2023

• James is running the first all-day workshop under his Creative Writing Inspirations banner at the wonderful Wilderness Wood – January.
• James is MCing the first Needlewriter’s event of 2023 on 12 January at the John Harvey Tavern, introducing the brilliant writers Sarah Barnsley (poetry), Ciar Byrne (prose) and Raine Geoghegan (poetry) – January.

Previous News

2022

• James is reading at the Needlewriters’ literary night at the John Harvey Tavern in Lewes on 14 April. Prose, poetry, pies and pints. Perfect – April.
• James’s short story, A More Interesting Shape, is long-listed for the DISQUIET literary contest. “The point-of-view in this story is what makes it both exciting and engaging: what the narrator observes and the meaning he makes of it. Its distinct sensibility makes the story both atmospheric and particular to a temporal experience.” – March.

2021

• Kumi’s Cake is showcased on Fairlight Books short stories portal – March.

2020

• Kumi’s Cake is shortlisted for the 2020 Bridport Prize International Short Story Competition – October.
• Kumi’s Cake makes the top 50 from over 1100 entries for the Brick Lane Short Story Prize – July.
• The artist Huy Truong renders this brilliant illustration of some of the characters from The Wrong Story (see right) – July.
• Kumi’s Cake progresses to the second stage of the 2020 CRAFT Short Fiction prize – June.
• As part of #LockdownLit, James releases a series of previously published short stories for free and to be shared – May.
• The Happy Family book launch at Nomad Books in London is deferred until later in the year – COVID-19 permitting. James will be in conversation with Germaine Kiecke, the lead character in Happy Family – April.
• Happy Family is going on a blog tour, visiting 10 bloggers between March 12 and 21 (see right) – March.
• Happy Family is published by Unbound on Thursday, February 6 in Kindle and
  paperback – February.

2019

• Connor and His Amazing Ejector Boots is nominated for the 2020 Pushcart Prize – October.
• An Other’s Look has officially been retitled, Happy Family. It is now in it’s final proofread stage ready for publication early 2020 – September.
• Connor and his Amazing Ejector Boots is published in the Future Shock short story anthology – September.
• James interviews Keely Beresford actor, writer, director and narrator of audiobooks – July.
• The Wrong Story is on the ‘recommended fiction’ shelves – June.
• James joins Frome FM’s On-Air Book Group as a presenter – April.
• Connor and his Amazing Ejector Boots is highly commended in the Retreat West Flash Fiction Prize – March.
• James is the guest presenter on Frome FM’s On-Air Book Club talking about When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs; Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot; the first graphic novel to be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Sabrina by Nick Drnaso; and The Watchmen by Alan Moore – March.
• James stands in for Rupert Kirkham and presents the All About Frome show on Frome FM  on Tuesdays the 12th and 19th – February.
• James’s article …Goldilocks pubs is published in The Gudgeon – February.
• James is Frome FM’s guest interviewer on Rupert Kirkham’s show, All About Frome – January.
• James’s article …West Barn volunteers is published in The Gudgeon – January.

