Writelink: Because We All Have to Start Somewhere

I’ve been a scribbler for as long as I can remember, but I only began to take it seriously in the 1980s, and even then I confined myself to writing factual articles and short stories. I didn’t turn my attention to novels until the 1990s, and there was a fair break while I wrote (unsuccessfully) for TV.

Late in 2004, things took a dramatic turn when after yet another rejection, I decided I needed some help. So I joined a writer’s community: Writelink.

What I found was a cheerful bunch of scribes all ready, willing and happy to lend their expertise and advice on this and that. I threw myself in with them, and began to learn. Three years on, I had my first acceptance, a full length novel entitled The Haunting at Melmerby Manor, picked up by Virtual Tales, an American outfit who put out e-books and POD paperbacks. One of my favourite tales is how that novel began as a single chapter on Writelink, which the writers advised me upon.

I’m still a member and these days a moderator for Writelink, although time constraints mean I call once a week to ensure everything is as it should be. I’m there and gone in less than ten minutes.

I made many friends on that site, including Writing magazine columnist, fellow Crooked Cat author and Writer’s Bureau tutor, Lorraine Mace, who produces crime fiction under the pen name Frances di Plino, and my editor, Maureen Vincent-Northam, author of Trace Your Roots and co-author, along with Lorraine of the Writer’s ABC Checklist.

Laurie Clayton is another fine writer I met through Writelink, and so too is Trevor Belshaw, who turns out excellent children’s fiction under the pen name Trevor Forest. (Something to do with him being a Notts Forest supporter… well I never said these people were sane.)

Nipping over to Writelink this morning, just to check there are no issues in need of moderation, I note that the site has changed over the years, but the friendliness, the willingness of other writes to help those who need it, has not.

Any writer putting up a piece of work in the Arena, will find helpful comment. No one ever says, “Don’t give up your day job.” Instead they offer opinions on how the work can be improved.

We all have to start somewhere and if you’re new to writing and in need of a helping hand? Give Writelink a look. If I hadn’t done, I don’t know where Joe and Co would be.

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The Summer Wedding Murder STAC Mystery #8 is available for download from:

Amazon UK (Kindle)

Amazon Worldwide (Kindle)

Smashwords (all formats)

Crooked Cat Books (MOBI, EPUB, PDF)

And in paperback from

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide