Blog Archive

Crossing the Tees Short Story  Competition 2019

Crossing the Tees Short Story  Competition 2019 Budding authors and creative writers – share your stories with us for a chance to appear in a published anthology and take home a cash prize.  There is no theme to the competition. 1st Prize £100 | 2nd Prize £75 | 3rd Prize £50 Free to enter and open … Continue reading Crossing the Tees Short Story  Competition 2019 →

Fall Down Dead – Stephen Booth

  Readers of crime fiction can’t resist a good location for a murder. Colin Dexter’s Oxford, Ian Rankin’s Edinburgh, Ann Cleeves’ Shetland… there’s a long list of areas that people not only love to read about, but want to visit and see for themselves. I’ve been writing about the Derbyshire Peak District for two decades … Continue reading Fall Down Dead – Stephen Booth →

Blood on the Stone – Jake Lynch

Imagine a country divided, with the political atmosphere soured by increasingly bitter enmities and rivalries. Street demonstrations threaten to turn violent, and propaganda is reaching fever pitch. Perhaps that’s not too much of a stretch from our present situation. As I write this, the forthcoming European elections seem set to turn as rancorous as any … Continue reading Blood on the Stone – Jake Lynch →

This is Going to Hurt – An Evening with Adam Kay

What happens when a man who has humour in his bones works in an intense job as a junior doctor? Alice-May Purkiss found out as she joined bestselling author Adam Kay in Middlesbrough Central Library.

Julia Gray at Nunthorpe Academy

“The biggest story in this whole book is about friendship.” Author Julia Gray speaks to pupils at Nunthorpe Academy.

An Evening with Mick Herron

Alice-May Purkiss finds herself thrilled by thrillers as she attends an in-depth author discussion with Mick Herron

Sarah Dunnakey’s Literary Quiz Night

Alice-May Purkiss looks back on a insightful author event with Sarah Dunnakey combined with a literary quiz at Acklam Community Hub on Tuesday June 12th.

History Wardrobe: PINK – The True Story

Our blogger-in-residence, Alice-May Purkiss, looks back on a wonderful evening with History Wardrobe at Crown Street Library, Darlington.

Short Story Anthology Awards Evening

Our Short Story Anthology winners were announced at a special awards evening at Middlesbrough Library.

Thank you, the competition is now closed and my work here is done

Hello Everyone, Well, here we are firmly in autumn and, while thoughts turn to darker nights and shops start to stock Christmas goodies, many of you are probably just/still recovering from the hard work of getting your competition entries in before the deadline. The competition is now closed and my work here is done. All … Continue reading Thank you, the competition is now closed and my work here is done →

It’s almost time to say goodbye, but first, some editing tips…

Hello Everyone, My penultimate post so time to remind you all once again about the looming deadline of the 30th Sept and to urge you to not leave submitting your entries until the last minute – just in case there are any technical issues at either end! Before you do send off you work you … Continue reading It’s almost time to say goodbye, but first, some editing tips… →

Time is ticking…

Hello Everyone, Now with time running very short indeed and the countdown to the final deadline for entries into dates rather than weeks/months you are probably wondering where all that time went and how you’ve managed to leave things so late.  Well, some of you are while those organised souls sit back and relax, entry … Continue reading Time is ticking… →

Narrative perspectives and National Novel Writing Month!

Hello Everyone, Well, we are now into the final big push in the last few weeks before your competition entries need to be in (30TH SEPTEMBER!!!).  But there is still time to get that award winning story polished and perfected. This week as you move towards a final assault on your writing, I thought it … Continue reading Narrative perspectives and National Novel Writing Month! →

Writer Wednesdays at Sixth Element, and planning your plot…

Hello Everyone, Well, another week has rolled by so here I am again. Most of the workshops are done now and a big thank you to everyone who came along and contributed to what were very enjoyable and rewarding sessions. There is still time to grab one of the few remaining mentoring places (Stockton, Hartlepool … Continue reading Writer Wednesdays at Sixth Element, and planning your plot… →

Hello Everyone, Well, time for the latest installment from me.  This week sees us moving towards the end of the workshop sessions and on to the mentoring.  There are still some mentoring spaces available at some of the locations so if you are now beginning to think you might want to have the chance of … Continue reading →

Only 8 weeks until the short story competition deadline!

Hello Everyone, Yes – it’s time for another post so here I am again.  This past week has been a busy but rewarding one with workshops happening in Hartlepool, Stockton and Saltburn with this coming week promising to be even more jam-packed with creative writing as I add Darlington to that list. All the groups … Continue reading Only 8 weeks until the short story competition deadline! →

From a furry friend in Peru, to more writing workshops in Teesside!

