Elaina James

Last year I moved to the coast to focus on my writing. What I didn’t expect was that the move would also lead my writing in a new direction... At Christmas I met filmmaker Vahid Keshavarz. His passion and enthusiasm for his craft helped to reinvigorate my own creativity, which despite my best intentions had been floundering as my move had proved to be somewhat more distracting than motivating. Vahid’s short films have received multiple nominations, short listings and awards at international film festivals. Vahid and his crew are currently planning their next project, which is a short film entitled 'A Heart Between Us'. I’m incredibly excited because it’s a script that Vahid and I have co-written. 'A Heart Between Us' is a short film about human connection and the impact someone can have on our lives even when they are no longer with us. It's a young woman's struggle with loss and grief and her realization that life is a gift. In order to g...

A few weeks ago I noted that my writing seemed to be taking me on a tour of England. I couldn't help wondering where it would take me next.  It turns out the answer was York, to The People’s Friend Writing Workshop. My grandmother got me started reading The People’s Friend years ago. Money was tight so the magazine was passed between my Grandmother, Aunt and Mum before eventually making its way to me.  Often by that point it would be a few pages short where someone had ripped out an interesting recipe to try later, or a knitting pattern that was added to their ever growing collections. I didn’t mind the somewhat well-read state of the magazine, all that interested me were the stories. Though I did learn to check that the entire story had survived before I started reading… These days it’s just Mum and I reading the magazine and sometimes I even get to read it first. Oh the thrill of reading a magazine that is fully intact before someone has stolen their favourite ...

I'm thrilled to announce another of my short stories has been published in this months edition of Scribble magazine. 'Carrying the Past' is, as its title suggests, about the inability to leave the past behind, and the art of perfecting the act of pretending we can. It was inspired by Tim O'Brien's 'The Thing's They Carried'. Whilst my story isn't set in the midst of a war, and it doesn't consider the weight of any physical items, 'The Things They Carried' inspired me to consider the weight of the emotions that we carry. Are we weighted down by guilt from our mistakes and failures? Do our choices haunt us like ghosts at our backs? Do we carry the past with us as we move through each day? Is moving forward and starting over ever truly possible? I didn't say it was a cheery piece now did I?