Authors Electric

Southern Leonberger Carting Group appeared at the Dogs for the Disabled Open Day. I've been writing with dog ged determination this week as most of my writing activities have been dog-related. Not that I'm complaining. They say never work with children or animals, but I can't think of anything better. I've been working on an article for Dogs Monthly magazine on Dogs for the Disabled's 25th anniversary, which culminated in going to their Open Day - which was fantastic and even lead to a couple of spin off articles. I'm also preparing the start of a dog-themed short story competition, which is just for fun, and part of an event taking place locally. Plus I've been dog-sitting Lola - my daughter's gorgeous German Shepherd Collie Cross rescue dog. With dogs on the brain, this blog just had to be about dogs too. Lola adopted Debbie 12 years ago when Deb worked in the local RSPCA kennels. She was a very timid one year old, who would huddle ...

Newsroom and Features office Coventry Telegraph at the Corporation Street premises  When I worked as a feature writer at the Coventry Telegraph, there was always deadlines to meet. Very often there might only be a few hours to source an idea, interview, research, write it up and send it on to the sub editor to prepare it for the page. At times it was a mad rush, but when there's a deadline looming as every writer knows, you have to just knuckle down and get it written. With fiction it's usually a more relaxed (and civilised) way of writing, well normally. You have your pace that you like to write at and you stick to it.  But all that's going to change for me over the next five weeks. I'll be writing 2,000 word chapters in real time, from idea to going live to schoolchildren in just two and a half days. It's all to do with Fiction Express , an online publisher who team up with primary schools, to offer fiction that the children can contribut...