of the series in 2024?

Joffe has acquired the rights to all my novels originally published by Choc Lit, so there are four more books in the pipeline, to be released either individually or as sets.

Creative Writing Matters seems to go from strength to strength. What events and competitions do you have lined up for this year?

At the moment, the Creative Writing Matters team is reading its way through nearly 400 entries for the latest Exeter Novel Prize, which will be awarded in April this year.

The CWM team:  Sophie Duffy, Cathy Hartigan  and Margaret

Can you give some tips on what makes a competition entry stand out?

Try to open the entry at a point which will get readers asking questions – for example, whose story is this, what does the central character want, how might the central character go about getting what he/she wants?

Let this central character face some kind of challenge.

Be wary of starting a story with a description of the scenery or an account of the central character’s life to date.

If the competition asks for a synopsis of a novel, novelette or even a short story, make sure the synopsis covers the entire story and explains how it ends. Anything else won’t tell the organisers/readers if the entrant can construct a satisfying story. It’s (comparatively) easy to start a story. It’s much harder to develop it and to offer readers a great ending that will live on in these readers’ memories – and also encourage to read the authors’ next stories or books.

What would you say is your perfect writing/teaching balance in life now along with other pursuits?

I shall never achieve a perfect balance in life! Right now, as I explained above, my energies are focused on reading competition entries, some of which are going to need reports. I’ll catch up with my magazine work later this year. As for other pursuits – if you mean hobbies, I’m determined to get my garden into shape this spring. But I say this every year, and it hasn’t happened yet.

The publishing industry has changed vastly over the span of your career to date. Are you optimistic about the  dramatic and dynamic current trends?

I suspect AI is going to become a really mixed blessing for writers of fiction. But digital publishing has made it easier for new writers to get in on the action, and commercial publishers are no longer the only gatekeepers, which is good for those who prefer to self-publish.

Thank you for chatting to me, and all best wishes for your continued writing success in 2024!

The New Year often provides opportunities and challenges – if you are an author what are your writing goals  this year?

If you have always wanted to write a novel/novella/short story, but feel daunted or lost as to where to start, then  check out CWM or my manuscript appraisal page where you can submit a query.

All best wishes for a happy and healthy 2024 to all!