Alison Wells Author

Head Above Water – Writing, Headspace, Creativity, Verve

Head Above Water Blog – Writing, Headspace, Creativity, Verve

  • Head Above Water Blog: My Debut short story collection Random Acts of Optimism released September 2023!

    Fantastic news: September publication of my debut short story collection! Readers of the Head above Water blog will have followed my story since 2009 of writing endeavours, resilience and persistence, shortlists and near misses. I have written alongside raising a family, challenging circumstances, a new job in public libraries and a Masters by night in

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  • Explore! Be Brave! New Planet Cabaret

    New Planet Cabaret is a brand new flash fiction and poetry anthology full of experimental, wacky, way out and deep in observations, playing with rhythm and beat, irony and satire, postmodern memes and themes and good old fashioned storytelling. Some pieces are self-referential, from Freddy and Jam-Jam Head to Outguard that takes apart narrative and

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  • Dr Who 50th

    Extrastellar Excitment! Will be heading to the cinema later with the whole family to see the 50th anniversary Doctor Who in 3D. Geronimo! For more Doctor Who related amusement see http://www.myinflatabledalek.blogspot,ie for the domestic adventures of My Inflatable Dalek such as this   

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  • My secret life with an inflatable Dalek

    You think you know someone but then you discover they have this whole secret life you never imagined. Given the week that’s in it (for non Doctor Who fans, the 50th anniversary episode airs on BBC on Saturday and we have cinema tickets for the 3D version, Woohoo!) I decided to draw attention to one

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  • Short story hub and Strictly Critical

    My youngest is six today and I became the mother of a teenager on Tuesday. I have a party to organise now so I’ll just leave you with a few links. In a recent post on writing.ie I talk about criticism and why tough judges like Craig Revel Horward on Strictly Come Dancing aren’t necessarily

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  • Of Dublin and Other Fictions by Nuala Ni Chonchuir Review and Interview

    Being a flash fiction aficionado it was my pleasure to be able to review Nuala Ní Chonchúir’s chapbook of tiny fictions Of Dublin and other fictions. Published by Tower Press in the USA it consists of eleven flash fiction gems. What I particularly love about Ní Chonchúir’s writing in general and this collection in particular

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  • #fridayflash Anise Fish and Colin behind the Glass

    #FridayFlash (check it out, anyone can do it) as I’ve said many times before has been the single most important influence and inspiration for me in my writing development over the last few years, since I began calling myself a writer, writing everyday and striving to say things that were important to me but to

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  • James Claffey’s Blood a Cold Blue

    Dear folks, I just wanted to let you know about a wonderful new short collection by Irish native and writing pal James Claffey. I first read, and was immediately impressed by James Claffeys’ gorgeous and unusual writing on the peer review and fiction site Fictionaut. James’ new collection has just been published by Press 53

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  • On writing and raising children

    It’s been quite a while since I posted here and for good reason. I’ve been making a concerted effort to bring many of my projects to completion. My novel The Book of Remembered Possibilities about the stories we tell ourselves about our lives and two women who need stories to survive is on submission, The

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  • ‘If’ (poem snippet)

    If all we had to do was walk or kiss under tarpaulin in the rain or make barbaric yawps from mountain tops & fly on wings new-sprung from shoulder blades  

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  • Housewife with a Half-Life summer read winners

    Thanks to those who entered the giveaway for a signed copy of Housewife with a Half-Life and those who shared and tweeted on social media. I can’t believe the book is a year old already. I’ve drawn for the paperback copies and the winners are Lisa Damian and Natalia Widdrington, please email alison at brierwell

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Welcome to my Head above Water blog! I’m Alison, writer, mother and public librarian with a background in Communication Studies and Psychology. I have a particular interest in creative resilience, motivation and how nature and wonder can restore us. In my day job I run book clubs and creative events for children and adults.

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