#LFOW26 Workshop Resources

Just last year, Kate Emilie was in your shoes attending the London Festival of Writing. She won the Friday Night Live Festival writing competition with her entry, which went on to be a standout YA novel at Frankfurt Book Fair. She shares her journey to inspire and motivate you to keep pushing on.

Kate Emilie is the author of the upcoming YA speculative novel, Seven Dishes to Fall in Love, set for publication July 2027 with Random House Children’s Books in the US and HarperCollins in the UK.

Zoë Richards shares a combination of mindset tools and editing tips that help you conquer overwhelm during the editing process. Zoë will share this approach with you, take you through her 3 key elements, and show you how you can prepare your work in progress for querying.

Zoë Richards is a coach and the author of two feelgood novels, Garden of Her Heart (2024), and Tell It To The Bees (2025) which is a Good Housekeeping Magazine ‘Good Books’ Readers’ Favourite.

SFF allows writers to bring us to new worlds or re-examine our own in a different way. This actionable workshop will help sci-fi and fantasy authors decide on the ‘rules’ of their world and help them ensure the fantastical elements of their story feel real to the reader.

Marvellous Michael Anson is a fantasy writer and award-winning filmmaker, author of Firstborn of the Sun and its upcoming sequel (2026), and serves as Outreach and Inclusion Coordinator for the British Fantasy Society.

How should you structure your novel? Whether you’re a planner or a ‘pantser’, this workshop explores different approaches to shaping your novel. Structure can emerge at any stage of the writing process. Whether you’re just starting out, halfway through a draft, or have finished and need to strengthen your story, we will look at different planning methods and help you find one which is right for you.

Catherine Cooper is a Sunday Times bestselling author of six destination thrillers published by Harper Collins. She lives in the South of France.

Join Rowan to learn how to create red-hot relationships that your readers will fall in love with in this fun, informative and inspirational workshop about putting passion on the page, where you’ll participate in exercises that explore strategies and tools to write chemistry that sizzles!

Rowan Coleman is the Sunday Times bestselling and award-winning author of 16 epic romance novels and also writes romantic comedy under the name Stella Hayward.

Learn how to hook your readers immediately with this workshop focused on those tricky openings. Explore the tips and tricks to engage readers and make them want more.

Becca Day is a bestselling author of crime fiction. The Girl Beyond The Gate was an instant Amazon bestseller and her exploration of the dark side of families has continued into the rest of her novels. Aside from writing, she is also Head of Membership & Marketing and Festival Director at Jericho Writers.

We’ll explore ways to create a rich, believable and enticing world for young readers to step into. The physical landscape matters, of course – which is why maps are so popular in children’s books – but but so too do ‘cultural treasures’ ranging from lullabies to recipes, festivals to greetings. Whether your story takes place in the past, the present or a fantasy space, bring your imagination and let’s get world-building!

With a Masters and PhD in Creative Writing, Kate Lee is an award-winning author and an experienced mentor, editor and coach with a special interest in children’s literature.

Explore how to write literary and upmarket fiction. We’ll discuss what it is, what sets it apart from other genres, and how you might go about writing a literary or upmarket novel.

Dr Yvonne Battle‑Felton is an award‑winning author, academic, podcaster, host, and creative producer. She is Academic Director of Creative Writing at Cambridge University and a former Commissioning Editor at John Murray. Her novels Remembered and Curdle Creek have earned major literary achievements.

Regardless of genre, it’s crucial that your book has a strong pitch and that you’re able to get that pitch across to an agent effectively. This workshop will cover how to pitch your book in your submission to agents as well as at live events, and how to make sure you’re getting across your book’s strengths in a marketable way.

Laura Williams began her career at PFD in 2011 before joining Greene & Heaton as a literary agent in 2018. She works across genres in adult fiction from literary to upmarket to commercial. Laura also frequently offers Agent One-to-One sessions with Jericho Writers.

 Laura also frequently offers Agent One-to-One sessions with Jericho Writers.

Whether you are writing a memoir or narrative non-fiction, the people in your book need to come to life for the reader. In this workshop, Claire Gillman shares ways to create distinct characters in your narrative, how to make ‘real people’ engaging, and touches on the ethics of depicting people you know as characters.

Claire Gillman is an experienced editor and writer. She’s written over 31 books including three books in the Hodder Teach Yourself series on how to get published. She’s coached many authors and run writers’ workshops, always with the emphasis on fun, style and discovering your inner creativity.

If you’ve ever been asked, ‘Where do you get your ideas?’, or wondered where your favourite authors get theirs, or how they go from that initial spark to fleshing it out — then you’ve come to the right place! We’ll examine why ‘waiting for inspiration’ might be a waste of time, how to quiet our ‘inner critics’, when to know which idea is the right one, and how to play to your strengths when following your inspiration.

E.L. Norry is an author, screenwriter, editor and mentor and has written for Eastenders. She writes MG fiction and non-fiction for children. Her latest two novels Runaways (2025) and Outlaws (July 2026) are published by Bloomsbury.

Create authentic characters readers relate to, trust and – where needed – fear. Learn how to build believable protagonists, villains and a supporting cast for crime and thriller novels. Expect clear frameworks, examples, and hands-on exercises you can apply immediately to your work in progress or novel you are aching to write.

Former detective, Graham Bartlett, is a best-selling crime writer, the police/ crime advisor to around 200 authors and TV companies and a Jericho mentor, running their Crime and Thriller courses.

Join Sophie Flynn to learn how to end your novel with a bang. Good endings linger in the reader’s mind long after the final page so come along to learn more about delivering an excellent conclusion.

With an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford Brookes, Sophie Flynn is the author of five psychological thrillers; All My Lies (Simon & Schuster, 2021), Keep Them Close (Hera, 2022), If They Knew (Hera, 2022), What Stays Unsaid (Hera, 2024), and The Other Miss Jones (Hera, 2025). Sophie is also the Managing Director at Jericho Writers.

The best historical fiction transcends its genre and catches the attention of general readers – even those who think they hate history! Immersive settings, compelling characters and story lines that resonate across centuries are the starting point. In this workshop, we’ll look at recent examples that have achieved this and how, and talk about how you can turn your hist fic idea into a ‘must-read’ for today.

Annie Garthwaite is the author of two novels set in 15th century England. Her first, Cecily, is a Sunday Times ‘top pick’, a ‘Best Book’, and optioned for TV. She came to writing after 30 years in business.

Based on Jericho Writer’s longest-running online course, from which more than 100 alumni have gone on to be published, this session will teach you how to self-edit your manuscript. We’ll be covering structure, plot, pace, character, and all the elements of your prose style, including voice, POV, show and tell and much more.

Debi Alper is the author of five novels and runs the highly successful Self-Edit Your Novel course, together with Emma Darwin.

How do you write for a teen audience? We’ll explore what makes fabulous YA, looking at plot, character and voices. Learn how to craft strong, relatable characters, how to weave in important themes, and how to shape stories that resonate with young readers. Whether you’re just starting out or refining a work in progress, this workshop will help you bring your YA story to life.

Philip Womack is a critically acclaimed writer. His most recent book, Ghostlord, was Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week. He has also written for adults.