In Praise Of Accent Press

I've never written so many blog or newsletter posts. Not sure what's got into me... Anyway, this post is as a result of a remark made by a member of the reader group who obviously hadn't read of the history of me and Accent Press. Gosh, you will say, how did she miss that? You've been ramming it down our throats for years! But no, there are newer readers (I love them) who probably don't know, so here goes.

Once upon a time, there was a writer of features, press releases, plays and short fiction (me) who decided, for no good reason, to do one of these new fangled Master's Degrees in Creative Writing. East Anglia had been set up a few years previously and various other universities were doing the same. In order to avoid attending the same uni as my younger daughter (Bath Spa, who offered me a place) I chose the Carmarthan campus (Trinity) of the University of Wales. I commuted every week, staying in a pub in the middle of nowhere which belonged to some friends of friends. One of my fellow students was a lady, a former business woman, who was a little frustrated by being rather tied to home by her very small triplets.

At the end of the year, we were asked, as a group, to produced a collection of short stories, as the previous year (the first the course had run) had done. Somehow, my new friend ended up directing the whole project, and refused to allow it to be an amateurish photocopied job as last year's had been. So we ended up with a proper paperback, and we even did events with it - and readings. I did fewer than anyone else because I lived so far away. This, remember, was long before the proliferation of self publishing and the digital revolution.

We enjoyed it so much, that my friend decided we would do another one off our own bat, so to speak, this one a charity book. Within weeks she had convinced the Breast Cancer charity we would be good for them, and I (it was just the two of us doing all this) had started recruiting writers of short stories. Luckily, I already knew some fairly famous novelists who agreed to contribute, and what eventually emerged was this:

Amazingly, it's still on Amazon, second hand only, and lists all the writers, with me as editor. Hazel Cushion, for dear reader, it was she, proved an indefatigable partner and organised a launch at The Groucho Club:

(That's us in the front row on our knees, me in pink, and Hazel next to contributors and friends Sophie Weston and Caroline Mackworth-Praed.) My husband is also there at the back somewhere, as he designed the cover, which became the trademark of the Sexy Shorts collection. We also had a Welsh launch at the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth and other events in bookshops all over the place.

I remained connected to what was now Accent Press for the next short story collection, but took a back seat, and detached myself after that as I had an urgent need to earn some money! I took a job at the Crown Court, which was fascinating, if upsetting at times, but great for observing behaviour under examination. It was a year or so later that Hazel phoned me one afternoon, not long after my husband had died, but she assured me it wasn't charity, and said: "You remember that story you wrote for your dissertation?" "Well," I said, "it was only the first 20,000 words, actually." "I know," said Hazel. "Have you written any more?" "No." "Will you write another couple of chapters and let me read it?" "Yes."

That story became Murder in Steeple Martin. It was an experiment for both of us, as Accent Press were only just branching out into long fiction. We both attended a conference at Caerleon in Wales at which she showed me first cover designs and told me, quite rightly, that I couldn't call it Past Imperfect. And she said "Do you think it could be a series?" It wasn't even finished, then...

We've had ups and downs since then, what relationship hasn't? And I had to get used to the fact that I wasn't the only author, nor am I the best selling author. I foolishly introduced my friend Christina Jones into the fold, and let's face it, you don't get much better than that. I've been tempted away a few times, but I've stayed. Hazel and I took a chance on each other, and she's stuck by me, even though I'm hardly the most fashionable of authors in the most popular of genres.

And finally, we collaberated this last week on the cover, delivery date and publication date of the next novelette for Christmas. In less than 24 hours, this was up on Amazon (and presumably the other platforms) for pre-order.

So thank you, Hazel, and, although you didn't realise it at the time, thank you University of Wales - even if meeting Hazel was the only thing I got out of it, except the letters after my name...