Hello, and welcome.
I’m delighted that you have found your way to my Substack publication. This is for you if you’re devoted to short fiction, love longer-form literary fiction (novels and novellas), and enthralled by essays of a personal, reflective and critical nature about all things literary. It’s also for you if you enjoy peering through the window of the writer’s life.
About Me
I’m Claire Ladds, a UK author of literary fiction and short stories, and have also written six psychological fiction/suspense books. All of my work has a strong emotional pull.
I’ve been a writer since 2006, when my first short story won first prize in a competition. But my literary aspirations began way back before then. When I was seven, I made a book out of blank newspaper sheets and sewed the pages together with red wool. Inside, I wrote, ‘I want to be an authoress’. Writing is all I’ve ever wanted to do, and I feel very fortunate to be able pen stories and create the work of my heart.
In my fiction, I tend to find myself returning frequently to writing about love, complex and difficult relationships, memory, grief and other forms of loss, regardless of genre. When I released my first short story collection, The Reason for Everything, I was dubbed ‘Mistress of Melancholy’ by a wonderful reader. I’ve always found it very fitting for my work.
You can find out more about all my books on my website.
Stay in Monthly Contact
I publish multiple times a month to the Substack app rather than emailing you with every post, as I appreciate that people’s email inboxes get overloaded. I, therefore, send out my newsletter monthly to subscribers, in which I point you towards everything I’ve written here for that month, along with other literary musings.
Always FREE: Literary Fiction, Literary Life
What will you find inside my publication?
My short stories. Some are previously published and some brand new, together with ‘Author’s Notes’ preceding the story itself. If you enjoy discovering more about my inspirations, writing process and other nuances of the story itself, then the ‘Author Notes’ are for you. If not, then skip them and scroll down to the story itself.
Serialised fiction. Over time, there will be a range of literary and contemporary fiction, some released here first, prior to book-format publication. To begin with, I hope you will delve deep into The Secrets That Haunt Us, a literary novel about a fractured family and the devastation the past brings to the present lives of four people. The novel is set on one day in March, 1970 (the Women’s Liberation March in London, England).
Literary Life: Essays and Reflections. Personal, reflective essays and critical pieces on books, themes in fiction which fascinate and move me, and personal responses to a life steeped in all things literary.
The Writer’s Window. A glimpse inside my writerly world (probably while I’m staring out of a window and gathering ideas for a story). Behind-the-scenes of my writing and publishing.
