Tansy Hawksley

I started writing before I could form letters: on the underside of the kitchen table, in permanent marker. You can imagine how well that went down. English was always my favourite subject, but in the classroom I felt watched. I would take my schoolbook home and write for hours. When I was ten, my parents decided to take me out of school. We toured Europe in a caravan for six months. We almost lost the caravan on the Adriatic coast road, we drove through a cloud, I was proposed to a couple of times, we tried to buy a run-down farmhouse from a family who spoke only French patois. By the end of that summer, I was firmly on the outside of life, looking in. In short, I was a writer.

And now? With decades of experience that has involved writing over a million words, I am passionate about fiction. I read widely, but what I write is fundamentally speculative, answering questions such as: 'What if a dress from the 1920s told its story?' Or 'What if society was destroyed and we could start again - could we get it right this time?' Two powerful words:

'What if ...'

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I write novels and short stories, although I've also had some non-fiction articles published. I've been through many of the highs and lows of writing.  My background in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and my experience working with user requirements, has given me experience of eliciting not just words, but concepts and preferences from others. So I would love to offer my services to guide, mentor and advise you, because you have a beautiful idea within which deserves to be nurtured, trained, and brought into the light.

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I have a Masters in Creative Writing from City University, London, and a long-standing career in IT and technology. I have been shortlisted for the PFD/City University Literary Prize and the L Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future competition.