MANUSCRIPT ASSESSMENT AND EDITORIAL ADVICE SINCE 1996
Bernard Hall
Bernard Hall
Miss Perfect is set in the north of England in the space between the Falklands War and the miners’ strike when I was a social worker in a staunchly Labour local authority. [...] In resolving to write a fictional portrait of just such a woman I wanted to explore two questions: was love possible, might she find life beyond work? I needed to unpick the reasons behind her present state, how she reached this point where work had become her life. Part of my answer came in the back story I weaved around her after delving into a skeleton in my family history cupboard and extracting the experience of an ancestor who suffered an abusive childhood. These dark undertones in shades of grey are not gratuitous; they are there to help explain her present situation. From the Introduction
“Lorraine unlocked the car doors and they climbed in. A nervous passenger at best, Miss Perfect could only hope that Lorraine’s driving might prove more sensible, more sedate, than some other aspects of her behaviour. A pretty little thing, she thought, looking at Lorraine. If only she would cover more of her body with work-day clothes, if only she used less make-up, more subdued colours. As it was she might be better employed behind the cheap cosmetics counter at Woolworths in the High Street. Yes, definitely more suited to shop work even if she was a qualified social worker with a degree from some university or other in Cape Town. ‘A typical shop girl,’ her father would have snorted. She redoubled her determination never to eat South African oranges.” Extract from Miss Perfect – included in the showcase
Previous Showcase Authors
-
-
TLC Pen Factor winner special – Neema Shah
"Asha walked out towards the vast water, stretching so far that it looked more…
READ MORE -
-
Akeem Balogun
“She watched with her hands holding onto her knees and her legs tightly closed.…
READ MORE -
-
Maeve Clarke
“All their mother’s warnings about what a dangerous place it was and how they…
READ MORE -
-
Sheila Chapman
“Taksheel looked resigned. It was the conclusion he had reached himself but to have…
READ MORE -
-
-
TLC Pen Factor Special
“He’d check for signs of life in a moment. For now though, he just…
READ MORE -
Anna Mazzola
“Miss Sowerton stopped before a black door and produced a large key. A rumbling…
READ MORE -
-
-
-
-
Richard Buxton
“In the centre of the square, under the American flag, a loose halyard slapped…
READ MORE -
Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott
“Truman wills himself awake, peacock-plume eyed, empty champagne bottle in his lap. He squints…
READ MORE -
Michael Forester
“11.00pm glides on oil into midnight and 12.30 am, until Tolly finally finds the…
READ MORE -
Jane Aitken
“The Prime Minister’s posture looks relaxed, but if you look closely he still has…
READ MORE -
-
-
TLC Pen Factor Special
““I’ll get straight to the point”, said Dr. Mangan who proceeded to do no…
READ MORE -
-
-
Dilys Daws and Alexandra De Rementeria
"Studies show that fathers experience the same physiological response to a baby’s crying as…
READ MORE -
-
James Cook
“Ever since writing my first callow lyrics aged 14, I’d been striving to develop…
READ MORE -
-
Michelle Wareham
“Eli wrote every week from the Western Front, until his letters stopped arriving two…
READ MORE -
David Turner
“I marvelled at the vastness and flatness and emptiness of the parched red desert…
READ MORE -
Pen Factor Special
"I turned about the room, toe to toe, making the smallest circle. What I…
READ MORE -
Bernice Landry
“What I find interesting, he says, is that your clothing is all white, like…
READ MORE -
Jennifer Makumbi
“Now the crowd was in control. Everyone clamoured to hit somewhere, anywhere but the…
READ MORE -
Rebecca Swirsky
“Celia, on the other side of town, is kissing the tiny, sweet brown moles…
READ MORE -
Daniel Pembrey
“The glade was peculiarly dense around Vogel’s ungated entranceway. Pine, maple, and scrub oak…
READ MORE -
-
Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch
“Tristan did not consider himself brave. But then he did not consider himself a…
READ MORE -
-
David Spon-Smith
"A cold breeze blows over my face. Then something warm an’ wet, stinking of…
READ MORE -
-
Rosanne Daryl Thomas
"The annual Christmas present debate was abruptly suspended. Their adored maestro, Walter Albero, PhD,…
READ MORE -
Balvinder Banga
“Looking at the calendar of Ravidas, and the photograph beside it of the grandchildren…
READ MORE -
Piers Bearne
"I should have been in London, not this Essex midden swirling with pigeon-chest men…
READ MORE -
Tina Seskis
“In the end they settled on Caroline Rebecca, although Frances didn’t particularly like either…
READ MORE -
Neamat Imam
Mass graves were discovered in different parts of the country. The buried were exhumed…
READ MORE -
-
-
-
-
Philip Makatrewicz
"Ibimina’s husband has come once again to call. He must want something - a…
READ MORE -
Ruby Cowling
“Behind these fences are big houses; the houses of plump-skinned people who soften their…
READ MORE -
Adam Courtenay
“In 1542, Spanish conquistadors travelled east from the Peruvian colony of Quito, over the…
READ MORE -
-
Nicholas Lim
Dudec nodded. He fluttered a hand. “This could be something new!” “Rafal, when you…
READ MORE -
Suhel Ahmed
"‘That’s when I made the mistake,’ Amina exclaimed. ‘I should have taken the money…
READ MORE -
Find us on Facebook...
Follow us on Twitter
Tweets by @TLCUKTLC is recommended by
TLC is a founding member of
Write to us: The Literary Consultancy Ltd, Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA
Email us: here
or phone: 0207 324 2563
or phone: 0207 324 2563