My lost Dragon story

 Alan Place - Children's Author

An Invitation to Write for Charity

13 years ago, a group of writers I used to chat to online, invited me to write some stories for books for charity they were producing for children in the USA.

We had been writing on a site based in Germany for several months prior to my invitation, so they knew my style, and capabilities; I was regarded by many people on the site as one of the best writers on the site.

One of the stories I wrote for the group was a romance about dragons. I thought I had lost all traces of my story, until today while clearing some bags, I came across the book I wrote in, and there was my story. The idea of adding dragons to the title is mine.

Writing for Charity

Not all Projects came to fruition

                                                     An Invitation to Write for Charity 

When I had a reputation as a writer, I was invited to contribute a story to the charity book - Angels Cried - the proceeds went to support the families of the Sandy Hook Massacre.

I helped promote the book online for six months before leaving over a dispute with a German publisher. He came on the programme once he knew of its impact; this annoyed me, as we'd spent months promoting the book. Also, after this time, I thought the families should be left to grieve in peace, not keep having their distress forced on them.

I was asked by a charity that helps Armed Forces personnel recover from traumas of war to write about my time in the Royal Air Force - something I have been asked to do by several people - unfortunately, a lack of funds forced the closure of the project.

An Invitation to Write for Charity

The Peacock Writers 

Many years ago, I was invited to write for the Children's Charity books under the title of The Peacock Writers.

They were several published writers, mainly in the USA, I was friendly with most as we were chatting on a site based in Berlin, Germany, for several months before the invite.

When I look back, I wonder how much of the invite was from defeating the "acclaimed" best writer in the group three times in a year in writing contests?

I say "acclaimed," as it was her opinion, and that of her cronies she was the best on the site; the general opinion was I was far better, and more respected for my honest opinions.

Most of the books we wrote are still for sale on Amazon, the group separated when I earned an award in 2011; mainly because I had no formal qualifications, and had not been on a writing course.