Bill Allerton lives and works in Sheffield UK. His partner, Bryony Doran, is also a prize-winning author. Bill retired from a moderately successful business to write for a living, but mostly that’s become ‘living to write’, given that so few authors actually make it to the megabucks stage. During his working life Bill has had many occupations, giving him a broad experience from which to draw new lines for his characters, so if you feel that you know them… perhaps you do… perhaps it’s you…
Bill spends a lot of time helping others navigate the choppy waters of self-publishing until he has become reasonably expert in ‘IngramSpark’. Despite the fact that they have many help files and even a ‘Book Builder’ software that he finds restrictive, he has helped more than a few writers across this complicated threshold. To this end, he has helped terminally ill and cancer sufferers to publish their stories within their lifetime.
His influences are: Ray Bradbury, Malcolm Lowry, Herman Melville, Thomas Pynchon, Arthur C. Clarke, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cormac McCarthy, Keith Waterhouse and Spike Milligan.
Prizes: Fish Prize Book 2001 (Story anthologised and attended West Cork Literary Festival to read his submission ‘To Kill a Wish’) Chesterfield Pomegranate Theatre: New Playwright Awards ‘To Kill a Wish’, the Fish Prize story, reworked for the stage and performed live. BBC Radio Sheffield: Six pieces of short fiction recorded and broadcast.
Past Mentors (at least a week in the company of each) Anne Enright, Colm Toibin, Bernadine Evaristo, Ruth Padel, Peter Sansom, Berlie Doherty.
Noted writers he has worked with and edited in the creation of an anthology of short fiction (‘Watch and Wait’, 2014) on behalf of The Lymphoma Association: Ian McMillan, Marina Lewycka, Bryony Doran, Susan Elliott Wright, Berlie Doherty, Angela Robson, Judith Allnatt, Danuta Reah, Lesley Glaister, Caroline Pitcher, Kirstin Zhang, Henry Shukman, David Swann and Jemma Kennedy among others.
Spoken Word: Bill also has two Podcast Stations. Urban Tiger Radio for a more adult audience and Urban Tiger Radio Childrens Hour.