Welcome!
Bridge House Publishing was born in November 2008 with its first collection of short stories, 'Making Changes'. Some stories are by more established writers but we also pride ourselves on our new discoveries.
If you want to say hello to one of the authors, get a lively discussion going, find out where to buy our books or even submit to one of our future titles- this is the place! Become a follower!
By the end of 2009 Bridge House will have 8 anthologies- for adults and children and a lot more to come.
We produce good quality fiction, that puts the unusual in the usual...
About the winner of the Bridge House Shory Story Competition, 2009
What Sandra Morgan, the winner has to say:
Dancing to Lily Marlene was inspired by a family holiday, and impish Maisie is one of my youngest grandchildren. Late in the evenings, with light spilling from balconies, someone unseen played old war tunes on a harmonica. One night my husband whistled Lili Marlene and straightaway, back it came on the harmonica. It was a special moment and I knew a story would evolve from it.
I often write about things that move me. Few things do that more than the obscenity of the holocaust, and it was with some tears I completed this story.
Me and writing
A study claims that to attain excellence in any field, you have to put in 10,000 hours of practice. I don’t know how many hours I’ve written for, but all I can say is I’m still practicing!
I’ve had stories appear in women’s weeklies, inclusion in an erotic anthology and several competition wins. Rejections – they hurt and keep coming, but I love writing too much to allow them to knock me back. And they’re not all bad; acting on any criticism can often turn losers into winners. Never give up, the excellence is out there!
Extract of winning story: Dancing To Lili Marlene
Holidays. Memories for grey and rainy days when even the birds have forgotten how to sing. Well, good memories anyway, toss out the bad with the rest of the rubbish.
Then there’s a different kind, neither good nor bad, but rare and disquieting, bequeathed by a holiday not even the widest leap of imagination could conjure.
It began with the sort of heat that made blinking a challenge, let alone moving limbs. Thank God the hotel was air-conditioned. Not that it wearied Maisie. Three and a half, and finally released from the confines of aircraft and taxi, she jigged joyously to piped music in the cool foyer. Her comical dance was always the same, bobbing up and down and side to side like a marionette, then spinning in circles, one foot thumping the ground in a fair interpretation of a Red Indian war dance.
Little actress she is, she played to the crowd - a lively party of Japanese tourists who stood chuckling at her. Nobody would have guessed she’d been up since four thirty that morning.
Toby nudged me. “Check out the old guy, Dad.”
I followed his bemused gaze to a silver-haired man also watching our little star. The strangest sensation washed over me at the enchantment radiating from his lined face. Yet there was nothing to alarm, no perversion in that still, fierce gaze. He simply looked as if he’d never set eyes on anything so magical.
But it left me wondering, what was all that about? Maisie was cute as hell dancing there in her blue polkadot sundress and raspberry crocs, but she was no
The minutiae of checking in called then, and by the time we were through, there was no sign of the elderly man.
Unpacking in our room later, conversation turned to him, and it turned out he’d had the same affect on my wife. “I suppose, you know, some might find it sinister, but it wasn’t like that, was it? He just looked so … oh, sad and elated all at once. Perhaps we’ll see him around and he might explain. Tell you something though, no-one could look that moved without deep reason. I reckon Maisie reminds him of someone. That’ll be it.”
Jean’s intuition seldom lets her down.
We didn’t have long to wait before seeing the old-timer again. Opting for a few hours at the children’s pool the next morning, we found some free sun beds and were soon taking turns with Maisie the human dynamo on a cascading water slide. It was as I was towelling off after handing over to Tess, our friend passed by with a smile and a nod, before lowering his stooped frame onto the wall close by. It was no surprise when his washed-out blue eyes fixed on Maisie.
Now our granddaughter’s not what you’d call conventionally pretty, but with Mum Tess’ wide, tilted eyes and pert nose, Dad’s strong chin and fresh colouring, all topped off with silky white-blonde locks, it’s a striking combination that draws smiles and attention wherever she goes. Despite this, her watcher’s absorption was still something else.
As if aware of my scrutiny, his unguarded gaze shifted to me. It seemed ridiculous to look away, so I gave him a small salute and wandered over to where he sat in a wedge of shade beneath a faded angelica tree.
