European Cultural Foundation Summit

I love libraries and seek them out wherever I go. I therefore couldn't be happier to be one of the winners of the European Cultural Foundation's competition on the theme of How a Library Changed My Life. As part of the prize, I was invited to a summit in Amsterdam for librarians called 'If Librarians Ran Europe' - what a proposition, and what an interesting group to meet! The winning stories were published in a book to accompany the summit and also recorded by actors. It was a great experience and lovely to be back in the Netherlands, the country which inspired my story. Here is a recording of my story .

Crimebits selected by Lee Child

I am delighted to feature twice in Crimebits, a selection of crime openings selected by Lee Child and published by Black Spring Press. 

Crime Writers' Association/Margery Allingham Short Story 2024

It was great to attend Crimefest in Bristol in May, following my short-listing in the Margery Allingham short story competition for my story, Horses for Courses. 

Plaza Prize 2023- Hitler's Alligator

In October 2023, I was thrilled to go to the International Book Festival in Malta to receive the 2023 Plaza Prize (winner, short story category) and read from my story, Hitler's Alligator. I was also delighted to feature in the first Plaza Prizes Anthology. 

Pleased to announce that my short story Hitler’s Alligator has won the 2023 Plaza Awards: https://theplazaprizes.com/short-story-8000-max-winners-top-3/. Bring on the awards ceremony in Malta! Judge Roland Watson-Grant described it as "a sweeping, layered tale. Grounded in reality and set in one of history’s most gruesome moments, this darkly comical story offered dual perspectives of man and beast, the capturer and the captured, with such pace, it holds on and never lets go the reader right to the very end".

Winning short story published!

Thrilled that my winning entry for the Margery Allingham/Crime Writers' Association Short Story Prize is now available to read here. Enjoy! 

Crime Writers' Association - Margery Allingham Short Mystery Prize

Couldn't be happier at winning the Margery Allingham Short Mystery Prize for my story Heartbridge Homicides. Click here and here for more details. Here's how the judges described it: "A delightful, beautifully written story set in TV soapland. The breezy narration never falters as the charm of solving a crime creeps over the soap's fan. The judges felt Margery would have loved this story." It will be published on the CWA website later in the year.