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News

March 2010

  • Initial judging for the 'Heaven Can Wait' short story competition is now complete. Twenty shortlisted stories have been sent to Orion/The Darley Anderson agency for final judging (top 3 and 5 runners up). Results will be announced on 15 April on this website.

February 2010

  • Attended Orion's author party at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

January 2010

  • Started judging 'Heaven Can Wait' short story competition. Results will be announced on 15 April.

December 2009

  • In the Chicklitreviews Book Awards 2009 'Heaven Can Wait' is nominated for Book of the Year, Debut Novel of the Year, Tear-Jerker of the Year, Book Cover of the Year, Best Female Character and Best Male Character and WINS Best Debut Novel AND BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2009!
  • Rights to "Heaven Can Wait" have been sold to Plejada in the Czech Republic
  • Cally is on the cover of Writers' Forum magazine! Helen Hunt interviews her about how she made the transition from writing short stories to getting her first novel published. Writers' Forum magazine, out on 3rd December
  • Cally's story "Why Doesn't He Notice Me?" is published by Take a Break Fiction Feast
  • Cally's short story "Imagination Avenue" is published in The Route Book at Bedtime, a fantastic anthology of "twelve bedtime stories for adult reading that capture those moments of deep emotional significance which return to us in our dreams". Ask Father Christmas to put a copy in your stocking!

November 2009

  • Delivered novel 2 to agent and UK editor
  • Writers News run an article on Cally's 'heavenly' short story competition on their front page!
  • The Daily Record (Scotland) reviews "Heaven Can Wait" and says "this might just be the best chicklit debut of the year"
  • Chicklitclub.com awards "Heaven Can Wait" the site's first ever 10/10 review!
  • "Heaven Can Wait" was published (as "El Cielo Puede Esperar") by Ediciones Versatil in Spain. Image of cover can be seen by scrolling down this page

October 2009

  • Cally celebrated the launch of "Heaven Can Wait" with lunch at Galvin at Windows (Hilton Hotel, Park Lane) with her publisher and agent
  • "Heaven Can Wait" was published by Orion Paperback on 15 October!
  • An article about Cally appears in the Worcester News, Malvern Gazette and Ledbury Reporter
  • A review of "Heaven Can Wait" in WOMAN'S OWN magazine says “This quirky and enjoyable ghost story is Cally Taylor ’s first novel after finishing as runner-up in Woman’s Own’s 2006 short story competition. When Lucy dies on the eve of her wedding, she can’t let go of her groom. **** (4 stars)”
  • "I just couldn’t put it down...one for the cold winter evenings to warm your heart. Brilliant. ***** (5 stars)" - Chicklitreviews.com review "Heaven Can Wait".
  • An article about Cally is published on Northumbria University's Alumni Association website
  • Lovereading.co.uk feature "Heaven Can Wait" as one of October's 'Relationship Tales' featured books
  • A review of "Heaven Can Wait" in Candis magazine says "You'll find yourself laughing one minute and crying the next"

September 2009

  • Three-page interview with Cally in First Edition magazine - October edition. Available to buy in Borders or online.
  • Interviewed by Caroline Benjamin from Woman's Own magazine
  • Busy organising interviews, articles, virtual blog tours and competitions to celebrate the launch of "Heaven Can Wait" on 15 October
  • Editing novel 2 (currently untitled)

August 2009

  • "Marry Me Man" sold to Take a Break Fiction Feast
  • Rights to "Heaven Can Wait" have been sold to the Beijing Book Company in China
  • Rights to "Heaven Can Wait" have been sold to Crown in Taiwan
  • My Weekly Summer Special 2 publish "Sea Shell Secrets"

July 2009

  • 100% of the first draft of Novel 2 written
  • "Heaven Can Wait" is mentioned in The Bookseller. Blurb says "Love after death, a light-hearted rom-com where a dead bride decides to become a ghost so she can stay with her beloved, only first she has to complete a seemingly impossible task. Sounds fun."

June 2009

  • Received proofs of the jacket artwork for "Heaven Can Wait"

May 2009

  • Received the advance copies of "Heaven Can Wait"
  • Rights to "Heaven Can Wait" have been sold to Ediciones Versatil in Spain
  • 75% of the first draft of Novel 2 written

April 2009

  • "Winner Loses All!" published by Take a Break Fiction Feast

March 2009

  • Had afternoon tea with my publishers in Liberty's and saw the first draft of the cover for "Heaven Can Wait"
  • Completed the copy edits for "Heaven Can Wait"
  • 50% of the first draft of Novel 2 written
  • Gave my first ever interview to Trashionista who "read books like they're going out of fashion"
  • "The Creature Between Us" published in Twitter Titters "A tweetin' hilarious collection of new comedy writing, selected to raise money for Comic Relief. Includes foreword by Chelsey: OMG! Writer Nat Coombs and exclusive new writing by Phoenix Nights co-creator Dave Spikey."