“Lovely child,” he stated without guile, pushing steel-rimmed spectacles up his long, narrow nose.
Trying to place his thick accent, I nodded proudly. “My granddaughter. Part angel, part savage.”
He smiled, deep lines spreading like sunrays at the corners of each eye. His gaze grew rapt again as the subject of our conversation came splashing back, squealing at Toby chasing her.
“Come and say hello, honey,” I called...
Story to be published next year!
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Bridge House Short Story Competition 2009
The stories are:
First Place Sandra Morgan Dancing To Lili Marlene
Second Place Susan Stern I Never Wear Black
Third Place Carol Croxton When Angels Weep
Find out more about the authors and read extracts of these stories here on the Bridge House Blog...
News
Delays beyond our control have given us rather a lot to do and this cuts down in marketing time, so we hope all of our authors are doing their part to push the books!
Spooked is out and available to order through the Bridge House Website. Scream should be out any day. All is not lost as we can relaunch these for Halloween next year. As for the Children's Advent and 12 Days- these will make in time for Christmas- just! So again we may have a relaunch next year.
These things happen, especially as we all have other jobs as well!!! But we are working like mad to make this happen so we thank everyone for their support!
Check out the website this week when we have offers on books for Christmas- free postage on older titles... so please add books to your Christmas lists!
Debz :)
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Let's get all spooked

First of all there will be the cosy nights of denial that it's not quite autumn so you can settle down to some adult fairy tales. Alternative Renditions is now out! £8.99- check out the Bridge House website to order direct from us or from Amazon, WHSmith and Waterstones.

And then when you can't deny the nights are getting longer- surrender to the darkness and try out our adult ghost collection- 25 scary tales... SPOOKED out soon £9.99.
And so the teens don't miss out it's time to SCREAM! Also coming soon our young adult horror £6.99

Coming soon for sale on the website- you can buy both for £15!
Monday, 12 October 2009

Hi everyone,
Not been posting a lot but we've all been busy with three new books about to come out. As you know there was a slight delay but Alternative Renditions the Adult Fairy Tale collection is now ready to preorder on the website! Check out new titles for October. This is a delightful collection of well known tales as you've never seen them before! What a charming Christmas presie!
We are also busy working on our young adult horror collection SCREAM and our adult ghost stories SPOOKED- both due out early-mid November. We had really hoped to get these out for Halloween, we're doing our best to get them out as soon as possible, things happen, right?
So check out the website for more information.
More soon,
Debz
Monday, 14 September 2009
Autumn News
We are also hard at work with the young adult horror and adult ghost collections out by Halloween!
And the children's Advent Anthology and adult Twelve Days of Christmas... we're as busy as the elves.
The debut novel competitions is now open for submissions- check out the website and the submissions are rolling in for the Animal Anthology...
Post a reply, get a conversation going- check out the growing list of authors.
More soon!
Debz
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Richard Adams offers to write an animal story for the Animal Anthology!

I had the pleasure of visiting the acclaimed author of Watership Down, The Plague Dogs, Shardik and many more, this weekend. He will not only write a foreword for the Born Free charity book to be published in Spring 2010, but he has offered to write a short story especially for the collection. Bridge House are delighted!
The call for submissions is currently open- please see the information on the Bridge House Website- also see the information as posted on the Born Free website:
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/get-involved/animal-anthology/
See Mr. Adams pictured here reading from the latest Bridge House anthology Disasters and Miracles now available to order from our website.
Other news:
We now have the cover for the Adult Fairy Tale anthology- with the design team and I have just had a sneak preview of the Adult ghost cover- spooky!
Thanks!
Debz :)
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Latest News August 2009
Well Disasters and Miracles is due for release this week and the author copies should have arrived today! Looking great! Well done Gill who put it together!
The cover for the Adult Fairy Tales is now being inked and Gill was trying to decide on the right title- so we should have this soon as well.
For the Ghost and Horror these jackets are also in design and the stories are finishing their editing.
The selections have been made of the Christmas books- the Childrens Advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas so we will be thinking about editing these soon.
