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Interview _ Ellie Stevenson

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Ellie Stevenson was born in Oxford and brought up in Australia. She is a member of the Careers Writers' Association and the Alliance of Independent Authors . She writes feature articles and short stories. Her first novel, Ship of Haunts: the other Titanic story (Rosegate Publications, 2012), which is available as an e-book and as a paperback , has been described as " engaging and lively ... a real page-turner " and as " thoroughly enjoyable ". In this interview, Ellie Stevenson talks about her concerns as a writer: When did you start writing? When I was 10. I spent part of my childhood in Australia, and I would lie in bed and listen to the sounds of the Australian bush, and think about what I could do with my life. My first published work was a poem published in an Australian state newspaper. Then came a hiatus, quite a long one, but fortunately, that’s over now. How would you describe your writing? Fairly eclectic. Primarily I’m focused o

[Interview] Harry Whitehead

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by Nick Edgeworth, The Grassroutes Project * Harry Whitehead is a novelist, a short story writer and a creative writing lecturer at the University of Leicester. Before that, he worked in the film and TV production industry. His novel, The Cannibal Spirit (Hamish Hamilton, 2012) is set among the First Peoples of Canada at the turn of the twentieth century, and has been described as "“Unflinching and rigorously unsentimental ... a thought-provoking and impressive read.” His short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies that include London Lies (Arachne Press, 2012), The Storyteller Magazine and Whimperbang . In this interview, Harry Whitehead talks about the concerns that inform his work as a novelist and a creative writing lecturer: To start off, thanks very much for agreeing to be interviewed. Pleasure. My first question is: where did the creative writing process begin for you? When and why did you start? Well, I used to win the prizes at primary sch

[Interview_3] Gail McFarland

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Gail McFarland writes contemporary romance. Her novels include Doing Big Things (Lulu, 2012); Wayward Dreams (Genesis Press, 2008); and, Dream Keeper (Genesis Press, 2009). In addition to that, her romantic confessions and short stories have been featured in a number of magazines as well as in the anthologies, Bouquet (Pinnacle Books, 1998) and Can a Sistah Get Some Love? (Lady Leo Publishing, 2010). Her work is available in both print and e-format. In this interview, Gail McFarland talks about her experience of e-books, the future of the book and about her short stories: How much of your work is available in print form and in e-format? My novel-length work is currently available in print form and available for order and purchase in both online and brick-and-mortar-bookstores. In e-format, readers can find a dozen different stories everywhere from Amazon.com and B&N.com, to the ibookstore, Kobo, Diesel, Sony, and Smashwords. Of the two formats, as a reader a

[Book Review] Killing Honour... a beautifully written, heartfelt book

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Reviewed by Sarah O’Rourke, The Grassroutes Project * Bali Rai is considered the writer of British Asian teen fiction, and it’s not hard to see why. Life bursts off the pages of his 2011 novel, Killing Honour . Rai tackles taboo subjects with incredible clarity and passion. Killing Honour tells the story of Sat, a Leicester-born Asian teenager, whose sister is forced into a marriage with an abusive husband who then goes onto murder her – a so-called “honour killing.” Bai makes his stance clear on these killings in the title of the book and through the voice of his narrator, who never once gives up on his sister, no matter what izzat she has offended. Sat understands that family must come before honour, saying: “[A]ll you’re doing is killing it – killing honour – not defending it,” (KH p.180) but in order to unravel the mystery of his missing sister, Sat comes up against a “wall of silence” in the Sikh community. At the same time, of course, Sat represents those Sikh men who o

[Interview] R. J. Heald

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R. J. Heald is author of 27: Six Friends, One Year (Dancing Parrot Press, 2012); founder of Five Stop Story and editor of Five Stop Story: Short Stories to Read in 5 Stops on Your Commute (Five Stop Story Press, 2011). In this interview, Heald talks about her concerns as a writer:  When did you start writing? Like a lot of writers, I always loved creative writing when I was a child and I remember writing stories as one of the highlights of my primary school education. I continued to write into my teens, but stopped completely during university. I started writing seriously when I woke up from a dream with the idea for a book about five years ago. The idea just wouldn’t go away, and when I got home from work it was still at the front of my mind, so I just started writing. That was the first novel I wrote, but it’s still in draft form and remains in a drawer at present! I’m not sure if I ever consciously thought “I want to be a published writer.” The overriding motivation