Writing

Writing

Novels

My first novel, The Whores' Asylum , is published by Fig Tree (a division of Penguin) and is available to order on Amazon, where it's currently averaging 4 stars - or you can order it in at your local bookshop, of course ... (The paperback title - blue cover - is The Unpierced Heart.)

Want a taster? Here's a videoof me reading an extract from the book at the King's Lynn Festival.

My primary literary agent is the New York-based Vicky Bijur , who saw one of my stories in the wonderful Slice magazine and got in touch. Believe it or not, these things do happen ... My agent in the UK is Arabella Stein of Abner Stein. Currently, UK, Czech (Euromedia) and Italian editions are available.

Novel extracts

Here's one from The Whores' Asylumread by actress Camila Fiori, to whet your appetite.

... and here's one from the book I'm currently writing - also set in the Victorian period - on UEA's NewWriting.net .

Short stories

Here are some links to short stories I've had published online. My short stories tend to be either modern or magical realism, but I'm working on some more historical ones which will hopefully appear somewhere soon. My two latest stories (new Sherlock Holmes mysteries) are here.

Text stories:

The Beginning of the End of the World - Based on a very weird dream I had, and boasting one of my favourite titles, this won second place in a competition run by On The Premises .

What would John Keats do? - A story about love, literature and teaching published in The Lampeter Review (page 23 of the Issuu document).

The Scarecrow - A flash fiction piece (one of few - usually, I am nothing if not prolix) about grief and clothes, published on Wales Arts Review as part of their Short Story Special.

Homebody - Cherry works at a rural petrol station, but dreams of Macchu Picchu ... published in You Are Here .

The Fan- "Of course, all writers are impotent," says Marta ... Read at the Bloomsbury Literary Festival by Max Berendt and published on Liars' League.

Audio stories:

See above for Max's reading of The Fan.

And here's "The Tyburn Jig" , read by Hattie Morahan, from Cries of London (BBC Radio 4).

Plays

I've had a couple of one-act plays published by Samuel French, which have been performed in places as far-flung as Kansas and Dar es Salaam. If you like the look of them, and want to put them on, please contact Concord (French's parent company). Let me know when and where you're doing them, and I might even come along to support!

Half-Life - A journalist kidnaps a fading movie star turned politician. Is she after a story - or something more sinister?

Open Secrets- A spy walks into a bar ...

Musicals

Yes, I write them too - book (the script/dialogue) and lyrics. I made my writing partner Luke Batemando the hard stuff (i.e. the music) though. We've had three musicals showcased and one full production of our pitch-black seasonal comedy All I Want for Christmasat the Jermyn Street Theatre.

The Whores' Asylum, aka The Unpierced Heart

My first novel - available from all good bookshops, and Amazon.

BONUS! Here's a short interview- alongside such luminaries as Helen Dunmore and Stef Penney - about how I write and research my novels, in case you're interested.

Here's another, on FemaleFirst.

And an article on how to write a short story and get it published in Stylist - advice from Stella Duffy, Sophie Hannah, Vanessa Gebbie ... and me.