Alison Jean Lester

@DaveGreen1963 @IMcMillan You possess genius.

Farm Here the rotten bales slump A house-sized tank of slurry History in a farmer’s dump Parked there in a hurry Oaks sloughing sodden bark Puddles turned to lakes Graveyard for the rural ark Rust that never wakes Morn @IMcMillan

A helpful gift shopping algorithm that I made for @GuardianBooks a couple of years ago.

#memoir openings expressing a strong sense of place, one by Karen Blixen, one by @catrinawriter. Follow me for more! Better yet, attend my workshop! @writingwestmids #memoirwriting #writingworkshop #onlineworkshop

A second pair of #memoir openings for you! @writingwestmids #memoirwriting #writingworkshop @gracedent #richardflanaganquestionseven #bedhead

@writingwestmids Currently listening to Middlemarch, wonderfully read by Juliet Stevenson.

#DidYouKnow 🤯 She wrote under a pen name, as she felt women writers were not taken seriously. Her pen name also protected her from the scandal her relationship with Lewes had caused. Although this is her most famous name, nobody addressed her personally by it.

@IgniteBooks @GlynBrwn_Period Great interview. Just mentioned her in my own post!

Morning! We're sending out our Xmas newsletter in an hour or so, and it'll feature an interview with our author @GlynBrwn_Period. You've still time to sign up! Do that here: eepurl.com/iTB1Ks 🙂

Workshop klaxon! I'll be running a memoir-writing adventure for five weeks beginning 19 Jan, organised by @writingwestmids. Bring YOUR story and let's figure out the various ways you might tell it! #memoir #memoirwriting @GlynBrwn_Period @IgniteBooks

TFW your book feels relevant to someone you greatly admire. #endoflifechoices

@Carolynxmorris Thank you so much for reading and posting, Carolyn!

Supremely well written, touching, loving and frank: now we’re all thinking more about death, what we don’t say, and what we wish to say and be: this book is a marvellous, thought provoking account by ⁦@A_J_Lester⁩

@writingwestmids How characters, above all narrators, justify things to themselves, is eternally fascinating to me.

📝 #QuickTip Having a good narrator could make your work more interesting. It can engage the reader, questioning whether the narrator is reliable. What do you think?

@Pevalwen thought of you yesterday in the Scents corner of the @BarberInstitute. Press one for a meadow...

@cmillerartlife @RCPhysicians Thank you so much of raising my awareness so regularly! 🙏

Mary Black, portraitist, died #OTD 1814 - famously called a 'slut' after asking for payment for this painting. To add insult to injury it used to be attributed to her father. Now at @RCPhysicians

@ShaunHandAuthor You can have a look on Eventbrite for similar course and see how they are organised. Also look at what Jericho Writers and Writing West Midlands are offering, and see where you have something different to offer?

I'm looking to set up a course or workshop aimed at helping writers navigate the publishing process—using my own experiences to explain the available routes and the pros and cons of each. Any advice on how/where to get started?

'Snow Without Colour' by David Hockney, 1973

TFW you get to read alongside writers you've only known on Twitter. Another very interesting evening thanks to @LinenPressBooks. (Thanks @Heatherika1 for documenting !)

Missed the northern launch of Skeins, fiction by women? Get to Bristol this evening for the southwest gig! Can't wait to listen to more of the 24 authors included, and to read from 'Siren' again! 7pm at The Robin Hood.

Very excited for this! I love reading to readers and reading with writers. @HelenSheppard7 might you be able to attend?

@halekatie @agent_luck @CWAgencyUK Other people's coping mechanisms are unlikely to be yours, so how about I ask you this: what do you know, deep down, is the solution for you? You're asking us this question from high up in your chest. Ask it to your deep, rich gut. ❤️

I just sent a draft of Novel Number 3 to my agent - and now I’m terrified in case she doesn’t instantly love it!! 😬 Fellow writer folks, how do you cope with the imposter syndrome that comes crashing in the second you press ‘send’?? 🤷‍♀️ Any tips hugely appreciated!

Reading an excerpt from my #shortstory 'Siren', included in the new anthology of women's writing from @LinenPressBooks. You can buy SKEINS from their website now! #shortstorycollection #indiepress

Getting ready for the Sheffield launch of SKEINS, a short story anthology from @LinenPressBooks, with Sally Jay Morgan, @susanclegg, @RocheJacques, and Jess Richards. #shortstories #womensfiction