Author Archives: Louise Beech

Let’s see… I’ve been thinking a lot about trigger warnings recently. It’s a complex issue. What are they? Why do we have them? Do they work? Do we even need them? Generally, film and TV programmes now include a warning at the start of a showing, listing the things addressed in the material that theContinue reading “Do I need a trigger warning for my trigger warning piece?”

What WOULD we have done without books this year? The arts saved us. Music, films, photographs, documentaries, art, and books were – in many ways – all we had in 2020. The escape and joy they offered perhaps replaced (or at least compensated for) the lack of human contact, the being separated from our families,Continue reading “The Year The Arts Saved Us…”

For two days we’d been on the run in the African bush. My daughter was barely breathing. And her once sturdy legs were now faltering. Her bullet wound had dried. It was caked over with dust, but the flies still persisted. I’d been dragging and pushing her along since we witnessed it two days ago.Continue reading “Mothers by Zuzanne Belec”

Allison Whittenberg is a writer who has a global perspective. If she wasn’t an author she’d be a private detective or a jazz singer. She loves reading about history and true crime. Her other novels include Sweet Thang, Hollywood and Maine, Life is Fine, Tutored and The Sane Asylum. There were times when it seemedContinue reading “Ride the Peter Pan by Allison Whittenberg”

The Rain Garden by Joanna Campbell                                                             I am creating a garden from rain. My hands, steeped in glossy soil, are digging to the core of the world. A spangled worm twists, unhurried, around a clod of earth, working without searching, hoping to avoid thrushes’ beaks and the thrust of gardeners’ spades. Not enough brain forContinue reading “The Rain Garden by Joanna Campbell”

In the last two weeks, since launching my writing competition, I’ve been inundated with well over a hundred short stories. I’ve been swept away to Puerto Rico, Malaysia, Beirut, Bangkok, the US, Northern Ireland, and Jamaica. I’ve been whisked back in time to the Suffragette movement, to the Edwardian and Victorian period, to the SecondContinue reading “Winner Of My 50 Because I’m 50 Competition”

To celebrate my recent 50th birthday, I want to give something back. I’ve enjoyed some glorious writing moments during my forties, but I’ve never forgotten how long it took to achieve my dream of a book deal in 2015, aged 44. Before that, I entered every writing competition I saw, followed numerous authors and listenedContinue reading “The 50 Because I’m 50 Writing Competition…”

Writers often apologise when they share glowing newspaper reviews or a reader’s praise of their books. I often see them saying that it feels like ‘bad form’ or that it seems somehow vain to retweet positive blog posts. They admit that they feel they are perhaps supposed to – in order to be visible, toContinue reading “No shame, no apology, no regret.”

Writing was hard for a lot of authors during lockdown, what with everyone suddenly stuck in the house, and home-schooling, and job losses, and other life changes. I’m one of the lucky ones. Despite the stress, I managed to put down some words. Perhaps because of it. Writing has always been there for me inContinue reading “More Lockdown Literature…”

We have more time than ever before to read. Even those of us who are still working – either from home or as key workers – have long evenings without pubs or restaurants or theatres or friends to visit. However, many book lovers online are saying they’re finding it hard to concentrate at the moment.Continue reading “Lockdown Literature”