The View From Here

I was honoured to be approached by The View From Here magazine to join their fabulous crew and write a monthly article starting in December!

TVRH is a print and on-line literary magazine with author interviews, book reviews, Exclusively Independent News, original fiction and poetry and articles, designed and edited by an international team, and read by over 7,000 online readers. Yey, The View From Here rocks!

You can read the zine here or order a print copy for £4.99 UK delivery ($6.89 USA or Canada) via the same page. (Yes, I should think so too. Get your credit cards out and show some support!)

Fiona Robyn Blogsplash

Fiona Robyn is going to blog her next novel, Thaw, starting on the 1st of March next year. The novel follows 32 year old Ruth’s diary over three months as she decides whether or not to carry on living.

To help spread the word she’s organising a Blogsplash, where blogs will publish the first page of Ruth’s diary simultaneously (and a link to the blog).

She’s aiming to get 1000 blogs involved – if you’d be interested in joining in, email her at fiona@fionarobyn.com or find out more information here.

Medical Attention

The Book Doctor has delivered the diagnosis on YA adult novel no. 3 (frankly I suspect no. 2 has dropped dead doing the rounds). Surgery is required but there is still hope that the patient can go on to live a full life if the operation goes well.

Preparing to go in with scalpel - this may be messy and there will almost certainly be screams...

Shortlisted for The Bridport Prize 2009

OMG excuse me while I faint my short story has been shortlisted for The Bridport Prize 2009 ...breathe...

Before you get too excited on my behalf, I'll just add that I'm not in the top thirteen winners being published in the competition anthology. But still... to be shortlisted... for The Bridport Prize... out of several thousand entries... The winners and shortlist will be announced on their website from 22nd November.

The story in question, 'Hang Up', has a rather turbulent history. I wrote it over four years ago for my MA Creative Writing transmission project on The Short Story. If I remember correctly, it got a decent but not fabulous mark and there was some question or other about how well it worked as a short story. It centres on a helpline call and focuses on internal and external dialogue. It possibly breaks a few short story conventions. It is very dialogue heavy. And it features the 'c' word. Not to everyone's taste obviously but it's not gratuitous.

At the time, it was accepted for publication by a start-up literary journal. Which then folded before it was published. :( I felt the thing was doomed and tucked it away on an old floppy disk, as you do. Then earlier this year, while teaching the Going Public part of the Open University A215 Creative Writing course, determined to practice what I preach, I dragged out a couple of old stories and a few new ones written while teaching the Fiction part and put them through the mill, redrafting and editing them, before sending them out.

A few other successes have been mentioned in my previous posts :) but this one was the biggest surprise and confidence boost. I wonder if I can find a publisher for it after all ths time...

Officially on a roll...

I am speechless.

But thankfully I can still type.

My short story, 'Yasmina's Elbow', is a winner in the Even More Tonto Short Stories Competition.

You can even pre-order the anthology here if you feel so inclined.


Caroline is clearly a wonderful judge (and much better than Simon Cowell).

Now I must go and collapse in shock.

I'm just a little bit chuffed that two of my poems, 'Drowning in Cherryade' and 'Before you were ours', have been accepted for publication in the fantastic Envoi poetry journal.

Hurrah to submission success!

Now I just need to find a publisher to accept my next novel...

Obsessions



Oooh, I'm so excited!!! I've just got my first ever Blog Award, from the talented Megan Taylor.

But there's no such thing as a free lunch. Or in this case, award. Oh no, you have to do some work first before you get your hands on the prize. In this case, list your 5 obsessions and then tag five more award worthy blogtabulous people.

So, my 5 obsessions TODAY are:

1) The size of my belly (after someone offered me a seat on the train and I am NOT PREGNANT!)
2) Anonymous blogging (yes, I have several hundred other identities - so much more fun when nobody knows you)
3) Procrastination (you might have already guessed that)
4) Writing (you might have already guessed that too)
5) Eating (well I have got a humungous belly, after all)

SO, I tag:

Anne Brooke

Sweetie and Me

Lola Jaye

McKoala Days

Not short of something to say