And finally keep those submissions rolling in- good news about the Animal Anthology- look out for the call for submissions in BBC Wildlife Magazine in September and now on the Born Free website
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/get-involved/animal-anthology/
Also check out the feature about Bridge House in Writer's News this month!
Exciting times!
Let me know how you're all doing!
Debz :)
Amanda Addison
Amanda Addison writes both adult and children’s fiction. A common theme to her work is the world of art & design. Amanda is a graduate of
She is currently trying to get an agent for her first full-length novel, ‘Stitch’. Previous publications include: ‘To Market……To Market’, a children’s picture book and ‘Lost for Words’, a teenage novella about a dyslexic art student.
In ‘Two Sides to Every Story’, Amanda wrote Blue Beauty, a version of Snow White set in Ancient Egypt. It’s inspired by
Amanda co wrote the first
www.nuca.ac.uk/images/documents/.../alumni%20winter%2009.pdf
www.mywritingworld.org.uk/story.asp?ID=143&subname=Myjourneys
www.literaryconsultancy.co.uk/success.php
Teresa Ashby
Teresa Ashby has been writing short stories and serials for magazines since the 1980s. Her stories have been published in the
Teresa has stories in the upcoming Ghost Anthology and in In The Shadow of the Red Queen.
Rosemary Bach-Holzer
Rosemary does not want to say too much because she’s superstitious. Apart from that, Rosemary’s had articles and stories published in the UK and America including a story by Bridge House Publishing in an anthology called Making Changes.
Trot along to her website and blog for a taster.
Website: http://www.rosemarybachholzer.co.uk
Blog: http://www.rosemarybach-holzer.blogspot.com
Adam Bealby
Adam Bealby’s first published work was a short feature in computer magazine Zero at the tender age of 13. Since then he’s shot up a bit. He now lives in Worcestershire with his wife and two children and writes novels and short stories. His more recent work can be seen in indie comic book anthology Fusion; the award-winning Red Eye Magazine;
Anne Brooke
Anne Brooke’s fiction has been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Novel Award, the Royal Literary Fund Awards and the Asham Award for Women Writers. She has also twice been the winner of the DSJT Charitable Trust Open Poetry Competition. Her latest novel is The Bones of Summer, a romantic thriller about religion, murder and the chance for a new beginning. Her work is represented by agent, John Jarrold, and she has a secret passion for birdwatching. More information can be found at www.annebrooke.com and she keeps a terrifyingly honest journal at http://annebrooke.blogspot.com. Anne has a story in Disasters and Miracles.
Pauline Burgess
Dawn Bush
Nicola Cleasby
Nicola Cleasby grew up in the North of England. After training as a Chartered Accountant she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and almond picking on a remote farm in the mountains of Southern Spain.
She is currently experimenting with different genres and styles and has a story in the Adult Ghost Anthology.
Ian Charles Douglas
Ian Charles Douglas cut his literary teeth writing for the press in
The Croc at Coopers Rock, Making Changes. (Bridge House Publishing)
In 2008 Ian won the Short Story Radio competition with’ Making Grampie’.
He is a member of the Nottingham Writer’s Studio and regularly performs his work. He is also an artist and has held several solo and group exhibitions. For more information please visit http://www.iancharlesdouglas.co.uk
Ruth Eastham-Paoli
Ruth Eastham-Paoli was a finalist in the BBC Talent Children’s
Fiction Prize 2002 and co-founded Children’s Fiction Services, www.childrensfictionservices.com, a manuscript appraisal agency
for aspiring authors of children's and young adult fiction.
She was born in Lancashire and has taught English in schools in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Italy, where she is currently organising The Children’s Writers’ Conference to be held from Friday 18th to Monday 21st of June 2010 in Duino, a beautiful location on the Adriatic Sea. Inspirational speakers are lined up, with the award winning writers Sarah Mussi and Susie Day, bestseller M.G. Harris, and Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize winner, Sally Nicholls.
Ruth has work published in the Suitcase Full of Stories and 12 Days anthologies.
www.rutheasthampaoli.com
www.childrensfictionservices.com
Sarah England
Joan Fleming
Joan Fleming writes articles and short stories (for adults and children). Since taking early retirement from her job as a modern languages teacher, she has been able to devote more time to writing, recently completing her second novel. A member of Erskine Writers and the Scottish Association of Writers, she has had success in competitions in both. She has had two articles published in The Highlander, and in July 2009 was a prize winner in Writers’ Forum short story competition with Beds of Roses. Joan is delighted to have her story Flying Free accepted for the forthcoming Children’s Advent Anthology.
