Share your writing success stories. If you subscribe to Writing Magazine and would like to feature here, email Tina Jackson, tjackson@warnersgroup.co.uk

A fantastic imagination

‘Since being a little girl, I have always had a passion for books,’ writes subscriber Hayley Davenport Smith.

‘I wrote Labyrinth Junction after being inspired by my own five children and the children I have taught as a primary school teacher. Every child has their own individual strengths and weaknesses, but they all have one thing in common… a love of fiction books! My favourite part of the teaching day was to read a couple of chapters from an exciting story. Every child would sit in silence, as they were transported into a fantasy land, a far-away place, their imaginations working in overdrive. I wanted to create a story that would mesmerise children and carry them away into another exciting, fantasy world.

‘I wrote the book seven years ago, and it was only a chance encounter with an author on a train last summer that gave me the confidence to have the book published. It is also a very personal book for me as my twelve year old daughter, Erin, illustrated the book and designed the cover picture.

‘Labyrinth Junction is an exciting fantasy story about the sheer bravery and determination of a young boy who is prepared to risk his life if it means finding his way home.

‘It will appeal to 8-12 year olds with a taste for adventure and excitement.

‘Labyrinth Junction is the first book in a planned series.’

Website: www.labyrinthjunction.co.uk

A dose of writing

‘On retiring as a GP, I subscribed to Writing Magazine and have avidly followed its info-packed pages of advice and encouragement,’ writes subscriber Anne Pettigrew.

‘Like, “write about what you know” – medicine! Research showed few novels on women doctors apart from pathologists, pioneers and Mills & Boon. Millions watch medical dramas; there must be a market. And, “take some courses”. Despite being the granny at superb University of Glasgow Creative Writing courses, I was undeterred, though realised how rapidly language changes; no one under forty understood my No Sinecure title (though one lass thought it apt: my sixties medics did sin as they cured!). The millennials seemed enthusiastic about my stories: how did we unmarrieds live without the pill in the sixties? Or accept leaving a job if pregnant? Class exercises, feedback and great WM articles on character, dialogue and plot helped me give birth to a six-year baby, now called Not The Life Imagined after a poll at the zany and hilarious Greenock Writers Group – another great piece of WM advice: join a writers’ group.