February 2009

  • Rights to "Heaven Can Wait" have been sold to Konyvmolykepzo in Hungary
  • Attended the Orion author party, Victoria & Albert museum, London
  • Attended the Romantic Novelists' Association Awards and lunch, Kensington, London.

January 2009

  • "Gran's Balloon Magic" published by Take a Break Fiction Feast

December 2008

  • Russian rights for "Heaven Can Wait" are sold to Eksmo
  • "The Bad Luck Charm" accepted for publication by Take a Break Fiction Feast
  • Started writing novel 2

November 2008

  • Heaven Can Waitlink is listed on Amazon.co.uk!
  • A six-way auction for "Heaven Can Wait" in Germany results in a deal with Goldmann who said that the book..'Is taking women's fiction to a new level."

October 2008

  • Portuguese rights (Brazil only) for "Heaven Can Wait" are sold to Bertrand Brasil
  • A UK and commonwealth 2 book deal for "Heaven Can Wait" is sold to Orion. Kate Mills, Orion Deputy Fiction Publisher, says: "Everyone who read this was an instant fan. We don't have anything quite like this and it will be really fun to publish something so different"
  • "Say Cheese!" published in My Weekly magazine
  • My story "My Daughter the Deep Sea Diver" places third in the Writers Bureau short story competition 2008

September 2008

  • Finalist in the Romance Writers of America Stiletto contest (paranormal chicklit category)
  • Signed with a London-based Literary Agent

August 2008

  • "Not Just a Pretty Face" accepted for publication by Take a Break Fiction Feast
  • "Balloon Magic" accepted for publication by Take a Break Fiction Feast

July 2008

  • "Wish upon a Leaf" published by Take a Break Fiction Feast August edition

June 2008

  • "Princess Yasmina Meets Her Match" accepted for publication by My Weekly
  • "Resurrecting Norman" published by Espresso Fiction

April 2008

  • "Wish Upon a Leaf" accepted for publication by Take a Break Fiction Feast
  • "Resurrecting Norman" accepted for publication by Espresso Fiction

March 2008

February 2008

  • "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and "The Trunk" published in Your Messageslink anthology (BlueChrome Publishing)
  • "Waiting for Julia" published by Aesthetica magazine (Issue 21)

January 2008

  • "The Little Box of Wishes" accepted for publication by Take a Break Fiction Feast
  • "Waiting for Julia" accepted for publication by Aesthetica magazine

December 2007

  • "Clicks, Eyes, Sparrows" awarded first place in 2007 Children in Need Flashathon. Judge: Tom Dooley, Eclectica
  • "The Healer's Wife" accepted by QWF. To be published in January 2008
  • "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and "The Trunk" accepted by the Your Messages project run by Sara Salway and Lynee Rees. The anthology will be published by BlueChrome Publishing with all profits to Kids Company. Book launch in January 2008
  • "Dinner for Eight" Commended in Southport Writers short story competition. Top 14 of 277 entries (unpublished)

November 2007

  • "Gabby & Bub" runner up in the WriteSpace "Forbidden Friends" short story competition. Top 13 of 180 entries.
  • "Bookmunch" accepted for publication by Australian literary journal Etchings
  • 100% of novel edited

October 2007

September 2007

  • 50% of novel edited

August 2007

  • "SuperEd" broadcast on BBC Radio Cumbria
  • Started editing novel

July 2007

  • "Monocular Man" is a winner in The Lancet's "From Fact to Fiction" short story competition and will be published in an end-of-year special issue in December
  • "C is for Cuckoo" awarded Honorable Mention in the Momaya Press short story competition. Story to be published in an anthology later this year. The judges were from The Times, Random House and Andrew Nurnberg Associates
  • "Slipping Down the Sky" accepted for anthology publication by To Be Read Aloud
  • "SuperEd" awarded joint first place in the Sedbergh Festival of Books and Drama 2007 short story competition. The story will be broadcast on BBC Radio Cumbria at the end of August 2007 (to tie in with the festival)
  • First draft of my novel completed (100,000 words)

June 2007

  • "Flying Not Falling" Highly Commended in the WriteLink Weekender competition. Unpublished
  • "Full to Spilling" chosen by The Liar's League for the "Cigarettes and Alcohol" night where my story will be performed by an actor. 7pm. Tuesday 26 June. The Lamb, 94 Lamb's Conduit Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3LZ. £2 entry

