It’s often said that you have to read to write and I have always enjoyed reading. My life has been influenced and enriched by books and there are many writers that I admire. Certain books have been a frame of reference throughout my life and have helped me to navigate many difficult times.
Although I recognised my own ability to make words work, reading wonderful books written by great authors actually prevented me from writing for an audience for a long time.
I am a carer and a single mum living in Wales and it was an opportunity to submit a short story to the BBC about my disabled son, Howard, that encouraged me to overcome the fear of not being ‘good enough’ to write about him and our lives together.
It wasn’t published but I continued to write for pleasure and more recently submitted a short story to an online magazine. I was amazed when they wanted to use it and this gave me the confidence to decide to share and celebrate my writing success with friends.
I am not searching for literary acclaim and have no ambition to be anything other than a fledgling writer but I hope that you enjoy my stories. You can contact me via email juliejulesdaley@yahoo.co.uk
Thank you, Julie x
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Howard
In 2010 I submitted this story to the BBC who were running a short story competition entitled My Story. I entered this under their heading of ‘Achievement’. This was the first piece of writing that I had the confidence to… Continue reading
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Homecoming
I found this story relatively easy to write. I lived in London and remember the excitement and romance of the city at night. I submitted the story to the online magazine Shorts and it was published in Autumn 2022. It… Continue reading
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The Wedding
This is the sequel to ‘Homecoming’ and it took a long time to construct. Even before I finished writing the story I knew that I couldn’t abandon the main character to her fate. I hope to complete the trilogy by… Continue reading
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