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Success Story!

 As we enter the final month of our short story competition, we have some brilliant news from a previous winner to share! Richard Hooton won second prize in 2021 with his story  The Homecoming .  Richard told us: "Since being awarded second place in your short story competition in 2021, I was able to get an agent and a book deal for a novel that will be published on 10 April.  Being placed by Exeter Writers was a huge boost and helped validate, and instil confidence in, my writing." Richard's debut novel  The Margaret Code  will be published on 10 April by Sphere, an imprint of Little Brown. It’s available to pre-order from  Amazon  or any bookshop. The voice-led whodunnit follows eighty-nine-year-old Margaret whose failing memory holds the key to the murder investigation taking place on her street. It will also be published in America by Union Square and Co, and in Germany by DTV.  He is on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Bluesky as @RJHooton. C...

Writing at the Edge

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    Are you a writer looking to develop your craft and become a true Author? Then let  Writing at the Edge  help.     Writing at the Edge  is a collective of authors, journalists and marketing professionals with knowledge and experience of writing and publishing. The aim of the collective is to share this learning and help other writers. It means pushing them to the edge – and beyond – challenging them to become the best they can be at their craft. To become a publishable Author.   Sign up for  FREE monthly webinars , each covering a topic on the craft of writing – such as: ·         Pitch Perfect : How to pitch your novel to agents, publishers, readers – and yourself. ·         World-Building in Fiction Writing : Techniques for creating immersive and believable worlds. ·         The Fundamentals of Storytelling : How to tell compelling st...

Competition Now Open

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Our 2025 Short Story Competition is now open.  You can find the timetable for the competition here.   You can read all the rules here .  You can submit your entries here .

Books by Simon Kettlewell

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  Books by Members: Simon Kettlewell  Simon is the author of five books which range from gripping thrillers to family fiction. FOUR CHILDREN. ONE MAN. HOW HARD CAN IT BE?... Dear Chloe, Emma, Ruby, and Ollie, ‘I am applying for the position you haven’t advertised, has no specific job description and no hope of fiscal reward. I am applying because I have this misguided belief that it will look like it does on the cover photo of ‘The Complete Guide to Childcare’ where everyone appears relaxed and bright-eyed, not knackered, irascible or covered in snot. Armed with a pristine copy of ‘The Complete Guide to Childcare’, ambitions to be the next literary giant and live off the grid, what could possibly go wrong? ‘Five minutes after Brigit’s maternity leave ended I realised the magnitude of my error. I was now the sole carer for two six-month old children who thought the hands smearing yoghurt over their faces belonged to somebody else, and a two-year old who walked for five steps an...

The Echoing Shore

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 The Echoing Shore by Jason Mann Jason Mann's Cornish mystery The Echoing Shore was an award winner at the international 2023 Yeovil Literary Prize.   THE ECHOING SHORE HOW DEEP WOULD YOU GO TO FIND THE TRUTH? A lifeboat is lost off Cornwall's wild Atlantic coast. All eight crewmen die. The cause is never fully explained. Ten years later, Kate Tregillis, the editor of a small newspaper on the brink of closure, becomes obsessed with solving the longstanding mystery. Her investigations provoke a backlash of threats and violence in the insular fishing community of St Branok. Simmering hatreds and ancient pagan beliefs are dragged to the surface. In exposing the truth, she risks the future of her newspaper and even her life - and learns that the man she loves has his own secrets.   It is available as an ebook and paperback on Amazon via the link below:   The Echoing Shore: Amazon.co.uk: Mann, JH: 9781739295325: Books

Silenced at the Summer Social

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Elizabeth Ducie's latest cosy mystery is out soon! Silenced at the Summer Social , book 4 in the Coombesford Chronicles series of cosy murder mysteries will be published on Friday 1st November and is available for pre-order now: https://geni.us/CoombesfordBook4 "Retired school teacher, clerk to the Parish Council, devoted churchgoer. Josephine Hillson is the proverbial pillar of the community. But apparently not everyone in the community sees her that way. And at the end of a warm September’s day, with the Summer Social winding down, Josephine goes to meet her maker in the swimming pool of Mountjoy Manor. Suspicion falls on the teenage Worcester twins, but the amateur sleuths of Coombesford are on the case."

WRITING AT THE EDGE

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    INVITATION TO FIRST WRITING AT THE EDGE WEBINAR Exciting news - a group of South West authors, journalists and marketing professionals have created a new organisation to help writers improve their craft. Writing at the Edge  will be running a series of free monthly webinars - and anybody is welcome to attend.   The first one-hour webinar, called Pitch Perfect, is at 8pm on Thursday 3rd October. It will discuss the best ways of pitching your writing to agents, publishers and readers. You can sign up at  https://www.tickettailor.com/ events/writingattheedge/130729  or use the QR code below.   Also, a variety of pitches will be reviewed on the evening with the best submissions being offered on-line consultations to discuss how best to progress their writing projects. If you'd like your own pitch (of no more than two sentences) to be considered, please email it to -  writingattheedge4@gmail.com   Whether you are pitching or not, do please joi...