Rosemary Gemmell
Rosemary Gemmell is a prize-winning freelance writer of short stories and articles in national magazines, the US and online. She is now writing full-length fiction. Two of her adult novels and a children’s novel are seeking a publisher, while she is looking for a friendly agent.
Rosemary has stories in Making Changes, A Suitcase Full of Stories and the forthcoming Children’s Advent Calendar Anthology
Danny Gillan
In his youth, Danny Gillan used to think he was a musician, and played in several bands in and around Glasgow with varying degrees of failure. Now in his late thirties, he accepts that rock godhood is an unlikely eventuality and has decided to think he is a writer instead. In order to fund this delusion Danny works In Social Care, supporting adults with learning disabilities. His first novel, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, was published in 2008, and he has had a number of short stories published in anthologies and magazines.
Danny is looking forward to being included in his first Bridge House publication, Adult Ghost Stories, with his short story, Awake.
Catherine Greene
Lynne Hackles
Lynne Hackles has been a full time writer for ten years. Her stories have appeared in most of the
Mindy Hardwick
Mindy enjoys writing young adult romance and creating ghostly characters. Her published children's stories include: “Hurricanes” published with Blooming Tree Press, “Hand on the Door,” a ghost story published with Crow Toes Quarterly, and “I Believe,” an audio story published with Sniplits. Mindy’s published articles can be found in: The Children’s Writer Guide 2008 and 2009, My First Year in the Classroom, Columbia Kids, Children’s Writer, ALA Book Links, and The Writer Magazine. Mindy facilitates a writing workshop at Denney Youth Juvenile Detention Center where many of her ideas take shape. She lives in Washington State. You can learn more about Mindy at www.mindyhardwick.com.
Alyson Hilbourne
Alyson Hilbourne lives in
Alyson’s story “Call Me” appears in the Bridge House Ghost Story Anthology.
Rebecca Holmes
Kathleen Howarth
Kathleen Howarth is a recently retired primary school teacher. She now spends her time writing and working as a Reiki practitioner. She has a fascination with all things paranormal and has written several short stories with a supernatural flavour. She also enjoys writing poetry. At the moment she is writing a supernatural novel for older children entitled Owlboy.
Kathleen has ‘The True Story of Goldilocks’ in the Two Sides to Every Story Anthology and ‘The Beast’ in the Horror Anthology.
Phil Kurthansen
You can read his work in the 12 Days of Christmas Anthology out 2009
Sophie Jackson
Robin Jarossi
“I like speculative fiction, stories that have emotional impact but make you think, What if Cormac McCarthy, Margaret Atwood, Stef Penney all take me there. I love crime writers such as Ian Rankin and Elmore Leonard for their dialogue and characterisation. I�m a freelance magazine editor/writer living in
I also write about books and TV for Suite101.com”
http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/tavener
Don Nixon
Dulcinea Norton-Smith
Dulcinea was going to be called Charlotte Emily Kate, but when she was born her mother had a momentary lapse in judgement and called her 'Dulcinea'. With such a literary name what choice did she have but to aspire to be a writer?
Dulcinea is a Civil Servant and freelance ghost writer. She also writes a pregnancy and parenting website called Baby Nunu.
Dulcinea has short stories in the Bridge House Teen Horror Anthology and the Advent Calendar for Children 2009. She’s currently working on two YA novels; the historical novel Blood & Clay and the teen horror Wendigo Wars.
