This post is for everyone who has taken part in Little Wonder plays.

I need help sorting out the website so that everyone who has made plays with us gets the promotion they deserve.

With the latest draft of my new novel finished, I had some time to fix some broken sections of the website and sort out the biographies of all our writers and reporters. Below this post is a list of everyone who needs a bio. Please click on “more” and check the list.

On the 16^th February we lost our friend Glenn Fernando. Glenn was a wonderful, generous, kind man, an exceptional guitarist, and someone who touched many people’s lives – I suspect without ever realising it. His brother Denis asked me to write something to share his music with as many people as possible, and also to talk about mental health, grief, and coping in times of great sadness. Because Glenn was a lovely man and whatever happened he’d want us to be alright.

First, the music. Check out this track by clicking on the play button.

You can listen to the whole album on Spotify here:

Or look up “Missionary Fades – Intakes of Sanity” on Deezer. Listening to and sharing his music is the best way we can cherish his memory.

You can also help more people hear his music by sharing this tweet I have set up:

Glenn’s funeral service will be on Tuesday 10 March at the Sacred Heart Church, Quex Road, Kilburn, NW6 4PS, and rather than bringing flowers the family would appreciate any donation you can make [here].

In the rest of this article I’m going to talk about grief, about Glenn, about how he told stories with his music and about taking care of ourselves and each other. If you don’t have time to read all that but are hurting because Glenn has left us, that’s fine, just make time to give yourself a hug and hug someone (or something) you love. Yes, I have been hugging my PlayStation this evening.

I’m delighted to announce that the following make up the longlist for our 2020 Open Radio Play competition.

• Acedia by Judith Inseon
• Anna Freud is Dead! by Phillip Marriot
• Classic Zom by Matt Wixey
• Ecosystem X by Amber Elen-Forbat
• Fatima by Sigita Vesele
• Fresher by Richard Brabin
• Grandfather is Dead by C Lyengar
• Miniature Pineapples by Simon Rowe
• One Dead Dog by Olivia Neale
• Roadkill by J. Weintraub
• Shampoo the Carpet by Declan Kennedy
• Television is Bad for You by Mark Blayney
• The Last Parent-Teacher Meeting by Denise Deegan
• Tomatoes are Scary by Paul Stone

Warmest congratulations to everyone who made our longlist. Over the next month I’ll be rounding up a team of writing experts to provide feedback on your work, which you will then receive along with a deadline to revise and resubmit before we chose five finalists that will be performed before a live audience here in Paris.

Dates are a little fuzzy at the moment – if you follow me on social media you’ll know things have been a bit rough as of late, but we are mostly on schedule and I’ll keep you up to date as I have more news.

For everyone who missed the list, commiserations, and please don’t stop writing or feeling like a writer because of this. As usual there was enormous diversity in the entries, from plays that didn’t work, to a sadly large number that didn’t meet the entry conditions including one or two really quite good film scripts (hot tip – if you’ve left stage directions/camera instructions in your script I’m going to figure out it isn’t really a radio play.) There were also some really good plays that on a different day might have made the list. So don’t lose heart, and keep writing.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for tips on how to up your chances next time round, here’s some articles on writing better plays:

Waiting for an Interview in Purgatory: On Originality

The Delights and Dangers of Causing Offence (About writing offensive plays)

Four Questions to make you Ready to Start your Story

On the Importance of Cast Lists

How Long should your Story be?

Don’t Build to a Climax: Start with a Bang!

Thank you so much to everybody who entered our competition and I look forward to working with our longlistees in the coming months.