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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Toyboys, Theatres & Cocktails

Kind of a Good News/Bad News week which has given me pause for thought and made me believe strongly in the power of karma and the unrelenting power of family genes.    Good News I’ve been asked to be a regular contributor to a dating site as a kind of “Relationship & Dating Expert”.  The […]

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How my life disproves writer’s block

When you talk with writers both successful and struggling one of the (many) things we will always say is that “material can come from anywhere and everywhere”.  We might say it in different ways or add overly colourful metaphors to it, but it all boils down to the same thing.  A good story can come

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Sometimes you have to be bad

I received some negative feedback on a story I’d been commissioned to write recently.  After I’d finished swearing, crying, throwing notepads and books across the room, drinking, passing out and sobering up…I realised something.  Sometimes you have to write terribly. When I was able to go back and look at the feedback I had been

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Having a ‘To Do’ List could save your life

Having a ‘to do’ list saves my life practically every day.  I find that if I don’t have one I end up starting the day with a vague idea of what it is I want to do and need to do, but in reality end up doing fuck all.     I know because I

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Retreat from the Chaos: Urban Writer’s Retreat

What do the majority of writers have in common?  We’re self-indulgent, miserable fuckers half the time and single-minded obsessed sociopaths the other half.  To hang out with us is like walking on hot coals.  If you don’t look down, you won’t get burnt but the moment you do is the moment you realise the soles

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