As well as sending a lot of my writing off to literary publications and publishers, I also enter competitions. It’s a tough gig with huge numbers of submission/entries being the norm. So the common advice for writers, as you will get lots of rejections, is to be thick-skinned and not to take it personally. Certainly, don’t interpret not winning as a sign that your writing is not good enough.
In two recent competitions I had some success.
My story, BUSTING A RHYME OR TWO ON A LOVELY SPRING MORNING, gained Highly Commended in the Michael Terrence Publishing 2017 Short Story Competition, and was published in e-book and print. AVAILABLE HERE.
And my flash fiction story, ROCKET SCIENCE, was shortlisted in the TSS Flash Fiction Competition (winter, 2017).
After six years in the hinterland, I have returned to coastal living. I can walk to the beach and the lake. I smell saltwater and feel cool coastal breezes. It feels like home.
This story was first published at Verity La back in October 2016. I would like to thank Michele Seminara and Laura McPhee-Browne for making that happen.
I now bring it directly to you.