Extracts from early drafts of Mistress of the Sea have been shortlisted for two national awards: The Willesden Herald International Short Story Award and the Short Story Radio First Chapter Award.

(In the picture I’m with Rana Dasgupta, the adjudicator for the WHI Short Story Award at the Costa, Piccadilly, with (from left to right) Claudia Boers, Margot Taylor, Jill Widner and Lane Ashfeldt of Pulp.Net)