This week we welcome author Esther Clark as “The People’s Friend” Writer of the Week. Esther was a runner-up with her story “Nothing Ever Really Happens” in our Writing Bursary Competition, judged earlier this year, and you can read the story in our current issue.
Tell us about your story, “Nothing Ever Really Happens”.
When I wrote “Nothing Ever Really Happens”, I wanted to write a comedy which began in as dull and ordinary a way as possible, and took on a life of its own. Alice is on the bus on a dull, wet day, when Tom, a chatty young man with a rucksack boards, and recounts the chaotic story of his day as he prepares a birthday party for his nephews. Suddenly, Alice finds her day considerably improved as she discovers the disaster in his rucksack and offers to help him fix it and save the party…
What made you enter our Bursary Writing Competition?
I entered the Bursary Writing Competition because “The People’s Friend” is a magazine I have grown up around as my Nan and Mum both read it, and have done for many years. I am familiar with the writing style and themes of the magazine and was keen to see if I could also write similar stories from the perspective of a younger person. In entering the competition I also wanted to experiment with writing short stories as opposed to my main focus on writing novels.
How much fiction writing have you done?
I have always been writing fiction – I still have several little hand-written “books”, each a few pages long, which I wrote around the age of five or six. As a teenager I wrote a lot of short stories about my toys, which were never published but shared around my family and community, and sometimes submitted to competitions. At 17 I wrote my first novel, “Laughter at Withy Hill”, which I self-published in May 2024 under my pen-name Emmeline Bennett. This has spurred on my love of fiction writing. I am soon to release a short story as an ebook at the end of November, which I hope will be the first of a series, and am currently drafting my second novel!
Who are some of your favourite authors?
I am a huge Jane Austen fan and I have read all of her books. On the same Regency romance theme, I also love Georgette Heyer’s novels. I tend to be reluctant to explore new authors but I’ve discovered a great online community of writers, and now enjoy the works of another Regency romance author, Audra Wells.
What are your future writing plans?
I am currently writing the first draft of my second novel, a romance set in 1936, in Carnforth, Lancashire, inspired by a family story, and exploring some of the lessons I have learned in my journey as a Christian. My hope is that my upcoming short story release will become the first of a series, also set in Carnforth – the hope for these stories is that they will, of course, entertain, but that they will also share some simple Christian truths to the reader. My faith and my love of Carnforth certainly will come through more in my writing! However, I am now studying until the spring, and therefore have little time for writing. I’m just focusing on my upcoming release, and putting my writing as a lower priority until next year, when I hope to have the time to put pen to paper again!
Thank you, Esther, and good luck with your second novel!
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Tracey Steel Having worked on a number of magazines over the years, I have found my perfect place on the “Friend” as I’m obsessed with reading and never go anywhere without a book! I read all of our stories with a mug of tea close by and usually a bit of strong cheese too!
