First published in Oh Comely magazine, Decenber 2014 Home is where the spiders are. Home is also where I work and write. In Native American culture, Spider was the creator of the alphabet. She weaved the letters into her web and gave them to the tribes. When I see a spider sitting in my windowsill, she inspires me to type. When I rescue my boyfriend from a spider, I have her cross my palm to bring creativity and good fortune. Spider is also the one who weaves dreamcatchers, catching nightmares like flies, leaving dreams to fly free. I moved into a new home last month. It is beautiful, with large rooms paved in wood. But the first few nights I slept here, I had nightmares. If it was the feeling of unfamilarity or the past of the place I don't know. But I blessed the doors with rowen branches to keep out uninvited guests. The next day, I saw a spider in my bedroom. I have slept soundly since. I have not told my boyfriend where she is though. I want him to sleep soundly too.

First Published in Dramatic Shorts, Edited by James Quince, 2014 Characters Vicky Mark Headteacher MARK, dressed in a cycling outfit, sits on one of three waiting-room style chairs. One leg is crossed over the other, and he reads a magazine, looking very relaxed. His helmet, coat and rucksack sit on the chair next to him. To the side of the chairs is a door with the word ‘Headteacher’ on it. After a few seconds, this door opens and the HEADTEACHER steps out. MARK closes the magazine and looks at him calmly. HEADTEACHER: Oh, Mr Carson. Hello. (He shakes MARK’s hand. ) You’ll have to forgive me; I just have to make a quick trip to the restroom. MARK: Of course. HEADTEACHER leaves down an unseen corridor. MARK resumes reading his magazine. VICKY enters from the corridor. She is slightly out of breath and unravelling the scarf wrapped around her neck. She carries a large shoulder bag. She slows as she sees MARK and comes to a gradual stop, keeping her eyes on him. MARK does not look up until he finishes his paragraph. He looks at VICKY. Pause. A small smile from both. MARK: You came then. VICKY: Of...

First Performed at Kingston Library, October 31st 2014 Order of Ceremonies: Frankenstein by Mary Shelly The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson The Believer retold by Mike Treacy The Tale of Tam Lyn performed by Mark Turauskis The Raven by Edgar Alan Poe Master of Ceremonies : Good evening, and welcome to an Evening of Penny Dreadfuls. Before we take you on our dark journey through Gothic literature, I am first obliged to tell you that should the unthinkable happen, and the dead rise from their graves or the fires of Hell engulf the building, setting off the fire alarms, you should leave via the entrance you came in. Our staff members will show you the way. Also, there will be several soul-catchers present this evening, so if you are happy to have your visage captured on camera, if you could sign your soul away at the back table, we would be much obliged. Now, we will take you back to our time. Queen Victoria is on the Throne of England. The city streets are teaming with cut-throats and the country fields haunted by ghosts. Those who don’t want to be handed a...

First Published in A Fountain of Ink, The Great British Write-Off, 2014 As I walk along the road Rushed as always, new And old walk beside me, ever Driven by the cold shiver, The fear of being last In the line as we wait For the train. I wait As I have waited before. By roads. On platforms. When at last– The train arrives, and a new Frenzy sweeps the platform, a shiver As we prepare to fight forever! Fight for a seat that will never Be as sweet as the one I imagine as I wait... I sit underneath the fan and shiver As I watch coloured cars on roads Zoom on their way to new Horizons, whilst I sip the last Of my peppermint tea, eat the last Of my lunch and contemplate if ever I will have my share of strange new Lands and will they be worth the wait? I stare out the window at fields and roads And I cannot suppress the shiver Of cold. The bloody shiver Caused by the fan above me, that last Pain on my long road Home, the place I will never Leave again. I can’t wait To curl...

First published on The Artfice, July 2013 Whilst at university, I attended some ironically solemn lectures about the importance of ‘fun’ in the theatre. I would sit in a sea of stern faces and learn how to play and enjoy myself on stage. I would take notes. I would nod with understanding. And when faced with an audience, I would make my lecturer despair at my restraint. You see, fun is a serious business. Having fun in drama involves taking a make-up remover to the war-paint you wear: War-paint that consists, not of woad and semen, a lá Keira Knightly in King Arthur , but of conditioned behaviours and inherent social rules. Play-acting entails taking these behaviours that protect you from ridicule and wiping them all off. Practitioners are left bare-faced; a raw human that is driven by impulse. Having fun and following instinct in front of an audience can feel just like walking outside without make-up: There is a fear of being perceived as crude and ugly. It is tempting to shield our true selves from view by performing the plays that we ‘ought to’, rather than the plays we want to. Companies end up taking an overtly...

First commissioned by Standout Books, 2013 When your plot is driving in one direction, you could surprise the reader with something entirely different and unexpected by using a plot twist. A twist can be used in any genre of fiction to stop a story becoming predictable, or expose character traits, and the power of the plot twist can be guttural to a reader. But how do you go about writing a compelling twist? Types of Twist You must decide the kind of twist your novel needs. Below are some examples of ones you could choose. Something fishy is going on If you have a resolution you really want to keep hidden from the reader, you could throw a few red herrings into the stew-pot. Make the protagonist chase a lesser villain or show an innocent boyfriend in a dubious situation. Red herrings distract your protagonist, and therefore distract your reader, from the plot revelation. A good example is Bishop Aringarosa in The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The bishop’s lesser evils distract the reader from the unexpected mastermind of the plot: Sir Leigh Teabing, the frail old man and mentor of the hero. Use red herrings with caution...