Training Trainers of Spiritual Directors Developing the abilities needed to facilitate Spiritual Direction formation programmes
LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION, NON-FICTION Amanda Preston has been a literary agent for over 20 years and co-founded LBA in 2005. She won the RNA Literary Agent of the Year award in 2018. She represents commercial and reading group fiction, as well as a range of narrative non-fiction and memoir. She loves working with authors, championing them every step of the way, and works with them and their publishing teams to build them into brand names and award winning and bestselling authors in the UK and internationally. Whether commercial or reading-group, she loves innovative and well-written stories that hook her in from the start and whose voice stays with her. She is looking for novels that demand to be talked about and shared, whatever their genre, and that she is still thinking about days after finishing. She is on the hunt for a high-concept thriller which is character and plot driven, but also has a discussable issue at its heart i.e Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey and Girl A by Abigail Dean. She loves thrillers where the location is as integral to the plot as the crime i.e The Dry by Jane Harper and The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse, and would love a good locked-room thriller but is only looking for fresh and unique ideas in this area. She is also on the hunt for a glorious book club love story that is doing something a bit different and special i.e Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus or anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid or Liane Moriarty! Or smart, contemporary, observant romcoms with a very strong emphasis on diverse / own voices. Finally, she would love a historical that vividly brings that period to life as well as having a stunning plot i.e, The Familiars by Stacey Halls and The Doll Factory by Elizabeth MacNeal. Amanda would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the opening three chapters (max 5,000 words). (In addition to the paid sessions, Amanda is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print). By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Monday 1st September 2025 by 12 noon UK BST
This free interactive workshop illuminates the five top skills you gain from reading and gives some information on how to develop them further.
The Emergency Lighting BS 5266 one day course is based upon BS5266:1 (including latest amendments), BS5266:7 and BS5266:8. Emergency lighting is essential for the safety of building occupants. It is vital that the emergency lighting automatically operates in the event of normal lighting failure. The illumination levels and period of time the illumination can be sustained should be sufficient to allow the building occupants to evacuate safely and locate both fire alarm, fire fighting and first aid equipment. The Emergency Lighting BS 5266 course provides the necessary information to designate emergency escape routes and design and commission an emergency lighting scheme to BS 5266. The morning of the Emergency Lighting BS 5266 course is spent reading through and interpreting the relevant parts of BS 5266. The afternoon takes the form of a practical workshop where a system is designed and the participant is then introduced to the practical issues of commissioning, inspection and testing, certification and reporting.
LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION Kate Barker has worked in publishing for over twenty years as an agent, commissioning editor and ghostwriter. Before setting up her own company, Kate Barker Literary Agency, she spent ten years at Penguin, where she was an Editorial Director for Viking, acquiring fiction and non-fiction. She has also worked for Orion, Curtis Brown and for digital publisher Bookouture. She is looking for commercial and reading group fiction for adults and would love to find an unputdownable thriller like Rosamund Lupton's Three Hours, a funny, heartbreaking contemporary novel like Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams or a romantic comedy with a unique premise like The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary. She also loves historical fiction and series crime. Kate would like you to submit a covering letter, one page synopsis and the first three chapters (Max 5,000 words) of your completed manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Kate is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print). By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Wednesday 27th August 2025
