Maggie Womersley
@maggiewomersley.bsky.social
Writer - Young Adult, NA, Middle Grade/ Winner of Cheshire Novel Prize for Kids 2023/ Undiscovered Voices Deputy Chair/ CNP 2024 Judge/ Likes Spooky stuff, quirky brain science, making dolls and doll houses (don't judge me).
Hands Up who leaves entering competitions til the very last minute??!! Me! Me Me! When I entered this comp in 2023, I totally left it until the last couple of days - as always! But it was worth it! And now it's your chance. If you're a SCBWI member, you're eligible -and anyone can join SCBWI.
September 2, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Hands Up who leaves entering competitions til the very last minute??!! Me! Me Me! When I entered this comp in 2023, I totally left it until the last couple of days - as always! But it was worth it! And now it's your chance. If you're a SCBWI member, you're eligible -and anyone can join SCBWI.
August 25, 2025 at 6:38 AM
On the occasion of the anniversary of her birth I would like to apologise to Beatrix Potter for writing this horribly rude letter to the Telegraph (🤭) when I was 18. Sorry Bea, you're a rockstar of the kids lit world, I know better now. (But I never liked the ballet, to be fair)
July 28, 2025 at 5:58 PM
On the occasion of the anniversary of her birth I would like to apologise to Beatrix Potter for writing this horribly rude letter to the Telegraph (🤭) when I was 18. Sorry Bea, you're a rockstar of the kids lit world, I know better now. (But I never liked the ballet, to be fair)
I joined the London Library recently which means I can dig into their newspaper archives. Where I found my letter to the Telegraph that I wrote when I was 18. What an insufferable prig I sound. But considering what I do now, kind of prescient. And check out my brilliant idea for #ladybirdbooks
July 24, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I joined the London Library recently which means I can dig into their newspaper archives. Where I found my letter to the Telegraph that I wrote when I was 18. What an insufferable prig I sound. But considering what I do now, kind of prescient. And check out my brilliant idea for #ladybirdbooks
Back to my old Stepney stomping grounds for a brill day of Editing advice from the great @authorsaragrant.bsky.social You can NEVER have too many hot editing tips, right? We were at the Limehouse Library Hotel which has this cool author wall. It was fab to meet fellow writers in the flesh, too.
July 20, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Back to my old Stepney stomping grounds for a brill day of Editing advice from the great @authorsaragrant.bsky.social You can NEVER have too many hot editing tips, right? We were at the Limehouse Library Hotel which has this cool author wall. It was fab to meet fellow writers in the flesh, too.
Now this is how I like to receive my book post - tied with a ribbon and with a bookmark included. I've had some stressy times recently so this beauty promises to be balm for the soul. Thank you @bertsbooks.bsky.social #whattoread #bookpost #churches #wandering
July 3, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Now this is how I like to receive my book post - tied with a ribbon and with a bookmark included. I've had some stressy times recently so this beauty promises to be balm for the soul. Thank you @bertsbooks.bsky.social #whattoread #bookpost #churches #wandering
Undiscovered Voices launches today - A unique competition for unpublished authors of kids and YA fiction. 12 Winners will receive mentoring, a Getting Discovered workshop in London, invitation to the launch party, introductions to agents and editors and publication in the UV 26 anthology. #kidslit
July 3, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Undiscovered Voices launches today - A unique competition for unpublished authors of kids and YA fiction. 12 Winners will receive mentoring, a Getting Discovered workshop in London, invitation to the launch party, introductions to agents and editors and publication in the UV 26 anthology. #kidslit
When your friend who works in publishing comes to stay for the weekend and brings book gifts! 😍
June 21, 2025 at 11:35 AM
When your friend who works in publishing comes to stay for the weekend and brings book gifts! 😍
Have just realised that in all four of the novels I've written there is a pivotal scene set in a cemetery. Atmospheric trope or lazy cliche? Dunno.
June 4, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Have just realised that in all four of the novels I've written there is a pivotal scene set in a cemetery. Atmospheric trope or lazy cliche? Dunno.
What a lot of kids may look like as they come out of their SATS this month/GCSE text in the English language paper.
May 23, 2025 at 11:27 AM
What a lot of kids may look like as they come out of their SATS this month/GCSE text in the English language paper.
I'm spending today in the garden reading and judging the short-listed novels for the kids Cheshire Novel Prize @saranaidinecox.bsky.social. Some brilliant and original new voices in these 9 books - so exciting! Someone bring me some hand-squeezed iced lemonade! #kidslit #writingcompetitions
May 16, 2025 at 12:08 PM
I'm spending today in the garden reading and judging the short-listed novels for the kids Cheshire Novel Prize @saranaidinecox.bsky.social. Some brilliant and original new voices in these 9 books - so exciting! Someone bring me some hand-squeezed iced lemonade! #kidslit #writingcompetitions
If you're an unpublished writer of Kids Lit you might want to enter the @uvcompetition.bsky.social from @scbwi-bi.bsky.social The Comp launches on Thursday 22nd May with a free event to meet the judges - register FREE here www.tickettailor.com/events/socie.... Please share to your writer friends.
April 24, 2025 at 5:13 PM
If you're an unpublished writer of Kids Lit you might want to enter the @uvcompetition.bsky.social from @scbwi-bi.bsky.social The Comp launches on Thursday 22nd May with a free event to meet the judges - register FREE here www.tickettailor.com/events/socie.... Please share to your writer friends.
