Team Spirit by R J Gould Everything seems straightforward enough when an agreement is reached for the tennis club to hold social events at the nearby Dream Café while the clubhouse is being rebuilt.When the current chairman is forced to resign, Laurie, his young and inexperienced deputy, is left in charge, accepting the role on condition that the attractive Helen is prepared to support him as the new deputy.The pair face an unprecedented run of
Team Spirit
The House in York Road: A Story of Longing and Love by Kathy English. Babies are not always born to the people who want them. 19 year-old Jessica loves her daughter, but longs for the life her fellow students lead. Newly-divorced Anna wants to be a mother so much that she avoids other people’s children. So when she moves into 124 York Road, she is disconcerted to find Jessica living in the other downstairs flat.
The House in York Road
Secrets and Lies – Short story Competition Anthology 2023 by Cambridge Writers Secrets and Lies – A great gift idea for Christmas! This year’s anthology makes a perfect stocking filler for the avid reader in your life. Packed with a wide variety of unique short stories, all sharing the competition theme ‘Secrets and Lies’. Our writers brought their individual interpretations to this theme, resulting in imaginative, amusing and poignant tales that will leave you thinking
Secrets and Lies – Short Story Competition Anthology 2023
The American Woman by RJ Gould A story of hope, disappointment and new beginnings The American Woman is the new stand alone novel from RJ Gould in the ‘At The Dream Cafe’ series When it’s impossible to forget is it possible to forgive? Jennifer is stuck doing dead end waitressing jobs, her naïve dream of Hollywood stardom in tatters. Gareth, an IT consultant on a temporary contract, is the unlikely customer at Giulio’s Diner in
The American Woman
The Undertow by Emily Bilman In Emily Bilman’s The Undertow, the reader is taken on an infinite voyage through memories of love and loss. Gustave Flaubert wrote: Only three things are infinite. The sky in its stars, the sea in its drops of water, and the heart in its tears. To be caught up in the under-currents of the sea is to be driven deeper than one might feel comfortable and to risk going beyond what
The Undertow
Darren, Andrew and Mrs Hall by R J Gould A tale of two husbands, two wives, and the woman in between.The latest book by RJ Gould, the eagerly awaited second instalment in the At the Dream cafe series, is available to order now from Amazon It is a June day and the rain is lashing down as Emma and Andrew move into the house of their dreams in an affluent London suburb. Two doors away,
Darren, Andrew and Mrs Hall
Love in the Cupboard by Mari Jane Law – Published 1 March 2023 A Catholic priest looking for a wife. A betrayed woman in need of an honest man. What could possibly go wrong? The eagerly awaited second novel in the Love & Mishaps series is here! Following on from Love & Pollination, Love in the Cupboard is a quirky, uplifting and hilarious contemporary romance set in Bristol in the UK. Though they form a
Love in the Cupboard
Bury The Truth by Jane Phillips Ben Burton was a military intelligence officer in Northern Ireland. His career ended in chaos when a car bomb was driven into the barracks, killing his wife and leaving him seriously injured. Since then, he has raised his two daughters alone and successfully run the family undertaking firm in Cambridge while battling PTSD. June 2012 Stanley Murdock’s corpse arrives in Ben’s mortuary – and everything changes. For Ben, it
Bury The Truth
“Coincidence’ – Short Story Competition Anthology 2022 ‘Coincidence’ – A Great Christmas Gift Our latest anthology makes a perfect Christmas gift for the avid reader in your life. Packed with a wide variety of short stories, all written on the theme of coincidence, but all wonderfully unique. Our writers brought their individual interpretations to this theme, resulting in imaginative, amusing and poignant tales that will leave you thinking ‘oh I’ll just read one more!” A
Coincidence – Short Story Competition Anthology 2022
Not Forever by Alex Mellanby We turned into a narrow gap between two walls. ‘Don’t want to disturb anyone in the village.’ If Lester had decided to kill us, then he would have found it easy. No one was going to come out in this rain to check what was happening to mum and me. Not when they’d got a look at us. Molly’s childhood is a world of secrets and hiding. Her mother’s latest
Not Forever
Then and Now by RJ Gould – A tale of love, loss and the chance to put things right. Sandy is about to retire following an illustrious career as editor of an upmarket fashion magazine. Michael can’t retire, he thinks his work to explain the dangers of climate change is far too important. Jonathan would like to retire from running his fundraising consultancy but a family crisis is getting in the way. These three were
Then and Now
The Backtraps by Jamie Harding – A slow river, an eternal death. Terror strikes four young friends night-fishing the backwaters of Loudwick Mill, a sleepy town through which the Ouse river gently meanders on its way to the Great Wash. To Ed and his fellow teenage friends, nothing much seems to happen in Loudwick Mill, where fishing the river Ouse as it meanders through their sleepy hometown is one of the few things to do.
