Hi Reader,

Autumn is here, which means it's the best time to cosy up and work on your writing projects. Whether you're gearing up for Novel November (or some other unofficial term for writing 50,000 words in one month), working on short stories, or editing what you've already put down on the page, we hope it's all going well.

Story Contest News

Our annual contest is just about ready to wrap up! We are now in the final stages of voting, so if you haven't cast your votes yet make sure to do so before the end of the week. Your deadline is 23:59 on Sunday evening, so don't delay!

Vote in the 2025 Story Contest

We hope to see you at the awards evening as well, on November 20th at 19:30, either in person in The Leather Exchange pub, or online on Discord. You can grab tickets for either in-person or online attendance of the event here.

The Organising Team Expands!

A big warm welcome to our new Critiques & Events Organisers joining the team: Jon Page, Bex/FR Darke, and Esper (Richard) Yu will be organising online critiques, in-person write-togethers, and more fun stuff for you all in the coming months.

Upcoming Events

Our next in-person critique is live! Join us on November 4th for a pint and two short story critiques at The Leather Exchange pub near London Bridge. Register here

Publication News Corner

Our beloved segment featuring recent publications by Spectrum members. Got one for us? Let us know in the #community-news channel on Discord!

• Mirko Vintar is organising a series of write-ins at the Waterstones in Hampstead during November. Find the details in the #novel-in-a-month channel on Discord, and hopefully see you there!
• Isobel Mackenzie has a new story, "Conveyance", out in the latest issue of Luna Station Quarterly.
• Stephen Oram has a story in the Creative Futures anthology from Flame Tree Press, and was a guest on a video podcast talking about the future of data on Substack.
• Organiser Janey Morecroft ran a half marathon for St John's Hospice a couple of weeks ago, and you can still contribute to her fundraiser.

• A few of us are planning to attend the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton at the end of the week. Catch panel items featuring Karin J Robinson, Juliet Kemp, and organisers Kat Kourbeti and Ana Sun, and stay in the loop on the #fantasycon channel on Discord for in-person meetups, panels worth catching up on, and more.

That's all from us today! Until next time, may the Force (...of good writing) be with you, and hope to see you at one of our events soon.

With gentle encouragement,
​The Spectrum Writers London Organising Team