St Mary's Student has Short Story Published

Sasha Storman, first year Creative Writing Student at St Mary’s University, Twickenham has recently had her short story Take Your Secrets With You published in the monthly community magazine In and Around Ickenham. Sasha is already an established writer who writes her own blog (sashastorman.blogspot.com), film and theatre reviews, as well as lifestyle articles for numerous websites such as Weekend Notes. When asked a few questions about her writing, studies, and university experience at St Mary’s Sasha said: Can you tell us a bit about your recent publication and how it came about? “I live in a town called Ickenham and the local mag is called In and About Ickenham. They publish local authors so I rang them up to see if they would be interested in my story. After sending them my story they said they would like to publish it and the rest is history. The story is about a woman whose husband has recently died of cancer and she finds out he had a secret family all along.” What sort of writer are you? “I am drawn to writing horror and fantasy stories and am currently working on my first novel, which combines these genres. My favourite author is Edgar Allan Poe because I like his dark, brooding and descriptive style. I have been told I have a dark and sinister style of writing myself.” Why did you decide to study Creative Writing? “I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I chose to pursue a degree in Creative Writing because it combines these two passions of mine. I also wanted to learn from established writers to gain feedback and support from them.” What made you choose to study a degree at St Mary’s? “My sister studied at St Mary’s and loved it here, she particularly enjoyed the atmosphere and the small tight-knit community feel it has. Coming to study here myself I can see what she meant and I think the lecturers on my course are brilliant.” What is your favourite part of studying at St Mary’s? “My favourite part of studying at St Mary’s would have to be the academics, they make every lecture interesting and really help me grow as a writer. Second would be the facilities. St Mary’s is very well equipped for the Creative Writing programme as there is an abundance of relevant and interesting materials in the library to help with my studies.” What is your favourite part of the Creative Writing course? “I enjoy the class exercises, for example dialogue exercises. Dialogue wasn’t one of my strong points but the feedback from lecturers has been great and helped me turn my weaknesses into strengths. Since starting the course, I feel my basic grammar and writing structure have improved a lot.” What are your plans for the future? “I hope writing for the websites and other current projects will lead to more writing opportunities in the future and I would love to have more of my work published. I have given thought to studying a Master’s degree after graduation or try and get a work placement in the industry as a runner for a big company and work my way up from there.” Can you give some advice to any aspiring writers? “My advice for any aspiring writers would be to join a writing group. One group I am currently a member of is the Uxbridge Writers’ Group. Groups are excellent places to get feedback and support on your work and learn skills from other writers. Some advice my teachers always gave me was to write every day and read as much as you can to improve your writing.” If you would like to hear more about Sasha or read some of her work please visit: https://stmarysuniversitywriters.wordpress.com/sasha-storman/ http://www.weekendnotes.co.uk/profile/333863/ http://www.inandaroundpublishing.co.uk http://vulturehound.co.uk/2016/05/kelvin-jones-the-barfly-london-live-review/