Showcase
The Literary Consultancy is excited to be working on an innovative showcase for its writing talent, initially in association with Staple Magazine. See TLC Showcase Introduction for more on the inception of the Showcase and please see below for where it is now.
Once a month we will highlight the work of one author whose work we believe deserves a platform, whether simply because our readers felt it worth championing, or whether we have helped the writer on to commercial publication.
If you enjoy reading our Showcase, please feel free to share, and let us know on Facebook or on Twitter.
Anna Lucia
“Each daybreak for a week, we crept out of our dark basement, towards the magic of the river. In my excitement to follow Elisabetta, I barely slept.
‘You look like a fish with your mouth open like that,’ barked Signora Rossi, exasperated by my constant yawning in class. The other children took to following me, pretending to swim with pouting mouths. For once, their taunting didn’t sting. After being called dumb for my many embarrassing mistakes, and giraffa, on account of my never-ending legs and long neck, ‘pesce’ seemed mild.
‘Ignore them,’ said Elisabetta, linking her arm in mine. They soon shied away when Elisabetta was around, not knowing how to be around the little girl with her otherworldly air, beloved of Sister Beatrice, and Signora Rossi’s star pupil. She was the only person ever with me.”
From ‘Broken Madonna– included in the showcase
Previous Showcase Authors
Merryl Futerman
“Babe, its freezing. Can you get my parka? Such a straightforward request means I can turn over, keep dozing. This state of bliss lasts about a minute until I remember
Jessica Zarins
“She knows immediately after Nothing to Declare that he isn’t there. The air in the Arrivals hall isn’t any different from the plane or from Gatwick this morning. Thousands of
Niraj Shukla
“…The next station is Acton Town…Please mind the gap between the train and the platform…There are beggars and buskers operating on the train; please do not encourage their presence by
David Shannon
“Simple time keep people simple. This, that, be happy, be sad. Take books away, heads have less clutter. Take food away, everyone do as they is ask. Well, not everyone.
Pen Factor Special – winner Jill Dobson
“The ice-cubes tinkled in her glass as she took another sip. ‘What are you drinking?’ ‘Gin and tonic. I’m not going to sit here alone all evening with a cup
Amanda Epe
“Mama Coleman soothed Bessie’s sore feet, massaging them from the four-mile daily walk to school and back. It was a Friday evening and the miles had accumulated. The relaxing massage
James Brophy
“He was still on top of the hill, the same hill, except there were no buildings any longer. He noticed that the ground was wet in places. The sun had
Eliza Vitri Handayani
“From Now On Everything Will Be Different tells the story of my generation. We grew up under the repressive New Order regime and learned to keep our mouth shut and
Maggie Barrett
“Felicity sits at her desk, uncaps her pen, writes “Chapter 22’’ and stops. What is she trying to say? Not just now, in this minute, but altogether? What is this
Jason Young
“Joanna Bromley’ is a follow-up to my feature film script titled ‘The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano’. Joanna was the mixed-race daughter of Olaudah Equiano (aka. Gustavus Vassa) in 19th
Sharon Duggal
“Jimmy Noone drifted, alone in a cold subway, falling away with the day as it faded to shadow. He dreamt of balloons: sky-blue, bought by his father to mark his
Paul Crooks
“I reach the St Johns Anglican church and as usual, all I can think about is death, especially when I catch sight of the stone wall and railings. I see
Emma Cameron
“Catrìona walked along the path beside the kirk carrying a bunch of spring flowers, passing the ancient yew tree, grooved and twisted, as old as time. Lifting the latch she
Vince Laws
“Poet John Faust is suicidal. His benefits have been stopped without warning, the bailiffs are due to evict him, his dog is in the vets dying, his car needs a
Steve Sabella
“Let me take you back to 1996, when I sat alone in the back corner of Abu Shanab restaurant, a bustling hangout in the Old City. I was only twenty.
Carl El Khoury
“It happened in flashes like a sequence of snapshots in a stop motion film because my mind blinked several times; blink — two hands on my chest shoving me to
Pallavi Gopinath Aney
“Every so often Mrs. Mehta dutifully waited to do her washing after Mrs. Chadha had finished hers and then emptied the frothy, soapy water in a happy whoosh over Mrs.
Maggie Humm
“Plucking a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, Lily was desperate for a cigarette, but none of the ladies were smoking. “Can you see my painting?” “There it is,
Christopher Owen
“None too bright in the head, that’s what they said of him, that’s what he thought they said, him standing there in the supermarket, on one foot and then the
Pauline Walker
“Some things you can see coming, like when sunlight fades, dusk falls, darkness rushes to pervade. It’s inevitable. Like Enoch’s rivers of blood, staining London streets in ’81, ’85, 2011;