A BARROW author has received a grant from a local group that will allow him to turn his short crime stories into radio plays.
Tom Ashton, 30, who lives in Barrow, published his first story in November 2018, and after receiving a grant from Barra Culture will soon be able to turn his short stories into radio plays, using a mix of presenters from Cando FM and professional voice actors.
AUTHOR: Tom will soon make his stories into radio plays
BOOK: Tom Ashton's story collection
A Creative Writing graduate, Tom has published several crime stories including a standalone science fiction story called The Hostiles, which went on to win the Blkdog Book of the Year award in 2020.
Tom said: “I’m so grateful and honoured with this opportunity from the Barra Culture group.
“I was offered agency representation for my first Cumbrian crime novel by Clare Coombes at the Liverpool Literary Agency.
“We recently finished the edits and hope it’ll be accepted by a publisher later this year.
In November 2018, I had my first writing published, a short crime story called Tools, set in fictional Grenton Village, a location inspired by the Furness area.
"In February 2019, my second Grenton Village short crime story, Squatter, was published.
WRITER: Tom Ashton is a Barrow crime author
"In May 2019, my third Grenton Village short crime story, Lemonade, was published and also adapted into an audiobook.
"In September 2019, my first novel was published by Blkdog Books, a science fiction story called The Hostiles.
“A few months ago, Jonny Williams, of Cando FM, rang me suggesting we turn several of my published and unpublished short stories into radio plays, using a mix of presenters from Cando FM and professional voice actors.
“We applied for a grant from Barra Culture, a local group who seed fund creative endeavours they wish to see develop, and in June 2021, they emailed me to say my application had been successful."
"I'm very excited to get started on the project and incredibly grateful to Jonny and his team for guiding me through the application process, and to Barra Culture for the grant and for all the fantastic work they're doing in Furness at the moment.”
Tom's books are on sale on Amazon.
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