Dear Subscriber,

Thank you for following us in 2011. It's been quite a year: we've celebrated our 15th Anniversary with speeches by authors Shelley Harris and Prue Leith , looked at the future of short stories with leading short story 'mistresses' Helen Simpson and Margaret Drabble; seen a brilliant one-woman show about Emily Dickinson by Edie Campbell and helped link clients to Serpent's Tail, Heinemann and Bloomsbury, namely Leaf Fielding, Jude Cook and Kerry Young, the latter being currently on the shortlist for the Costa First Novel Award . We look forward to announcing some exciting new events for writers in 2012 and hope the new year brings inspiration.

> Last Chance for December 19th Winter-Warmer;
> TLC's Costa-shortlisted December Showcase;
> Glowing Success for Maya Centre Charity Evening;
> Special December Gift Offer;
> Arvon Courses in January and February;
> Dates for the Diary in 2012;

Last Chance for December 19th Winter-Warmer

The New Statesman's 'pick of the week' event:

19th December 2011: A Hint of Danger: An Evening with Leoš Janáček and Leo Tolstoy

6:30pm-8:30pm

Previous TLC literary evenings have featured actors Ben Whishaw and Roger Lloyd Pack . This December, we are delighted to invite back The Tamesis String Quartet who will perform two quartets by genius Leoš Janáček, while Edie Campbell reads and captures the dark side of love and lust in the words of Leo Tolstoy, Ted Hughes and Leoš Janáček. 

An unforgettable evening celebrating music, words, passion and love – with a hint of danger.

Click here to book.

TLC's Costa-shortlisted December Showcase

This December TLC has chosen to showcase client Kerry Young, who has been shortlisted for this year's Costa First Novel Award. Kerry came through TLC in 2007 and had an assessment by Chris Wakling.

Her novel, Pao, is the story of a young Chinese boy and his family who move to Jamaica escaping the revolution at home. The Costa Award is one of the UK’s most prestigious and popular literary prizes and recognises some of the best books of the year written by writers based in the UK and Ireland.

Click here for the December showcase. 

Glowing Success for Maya Centre Charity Evening

On December 1st we hosted a literary fundraising event for The Maya Centre.  Jill Dawson , Margaret Drabble, Helen Simpson  and Sarah Waters all read from their work and the evening's host, Maya Centre patron Melissa Benn, kept the auction going at a cracking pace.

Thank you to all who supported the fundraiser and to the writers who shared their brilliant stories of women in various predicaments.  We raised more than £4,500 for the Islington based charity which provides free psychodynamic counselling for women below the poverty line. 

Special December Gift Offer

Do you know a writer who might appreciate some challenging feedback as a gift this Christmas? If you think they might benefit from professional advice, you might want to consider offering them a TLC assessment. We are offering a 5% discount on single assessments bought as gift vouchers. Please contact our office if you are interested in purchasing an attractive TLC e-gift voucher for that special writer in your life.

Arvon Courses in January and February

TLC recommends Arvon's Winter Warmer which is Arvon ’s brand new programme, a range of creative writing courses in January and early February 2012. Join fellow writers at their beautiful country houses for their world-famous five day residential courses and, with the help of expert tuition from professional authors, start the year as you intend to go on - writing.

Dates for the Diary in 2012

Top tip and key dates for 2012:

14th April: The Cambridge Wordfest

TLC will be present at two panels at the Cambridge Wordfest: 'Getting Published' alongside authors Nicola Morgan and Jill Dawson , and a 'How Did you Get There?' conversation which will feature four writers who have been helped by TLC. Kerry Young, Jim Powell, Fiona Mountain and Alan Clarke. Booking won't be possible until March 2nd, but save the date if you want to join us for what will be useful and revelatory sessions.  

8th and 9th June 2012: THE LITERARY CONFERENCE: Writing in a Digital Age

TLC will run a state-of-the-art conference about being and becoming a writer in the Digital Age.  We will answer questions we know some of you are burning to get answered about your publishing options, and also enable first-class networking.  As far as we know, this is the first such large-scale conference aimed chiefly at writers and not the publishing industry. We are excited by the programme which will include a chance for you to have your work publicly critiqued and to see agents and publishers in a way you've not seen them before.  

Confirmed speakers to date include best-selling authors Hari Kunzru * Kate Mosse * Nicola Morgan * Simon Trewin (United Agents) * Maria Rejt (Macmillan) - with many more to follow.

More updates to come. 

Happy holidays from TLC.

For other up-to-date information about TLC see:-
www.literaryconsultancy.co.uk, or call us on 020 7324 2563.

All best wishes,
The Literary Consultancy