Short story news: Shaking the Tree

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I wrote a short story based on the great storm that lashed the British Isles in 1987.

That story, The Spirit of the Wind, eventually found its way into My Weekly, and then into Twee Tales (on Kindle here, and in paperback here).

A little more recently, a friend of mine nagged me for a sequel to that story. She said she’d love to know what happened to everyone.

Towards the end of last year, I finally finished the sequel and called it Shaking the Tree.

I’m delighted to say that Shaking the Tree (my title) was bought by The People’s Friend in February of this year, and it has been published in their Special 141, on sale today – 31 May.

It took me a long time to crack The People’s Friend – more than 30 years, in fact. But they also have another short story of mine, The Complete Angler, which has been published in their 2018 annual, on sale on 11 July – pre-order your copy here.

Do let me know if you manage to read the story and what you think of it. Thank you!

52 books in 52 weeks: Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance

I’ve been a bit busy in recent weeks, mostly catching up on my self-imposed publishing schedule, so I’m a little behind in this. However, I didn’t forget, so …

I set myself the goal of reading and reviewing 52 writing guides over the year. Here is book 13.

Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance is a short read of just over an hour – if you read it straight through.

There are no exercises, as such, but the book does lay out the various steps to take when embarking on writing romance, in an order that’s certainly worth trying.

Throughout the book there are examples illustrating the point(s) just made, mostly from Ms Fielding’s own back catalogue. I confess, I skipped much of these as I was in a hurry to get to the end of the book in my first reading. But personally I think, if I decide to try a romance, I’d probably use this as a write-along guide, alongside a novel within the genre/imprint I’d like to target.

There is useful advice for the beginner writer that the more established may also wish to skip. But, generally, for all levels of writer, it’s a good road-map to follow.

Liz Fielding’s Little Book of Writing Romance is available on Kindle for £3.49 ($4.55) and in paperback for £4.50 ($5.99).

Twee Tales Too on Kindle, 2 new covers and even MORE news

I did say I’ve been busy …

I’m delighted to say that Twee Tales Too is the latest to become available on Kindle. You can buy it here for just £1.99.

I’ve also republished the paperback with a new cover, and I’ve revamped the original Twee Tales with a new cover – so they both match.

The Kindle stores will, however, take up to 72 hours to refresh the covers, but I think they’ll automatically refresh next time you update your Kindle, for those who already have book 1.

I’m waiting for all links to become active, but if you go to my “buy my books” page, the links will all gradually update, and you can see all of the books now available.

ALL of the Diane Parkin books are now retired and have been replaced with Diane Wordsworth versions.

BUT … it doesn’t stop there.

I’m in the process of publishing Tales from Baggins Bottom Best Bits book 3 on Kindle,  I’m already collating stories for  Twee Tales Twee (do you see a theme here?), and I’m also  in the process of editing Tales from Baggins Bottom Best Bits book 4.

Once all of the books are on Kindle, I’ll look at publishing them on multi-ebook format as well.

You can see other future projects on my “current projects” page.

Baggins Bottom Best Bits book 3

In recent days and weeks I’ve been busy publishing books – in paperback and on Kindle. The idea is to get all of my back-catalogue available as books by Diane Wordsworth.

Tales from Baggins Bottom: best bits book 3 is the latest to become available and can be found in paperback for £5.99. The Kindle edition will follow shortly.

If you go to my “buy my books” page you can follow the link, and you’ll also see all books currently available.

ALL of the Diane Parkin books are now retired and have been replaced with Diane Wordsworth versions. This one, however, is brand-new.

I’m currently publishing Twee Tales Too on Kindle, and then I’ll be adding Tales from Baggins Bottom Best Bits book 3 to Kindle too. Once they’re all on Kindle, I’ll look at publishing them all on multi-ebook format as well.

You can see other future projects on my “current projects” page.

I’ve been busy …

Aside from being very busy publishing books (more on this later), I’ve also been messin’ with the website.

I was in two minds whether or not to keep it as I didn’t think I could update it at all once it had been set. But today I started to play, and I discovered that I could, in fact, give it a bit of a facelift.

So this is what I’ve been busy doing today.

Please bob a long, if you have time. Have a nosy and give it a like. The link is on the picture.

Thank you!