Short stories and poems
Anthologies
Collections of stories
Stories in anthologies
Editing an anthology is MUCH harder than writing your own book! This is because you have numerous contributors to find and persuade and then chivvy to meet the deadline, write to the right length, the right sort of story and then allow you to edit them.
So far I have edited only one anthology for profit – Ip, Dip, Sky Blue. (Sorry about the ghastly title – that was a publishers’ decision. I called it Deadly Letter after the story I wrote for it.) The other two have been for the Library Association – Stacks of Stories (don’t like that title, either; I much preferred Douglas Hill’s suggestion of Off the Wall) and for UNICEF – Lines in the Sand ( reviewed on www.wordpool.co.uk/ccb/lines.htm). I should be happy with that title, since I thought of it myself!
I have contributed ever so many short stories myself to other people’s anthologies. People like Wendy Cooling and Tony Bradman, who are mates of mine, often ask for a contribution to anthologies they are editing. I have written so many now that there are probably enough for a collection of my own.
Note: an anthology (which comes from Greek words meaning flower + word) is a book of stories or poems by several different writers. It always has an editor or a compiler. A story collection has stories all by the same writer. Here are the anthologies I have edited.
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Lines in the SandCollections of stories
My story collections are all re-tellings except for Bump in the Night, which is eight ghost stories, all written by me. [Click here to find out about my other ghost stories]I seem to have spent a lot of time writing the Bible! It started with A First Bible Storybook for Dorling Kindersley and after that I felt there were lots of good stories I hadn’t had room to tell, so I wrote Parables, Miracles and Animals of the Bible for Frances Lincoln. Those were all brilliantly illustrated by Jackie Morris. Kings and Queens of the Bible (2008) was illustrated by Christina Balit.
I did two more collections for Dorling Kindersley – A First Myths Storybook and A First Fairy Tales Storybook. And a huge collection of traditional tales for Macmillan called A Treasury of Nursery Stories. That was enormous fun to do and beautifully illustrated by Anna Currey, whose pigs and ducks and mice are a joy.
A Twist in the Tail was all animal stories, superbly illustrated by Jan Ormerod, who had not been known for her animal pictures before that. But these are really special.
I had been friends with artist Jane Ray for a long time before we managed to work together. We were having lunch one day and said, since I wrote and she illustrated children’s books, we should really have a go. The first result was Song of the Earth, a collection of myths, beliefs and superstitions about the four elements – Earth, Fire, Water, Air. That was followed three years later by Sun, Moon and Stars, a similar gathering together of all things heavenly, sprinkled with Jane’s signature silver and gold.
Both of these were gorgeous books and it’s the only time I’ve ever worked closely with an artist. (It was Jane, incidentally, who donated a perfect colour cover for Lines in the Sand).
Women of Camelot was a collection I was longing to do. It tells the stories of the court of King Arthur – from the women’s point of view. Guinevere, Morgan le Fay, the Lady of the Lake and others all get a chance to tell their stories in their own voices. And these are accompanied by wonderfully stylised and stylish pictures by Christina Balit.
Here's a full list of all my story collections.
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Short stories and poems in anthologies
You will notice there are more of one than the other! I’m not really a poet. But I’ll write a short story if the right idea comes along and if I’m asked to. Several people have written to ask me if I’m going to turn “Frequent Flyer” into a novel. I haven’t thought about it but am open to offers!
“Deadly Letter” in Ip, Dip, Sky Blue (ed) Mary Hoffman
Harper Collins 1990
“A baby brother not for Abigail” in Big Beans or Little Beans (ed) Julia Eccleshare
Harper Collins 1991
“Leonie and the Last Wolf” in The Cloth of Dreams (ed) Sally Grindley
Little, Brown 1992
“How the lemur got her tail” in Animal Stories for the Very Young (ed) Sally Grindley
Kingfisher 1994
“Skyjacked” in Fantastic Space Stories (ed) Tony Bradman
Doubleday 1994
“How to Live Forever” in Stacks of Stories (ed) Mary Hoffman
Hodder 1997
‘Stepfather Christmas’ in It’s Christmas Wendy Cooling (ed)
Orion 1997
‘Chicken’ in Dare You Wendy Cooling (ed)
Orion 1997
‘Stairway to the Stars’ in Read me a Story Please Wendy Cooling (ed) 1998
‘A Taste of Freedom’ in Centuries of Stories Wendy Cooling (ed)
Collins 1999
‘Seize the Fire’ in Phenomenal Future Stories Tony Bradman (ed)
Corgi 1999
‘Frequent Flyer” in Kids’ Night In
Collins 2003
Poem: ‘One of Ours’ in Lines in the Sand, Mary Hoffman and Rhiannon Lassiter (eds)
Frances Lincoln 2003
Click for PDF list of my short stories and poems