Detox | Writing News

It’s always nice to be able to share a piece of good news…

I attended the Scottish Association of Writers 2026 Conference last weekend, and was delighted to receive second place in the Constable Silver Stag competition for the general novel, judged by the fantastic Anne Hamilton.

‘Detox’, a novel I’ve been working on for some time, is pencilled in for being complete in early 2027, and it was fantastic to get some positive feedback on the draft and to know what I need to go and work on. The elevator pitch is as follows:

Abandoned and starving at a remote therapeutic lighthouse retreat, Becca must uncover the awful truth of her captivity before fear and betrayal tear her fellow survivors apart.

I shall keep working away at the drafts, but it was nice to hear that I might be on the right track in the meantime.

Thanks for reading folks. Recent short stories include ‘Shift‘ and ‘The End of the Day‘.

Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, Best MicroFiction 2021, Writer’s Egg, Idle Ink, The Wild Word, Down in the Dirt, and Shooter magazine. He has a Professional Doctorate in Education. Matthew blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com.