Hello Everyone, Phew! I’m back, made it!  Survived the Inca Trail: four days, three nights (yes, I had to camp!), 45 km, 4200 m above sea level (oh, the air’s thin up there!) and very little of the hiking was on a nice smooth flat surface (think Roseberry Topping x 1000 and you’ll be somewhere close).  But it … Continue reading From a furry friend in Peru, to more writing workshops in Teesside! →

An adventure to Peru awaits, but before then…

Hello Everyone, Just a quick post to help keep your morale up as you busily beaver away on your short stories for the competition.  Several of you have been in touch over the last couple of weeks to report your progress so far and I’m really excited that already so many of you have entries … Continue reading An adventure to Peru awaits, but before then… →

Hemlington workshops, music gigs, and a new writing challenge…

Hello Everyone, Firstly, apologies for the slightly longer than usual gap between posts but I had a hectic week last week.  Not only was I running the first of the short story workshops in Hemlington (more on this later) but I was also away twice in the week.  I dashed down to Birmingham with my … Continue reading Hemlington workshops, music gigs, and a new writing challenge… →

We need your opinions!

We hope you enjoyed this year’s festival. Whether you joined us in Stockton Town Centre for Choc Lit day, attended one of the events aimed for younger ages such as Just Soph or Lipstick Library, or enjoyed a workshop with one of the great writers we had visit us such as Ben Kane or Adele … Continue reading We need your opinions! →

Join us for the short story competition creative writing workshops

Hello Everyone, Well the excitement builds as tomorrow the short story competition creative writing workshops kick off with session 1 at Hemlington library 10-12.  The session will be covering what I consider to be the two most crucial aspects of writing a story – character and plot.  Without these ingredients you possibly have a lovely … Continue reading Join us for the short story competition creative writing workshops →

Get involved with the first ever National Writing Day!

Hello Everyone, First of all a massive thank you to everyone who turned out for the events in Stockton on Saturday.  It was great to meet some of you keen writers who are hoping to take part in the competition workshops and submit an entry later in the year.  I know it was incredibly hot … Continue reading Get involved with the first ever National Writing Day! →

Something for the weekend

Hello Everyone, Welcome to weekend two of the Crossing the Tees Book Festival.  The first week of the festival has seen some fantastic events with great turn outs from enthusiastic readers and writers.  But don’t worry if you haven’t managed to get to anything yet as there is still lots more to come.  In particular … Continue reading Something for the weekend →

A few words from Kate Fox…

Ahead of An Evening with Kate Fox on Monday 19 June, we caught up with the lady herself about what to expect! Hello Kate, we are delighted to be welcoming you back! What can people expect at An Evening with Kate Fox? What will you be talking about? I’ll be doing some of my favourite … Continue reading A few words from Kate Fox… →

Grab a ‘Killer Cocktail’ with leading crime authors at Murder Mystery event!

Four leading crime authors, known as the Killer Women, are heading to Crown Street Art Gallery in Darlington on Saturday 10 June, 7pm – 9pm to host a Murder Mystery and whip up some ‘killer cocktails’ as part of the Crossing the Tees Festival. Authors Laura Wilson, Kate Rhodes, Helen Smith and Melanie McGrath will … Continue reading Grab a ‘Killer Cocktail’ with leading crime authors at Murder Mystery event! →

The festival is almost upon us!

Hello Everyone, Well what en exciting couple of days ahead of us as I write this on Thursday morning (8th June).  By tonight the votes will be in and by tomorrow we will know the result.  But far more exciting is the fact that Friday is the first day of the Crossing the Tees fortnight. … Continue reading The festival is almost upon us! →

Join in with a writing challenge!

Hello Everyone, Well, as many of you will know, we are now deeply into exam season, with many students sitting for their GCSE or A level qualifications. And it isn’t just the students who are busy this time of year. For the last four years I have been an exam marker for AQA’s Creative Writing … Continue reading Join in with a writing challenge! →

Welcome to the Crossing the Tees Book Festival Short Story Competition blog post

Hello Everyone, Welcome to my first official blog post as Writer in Residence for the Crossing the Tees Book Festival Short Story Competition.  I was thrilled, and a little bit surprised (the interview panel all had excellent ‘poker’ faces so I really wasn’t sure how I’d done) to be offered this exciting post.  As a … Continue reading Welcome to the Crossing the Tees Book Festival Short Story Competition blog post →

Tracey Iceton is this year’s Writer in Residence!

We are delighted to announce that local writer and author Tracey Iceton will be this year’s Writer in Residence. Tracey will be offering writing workshops and mentoring sessions during July – September, providing support for entrants of the Short Story Competition, and will be blogging about the festival in this section of the website – … Continue reading Tracey Iceton is this year’s Writer in Residence! →

Enter our very first Short Story Competition!

Budding authors and creative writers are invited to share their stories with us for a chance to appear in a published anthology and take home a cash prize! Up for grabs is 1st Prize £100, 2nd Prize £75 and 3rd Prize is £50. The theme for your story should be inspired by the idea of … Continue reading Enter our very first Short Story Competition! →