Dulcinea's blog can be found at http\\:www.dulcineanortonsmith.co.uk
Michael O'Connor
Much of Michael O'Connor's writing in the past has been what is termed 'genre fiction' i.e. fantasy, horror and SF. However, he is moving away from that now into more mainstream work, although he suspects that he will never be able to forgo of an element of fantasy in any story that he writes. He doesn't really have a writing routine: he does it as and when the inspiration happens to coincide with the free time. He does a lot of reviewing, editing and proofreading for other people, which generally has deadlines, so his own work has to be squeezed in around that. His stories have been accepted by Bridge House for Making Changes, In the Shadow of the Red Queen, and the forthcoming Horror anthology. He believes that it is vital that the short story anthology as a form does not die out, and that Bridge House are doing great work to breath new life into it. His website is at www.mpoconnor.co.uk
Alix Parker
Philippa Rae
Philippa Roberts
Philippa Roberts is a professional writer from the
Glynis Scrivens
Glynis Scrivens writes stories for women's magazines. She has had stories published in Australia, the UK, Sweden, Norway, South Africa and India, and has won prizes in writing competitions. Recently she has become interested in writing non-fiction articles for magazines, and has become a regular contributor to Writers' Forum (UK). She has a story in a forthcoming US anthology, Good Dogs Doing Good
.Amanda Sington-Williams
selected by 'Short Fuse' for me to read at The Komedia in Brighton during
2009 and my poetry has been read out on BBC radio . I was short-listed for the 'Asham Award.' I have just completed
my second novel, 'In the Shadow of the Flower City.' I have an MA in
Creative Writing and Authorship from Sussex University.
I teach Creative Writing in Brighton and live with my husband, who is an
artist and our fluffy cat, Sasha."
www.amandasingtonwilliams.co.uk
Mark Smith
Mark Smith has been writing since he was a schoolboy. After a number of years as a nurse he moved into health management jobs which required a great deal of writing, but not the creative kind. He has now written a dozen short stories and some poetry. He is also writing a novel about a small parish choir and their struggle to pull off a weekend’s choral services in a major cathedral.
He says writing is immensely enjoyable regardless of whether any of it is published, though he always hope it is! He has a story appearing in the ghost anthology in the autumn.
Suzanne Stanton
Paul Starkey
Alison Symes
Allison Symes, ex-secretary, always a bibliophile, started writing after having a family. She writes novels about a fairy godmother and the half-human daughter she should never have had. Allison's short story writing led to her A Helping Hand being published by Bridge House in their 2009 Two Sides to Every Story anthology. She won second prize in the Writers' News First Line competition with Life is What You Make It, due on their website in September 2009. Allison belongs to the P.G. Wodehouse Society, Association of Christian Writers and Society of Authors and welcomes emails at allison.symes@lineone.net
Sally Tarpey
Sally Tarpey is a retired teacher. She began writing children’s stories and experimenting with travel writing during her two year placement as a volunteer education adviser in
Joyce Taylor
Nesta Tuomey
and documentaries for radio, before turning to novel writing. Her first
novel ‘Up Up And Away’ about air hostesses and pilots in an Irish
airline, her second ‘Like One Of The Family’ a moving family story of
passion, tragedy and love. She is currently working on her third novel,
another exciting airline novel. She has won two short story awards, one
play award. She lives in Dublin with her family.
Nesta has a short story in ‘In the Shadow of the Red Queen’.
www.nestatuomey.com
www.nestatuomey.blogspot.com
Jeannette Towey
http://www.jetowey.com/
http://nihilation-the-book.blogspot.com
http://www.thephantomzone.co.uk/
Lois Tuffield
Lois lives and writes in an old rural farmhouse in western
Following operations to eradicate thyroid cancer, a vocal chord was paralysed and so now her main means of communication is through the written word.
She has submitted several short stories to Bridge House and was delighted when her re-take on Rapunzel was selected for Two sides To Every Story.
Nick White
Nick White is a freelance journalist who enjoys creative writing in his spare time. He is a graduate who writes poetry, short stories and is working on his first novel. Interested in stories which introduce an element of magic into everyday life, he is also a keen reader and writer. His website is www.nick-c-white.co.uk.
Nick has a short story titled ‘The Princess Who Wanted Snow’ in the Children’s Advent 2009 anthology.
Kathryn Wood
Kathryn Wood is 64 years of age and a mother and Grandmother. Since her retirement she has time to concentrate on her writing. She attends two writing workshops, and also enjoys poetry, both writing and reciting her works. She has just had my first short story accepted for publication and it comes out in an anthology this September. At the moment she working on a trilogy of stories for children. The next step, hopefully, for publication. She also loves gardening and, of course, reading.