2018

• Writing under the pen name, Oliver Billingsgate, James’s children’s story, Mr Frogg Goes To Work, is published on Amazon – December.
• James’s article …a Christmas Carol is published in The Gudgeon – December.
• James’s article …the canal is published in The Gudgeon – November.
• James is guest speaker at Writing Event’s Bath creative writing workshop – November.
• James’s article …the ark is published in The Gudgeon – October.
• The Wrong Story is on sale at the Arnolfini bookshop in Bristol – October.
• James is at Bristol Festival of Literature with United Authors presenting Crowdfunding: A Masterclass – October.
• James’s article …Preserving the Past is published in The Gudgeon – September.
• James is a guest speaker at Bath’s Writing Events creative writing session – September.
• James is presenting Crowdfunding:  A Historical Device with a Modern Twist to the Bradford on Avon Preservation Trust – September.
• James’s article …Divine Inspiration is published in The Gudgeon – August.
• James’s article …Station Therapy is published in The Gudgeon – July.
• James’s new company James Author Ellis Ltd is now registered and trading, providing content and copywriting services – June.
• James reads Connor And His Amazing Ejector Boots at the Carers UK Poem-a-thon – June.
• Speed Dating is published on the flash fiction website, 101 Words – June 2018
• James’s article …Our Three Twins is published in The Gudgeon – June.
• Murder Most Kind is published on the flash fiction website, 101 Words and in Ad Hoc Fiction, Issue 145 – May.
• James is at the Brighton Fringe Wordstock event reading Early Days for Rattle Tales and an extract of The Wrong Story for the Unbound Authors event – May.
• The Wrong Story is on a Blog Book Tour – May.
• James’s article …Dog’s Life is published in The Gudgeon – May.
• James is a guest on the Frome FM Book Club and talks about An Other’s Look and how he came to write it – April.
• James presents a follow up to the novel writing workshop, called Keeping Going with Writing Events – April.
• Early Days is published in the Rattle Tales Brighton Prize anthology – April.
• James’s article …Crossing the Bridge is published in The Gudgeon – April.
• The Beast is published in The British Fantasy Society’s latest publication, BFS Horizons #6 – March.
• James presents two novel writing workshops with Writing Events – March.
• James’s article …Swimming is published in The Gudgeon – March.
• James signs the contract with Unbound to publish his second novel, An Other’s Look – February.
• James is the guest speaker at the Writing Events Memoir workshop – February.
• James is the subject of A Day In The Life… series in the local magazine, The Gudgeon – February.

2017

• James reads Early Days at the Carers UK creative writing celebration at The Roebuck in South-East London – November.
• Coming out of the Upstairs is published by The Pygmy Giant – November.
• The Beast is highly commended in the British Fantasy Society Short Story Competition – October.
• The prose version of Early Days is highly commended in the short story category of the Carers UK’s Creative Writing and Photography Competition 2017 – October.
• James is the guest speaker at the Writing Events workshop, What Does an Editor Do? – July.
• James reads Early Days at the Rattle Tales readings – June.
• The Wrong Story is launched at Burley Fisher Books in London  – June.
• Early Days is long listed by the BBC Writer’s room – April.
• The Wrong Story is launched at Topping Books in Bath – April.
• The Wrong Story is published by Unbound on Friday, March 17 in Kindle and
  paperback – March.
• James is the guest speaker at the Writing Events workshop, discussing crowdfunding – February.

2016

• James joins fiction writers Bette Adriaanse and James Benmore at Burley Fisher Bookshop on Kingsland Road in London to talk about their novels – October.
• James joins fellow alumni and authors Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Bette Adriaanse and Chrissy Lee Jing-Jing for an evening of readings to Oxford University’s second-year MSt students – October.
• The Wrong Story submitted to the Unbound editors – July.
• The Therapist and The Fire Diver’s Assistant are published in the Rattle Tales 4 anthology – June.
• The Wrong Story is 100% funded – May.
• James’s article on crowdfunding is featured in Writers Reign magazine – April.
• The Therapist is published in the Carers UK anthology: ‘No One Should Have To Care Alone’ – March.
• The Fire Diver’s Assistant is published by the London Journal of Fiction – March.
• The Wrong Story is accepted for publication, subject to crowdfunding – February.
• James reads at The Brunswick in Brighton – February.
• The Wrong Story is featured on Hookline Books ‘Discover New Writers’ page – January.

2015

• A Rare Bird is published by The Pygmy Giant – December.
• The Therapist wins third place in the 2015 Carers UK creative writing competition – November.
• James presents his paper on Muriel Spark and Flann O’Brien titled: Parallel Explorations of the Boundaries between Fiction and Real-life, at the International Flann O’Brien Society’s academic conference in Prague – September.
• The Therapist is published by The Pygmy Giant – September.
• James reads at the 2015 Brighton Fringe Festival for Rattle Tales – May.