DIANE SIMMONS
WRITER
Welcome
FLASH FICTION COLLECTIONS
An Inheritance
My historical novella-in-flash, An Inheritance was published by V. Press on 28 February 2020. I held an online launch on March 2nd and you can access it via Facebook here.
An Inheritance was shortlisted in the Best Novella category of the 2020 Saboteur Awards.
If you would like to buy a copy of An Inheritance, please click on the link above.
Joanna Campbell had this to say about An Inheritance:
An Inheritance is a gem of a novella. It succeeds in spanning seventy years and four generations of one family, exquisitely capturing their relationships, secrets and divided loyalties. The historical changes wrought by each decade are delicately interwoven throughout the twists and turns within the family’s life. This captivating narrative will make you weep and smile.
Finding a Way
My flash fiction collection Finding a Way was published by Ad Hoc Fiction in February 2019. A collection of fifty-one flashes on the theme of grief, Finding a Way, follows a family over a three and a half year period as they navigate loss.
Finding a Way was shortlisted in the Best Short Story Collection category of the 2019 Saboteur Awards.
If you would like to buy a copy of Finding a Way, please click on the link above.
I have created a YouTube channel where you can see me reading stories from the book and watch me being interviewed by Ad Hoc Fiction's Jude Higgins. You can watch here
Here is what Dr David Swann, author of The Privilege of Rain, said about Finding a Way:
What gives the book its power is the writer's commitment to the everyday. Without a hint of melodrama, Diane Simmons shows how ordinary life is altered, and made strange, by the death of a loved one. I was moved beyond words by this fine, modest, under-stated and perceptive book.
Amazon reviews can be read here
ABOUT ME
I am a writer, editor, Co-Director of National Flash Fiction Day UK and a former director for the UK Flash Fiction Festival. I am an editor for FlashFlood, a former reader for the international Bath Short Story Competition and have been a judge for several flash fiction competitions including Flash 500, Micro Madness, Hysteria, NFFD Micro Competition and numerous online flash fiction festival competitions. Finding a Way, my debut collection of flashes on the theme of grief, was published by Ad Hoc Fiction in February 2019 and my historical flash fiction novella An Inheritance was published by V. Press in February 2020. Both of the books were shortlisted in The Saboteur Awards.
I started writing in 2007 whilst studying creative writing with The Open University. My first writing success was in 2009 when I entered ITV's This Morning short story competition in association with She magazine. As one of five finalists I was invited to the London studios to appear on the TV programme with Phil and Fern. A chauffeur driven ride through early morning London started the day (after a complimentary night in a hotel) and the day got no less surreal. After a trip to make up, I met my fellow finalists and after nervously eating pastries in the Green Room, we were ushered through to the studio where we had the rather terrifying experience of appearing on live television and having to watch the judges critique our stories and mark them out of ten.
Highlights of that day for me included spotting The Tardis in a corridor, being praised by judge Jacqueline Wilson and being told by Paul Ross (brother of the more famous Jonathan), that my story had made him blub like a baby. The competition was in collaboration with She magazine and one of the prizes for the winner was publication in their magazine. I came second, losing by one mark.
So, encouraged, I continued entering competitions. Other successes followed and although they have not been quite as glamorous, they have been no less exciting.
In 2011, I completed a flash course with Fish Publishing and declared that I didn't think flash was my thing. I was wrong. I now concentrate on writing flash and enjoy performing my stories.
I have had many writing highlights, but perhaps one of my favourites was when Ian Rankin sent me a tweet about my NFFD prizewinning micro story A Weekend Away. I'd tweeted him a copy of the story as he gets a mention in it and he replied: 'That's a powerful wee story, Diane. Congratulations!'
You can follow me on twitter: @scooterwriter
Email address: scooterwriter@googlemail.com
