WriteWords talks to WW member Jem, aka Geri, about her short stories

Cally Taylor (Writewords member SheScribbles) has signed a two book deal with Orion for UK & Commonwealth right for her début paranormal romance "The House of Wannabe Ghosts".

Kate Mills, Orion Deputy Fiction Publisher, says: “Everyone who read this was an instant fan… We don’t have anything quite like this and it will be really fun to publish something so different”

The House of Wannabe Ghosts has also been a huge success on the foreign front with a six-way German auction culminating in a deal with Goldmann who said that the book..'Is taking women's fiction to a new level.”

Portuguese (Brazil) rights have been snapped up by Bertrand Brasil and there have also been some early offers from both Spain and Russia.

The UK paperback is to be published in the autumn of 2009."

Her website is http://www.callytaylor.co.uk

WriteWords would like to welcome Jane Elmor as a new site expert. Jane specialises in fiction, her first novel My Vintage Summer is published by Pan Macmillan, with the second due out in 2009. Jane has been around on the site already for a couple of months, but for those of you who haven't yet run into her, give her a big welcome!

WriteWords talks to The Lady magazine about what they look for in a successful short story

WW Site Expert Emma Darwin's second novel has been launched - you can read more about A Secret Alchemy here. Congrats, Emma; we wish the book well!

Meanwhile, Clairvoyance: Selected Poems 1990-2007 by WW poetry site expert James Graham has sold out of its first print run and has now been reprinted. ‘Here are poems that will touch many readers’, says the publisher’s blurb - and it’s not wrong! If you enjoy poetry you’ll find lots to enjoy in this collection.

Latest; WWer Titania177 aka Tania Hershman is the European regional winner of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association short story competition for a flash called Straight Up.

WriteWords member Sally Nicholls has won the £20,000 Glen Dimplex Prize for her young adult novel, Ways to Live Forever....

Skins creators are looking for bright young things; check out the link

A great opportunity for short story writers under 35 - Tindal Street Press are looking for submissions for Roads Ahead, a short story anthology to be published in 2009.

WW member Leila Rasheed, aka Steerpike's Sister, has her second book out today: Socks, Shocks and Secrets: The Spectacular Second Diary of Bathsheba Clarice De Trop!. See here for more info

We thought we'd try out a new feature; when a WriteWords member has some lovely good news about publishing/screen/stagewriting/poetry etc, we want to celebrate it. We'll randomly highlight good stuff- so post your info on the Successes page or in the Forum.