Lindz McLeod is a queer, working-class, Scottish writer and editor who dabbles in the surreal.
She was the Competition Secretary of the Edinburgh Writers' Club from 2019-2023, and was elected as the Club President in 2023. She is a fiction reader for both the Edinburgh Flash Fiction Awards and Edinburgh Short Story Awards, as well as being a freelance editor and writing coach for both fiction and non-fiction. Lindz is an experienced workshop host, and a Rogue Mentor to six talented prose writers as well as a mentor to one talented playwright via We Are Here. Additionally, she is a full member of the SFWA, the Scottish Writers Association, and the Federation of Writers (Scotland). She has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart prize multiple times, as well as for Best Small Fictions.
In 2019, Lindz was awarded a Masters in Creative Writing from the Open University. In 2023, she began a PhD in Creative Writing with Manchester Metropolitan University—her thesis centers around vision and intimacy in literature, with a focus on broadening accessibility. Her work has been taught in schools, universities, and has been adapted for avant-garde opera. She writes equally comfortably in English and Scots, and has recently started teaching herself Gaelic. She very rarely sleeps.
In 2022, her flash story 'Cake By The Ocean' was nominated for the annual Best Small Fictions anthology. In 2023 her flash story 'Upper Bout' was longlisted for the Wigleaf Top Fifty. Her co-written story 'Shark Facts My Grandma Told Me' was mentioned on the Book Riot article Halloween Short Fiction: 9 Short Stories to Get You Ready for Spooky Season, where it was called "a masterclass in thriller writing — mounting tension, unabashed horror, and a killer twist at the end."
Lindz's short story collection, Turducken (Spaceboy Books, 2023) showcases the finest of her short work and spans a wide range of genres from literary to comedy to horror. Lindz also writes film scripts, novellas, and novels in a variety of genres from comedy to romance to horror; her historical fantasy novel, Beast, debuted in October 2023 from indie press Hear Us Scream, and her forthcoming erotic horror novella, Sunbathers, will launch in 2024 from Hedone Books.
Lindz is represented by Laura Zats at Headwater Literary Management.
In her spare time, Lindz is a keen but mediocre archer, a devoted cinephile, and enjoys performing at live literature events. She is available for readings, submission invites, hosting duties, writing workshops, and events—contact her at lindsey.mcleod@hotmail.co.uk or on Twitter @lindzmcleod
"It's full of investigations of language, experimentation with style, and above all, a fiercely playful intelligence...McLeod dazzles with her raw ability." - TJ Price, author of The Disappearance of Tom Nero, review of TURDUCKEN
“Lindz McLeod brings a heartfelt touch of strangeness and darkness to every creation, like a breath of fresh imagination. She takes to characters instantly, and then you take to them too” — Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, review of BEAST
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