Winner of Cheshire Novel Prize 2022 - Smoke & Honey - Historical Fiction

Charlotte lives on a hill in rural Scotland, with her husband and two of her three children. As a local midwife she feels lucky to work with remote communities in an inspirational landscape. She has always been an obsessive reader and sometimes writer, but only started writing seriously in the last few years.

In her free time she knits traditional kilt socks and bakes more bread than the family needs. Having grown up in London, she moved around southern England before relocating to Argyll. She has no plans to move again, although she said that last time.

Excerpt

Highly Commended Cheshire Novel Prize 2022 - Almost Strangers - cozy crime

Represented by 2022 judge Honor Spreckley from RCW Literary Agency

I was born in Pakistan, live in London and can usually be found chasing my toddler twins and 4 year old or side stepping rogue toys. I began my career as a solicitor then became an advocacy / project manager in the charity sector. I loved writing as a child but it wasn’t until I switched careers that I rediscovered that love through short stories. My short stories have been listed in the BBC National Short Story, Asian Writer, Leicester Writes and Writeidea prizes and I’ve taken part in the Royal Court and Kali Theatre playwriting groups. Almost Strangers is my first novel.

Excerpt

As Soft as Dreams - Historical Fiction

Represented by Katie Fulford from Belle Lomax Agency as a result of Cheshire Novel Prize Showcase 2022.

Sasha Butler grew up in Birmingham, England, where she now lives. She studied English at the University of Nottingham and works in marketing.

When the world shutdown in 2020, she started writing her first novel, As Soft as Dreams, a historical novel set in the midlands in the Elizabethan era. She has always been drawn to social history and understanding how people navigated their lives in landscapes so different – and yet, sometimes so similar – to the present.

To help write the novel she completed some online creative writing courses with Curtis Brown Creative and the British Library and joined a local writing group. Sasha is represented by Katie Fulford at Bell Lomax Moreton after Katie saw Sasha’s entry on The Cheshire Novel Prize Showcase.

Excerpt

Reconstructing Theo -Literary Fiction

Represented by 2022 judge Honor Spreckley from RCW Literary Agency

I’m an American who grew up in Northern Virginia just outside Washington, DC. When I was at university (in Florida), I took a summer Shakespeare course in London and discovered how much I loved England. I returned to the UK a couple of years later for a postgrad degree at gorgeous University of York. There, I met a very cute Brit in the kitchen of my shared house and . . . fast forward 22 years and several moves crisscrossing the Atlantic . . . I now live in Cheshire with that cute Brit and our three children (only one of whom is still shorter than me). For my day job, I’m a freelance editor and writer. The rest of the time, I love the essentials – family, coffee, books – as well as hiking, comedy, traveling, brownies, jogging (when nothing hurts), gnocchi, and spending time with people I love. I’m also impatiently awaiting the second season of Severance.

Excerpt

Down With All Kings - Historical Fiction

Newly Represented by Jennifer Bernstein at The Wylie Agency

Stephanie Bain is from Wigan, Lancashire. She has a BA English from the University of Cambridge and currently works as Literary Manager at the Almeida Theatre, a brilliant job that involves reading hundreds of plays. Down With All Kings is her first novel.

Excerpt

The Carer - Historical Fiction/Crime/Thriller

I am a full-time mum and diplomatic “trailing spouse”. I have two small boys, aged 18 months and 3 years. Before having my children, I worked in academic publishing as a Commissioning Editor with a focus on research methods. I have a PhD in Politics and International Relations. Since 2019, I have split my time between Pakistan and Scotland. We are currently based in Islamabad, where my husband works for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Excerpt

Light Once Lost - Historical Fiction

Noren Haq is a nocturnal and relentless writer of plays, short stories, flash fiction and poetry. She featured on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, reading from her short story Rearranged which was published in an anthology in 2020 (A Match Made in Heaven, Hope Road Publishing) and her poem Spare Room was published in issue three of Zero Readers in November 2021. Her novel Light Once Lost won a place in the One More Chapter competition in May 2021 and in 2022 she was selected for Playwrights’ Studio Scotland’s mentorship programme and has since written her first full length play.

Excerpt

Louise Tucker is a writer, editor and tutor. Having spent most of her working life in academia and publishing, she started to concentrate on writing fiction after a ‘significant’ birthday. She has just completed the MA in Prose Fiction at UEA, where she was awarded the 21-22 Annabel Abbs Scholarship.

She lives in London with her husband, and dreams of escaping to a) Northumberland b) France c) Estonia (long story). When she’s not writing, she’s singing in a choir, driving a 1973 VW Beetle to Greece and making ginger cake. Not all at the same time…

Excerpt