Catching Up

I finished the latest draft of the work in progress yesterday (it feels almost done, which is a great situation to be in) so most of my time since has been/will be dedicated to catching up on things I’ve meant to have done already. I’ve a huge pile of emails I need to attend to and there are a few things that need writing, so they’ll be done very soon.

 

In the meantime, here’s what Bookmunch had to say about Beautiful Words.

 

I think this is my favourite line from the review: ‘It’s hard to argue with a book that picks the word ‘fuck’ as its most beautiful F word.’ Indeed. Who am I to argue?

A Shortlist and A Winner

If you’d like to have a click here then you’ll be able to see the shortlist and the winner of the Bookimbo flash fiction competition I judged. A massive congratulations to all who are on it and a huge thank you to everyone who entered. Judging was a huge amount of fun because the standard of the stories was so high. Thank you for making the job a really difficult one!

A Couple Of Nice Things

Very pleased to point you in the direction of the Bookimbo Flash Fiction competition longlist. A huge congratulations to those who made it on there. The standard of entries was really, really high and there were loads of really good ones which didn’t quite make it so please don’t be too disappointed if yours was one.

 

And I’m over here, in New Zealand’s finest’s Flash Frontier mag, talking Beautiful Words in a piece illustrated (quite wonderfully) by Wellington Cartoonist Grant Buist and the lovely Rae Joyce. 

Here’s one of my favourites.

Catching Up

I have had a busy (well, busier than normal) couple of weeks. I’ve been writing and teaching as usual, and I’ve been reading too. Most relevant (to me) is my copy of the brilliant There Was Once a Place (which is out now), the latest Fiction Desk anthology containing my story, Loss Angina. It’s a brilliant book, brilliantly produced.

A Place

Look, they said lovely things about me too.

A Place2

I’ve also signed off the proof of my story, I Am No Good at Video Games, which is out next week as part of the National Flash Fiction Day anthology. I’ve only been in one anthology before, it’s not something I’ve ever really bothered with for some reason, so it’s all pretty exciting and different.

 

And, since Saturday, I’ve been judging the Bookimbo flash fiction competition. With over 300 hundred stories read it’s been both hard work and fun and it’s reminded me just how much of a double-edged sword judging can be. One one hand (or edge of the sword) it’s brilliant to be able to read so much good fiction, and on the other it’s horrible because so much of that good fiction won’t win. I emailed the long list yesterday, so that should be up at some point very soon. Watch this space.

 

And, speaking of very soon, I’m off to give a talk at a library about getting published shortly, so I’d better get my skates on.

There Once Was a Place

I’ve just heard from the good people over at The Fiction Desk that my copy of the anthology, There Once Was a Place – which contains my story, Loss Angina – will be with me soon. And that means it’ll be shipping to those who’ve preordered soon too. If you’ve not and you’d like to, head over here. It’s available as an eBook too, if that’s your preferred format.

 

And to give you a little teaser, here’s the beginning of my story…

“A couple of months after Jude left the man shaved off his lips. Won’t be needing these anymore, he said to himself, standing before the bathroom mirror, razor in hand, the tap dripping.”