The Backtraps
Under Rand Farm by Jamie Harding – a dark, thrilling horror set in the US. Nestled among the rolling hills and forests of upstate Pennsylvania, Rand Farm has belonged to the family since a predatory Henry Rand purchased its sixty acres in the 1960s, and began to sow his insidious seeds into its soil. Henry nurtured his crops, his family and his dark secret before falling to a brutal death down the farm cellar’s stone
Under Rand Farm
Auscultation by Ilse Pedler – A compelling set of poems from a striking new voice. Ilse Pedler is a prize-winning poet who writes from the unique perspective of a practicing veterinary surgeon. Her title: Auscultation: means listening and specifically, in medicine, listening to sounds that come from the body’s internal organs. If listening is a central theme of this collection; it is also about being heard. This is a voice that has longed to be
Auscultation
Dream Cafe By RJ Gould – A witty, warm tale of love, life and fresh starts. “Why on earth am I here?” David wonders as he observes the juvenile antics of ex-classmates at the twenty-five year school reunion. Then he sees Bridget. David draws up a list of all that he hopes to achieve to kick-start a new life now that his wife has moved in with his best friend – his ex-best friend. A
Dream Cafe
Visitors – Short Story Competition Anthology 2021 from Cambridge Writers. Our anthology is filled with comic, poignant, and fantastical short stories. A ghostly train whistle and a hawk moth are just two of the varied interpretations of the ‘visitors’ theme. Another absolutely beautiful cover design by our secretary, Siobhan Carew. Huge thanks go to her for pulling it all together! All the stories featured here either won, were placed or highly commended in our 2021
Visitors – Short Story Competition Anthology 2021
This beautiful volume is a compilation of winning and commended stories from competitions run between 2013 and 2017. Story themes include ‘Encounters’, ‘Surprising Angles’, ‘Seven Sins’, and ‘Rituals’. Buy our compilation anthology here in paperback or kindle edition.
Short Story Competition Winners 2013-2017
Small Town Blues by Les Brookes – a tale of gay love in 1980’s Suffolk. “What do I really want? Do I know? Well, I know what I don’t want. I don’t want a life of settled ease with Colin, peppered with a series of casual encounters. I want a lover. A real lover. Someone to bond with on every level…” It’s the 1980s in rural Suffolk, and Evan has high hopes when he moves in
Small Town Blues
Nothing Man by R J Gould – A humorous quest for a fresh start. One man in need of an overhaul. Two women determined to drag him there. Neville Watkin’s life is so rubbish surely things can’t get any worse. Yes they can, because his wife leaves him, he loses his job, has a car crash and ends up in hospital. Feisty Laura, the other party in the car crash, befriends him and sets out
Nothing Man
Our collection of short stories from the 2020 competition is now in print. The pieces all follow the theme of Mountain, with a wide variety of interpretations. We owe a big thank you to our Secretary, Siobhán Carew, for putting this together and coming up with an excellent design. Buy our ‘Mountain’ anthology here
Mountain – Short Story Competition 2020 Anthology
Apperception by Emily Bilman – a book of poetry about the excessive dreaming process we experienced during the pandemic. Dreaming often takes us back to our childhood memories and wishes as we deal with our confinement. In the book, the dreaming poet vanquishes her foreboding dreams that intuit the pandemic by realising that the lockdown made us all more vulnerable. We became more dependent on each other; yet, we unconsciously dislike and repress our interdependence.
Apperception
The Bench by Cromer Beach by R J Gould – A bittersweet romantic novel for grown-ups. Five people in a sleepy English coastal town. One year that changes everything. They seem to have it all. They’re in good health and are financially secure. They live in a pleasant and comfortable town. But as their lives intertwine, cracks emerge and restlessness grows. For Clive, is retirement the beginning of the end? Can fun-loving Saskia break free
The Bench by Cromer Beach
Love and Pollination by Mari Jane Law – Shortlisted for ChocLit’s 2019 Search for a Star competition. Perdita Riley is facing the greatest dilemma of her life. Why had she taken Violet Freestone’s advice on how to make herself look more alluring? It led her into the arms of a womaniser. And now Perdita has to deal with a huge setback. Actually, Setback Number One isn’t huge yet, but it won’t be long before it
Love and Pollination
Mid-Life Follies by R J Gould – A compassionate and funny take on relationships in mid-life. Liz has no idea why she walked out on Hugh. Hugh has no idea why Liz walked out on him. Is she having a midlife crisis? Should he be having one, too? Oh dear – marriage! Just when you think life is sorted … When Liz flees their comfortable family home in Cambridge after twenty-three years of contented marriage,
Mid-life follies
Pilgrimages: Poems 1995-2017 by Harry Goode – A beautiful book of poetry with great thematic depth. Pilgrimages might seem a somewhat strange title for a collection by a not particularly religious man. However, as I age I start to see the pattern of my life. If there is a quest it is not to pay homage to saintly relics, but to seek whatever significance the pattern might have. The poems cover themes from boyhood to