about us

RASC is the brainchild of Bel Townsend and Jo Land, who ill-met by moonlight in 2006 during another writing challenge, Nanowrimo (please see the Challenges page for details of Nanowrimo). Both not only completed the challenge that year, but found that writing in a group and bouncing ideas off other mildly eccentric people seemed to get the creative juices flowing rather nicely. It was also obvious after this experience that there is a lot of untapped creative talent in the Darlington area. To this end, RASC was formed to create a writing community within our local community.

Hayloo! I'm Bel. I've lived in Darlington for the last four years, and in that time I've been lucky enough to meet several fellow writers. I'm a perma-student and I write all the time, be it blogs, online writing challenges, (I've completed NaNoWriMo two year's running now) theatre scripts or even things I am supposed to be doing, like my PhD thesis! I am an unashamed caffeine addict which I feel enhances my writing(!). I also cook frequently, collect vampire paraphernalia and keep ferrets, and I am usually to be found wandering between the library and the coffee shop, looking creative yet vague.

jo at whitby

Hi, I'm Jo! (waves at screen). There are two reasons why I write: firstly, I harbour the ever-so-slightly unrealistic fantasy that one day I will become a better and more influential writer than George Orwell, Sylvia Plath and James Joyce put together. Cough. Secondly and more importantly, it's one of the most amazing, stimulating, life-affirming things you can do with your clothes on. Maybe I should try writing naked...maybe. I have been writing since I was four, when I decided that I wanted to be a “book-writer” Since then, I have written short stories, badly-illustrated children's books, song lyrics, lots of journals, the first draft of a novel entitled “The Freedom of Plenty” during NaNoWriMo 2006, three pantomimes that have been performed by local groups, including a version of Cinderella where she is transformed into a goth, started various other novels and produced a short film about my writing which was shown at Tate Modern last year.