All Write

The Moya Green Collection

UkAuthors Interview

    INTERVIEW given to UKAuthors.com 
 
How long have you been writing?
 
Most of my life, off and on, with long periods of 'off'.  Both my parents wrote plays, so it seemed the natural thing to do. I had my first rejection letter when I was four - I made up a story, told it to my mum, she typed it out and sent it to 'Listen with Mother'.  I got a lovely letter back from the producer.  Didn't use the story, though.
 
Then I had to be educated, and after that was over I didn't write another word for fifteen years.  But I still wanted to be a Great Author, and it gradually began to dawn on me that if I was to achieve my ambition, I needed to produce a Great Book.  So I started filling notebooks with unreadable drivel, and sending off short stories to magazines and competitions, all of which came back or disappeared into the void.  But was I down-hearted?  Well, yes, actually.
 
Then came the breakthrough - two in fact.  The first was getting my hands on a computer, because my handwriting is so bad even I can't read it, and my typing's not much better.  Now I could do in weeks what used to take me months.  The second was joining a writer's group.  Finding a group of people who were prepared to take what I was doing seriously was enormously encouraging, and my output increased considerably. 

How would you describe your writing?
 
A bit of a mixture.  All over the place.  Eclectic - that's the word I'm looking for.  With a bias towards fantasy and the supernatural.  Only thing I don't do is 'commercial' - but I'm working on that.
 
What is your opinion of writing on the net?
 
A fantastic idea - you put stuff out and people actually read it.  Sometimes they even tell you they like it!  Best ego-massage around.
 
Do you have any advice for other aspiring authors?
 
Write the sort of thing you like to read - anything else is boring, and if it bores you it's not going to do much for your readers.  And if you possibly can, join a writer's group.  The Internet is fine, but face to face contact is even better.  Tamworth Writers have helped me a great deal, not just with encouragement and feedback, but with the opportunity to do things - like conducting workshops and helping run their short story competition - I never dreamed I could.
 
How do you see your future writing career?
 
I would like to finish my novel.  I would like to sell something to a proper magazine for real money.  Most of all, I would like to write a really good story.
 
 
 


Writing credits

   

Short stories

Placed in short story competitions

Hambone's Night Out
1st place. Struggling Authors  2007
The Ice Maiden
2nd place.  Writers' Dock.   2007
The Rose Lover
3rd place.  The Pages.   2007
How we came to Wales      
1st place, Orange Labyrinth Competition (no.7) 2003
Imagine                                  
1st place, Dark Tales (Spring) 2003
A Better Place?            
1st place,  Christchurch WC, 2002
The Wishfish           
3rd, March & Doddington WC 2002
Double Indenture                 
1st place, EbayAust, 2001
All the Little Teddy Bears. 
1st place, Christchurch WC 2001.
Flabberghast                         
2nd, Redcar Writers, 2001
Abandoned                           
4th, Linkway Magazine,  2000
Happy New Century.           
Writers‘ News ‘Happy New Century’ Story. 2000

Short listed or commended

Last Waltz at the Riviera.                    
Cotswold W C, 2005
Flabberghast                            
Lichfield & District W C  2004
I lost my heart in Wolverhampton.   
Jo Cowell Award  2002
The Little Snakes of Silver Throat   
Wells Festival of Literature  2002
Into the Wood                     
Mary Gornall Memorial Comp 2001
Dead Letter                                           
Writers’ News     2000
The Lammastide Dancers           
Mathew Pritchard Award 1998
Capricorn International 1997

Published

The House Next Door.              
Secret Attic booklet 2 2005
The Woodby Authors Erotic Writing Workshop  
Voices from the Web 3, UKA Press 2004
Present Imperfect                    
sold The Weekly News,
Dead Letter.                                 
Voices from the Web 2. UKA Press 2003
Imagine                                        
Dark Tales, Issue 1, spring
All the little Teddy Bears; Adolf’s Moustache; Dogsbody; Look at Me                                            
Voices from the Web 1, Boho Press  2002
The Wishfish                              
The Quill  (March & Doddington WC),2001
Abandoned                                
Linkway Magazine 2000
Happy New Century                
Writers’ News, July 2000



Poems

Published

May I throw a snowball at you?   
Voices from the Web 1, Boho Press  2003
Beige Man                                          
YOURS Fiction Special, 2002   



Articles

Published

Come home, Mrs Skimmington, all is forgiven  
Link (Journal of the National Association of Writers’ Groups) June 2001