New Tricks

“Learning never exhausts the mind.”

Leonardo da Vinci

This will be a very short blog because my brain is completely fried after writing an 87,000-word novel for eight weeks. I’m usually like this for a week or two after I’ve committed myself to such a large project. It’s not that I don’t want to write; it’s just that I find it hard to concentrate when I do. It’s almost as if my fingers get tongue-tied... or would that be finger-tied? Thumb-tied?

Anyway, there was a very specific reason why I was keen to get that book written and completed by the end of May at the latest. I was clearing the decks because I had applied for a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing at York St. John University!!

So, not only did I need a distraction from worrying about whether I was going to get in or not, but I also wanted to be sure that the Gillion series of books – which will be named The Gillion Chronicles going forward – was finished if there was a chance I was going to go back to university.

And I’m writing this blog to tell you, dear reader, that, yes, indeed, I am!

I received an unconditional offer to join the M.A. program at the end of September this year.

EXCITING!

This will be my third time in further education, and even though I got a lot out of those two previous stints – the first was full-time at Huddersfield University in my early twenties and all the madness that came with it, and the second was part-time with the Open University while I was at work to finish the mess I had started a decade before – I know for sure that this is going to be even better experience. This time, I’m going to study something I’m incredibly passionate about, and honestly, I can’t wait!

Not only is York St. John a fantastic university that hosts wonderful bookish events via the York Literature Festival, and a mere ten-minute train ride away from where I live, but the course is perfect for me. It has a module on Speculative AND Uncanny! Those are my two genres, so I know for sure that this will be a brilliant experience for me. I can hone my writing skills, meet people in the industry, make new writer friends, and write another weird book.

The chief reason I want to study Creative Writing at a Master’s degree level is that I want to turn my passion into a stable career in teaching, editing, copywriting or another industry-related job, and, of course, improve my novel writing.

In short, I want to do this for the rest of my life.

I just like to take a moment to thank Joel McDermott for helping me decide to take this course. And to Angharad Hampshire, a tutor at the university and fellow Northodox Press author, who took time out of her busy life of work, family and promoting her historical fiction novel, The Mare (you need to read this book! Harrowing and timely), to help me with my application. And, of course, my wife, Naomi, whose whole idea this was.

I’m excited for this next chapter in my life. 2026 is going to be a massive year for me. I hope you’ll come along for the ride!

Thanks for reading.

Elliot J Harper

Author of quirky SF novel, New Gillion Street, published by Fly on the Wall Press, the independently published weird horror short story collection, The Strange Tales of Gillion, and upcoming novel, The Peculiar Journey of Cecil Tabiner, to be published by Northodox Press.