Author name: John Allen

John is an award winning science fiction, horror and fantasy writer. He is also a public speaker and consultant and has worked with Time to Change - a campaign to end mental health stigma - and for Wellment - an organisation that delivers mental health at work training. He loves science fiction, fantasy and horror stories and novels. His work has appeared in Vector Magazine, Ink Pantry, Sci-Fi Bloggers, The Huffington Post and more. His short fantasy "Thanks for Applying" won an Honourable Mention Award in the Writers of the Future competition in 2017. HIs short horror "By the Boiler's Hand" was longlisted for the 2018 James White Award and won an Honourable Mention in the Writers of the Future competiton the same year. John has spoken at several events including the Nine Worlds Geekfest in London, Bristol Con 2018, and the Moorfields NHS Trust. He has delivered masterclasses on ending mental health stigma in the workplace for Time to Change. He lives with his wife and a pile of books in the UK.

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Keeping it Short

Short stories; the challenge of any prose writer in any genre.  Short stories (if written well) are every bit as engaging as a novel or 3+ hour film (Peter Jackson take note).  Being short you’d be forgiven for thinking that makes them easier to write.  They’re not.  A decent short story is incredibly hard to […]

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The Wheel Metaphor

What makes us human? If an alien asked that question to a dozen different people on the planet, he’d probably shake his head (assuming he had one and assuming he was even a he) in confusion and go home.  It’s rare that you get a simple straight answer to that question.  People have different views

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John’s stop on the Writing Process Blogging Tour

As part of The Writing Process Blogging Tour, I’ve been asked by Lotte Lane – Writer, Awesomeiser & Chronic Over Sharer (her words not mine) to talk about what my writing process is.   To be honest I’m not fond of the term “Writing Process”.  It makes my work – and for me writing is

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The Dangers of Honest Blogging

I have been given a brutally honest awakening about the dangers of being…well…so brutally honest.   It’s hard to admit when you’re wrong.  I don’t know anyone who can casually sail through life allowing criticism to bounce off them harmlessly.  Writers and artists in particular can find it really hard to take criticism.  But to

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