Welcome to my website and blog where I write about (some of) the things I love. They include writing (it’s something I’ve done all my life); reading (it’s what I do when I’m not writing) and Dalmatians (just because…)
I also love jewellery making, walking in the rain and listening to Mozart – although not all at the same time.
I have been writing ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil. When I was eight years old I wrote a pageant for St George’s Day and ‘persuaded’ my three younger brothers to appear in it. They still haven’t forgiven me. Not even when I incorporated it into the first short story I sold (to Woman’s Weekly) called Angels on Oil Drums and bought them each a bottle of champagne, a box of chocolates and a copy of Woman’s Weekly on the proceeds.
I have been so lucky in my writing career. That heady start was followed by many, many rejections but eventually I went on to sell over 400 more short stories and serials to women’s magazines all across the world. I have also had seven large print novels published to date. (As I write this, I’m keeping my fingers firmly crossed for number eight). And for fourteen happy years I wrote a monthly column, Ideas Store, for Writers’ Forum Magazine before the magazine sadly folded in 2023.
I also wrote a series of Much Winchmoor Murder Mysteries, set in a small Somerset village which bears an uncanny resemblance to the one in which I live – although as far as I know none of my friends and neighbours have murderous tendencies.
These were taken up by a publisher in 2018 and I enjoyed six happy years with them but sadly, they too are no longer in business (Is it me, I wonder?) and my Much Winchmoor series is at the moment out of print until I can either find another publisher or muster up the courage to self publish them. Watch this space!
In the meantime, I’ve published a collection of short stories (including Angels on Oil Drums mentioned above) entitled Selling My Grandmother and features just some of the stories that have been inspired by my family. Just to increase the agony and embarrassment for them, each story is accompanied by the story behind the story.
My current work in progress is the start of a new series, which I’m very excited about. All The Birds of the Air is the first in my Neston Parva Mysteries, and once again is set in a small Somerset village that is, in fact, only a few miles away from Much Winchmoor.
I’ve had a bit of a break from writing recently due to some life changing family stuff but writing All The Birds of the Air has been a welcome escape from the real world which sometimes feels it’s spinning out of control to a fictional one where I am in control. At least for most of the time, although I do have one character, a cranky old lady called Dora Cardwell, who has two ways of doing things – her way or no way.
I am a proud member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, The Crime Writers Association, the Society of Authors and more recently ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors.
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PAULA WILLIAMS 
Hello, I’ve just found your blog, though a link via Helen Yendell’s blog. I’m a wanabee memoir writer, someone too scared to enter competitions, a sometime freelancer for Sailing magazines and the world’s greatest procrastinator. I’m hoping your blog will spur me on to put fingers to keyboard…..
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Hi Georgie. Thank you so much for your comments. Please don’t be scared to enter competitions. It’s a wonderful way to learn the craft of writing. Good luck with your writing and let me know how you get on.
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Thank you for your support, it means a lot to me!
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Hi Paula!
I’m a subscriber to Writers’ Forum and enjoy your Ideas Store ….and this blog…very much. Having thought about it for far too long, I have finally begun my own blog. As soon as my technophobia allows, I will put a link to yours on it. I spent a lot of time this summer re-reading back issues of WF so I’m feeling inspired by your suggestions and hoping to develop my writing further.
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Hi Jane, Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and for your kind words. I’m delighted you are starting a blog. It will certainly help your writing. Your comment has given me a nudge that it is a few weeks since I last updated mine. Top of my todo list for today!
(edited). I’ve just read your blog. It’s great and sounds fascinating. I can’t wait to read about your journey. I’d have loved to have left a comment but at the moment I don’t see any way of doing so. I’m still a newbie at blogging myself so I’m still floundering about in the dark a bit.
Very much looking forward to your next post! Good luck!
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I’m looking forward to reading it!
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Thank you for your encouragement, Paula. I really appreciate it. And good to know about the comment problem….I will try to figure out how to solve that! Maybe it’s just a case of adding a headed page. It seems far easier to just write than to navigate through the varying instructions.
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I agree with you about the feel of reading an actual book, even though I also love the tv adaptations. I love Shetland…just zoomed through the latest book, Wild Fire. And I’m hooked on Norwegian author Jo Nesbø…the translation into English is done so well that it feels as if he wrote it in English.
I do actually enjoy reading the dedications and acknowledgements in books. I would dedicate mine probably to my daughter. She is one of the nicest people I know and has been an immeasurable support to me. I’d love to write crime but I’m never certain I could create a convincing plot with enough twists to keep people guessing! I look forward to reading yours!
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I’m sure you could write a great crime novel, Jane. I look forward to reading it one day!!
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Fab piece, thanks for sharing. You certainly are prolific. Good luck with all you write.
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I am an avid reader of WF and frequently have a go at your Fiction Square. I’m at the stage of having written many words,(two novels ready and waiting) but lacking the confidence to get them out there. I’m a lone writer desperate to connect with local writers, but finding it hard to find them! Thanks for your inspiration and encouragement to us wannabees.
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Hi Norma, thank you so much for your comments and I am so glad you find the Fiction SQuare useful. Many congratulations on your two novels. You have achieved what many people only dream about doing. I hope you manage to connect with local writers. Have you tried your local library? Good luck and keep writing.xxx
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