Alan Bryant lives in Mumbles, conveniently situated between the bus stop, the chip shop and the castle he looks at in awe every day.
His first attempt at self publishing on Amazon was a 'how to' ebook on house buying. The Householders' Guide To Sanity was one of his greatest failures and he still looks back on it with a wistful smile.
Annabelle Franklin is the author of two children’s books, Gateway to Magic and The Slapstyx. Her short story Mercy Dog has been published in award-winning anthology Unforgotten: The Great War 1914-1918 (Accent Press), and her short story Haunted by the Future appears in the Circle’s horror anthology Dark Gathering. She is working on a series of fun supernatural stories for children.
Annabelle lives on South Wales’s stunning and magical South Gower coast, in an area of outstanding natural beauty that provides plenty of inspiration for fairy tales and fantasy.
I live in the Gwendraith Valley in Carmarthenshire and find it’s well worth making the trip to Swansea to see my writing friends at the SDWC, who have always been hugely supportive. Since joining the Circle, I’ve been inspired to take an MA in Creative Writing at Lampeter, which I finished in 2016.
I was thrilled to have a short story published in the Circle’s 2014 WWI anthology, which won the National Association of Writer’s Groups award for best anthology of the year.
Abi Barden / GB Williams / Gail B Williams
Gail has lived in Swansea for twenty years, married with grownup children and an imperious cat.
The names Gail B Williams and Abi Barden will be found writing steampunk, the Aether Chronicles will be released late 2020.
GB Williams is a crime writer, the Locked Series is available from Amazon, consisting of Locked Up, Locked In, and Locked Down.
I worked in education for over twenty years, until three years ago when it became impossible to be a lone parent, work full time and raise two autistic children. I decided to write a fun booklet for my nephew, the incentive being to educate him on the subject of alcohol before he became of legal age to drink. The booklet received positive reviews and I was encouraged to self-publish. What’s Your Tipple? is available on Amazon and Kindle.
This brief introduction to publishing my written work encouraged me to look at my other stories in an idea that they too may be suitable for public consumption.
Writing poetry and making up stories since I was a child, I only began to write for publication when my children left home. My ambition was to write science fiction, but, fascinated by Swansea Castle and distracted by a major stroke I researched local history, an interest that culminated in the publication of my first book Alina, The White Lady of Oystermouth, a local history book told as a story, at Easter 2012. Early retirement gave me more time to concentrate on my writing.
Catrin Collier / Katherine John / Caro French / Katherine Hardy / KA John.
Published over 50 novels worldwide in English and translation, 26 as Catrin Collier. Has had stage plays professionally performed, published articles, short stories etc. Her Catrin Collier novel, Hearts of Gold a BBC Worldwide mini series, attracted an audience of 6.8 million on UK network TV. Her latest book Glyndŵr - The Foretold Son, chronicles the life of the man behind the legend that is Owain Glyndŵr.
I have wanted to write for as long as I can remember, and over the years have written short stories and poetry. Now I am concentrating on my novel for children and hope to complete the first draft later this year.
I have been a member of SDWC for a number of years (secretary for about four of those) and was involved in the creation of the 2014 anthology ‘Unforgotten, The Great War 1914-1918’. I was very pleased to have a short story and poem included in this work.
I am by profession the Creative Writer in the Commercial Production Department at The Wave and Swansea Sound radio stations. Let me put that another way. I actually am the Commercial Production Department. Yes, it’s a one-man department. My job involves taking briefs from clients, coming up with ideas for advertising campaigns and then working on the subsequent scripts.
I joined the Swansea and District Writers Circle this year while visiting the area as a professor of history on a Leverhulme Trust grant to Swansea University. Everyone has been welcoming and enthusiastic in their critiques, writing, and lectures.