LOOKING FOR: MG, YA, ADULT FICTION, ADULT NON-FICTION, NON-FICTION FOR 7+ Megan Carroll is looking for writers in a variety of areas, and from a wide range of backgrounds – she is particularly keen to hear from Black, Asian, and LGBTQIA+ writers. Her main areas of focus this year are adult fiction and non-fiction, as well as non-fiction for 7+, and MG and YA fiction. In Fiction, Megan is keen to see high-concept love stories (think The Flat Share or The Lock In) for both commercial and reading group readers. She’d love to see those familiar romance tropes – enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, love triangles, forbidden love etc. – with underrepresented characters at the centre. She is also looking for historical fiction and gothic horror (think Laura Purcell, Stacey Halls and Silvia Moreno-Garcia) – anything that has a creepy, uneasy undertone is likely for Megan’s list. Megan is also actively looking for upmarket fiction and would love to see layered family drama, contemporary stories about life today and darkly comic novels that explore a specific time, place or experience. In Non-Fiction, Megan is keen to hear from experts in their field talking about topics relating to film, music, true crime, popular culture, history and issues from largely unrepresented perspectives. She is keen to see memoir, narrative non-fiction and essay collections. In Children’s and YA, she is keen to see contemporary YA with humour, and romance at the heart – fun and emotional stories that appeal to the interests and issues of the teenage readers. She’d also love to see thrillers and horror stories for this age group too. It’s unlikely that high fantasy novels for YA readers will be right for her, but she is keen to see stories with fantasy elements in a real world setting. On the younger end, Megan is looking for funny, contemporary middle grade – think Louise Rennison and Karen McCombie – and anything creepy and spooky for 8-12 year old readers too. She’d love to find something like Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and is keen to find original adventure stories in both fantasy and realistic settings. Megan would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first three chapters or 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Megan is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print). By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Tuesday 26th August 2025 at 9am UK BST
LOOKING FOR: MG, YA, ADULT FICTION Originally from the North East of Scotland. Kirsten joined Zeno in the summer 2024 after time working at a previous literary agency and before that working as a bookseller in the Charing Cross branch of Foyles. Kirsten has a BA (Hons) in English from Edinburgh Napier University and a Masters in Children’s Literature from Reading University. Kirsten is currently building her own list alongside handling Zeno’s translation rights. Kirsten is looking for: Scottish voices - especially something from the North East - Kirsten is Aberdonian and would love to help a writer from this space emerge. Water horror - as Kirsten grew up in Aberdeen she is always looking for horror inspired by the sea or the landscape of Scotland - bonus points if it has anything to do with an oil rig! Workplace horror like Camilla Grudova’s Children of Paradise or Calvin Kasulke’s Several People are Typing (this is not a reflection of her agency!) Romance - especially young and contemporary - obviously bonus points if it’s set in Scotland and written by someone who has lived there. Kirsten is a huge fan of all the usual suspects, Ali Hazlewood, Ana Huang, Bolu Babalola to name a few! Romantasy - less elves, more out of the box - Kirsten read Sarah J Maas in 2014/15 and so is looking for something that expands on the genre. A good crime thriller - Kirsten did her dissertation on terrorism so anything that is well written in this space would be a dream for her. Additionally she really enjoys serial killer novels and the recent fake true crime novels, Penance by Eliza Clark especially thrilled her. A Studio Ghibli esque fantasy - luscious landscapes, brilliant characters, a powerfulstory. If any of your comps are a Ghibli film she wants to see it! Fanfiction writers! Kirsten has always been on the sites and would love you to tell her if you’ve written fanfiction in the past / have an ongoing fanbase - maybe she has already read it. Kirsten already has: A nonfiction baking book - Kirsten would not want another at this moment. A middle grade cosy fantasy - Kirsten would love to see more of this! But worries if it’s too close to what she already has, then it would be a reason for her to turn it down. A Horror Vampire novel - again she would love to see more of this! But worries if it’s too close to what she already has, that would be a reason for her to turn it down. Vampires would probably be better for her if they were contemporary or in the romantasy space. A Game of Thrones esque fantasy - a client is already writing this and she wants to give it the space on her list it deserves! Kirsten is NOT looking for: Picture books / 5-8 books Poetry Police procedural Hard science fiction Kirsten would like you to submit a covering letter, one page synopsis and the first three chapters (Max 5000 words) of your completed manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Kirsten is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print). By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Monday 25th August 2025
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Ladies Hairdressing Course in Reading Berkshire. Start dates all year round.
Online webinar aimed at newcomers and beginners to road rallying helping to learn the basics.