At the end of 2016 I responded to a short story challenge on an online writing forum. The ‘rules’ for the story were detailed. It had to be about an event in the past that created a motivation in the present, and there must be an object linking the two. It must include one of a limited list of ‘waypoints’, for example an emerald or a storm or an old, battered hat. I had been involved in such challenges before and found that they brought out some good writing. I mulled over ideas and wrote the story between Christmas and New Year. Set on the Norfolk coast, it was about a missing child, a young fossil hunter, a crumbling cliff, and atonement, and I was pleased with it. Twenty months later it won third prize in the Bath Short Story Award. I had already been thinking about turning it into a novel, and in his comments the judge confirmed my sense that this was a possibility. When do you stop feeling guilty for a crime you didn’t commit, and how do you comfort that feeling of guilt? The short story of the same title (published in the Bath Short Story Award Anthology 2018) is told from Adam’s point of view, focusing on his perception of events. The parents of the missing child are mentioned only in one line. When I thought about turning it into a novel, my first question was: “Who is the mother and what impact does this event have on her life?” If she was not only Christian, but in training for the priesthood, this would give me the opportunity to explore how the experience could affect her faith, as well as her family relationships. Once I realised that the emotional heart of the novel was to be found in Rachel’s story, this became the driving force of the book. Both scarred by life, the two women are drawn into an unlikely friendship, but Mary's misfit son Adam is nursing a secret. For Rachel, it will subject her battered faith to its greatest test: will she be strong enough to forgive? trying to save me, but she couldn’t.” (l. 4), “She was gone. I stood shaking, looking at the empty sea. “Help,

not fit in. Whether it is because that person has a physical disability, a mental disability, or is just generally provided to Michael by his mother who he needs to “help him” and “save him" from everything and kept. Michael never told anyone, but he has felt extreme guilt about Hannah’s death for 29 years where he A debut novel, Sea Defences is a gripping read. Set in Holthorpe, Norfolk, it is centred on Rachel, a trainee vicar who is juggling family and work, and already having a wobble as to whether she should become a priest when disaster strikes and her six-year-old daughter goes missing on the beach. protagonist, Michael, who does not quite fit in with the majority of the society and is accused of someoutside while they tell me off about my job (...) and then we get chips and go home.” (ll. 1-3), “Mumma was It is quite special how we as humans can feel so many emotions – and how some of them, such as guilt, can consume our conscience long after the initial incident that triggered that emotion. the price. But they never do.” (ll. 32-33). This quotation shows that Michael feels the need to be comforted negative and sullen imagery in lines 4-12: “There was blood and mud on her face, and her eyes were shut.

Poetry in prose. Written with warmth and wit, this astutely observed study in grief is balanced by an exploration of faith, friendship and love' - Fiona Erskine

Analytical essay

ll. 39-41) and therefore when the police ask about his job, he does not understand why the parents could be concerned about their children when he is present. Join us for a film screening of 'Manatomy' by James McDermott on Sunday 26 February at Ipswich County Library, followed by a Q&A with James and performances of his new poetry! This event is part of LBGTQIA+ History Month at Ipswich County Library. Kendall has struggled with hunger ever since she can remember – hunger for bread, yes, but also for community and for the ability to ‘taste and see’ the goodness of God. In her upcoming book, By Bread Alone, she weaves her own faith-filled journey together with original recipes and stories about the role of bread in church history, revealing a God who draws near to us and creatively provides for our daily needs. It did not occur to me to pitch to a Christian publisher because my target readership is wider than that. And, as you say, although the main character is Christian, I don’t think anyone would describe this as ‘Christian fiction’. I’m delighted that my publisher views the theme of faith as a worthwhile one.

Hilary Taylor is a graduate of Edinburgh University and lives in Suffolk, where she taught for almost twenty years. She has five grown-up children and, at the last count, eight grandchildren. Her short fiction has been published in magazines and anthologies and she was the winner of the Bridport Prize for Flash Fiction in 2022.In the short story, the main character is the fossil hunter, and the main relationship is between him and his mother. The parents of the missing child appear in only a few lines, but I began to ask questions about them, particularly about the mother. Who was she? How did this event affect her? What did she do? What about her family? What if she had a religious faith? She became Rachel, a trainee priest, and I began to develop ideas about her story arc, and those of my other two main characters – Adam and his mother, Mary. There are snippets of the latter part of the story dropped into earlier chapters – I found it totally fascinating (but it also took me a while to work out what was going on). Could you explain how and why you decided to do that? For more Norfolk-based literary fiction we can recommend The Listeners by Edward Parnell but we don't think it's as good as Sea Defences. Join local author Ruth Leigh for a special talk at Framlingham Library on Tuesday 7 February on how a freelancer turned to fiction!