FREE Writing competition launch event! Join the six @uvcompetition.bsky.social judges on May 22nd as they reveal what they're hoping to discover from the next round of the highly regarded @scbwi-bi.bsky.social Competition for unpublished writers of kids/YA lit. See the UV website for more details!
April 24, 2025 at 8:24 AM
FREE Writing competition launch event! Join the six @uvcompetition.bsky.social judges on May 22nd as they reveal what they're hoping to discover from the next round of the highly regarded @scbwi-bi.bsky.social Competition for unpublished writers of kids/YA lit. See the UV website for more details!
Hello fellow writers for kids! If you're unagented and unpublished then @scbwi-bi.bsky.social are running an amazing competition that could launch your career. I'll be going on about it a lot as I'm one of the volunteer organisers. 1st Big Date for your diary is the FREE online launch - May 22nd.
April 22, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Hello fellow writers for kids! If you're unagented and unpublished then @scbwi-bi.bsky.social are running an amazing competition that could launch your career. I'll be going on about it a lot as I'm one of the volunteer organisers. 1st Big Date for your diary is the FREE online launch - May 22nd.
I'm also spending the morning reading and then sewing this PM. I'm reading this by Gemma Fairclough - an intriguing story about a young academic who buys a one-way ticket from the UK to Alaska to join with bears. Written as a fable within a 'found document' kind of format, that I really like.
March 24, 2025 at 9:46 AM
I'm also spending the morning reading and then sewing this PM. I'm reading this by Gemma Fairclough - an intriguing story about a young academic who buys a one-way ticket from the UK to Alaska to join with bears. Written as a fable within a 'found document' kind of format, that I really like.
Four different trains to get to Bishops Castle in Shropshire. Visiting my Dad who just happens to live in the same street as the marvellous @poetrypharmacy.bsky.social which is wrapped about by the most beautiful countryside. The town hall bell gently chiming through the night to keep me company.
March 14, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Four different trains to get to Bishops Castle in Shropshire. Visiting my Dad who just happens to live in the same street as the marvellous @poetrypharmacy.bsky.social which is wrapped about by the most beautiful countryside. The town hall bell gently chiming through the night to keep me company.
Hello Spring!
February 28, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Hello Spring!
The place where I write. Normally this room is really dark because it faces North East and is sunken down to below the level of the garden. But for about an hour is gets all the afternoon sun. This picture shows how I work surrounded by domestic detritus - and the cat's 'basky'.
February 28, 2025 at 2:21 PM
The place where I write. Normally this room is really dark because it faces North East and is sunken down to below the level of the garden. But for about an hour is gets all the afternoon sun. This picture shows how I work surrounded by domestic detritus - and the cat's 'basky'.
Perfect Valentine's Day ahead for me - coffee in my new @emmapuddickpottery.bsky.social mug, mini-eggs, and a stack of books with the darker side of love in mind. I read 'My Sister, the Serial Killer' in one sitting - so delicious! And I'm midway through Penance and loving it so far.
February 14, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Perfect Valentine's Day ahead for me - coffee in my new @emmapuddickpottery.bsky.social mug, mini-eggs, and a stack of books with the darker side of love in mind. I read 'My Sister, the Serial Killer' in one sitting - so delicious! And I'm midway through Penance and loving it so far.
I love hand-sewing! If I'm not writing, I'm sewing. A stitch and word feel very akin to me. Here's what I made last week. hand-stitched tape-measure holders with a hyacinth lid. Each pot contains a coiled up tape-measure inside. Wish I could join you in Orkney.
February 3, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I love hand-sewing! If I'm not writing, I'm sewing. A stitch and word feel very akin to me. Here's what I made last week. hand-stitched tape-measure holders with a hyacinth lid. Each pot contains a coiled up tape-measure inside. Wish I could join you in Orkney.
I'm privileged to be the Deputy Chair of the Undiscovered Voices competition which exists to find new voices in #kidslit writing. I benefited massively from the scheme myself last year so it's a thrill to be involved in the next edition. Find out more here - www.undiscoveredvoices.com
January 24, 2025 at 1:06 PM
I'm privileged to be the Deputy Chair of the Undiscovered Voices competition which exists to find new voices in #kidslit writing. I benefited massively from the scheme myself last year so it's a thrill to be involved in the next edition. Find out more here - www.undiscoveredvoices.com
I LOVE that the fabulous McNally Jackson bookstore in Manhattan has areas for all ages - including Picture Books, Lower Grade, Middle Grade, Upper Grade and YA. And such a great offering in all the sections, and they merge together really well so that you don't feel confined by a section. #bookstore
January 6, 2025 at 2:32 PM
I LOVE that the fabulous McNally Jackson bookstore in Manhattan has areas for all ages - including Picture Books, Lower Grade, Middle Grade, Upper Grade and YA. And such a great offering in all the sections, and they merge together really well so that you don't feel confined by a section. #bookstore
My favourite New York cat story in my new favourite New York bookshop - McNally Jacckson
January 3, 2025 at 8:43 PM
My favourite New York cat story in my new favourite New York bookshop - McNally Jacckson
I love that there are so many of them -and more to come in 2025, I hear. Including one on midsummers, I believe. In this collection you get The Sandman, Daphne du Maurier, Angela Carter, Agatha Christie, joan Aitkin, M.R.James and Brian Aldis, and many more!
December 24, 2024 at 3:48 PM
I love that there are so many of them -and more to come in 2025, I hear. Including one on midsummers, I believe. In this collection you get The Sandman, Daphne du Maurier, Angela Carter, Agatha Christie, joan Aitkin, M.R.James and Brian Aldis, and many more!