It would be lovely to see some of my lovely blog followers at the workshop I'm running this Sunday 3-4.30pm - Mining Memory for Short Fiction. Your past is full of stories waiting to be transformed. This workshop invites you to raid your memory banks—those people who shaped you, the places that haunt you, the objects you can't forget—and use them as springboards into fiction that's entirely new.

Mining Memory for Short Fiction - with Colette Coen - workshop details. Held in conjunction with WestWord

Aye Write 2025 presents Postbox 12 launch: Colette Coen, Max Mulgrew and Catherine Ogston with Sheila Wakefield

Aye Write 2025 presents Postbox 12 launch: Colette Coen, Max Mulgrew and Catherine Ogston with Sheila Wakefield

Alongside my writing I am also an editor (Beech Editorial Services). While a lot of my business comes from students, I have been critiquing fiction for years in my writers group. It's an area that I am interested in getting more work in, but I needed more training. So, in December I started the CIEP's Introduction to Fiction Editing course, and…

The Society of Authors have made today a day of protest against the theft of intellectual property (ie authors' words) by tech companies who are using work without the authors' permission and without any payment to the authors to train their AI. So today, I'm asking Meta to #dothewritething and pay authors appropriately (after gaining their permission) for using their work.

It's over a week now since the wonderful SAW conference (at the Westerwood Hotel). As with anything new, there is a bit of adjustment, and a bit of imposter syndrome (although I heard the term so often that I began to wonder if there is anyone who doesn't feel it). Friday started with socialising and meeting with my fellow adjudicators, then dinner and the first trance of announcements for the competitions.

Really excited to be heading off to the Scottish Association of Writers 2025 Conference. A whole weekend in the company of lovely writers can only be a good thing. I'm looking forward to meeting my fellow judges and hearing from the keynote speaker, Lesley Riddoch. I'm going to be delivering a workshop on using memory to inspire short stories.

Elon Musk’s campaign to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will end up hurting the very people Donald Trump promised to safeguard.

Welcome to the Website of the Federation of Writers Scotland). Here you'll find our terms and articles, information about our board, membership, events and education programme and well as tips for asp...

It's no coincidence that National Short Story Day falls on the winter solstice: the weather is miserable and today we have a whole seven hours of daylight in Glasgow, so what better time to sit and enjoy a short story. Over the last couple of weeks, I've had the pleasure (and occasional technological pain) of compiling a video of short stories…

Welcome to the Website of the Federation of Writers Scotland). Here you'll find our terms and articles, information about our board, membership, events and education programme and well as tips for asp...

You can hear me reading my short story All Inclusive via the Glad Radio website. I recorded it a while ago, so it's nice to see it finally live.

Sometimes you work away and think that no one is reading or listening. Other times, the planets align and you are in the right place at the right time. My tenure as Scriever of the Federation of Wr…