May 2007

  • "What Shall We Do with the Bodies?" accepted for publication by WordRiot
  • "Cold Feet" - Highly Commended in Twisted Tongue magazine's 5th Flash Fiction competition. Unpublished

April 2007

  • "We Steal the Hours You and I" (poem) accepted for publication by "Poetic Hours" magazine
  • "Secrets and Rain" accepted for publication by My Weekly magazine
  • "To Catch a Falling Leaf" prize winner/runner up Cotswold Writing Circle Short Story Competition

March 2007

  • "Archie Wilkinson and the Great Sugared Doughnut" runner up in the WriteSpace "A Modern Fairy Tale" short story competition. Top 13 of 180 entries
  • "I Used To Be John" shortlisted in Biscuit Publishing Flash Competition. Top 30 of 626 entries. Unpublished.
  • Started writing my novel

February 2007

January 2007

  • "Talking Vegetables", a 50 word story, published by www.fiftybeans.com
  • "Resurrecting Norman" Highly Commended in the Jacqui Bennett Writers Bureau competition. Unpublished

December 2006

  • No news for December so here's a summary of my writing year in 2006:
  • Wrote over 88,000 words
  • Success in competitions: 3x 1st places, 2x second places, 2x Highly commended, 5x shortlisted
  • 13 stories/flashes in print, 4 stories/flashes online
  • Aim for 2007: To beat all of these totals! Write more, read more, sub more.

November 2006

  • "Words in a Black Bin" and "Six Uses for a Hedgehog" published in "Brain Dead" Children in Need anthology 2006
  • "Burnt-Ochre Heart" gets 1st place at the Helen Mullin Awards
  • "The A-Z of Clouds" published as part of Skrev Press's 'Pastoral' anthology. Available on Amazon.co.uk very soon
  • Completed the Children in Need writathon for the second time. Wrote 16 stories and 2 poems in 27 hours, a grand total of 10,729 words and raised £278

October 2006

  • Results are announced. "Tea With Mother" wins Runner Up prize at Mere Literary Festival. Unpublished
  • "The Faceless" will be published by Espresso Fiction in November 2006
  • "Blank Pages" will be published (reprint) by Espresso Fiction in February 2007
  • "Blood and Water" is shortlisted in the Slingink International Prize for Fiction. Result announced 31 October 2006.
  • "Burnt-Ochre Heart" is shortlisted in the Helen Mullin Awards. Result announced 18 November 2006.

September 2006

  • "Jin and the Toothpaste" will be published online by Susurrus magazine in October
  • "Tea with Mother" is shortlisted in the Mere Literary Festival (one of only 24 stories out of 274 entries passed to the judge for final judging). Update: Made the final 12 and received a Runner up award and cash prize

August 2006

  • "Scam the Scam" is published by Fygleaves publishers in an anthology called "39 Emergency Exits". It's a book that compiles the best 39 stories entered into their competition to write story that incorporated 5 different images: ladder, petrol station, key, bench, emergency exit. The anthology, edited by JD Stamp is available at Amazon.co.uk

July 2006

  • "Angel Bed" and "Swallow for Mummy" to be published by Gold Dust magazine in autumn 2006.
  • "Secrets and Rain" -shortlisted in the Writelink Weekender Challenge May 2006. Unpublished
  • "Blank Pages " shortlisted in the Pier Pressure short story competition. Story to be published on their website shortly.

June 2006

  • "Wish You Were Here" Runner Up Woman's Own Short Story Competition 2006. To be published later in the year. (Brother print/scan/copy machine prize)
May 2006
  • "Music, Hands, People" shortlisted flashfiction.co.uk April competition (to be published online and in print later in the year)
  • "Producing Piglets" Highly Commended Lymm Festival Short Story competition. Unpublished

April 2006

  • "Under the Waves" wins Bank Street Writers Short Story Competition To be published in Current Accounts magazine in June/July 2006
  • "Soaring", "Messages" & "Circles" shortlisted Slingink 140-word Short Story Competition. To be published in "Footprints" anthology June 2006
  • "Burnt-Ochre Heart" joint 2nd Writer's Dock Short Story Competition. Unpublished

March 2006

  • No writing-related news this month!

February 2006

  • "Killing Me Softly " wins Dark Tales Flash Fiction competition. To be published in print in the future

January 2006

  • "Odd Socks " accepted for publication by Aesthetica Magazine (to be published - print - in Issue 12 in February 2006)

 

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