My History
Hello! I’m Mandi Allen, founder of TCW AKA The Coffeehouse Writer. I am also a novelist and screenwriter as well as being a writing coach and literary consultant. I am based in Beverley, in East Yorkshire. I was late to writing professionally in fiction ( I have written for business and newspapers for nearly 30 years) after teaching English for the best part of twenty years at high school, I decided to go back to University and took my Masters in Writing for Script and Screen at Falmouth. I am currently halfway through a Doctorate at Leeds Beckett, in Creative Arts with a focus of Scriptwriting and Transmedia.
As an indie published author, I have gained a lot of insight into the industry which was why I decided to specialise in working with indie authors.
I started teaching English back in 2004, writing my own short stories in the wee hours and had been doing lots of reviews for local papers, mainly bands since the early 90’s. As prior to teaching, I ran pubs and nightclubs and was an advocate for new music. While I still love listening to new music, my focus these days is on Indie authors.
In 2017, I decided to start teaching creative writing under The Coffeehouse Writer banner in Beverley, the courses were met with great success and led to the start of The Coffeehouse Writer’s Group. This group still runs and meets monthly in person. Over the past two years it has developed, and the group has grown into a large online community with members from across the globe, which allows use to access more guest speakers.
I have written The Coffeehouse Writer’s Planner 2020, an updated version was released in 2021 as well as a selection of self study online courses, from helping you to prepare for book launch day.
My main focus at the moment is TV and Film and completing my Doctorate, though I also write and produce theatrical plays. I am a reader for a UK film festival too, which is a great experience.
Are you ready to work with Mandi?
“Not only did you give me some fantastic advice…you totally understood and ‘got’ what was going through my mind and holding me back, without me needing to explain.”
Leanne Rieveley