Christmas book for free

Celebration Time! Free Christmas book

Global Awards winner, historical novel ‘Song at Dawn’

ebook giveaway until 24th December

Visit Sooz says stuff

get the coupon number and use it at the smashwords checkout 

Great site for writers and readers

My short story 'Jailbait' won November's 'Paragraphs of Power' Competition - read 'Jailbait and all the other entries here. But be warned -  my story has teenage content - much worse than adult!

As someone who was teacher for many years, I've come across relationships between teachers and pupils that crossed the professional line. My own view is that a teacher is a position of trust, and it is a betrayal of that trust to initiate or to get drawn into a sexual relationship with a student. The recent example of a teacher fleeing the UK to France with his 15 year old pupil/lover raised all kinds of issues, including the differences between countries as to the age at which it's legal to have sex. My view is that the age difference between the partners is important. A 35 year old - man or woman - who has a sexual relationship with a 15 year old is, again, betraying trust. A 16 year old who has a sexual relationship with a 15 year old is hardly any different from the 'victim' - except in the eyes of the law.

Literature is full of stories where the line was crossed between adult and child, including that between teacher and pupil. All those I can think of are from the point of view of a male teacher, like in the lyrics 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' so I wanted to tell the story from the viewpoint of a fifteen year-old girl...

Paragraphs of Power

Why not enter your own story for Suzy's great competition? The next one is in January. In my winning month, November, there was an amazon book token as prize.You also get to present a book of your choice during the month you win.

Book news

It does look like I'll be able to publish 'Bladesong' early in 2013 - yay!

The verdicts on my new novel, in manuscript form, are coming in from my 'critical friends' and my editor; mostly positive (thank God!) but lots of minor corrections/tweaks. As I work through, I'll let you know the sorts of things that need to be changed. I can tell you the sorts of thing I don't want to change - the idea of any major re-organisation or plot change fills me with dread. But if it will be a better book that way, I will think seriously about every suggestion made.

comment on the Troubadours' facebook page and enter the free draw for a signed copy of 'Song at Dawn'

Dead but not silenced - one woman's true story

My other writing news is about a translation project; I'll tell you more about that when I can. If I say that it's a French autobiography that I'm translating into English,which starts with a fairytale romance, results in rape and a child custody case, and finishes with a young woman's death in suspicious circumstances, you won't believe me. But that's the truth.