Words on a Page

  Portsmouth and its environs have inspired an impressive number of well-known writers over the years, and the area continues to be a hub of creative activity for writers of every persuasion.  The Portsmouth Authors Collective was created to promote the work of the city’s current crop of authors, and this series of interviews offers a glimpse into what they're doing. Author Bio: Helen Salsbury’s debut novel, Sometimes When I Sleep , was published in 2021. Her fiction has been published in anthologies, and shortlisted and longlisted for a number of prizes, including the Mslexia novel competition. She’s a trained community journalist and the founder of the environmental writing platform Pens of the Earth . ~ Loree: We’ve known each other for a number of years now, and have exchanged feedback on our WIPs from time to time, but I don’t know a great deal about your journey as a fiction writer. When did you begin writing stories? Helen: I have a box in the attic of the stories

ThePortsmouth Authors Collective includes authors from all genres of fiction and non-fiction books, including a number of Science Fiction/Fantasy authors. This week, I am pleased to be interviewing the first of these SSF authors, Wendy Metcalfe, a prolific short story writer, and the author of the novels Panthera: Death Song and Panthera: Death Spiral . Author’s Bio: Wendy Metcalfe is a science fiction and fantasy writer. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Portsmouth, and is Chairwoman of Havant and District Writers' Circle. She regularly performs her work with spoken word group T'Articulation, and is a regular panellist at science fiction conventions. ~ Loree: Thanks for joining me, Wendy. We’ve known each other for quite a few years, now, but there’s so I’m glad to have the opportunity to find out more about you and your writing—so thanks for agreeing to the interview. I’m interested in how people first came to writing, and I believe you used