Vanessa Couchman, freelance writer

Welcome to my writing site.

I am a British freelance writer living in France.  I have been running my own successful writing business since 1997 and have many years’ corporate writing experience in English for public and private sector clients in the UK and internationally.

I write articles for various markets and offer coaching services to help people improve their report writing and business writing skills.  I am also a tutor on the Writers Bureau Complete Copywriting course. Please click on the relevant tab above to find out more about my services.

I started writing short stories and flash fiction in early 2010. I am lucky to have had some early successes and have won, been placed and shortlisted in several competitions. A number of my short stories have been published in anthologies. Please click on ‘short stories’ in the top bar to find out more.

In November 2012, I dipped my toe into the murky waters of novel writing and  successfully completed the National Novel Writing Month challenge. I will be working on editing and revising my effort in 2013. Watch this space.

You can read my résumé here and contact me here.

To read my news, please keep scrolling down this page.

You might also be interested in my blog about life in France.

Ex-Pat Writers – Contribute to a New Anthology

The online ex-pat writers’ group, Writers Abroad, of which I’m a member, will be publishing its fourth anthology this year, with the working title of Far Flung and Foreign. We are looking for other ex-pat (or former ex-pat) writers to contribute. Here are the details from our Call for Submissions:

National Flash Fiction Day 16th May 2012

Tomorrow, 16th May, is National Flash-Fiction Day (NFFD) in the UK, celebrating this short story form.

What is flash fiction? A very short but complete story, normally 500 words or less. It usually has an unexpected twist at the end which resolves in some way the problem posed at the beginning for the main character.

FlashFlood, the NFFD journal, will be publishing flash fiction stories throughout the day from midnight. They have selected one of my stories, ‘Chronicle of an Ending’ to appear on their site between 18h00 and 19h00 UK time.

Submissions close at 23h59 UK time tonight if you fancy having a go. Details are on the FlashFlood site.

For some reason the link will not appear. So here it is disguised against spammers.  http://flashfloodjournal[dot]blogspot[dot]co[dot]uk/

Opportunity to Contribute to a New Expat Anthology

My online, expat writers’ group, Writers Abroad, will be publishing its third anthology this year, Foreign Encounters. We are seeking submissions of short stories, non-fiction pieces and poetry on the general theme of relationships around the world. Contributors must be expats or former expats. The anthology will be print-published and later available as an e-book.

Foreign Flavours: A New Anthology from Writers Abroad

The online writing group I belong to, Writers Abroad, published last week a new anthology of short stories and non-fiction articles, entitled Foreign Flavours. The theme of the anthology is food, drink and recipes from around the world.

It is a tantalizing collection of fiction and non-fiction, full of spice and flavour and sprinkled with mouth-watering recipes. The wide-ranging, sometimes bittersweet, contributions show how adaptable an ex-pat has to be to leave familiar dishes behind and venture into the culinary unknown.

Two pieces of mine are in it: ‘The Beekeeper’, a short story set in Corsica, and ‘When to Eat in Corsica’, a non-fiction article.

This is the second anthology published by Writers Abroad. All the contributors are, or have been, ex-pats living in places around the globe. Alexander McCall Smith, acclaimed author of The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series and himself an ex-pat, has written the preface.

Foreign Flavours contains 64 contributions. Thirty-four are non-fiction articles and 30 are short stories. The anthology also includes 33 recipes.

Contributors live in and have written about the following places: Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Corsica, Cyprus, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malawi, Mallorca, Morocco, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Wales.

All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to The Book Bus, a charity whose aim is to bring literacy and the joy of reading to children in the developing world. 

The paperback print version of Foreign Flavours is available from Lulu from today, Monday 24th October, price £9.60 (€10.99). At around 250 pages, it’s great value. An e-book version will be available soon.

To find out more about Writers Abroad and our publications, please go to our website.

Winning Short Story now Published on Internet

My short story ‘Memory’, which won first prize in the Writing Magazine 750-word short story competition in June, has now been published on the Writing Magazine/Writers’ News website. You can read it online as well as the competition judge’s comments about the story.

The story, which addresses the issue of dementia, was published in the October print issue of Writing Magazine .

Two weeks left to submit to Writers Abroad anthology

There are only just over two weeks to go to the submission deadline – midnight on 9th September 2011 – for a new anthology to be published by online writing community, Writers Abroad.

This year’s anthology is entitled ‘Foreign Flavours’. Writers Abroad are looking for fiction or non-fiction contributions on the topic of food, drink and cooking in far-flung places. Acclaimed author Alexander McCall Smith has kindly contributed the foreword. You are eligible to submit if you are, or have been, an ex-pat. Submission is free.

The anthology will be published as a free  e-book and as a paper edition. All profits from the  paper edition will go to the charity Book Bus, which aims to promote literacy among children in Africa and South America. 

To read the submission guidelines and find out more, please click here.

For a free e-version of Writers Abroad’s 2010 anthology, please click on the image in the right-hand sidebar.

Winner of Writing Magazine short story competition

I had a nice surprise a couple of weeks ago when I received an email informing me that I had won the Writing Magazine 750-word short story competition.

This was an open-themed competition, i.e. you could write a story on any subject of your choice. My story, Memory, which won first prize, addressed the issue of dementia.

The story will be published in Writing Magazine‘s October issue, along with a critique by the Competitions Manager, Richard Bell.