Helping authors to make their stories shine … Editing Services for fiction and memoir
If you want to submit a manuscript to an agent, but don’t understand the basics of formatting on Word, this post is for you. To avoid the telltale signs of an amateur – tabs or spaces to indent paragraphs, or returns in place of page breaks – read on for a step by step guide. Continue reading How to Format a Manuscript in Word
New Zealander Kelli Virtanen, or Kelli Vee as she is known professionally, moved to Mansfield 20 years ago and has been here ever since. In that time, besides riding the highs and lows of parenting, she has studied extensively in the wellness field and established an international business. If you have ever wondered what a healer does and how she spends her days, read on … Continue reading Kelli Virtanen, Mansfield Mother, Wellness Coach, Author
Eleni Hale isn’t one to shy away from a difficult topic. Her first novel, Stone Girl, tells the story of what can happen when adolescents are abandoned by protection services, ostracised by society and have to fend for themselves. Continue reading Eleni Hale – Novelist
Update: Stone Circle is a First Place Category winner in the Chaucer Awards for 2018! Kate Murdoch, an accomplished painter, exhibited for fourteen years, was a finalist in prize shows and was represented by a gallery. She changed paths after a character appeared to her in a dream and compelled her to tell his story. … Continue reading Kate Murdoch on Writing Historical Fiction
I wrote this short piece for Australian Writers’ Centre’s Furious Fiction last year. Among other criteria, it had to be set in a supermarket. The story seems appropriate close to April Fools’ Day. In it, I pose the question, how do you deal with frustration? *** Night shift. Andy beatboxes as he stacks Milo onto … Continue reading Short Fiction: Blood Orange
JJ Campbell’s fascinating background includes jobs as diverse as hypnotherapist to video producer. Her first published novel, Reclaimed, is book one of the paranormal trilogy, The Immortal Trinity. The story of how it came about is an inspiring tale of women helping women. What did you want to be when you grew up? I was a … Continue reading How JJ Campbell Reclaimed Her Voice
Today marks a year since I posted my first blog, so it’s time to review progress. In my first year, I wrote 42 posts and nearly 30,000 words. Here are some highlights from The Winding Narrative: I celebrated a win in my writing journey when I signed with Michael Cybulski of NAC, see Five Reasons to … Continue reading The Winding Narrative Turns One
One of the joys of writing this blog is the opportunity to meet inspiring people who have fascinating real-life stories. Not only is Kirsten Alexander an accomplished novelist, but she is the instigator of Storymart, a unique short story subscription site which offers readers a source of great material and writers an paid opportunity to … Continue reading Kirsten Alexander, Novelist and Founder of Storymart
This week, I had the pleasure of chatting with Kate Forster, best-selling novelist (women’s fiction and young adult romance) and founder of The Ladybirds—Women Who Write Helping Other Women Who Write, a support network for female writers on Facebook, now over 1,500 members strong. Kate charmed me with her honesty, grounded approach and a genuine … Continue reading Kate Forster, Novelist and Founder of Ladybirds
(Updated 20th May, 2026) This post is for my long-suffering non-writer friends who have endured my detailed explanations about the book publishing process. It is also for my writer friends who want to show their circle why they still haven’t published their book or why it took so long to get there. In brief, the … Continue reading The Book Publishing Flowchart
Brightside Story Studio 