Hooray! All our beta users will be able to take a look at the CompletelyNovel Launch Anthology, which is now available to view and buy on CompletelyNovel.
Many thanks to our winners Ally Crockford, Alistair Daniel, Keira L. Dickinson, Michael Forester, Rhys Griffiths, Ania Leslie-Wujastyk, R. M. Morrison, Mark Spencer, Rob Stringer, Damien Warburton and Amanda Weeks for their fantastic contributions.

Here’s what the anthology is all about…

An anthology of brand new short stories to celebrate the launch of CompletelyNovel.com.

CompletelyNovel are proud to present twelve imaginative, humorous and innovative short stories written by talented new writers.

And now for something completely different…

This anthology contains the winning entries of CompletelyNovel’s launch competition, asking for stories inspired by the phrase ‘And now for something completely different.’ From recipes for retributive risotto and involuntary ventriloquism to pea psychology and the history of noncommitalism, the published entries are great examples of the wealth of innovative story-telling that is out there.

Edited my members of the Society of Young Publishers.

Despite being accustomed to a typical industry timescale of around two years to take a book from concept to printm these open-minded individuals rose to the challenge, putting it all together in just two months! Using the publishing methods available on CompletelyNovel, they declared it:
“A brilliantly simple process which has really challenged our traditional views on how publishing has to be done. In a publishing world that’s become more and more slick and technological by the day, we were quick to discover that CompletelyNovel’s finger was well and truly on the pulse of change.”

If you would like to read the anthology but you’re not yet signed up to CompletelyNovel.com then just pop over to our home page to sign up.

And here’s a bit more information about the winners…

Ally Crockford was born a healthy baby boy in 1862 in Leicester, England. At the age of three, tumors began to develop all over her body, leading her to exhibit her deformity under the stage name “The Elephant Man”. In 1985 she was reborn a slightly dazed little girl, and muddled her way to Edinburgh, where, in 2008, she published a short story.

Alistair Daniel has an MA in Creative Writing from Goldsmiths College, University of London. He has held the Charles Pick Fellowship at the University of East Anglia and is currently completing his first novel, ‘Augustan’. Two of his short stories will appear soon in The Stinging Fly and Stand.

Keira L. Dickinson works for the Oxford University Press as a production editor of academic titles she reads in the downtime. Her work to date involves a lot of half started magic realist novels, a few published short stories, and a children’s book about a cat, an old man, and a fish called Winkles that rolls across the surface of the world.

Michael Forester is a deaf writer living in the New Forest. He commenced writing in the 1980s. Since the turn of the millennium Michael has written poetry, fiction and mind body spirit works. His third book, If it wasn’t for that dog, about his first year with his hearing dog, Matt, will be published just before Christmas 2008.

Rhys Griffiths currently resides in Oxford where he works for a publishing company as an editorial assistant. He is also studying a Creative Writing masters at Oxford Brookes University. Originally from Liverpool, his background lies in Theology, comics and triathlons and one day he hopes to combine all three in some significant way. He’s not Welsh.

Ania Leslie-Wujastyk has loved writing stories since she was a child. She completed a BA in English Literature and an MA in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Sussex. Losing My Voice was performed on stage by Sussex students. Ania is an Editorial Assistant at Continuum International Publishing Group.

Not much is known about R.M.Morrison, least of all his first two names. Born in 1982, he has spent most of his adulthood travelling in search of inspiration. From Wales to Washington, Mexico to Merseyside, Morrison has lived and blended into different cultures. After finally settling in Liverpool, he writes regularly for BadFormat! magazine and is Enter Publications chief copywriter.

Mark Spencer was born in the summer of 2008 in Oxford outside a boxercise class. He hails from the Midlands and the South Coast. He has four university degrees between himself, likes graphic novels and guitars, enjoys mornings, dislikes mornings and is twice the man you’ll ever be.

While attempting to work what to do with himself, Rob Stringer has studied classical civilisation, creative and media writing, worked with hackers, priests, metal powders, corpses, and in a castle. He’s written plays, composed a musical, bungee jumped naked, hitchhiked to Morocco, dived with sharks, learnt the recorder and likes profiteroles.

Damien Warburton only started writing this year and has until now hidden behind a pseudonym. This is the first story published under his real name. Soon to be added on CompletelyNovel.com are a new novel about a romance conceived in a maternity ward and an endless stream of short stories.

Amanda Weeks has had many short stories published in anthologies. Her first collection, Tracy’s Tits and Other Stories is out now and is available from Amazon. Her Welsh-language screenplay Catastroffi was broadcast on S4C in 2005. She won the Welsh Poetry Prize in 2007. Amanda lives with husband Carlos and son Travis in Pontypridd.

A big thankyou to Alan Crompton, Amy Jackson, Jo Godfrey, Kate Hind, Kate Walker, Claire Williams and Kate Leech, the members of the Society of Young Publishers who selected the winners and produced the Anthology, and also massive thanks to Amanda Leduc, who has helped coordinate and move the project along from start to finish. Many thanks to Charlotte Dobbs too, who designed the cover. All the work done on the Launch Anthology was as an extra-curricular activity on top of very hectic schedules so it is much appreciated!