Sunday 21 June 2015

Flash 500 News #amwriting



Only ten days left

With the entry deadline fast approaching, you only have ten days left to enter the flash fiction competition. Here is the link for the Flash Fiction page.

New Competition

Those of you with longer fiction sitting on your hard drive gathering virtual dust will be pleased to know we will be running an annual competition for stories up to 3,000 words. This category will open for entries on September 1st, so you have plenty of time to polish old stories and write some new ones.

The prize money will be £500, £200 and £100.

Entries will cost:
£7 for one
£12 for two
£16 for three
£20 for four

More information and the entry page will appear on the site closer to the opening date for entries.

Novel Competition

This category opened for entries on May 1st: Novel Opening and Synopsis Competition.  

The judges this year are (once again) the senior editors at Crooked Cat Publishing, who are the publishers for my own D.I. Paolo Storey series of crime novels written as Frances di Plino: Bad Moon Rising, Someday Never Comes, Call it Pretending and Looking for a Reason
 
Crooked Cat Publishing cover a wide range of genres, from chick lit to horror, which is why they are the ideal judges for the competition.  

Full details can be found on the Flash 500 Home Page.
 
Good luck with all your writing endeavours.

Kind regards, 

Lorraine






Critique Service for Writers
Flash 500 Home Page: Flash Fiction, Humour Verse
and Novel Opening Chapter and Synopsis Competitions

Thursday 18 June 2015

Trace Your Roots with @mvnortham



 

Today I am thrilled to host my old friend, Maureen Vincent-Northam, who is here to tell us about her excellent genealogy book, Trace your Roots.



Trace your Roots is released as an e-book on 19th June 2015, an exciting day for me. I’ve even been allowed to change my shift day at work so that I can be around on Facebook all day for the launch party. Why not come and join in the fun? https://www.facebook.com/events/859146140799078/
 
Trace your Roots will be my first book with Crooked Cat Publishing and their first English language non-fiction title. Previously published with another house, this is a completely revised and updated version with a spanking new, and quite quirky, cover image, which I love.

The idea for the book came about several years ago when I was a family history researcher, working for clients worldwide whose ancestors originated from Herefordshire, where I live. There were plenty of good books around on genealogy but far fewer for those who came up against a brick wall, as often happens when researching family history.

Through trial and error I found certain things worked very well for me – a case of thinking outside the box sometimes – and which helped to successfully move the research along, and these are the tips I wanted to share.

Although genealogy is a serious subject, with some people dedicating many years to researching their family tree, I wanted a book that was accessible to everyone. Trace your Roots offers hundreds of tips in an easy to follow way. As well as the serious stuff, I’ve injected a little light-heartedness into Trace your Roots because a hobby should be fun too. I hope this will encourage more people to discover their own roots.

Please join me on my genealogy blog, I’m always happy to post other people’s stories: http://trace-your-roots.blogspot.co.uk/

Maureen’s wonderful book is available on Amazon worldwide by following this link: Trace your Roots

Author bio
Maureen Vincent-Northam has written seriously ever since Father Christmas left her a Petite typewriter. Author of Trace your Roots, she also wrote the children’s novel, Black Dog’s Treasure, and co-authored The Writer’s ABC Checklist.

An editor with Crooked Cat Publishing, her work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, anthologies and online. She has tutored workshops, judged online writing contests and was winner of The Writers’ Advice Centre for Children’s Books competition.

Maureen works part time in a residential home, is rubbish at cooking and, when not burning dinner, can usually be found surrounded by empty chocolate wrappers.






Critique Service for Writers
Flash 500 Home Page: Flash Fiction, Humour Verse
and Novel Opening Chapter and Synopsis Competitions