Rachel Abbott
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Rachel Abbott is a writer, and author of psychological thrillers
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Your chance to enter our writing competition.
Once again I have been inundated with entries for The Perfect Postcard competition! It’s great that so many of you are putting pen to paper and letting your imagination take you to all the weird and wonderful places outlined in your two-sentence trips! As always it was hard to choose an outright winner but I’ve opted for Barbara Lawther with this intriguing scenario: Exhausted, chilled to my bones. Heavy bags now empty. Dreams fulfilled for another year. Sorry to say I won’t see you again – now that you don’t believe. Love, Santa Well done Barbara – I wonder will you and all the other hopefuls write more? To that end, this month’s challenge is to write a deadly shopping list with no more than FOUR items under your catchy title. Follow this example and ENJOY: Example shopping list. Pete’s surprise birthday party Sausages Cyanide Bedroom Slippers Dog biscuits. Send …
I’ve been on a lot of book tours this year in all kinds of weather! But now it’s Summer and while I was at the Guernsey Literary Festival I found myself writing a postcard to a friend. It’s not something I’ve done for years and I was reminded how pleasing it is to jot down a couple of paragraphs, sticking to the point and recording a moment or two in time. So, what could be better than dashing off a fictional postcard? In keeping with our dark theme, you’ll need to tell someone why you won’t be coming home! It’s all part of my desire to get you writing. If you’ve never written before it can be scary but so many of you jumped aboard the First Line competition in April that I believe reading your Perfect Postcards will be just that – perfect! I’m looking forward to reading them …
Every month I look forward to the replies for my Dying to Write competition! From your feedback, I’m delighted to report that hundreds of you are putting pen to paper or rather fingers to keyboards to take part and I’d just like to say well done to all of you for having a go. The most difficult book starts with the first word so please don’t give up if you have any desire to get going down the publishing road. Every book starts with the first word and this month’s Opening Lines competition has been a real eye opener – there are some wonderfully dark minds out there and plenty of you who should be shut away… but only to finish the book that would flow from your killer opening lines! As always it was difficult to choose an outright winner so I have settled on a winner and a …
This month I’ve picked out some great opening lines from psychological crime thrillers. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with one sentence that could start off a book that cannot be put down. My latest book The Sixth Window starts like this: “It had been a night like so many others over the past few weeks, and as the woman looked down on the narrow street below her second-floor window she finally admitted that she couldn’t take any more.” So get your thinking caps on – you need ONE sentence that will hook the reader who’s desperate to walk down the dark path, the one who will go into the basement with a faulty torch when they hear something scratching to get in… The bedroom is strange. Unfamiliar. SJ Watson, Before I go to Sleep An hour before her shift started, an hour before …
Those of you who have been reading the newsletter each month will know that we have been running a writing competition. I wrote the first paragraph and then asked readers to write the second and subsequent paragraphs. We have had some terrific entries, and have drawn the competition to a close this month with a paragraph by Carolyn Mahony. I have added a concluding chapter, and the whole story can be read below. If you think you have a good title for this short story, send it to newsletter@rachelabbottwriter.com to win a signed paperback of Kill Me Again Here’s the story and thanks so much to all of you for your inspiration! Opening paragraph Friday the 13th was the day that my world fell apart. I hadn’t been expecting it. I was happily splashing a lovely stone coloured emulsion onto the rough plastered walls of my tiny cottage, singing along …
If you read last month’s newsletter, you will know that we are running a writing competition – and it’s a bit like a game of consequences! I wrote the opening paragraph of a story, and asked you lovely readers to put flesh on its bones. This month’s winner is Karen Turner who has taken our character down a very dark path – congratulations Karen – your signed book is on its way. Here’s the story so far: Opening paragraph Friday the 13th was the day that my world fell apart. I hadn’t been expecting it. I was happily splashing a lovely stone coloured emulsion onto the rough plastered walls of my tiny cottage, singing along to an old Take That tune on the radio, thinking how lucky I was to have found this wonderful home in the middle of nowhere, when the old bell hanging in the tiny front porch …
In my monthly newsletter we are running a writing competition – and it’s a bit like a game of consequences. I wrote the first paragraph of the story, and then asked newsletter readers (or blog readers!) to submit the next paragraph. I am so pleased that so many of you took the time to turn in your rogue paragraph! I am also delighted that so many of them were so good. It has been difficult to choose just one for you all to carry on with but the writer at the front of the field on this occasion is Ryan Kaminski. Close runners up were Karen Turner and Jess Perry. We’re now waiting for your inspiration for the next part of the story – so do send us your idea of how the story might continue, but please only use Ryan’s entry to take your story forward! Good luck! I’m …
So many of you have asked me over the years how I started to write. In a nutshell, I had an idea in my head for a while, but as soon as I got the chance I sat down and just started! And you can, too. In this newsletter I’m going to give you a starter paragraph (see below). Pick it up and run with it. Write the next paragraph of the story for yourself or for me. If you send it to me at newsletter@rachelabbottwriter.com I will publish the best two or three follow-on paragraphs (in my opinion) to build up a short story over the next six months. Use your imagination, create a world, people it and colour it. That’s what every writer does. Good luck, all you need is a blank screen or piece of paper and an open mind. *** Friday the 13th was the day that …
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The Shape Of Lies
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Come a Little Closer – Chapter 1
Come a Little Closer – the Prologue
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