Do you know a budding author?
by Nicky Peacock

In the last couple of years, a lot has changed
in the publishing industry. eBooks, although
not devouring our traditional books as first
predicted, have gained tremendous popularity.
With this change has come much more
opportunity for aspiring writers to submit their
work. With major publishers opening eBook
imprints and not limiting these submissions to
those with an agent, there has never been a
more exciting time to be a writer.

If you ask kids what they want to be when
they grow up, most will say: pop star, actor,
footballer, solicitor, or doctor; I would have
been one of the precocious ones that said,
“Author”. I always knew what I wanted to be
and I never changed my mind. For years I
climbed that literary mountain, learnt my craft
and… failed, again and again. Needless to
say, I developed a pretty thick skin. But as
those far too cheery motivational speakers
always say, “Only quitters truly fail”. So I
kept trying, and five years ago, I had my first
story published. Since then I have had over
thirty-five short stories published and have a
contract with the publishers, Evernight Teen,
for two book series: Battle of the Undead and
The Twisted and The Brave.

I have learnt a lot along the way and, thinking
back to my early writing days in Corby; there
wasn’t much in the way of resources available
to me when I started out. I want to change
that now. When I was first published, I started
a writers’ group for adults called Creative
Minds. We still meet every second Thursday
and the friends I’ve made there have become
invaluable to myself as a writer and a person.

Some members since joining have been
published and even signed book deals. The
benefits of having like-minded people and
experienced mentors around you are priceless
when it comes to writing. So, I have teamed
up with Corby Library to create a 13-25-yearold
writers’ group to run creative writing
workshops. Attendance is completely free and
will be led by myself to help aspiring young
writers to hone their writing skills, exercise their
imaginations, and learn about the publishing
industry through talks and workshops.

If you know someone or are someone, aged
13-25, who could benefit from the workshops
please email me on iwanttowrite@hotmail.
com to register interest and receive details for
updates.

Over 25? Don’t worry, my adult group Creative
Minds is still going strong and everyone is
welcome regardless of experience. Attendance
here is also free.
Visit creativemindswriting.wordpress.com for details.

If you would like to learn more about me as
an author and my published work, please visit
www.nickypeacockauthor.wordpress.com

 
Creative Minds