CRIME SCENE QUEEN
Subscriber Deborah Masson, the prize-winning author of the DI Eve Hunter novels, describes how Writing Magazine kickstarted her crime-writing career
‘Around nine years ago, I found myself at home full-time with my two-year-old daughter. I loved being a mum but, as much as I loved it, I wanted and needed something “just for me”. I longed to use a little brain power but also to explore my capabilities and, perhaps, experience a little escape from the day-to-day routine. And so, one day whilst out shopping – my daughter happily singing away in the buggy – I picked up Writing Magazine. I had no idea how much that decision would change my life.
‘I devoured the issue that very same night, remembering how much I loved writing as a kid. I decided there and then I would start scribbling when my daughter napped in the afternoons. The scribbles started out as nothing much – little scenarios or character sketches – but I was enjoying it so much I decided to sign up for the magazine’s online writing forum, Talkback, in the hope of surrounding myself with others who enjoyed writing. I remember being a little nervous, like a kid on the first day of school, but I needn’t have worried as the members were all warm and welcoming.
‘A short time after joining the forum, I saw a short story competition in called Ghostly Last Line. I realised my scribbling had been leaning towards supernatural or crime – no surprise there as I’d always had a love of those genres as a reader and TV viewer – so I decided to try my hand at a writing a short story, spurred on by having a
