Small is Beautiful

This month Sine FM's Book It launches its flash fiction competition, and I attempt to define flash fiction in an interview with Sheila North.  You can listen online at http://www.sinefm.com/a_z_of_shows/book_it until late March (after that it will be replaced by next month's show). 

So what is flash fiction?  Wikipedia helpfully has this to say: "Flash fiction is a style of fictional literature or fiction of extreme brevity. There is no widely accepted definition of the length of the category."  Thanks, Wiki, that helps!  For me, flash fiction is anything from a twitter story of 140 characters to the one-page (approx 1000 word) stories you find in magazines from time to time.  Readers' Digest 100-word story competitions are worth looking out for, and if you're on twitter you can find some miniature gems in the contests hosted by @paragraphplanet.  But then I would say that! I was shortlisted in their 11th contest, 21st century category.  What's that?  You want to read the story.  Well, OK then...

Shakespeare's ghost joins twitter: Romeo dreams, Juliet schemes, and all ends ill.  Yours, Will.

Fun stuff, eh?  If you have a spare 5 minutes, why not have a shot at a small but perfectly formed flash fiction piece - rhyme strictly optional! 

Happy 2012

With not much time for writing lately, I've been concentrating on short 'done-in-a-minute' pieces, and this is my latest, and possibly my favourite.  It's designed as a hymn, to be sung to the tune of Londonderry Air (the folk song otherwise known as 'Danny Boy', which can be found in a choral arrangement in the Unitarian hymn book, 'Hymns for Living', published by Lindsey Press.) But I couldn't resist sharing it as my wish for all my readers, and everyone, everywhere, in 2012.

Oh Bright New Year

Oh bright new year, our hurt and anger healing,

We hope you’ll be for all a time of peace,

New paths and places to us all revealing,

And from our sadness bringing sweet release. 

Oh bright new year, bring moments of reflection,

And pleasant times, our weary souls to rest.

Oh bright new year, bring fun and love and laughter;

Each moment of the year be heaven blest.

Oh bright new year, our hopes and dreams reviving,

We hope you’ll be for all a time of joy.

We hope you’ll see our near and dear ones thriving,

And happiness for every girl and boy. 

Oh bright new year, bring sunny summer weather,

And rain that falls so gently from above.  

Oh bright new year, let nations join together;

Each moment of the year be filled with love. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Headteacher's Lesson in Love

That's the title of my entry for the Mills and Boon 'New Voices' competition I mentioned below.  Luckily I get to enter even though I'm a published writer, because I don't have a full-length book out.  'Desperate Bid' is a nice easy read of a novella, at 37,000 words slightly shorter even than a typical Mills and Boon. 

My entry is not exactly a typical Mills and Boon, but then at their talk at the RNA Conference they invited authors to try overturning some of the typical conventions, and I knew immediately that I wanted to try writing one with a hero who was both junior to, and slightly younger than, the heroine. 

I'd love it if you'd hop over to Mills and Boon's New Voices and see if you think I've pulled it off.  You'll need to register there if you want to vote and comment, but if you don't feel like registering you can always pop back here and post your comments below.

Thank you!

The Joy of Competitions

My success in the Yorkshire Ridings competition has reminded me how much I love writing competitions.  Writing to a strict brief can be challenging, as I wonder how to fit a whole story into just a thousand words, or what location is best suited to showing the romantic side of this beautiful county.  Yet, in other ways, it's a relief to have clear boundaries, otherwise it's easy for the creative side of my mind to spiral off, moving further and further from the original project I had in mind. 

So, after hearing that I'd won the first prize in the Yorkshire Ridings short story competition, I decided it would be a good idea to look around for another competition to focus my attention.  And then a friend reminded me of this:

It's a fantastic opportunity for anyone who hasn't got a full-length romance out, to work with Mills & Boon editors, gain a wider audience, and perhaps even be published with the most successful romance publisher of all time. 

And even if you don't write romance, only read it, the site is well worth a visit, for all the fascinating opening chapters that have already been posted.

Enjoy!

Yorkshire Romance

After a break from blogging over the summer, it's nice to return with some good news.  And what news! 

My story 'Top of the World' won first place in the Yorkshire Ridings magazine romance story competition.  From the moment they announced the competition, I felt it was made for me - I live in Yorkshire, love Yorkshire, and read and write romance - but I still didn't quite dare to hope for the winning place.  I'd have been happy to be shortlisted and have my story featured in their beautiful, glossy magazine.  I'm told the winning stories will appear on their website, though as I write this I can only see the winners of 2010's ghost story competition, so to read my story you'll have to buy the magazine.  It's available on the shelves in WHSmiths in Yorkshire, and on subscription through the website (at the time of writing, it's a bargain at £10 for 12 shiny, fun-packed issues). 

My story is set in one of my favourite spots in Yorkshire, the Chevin country park, pictured here. Oddly enough, it's the same location which inspired another winning story, 'Hide and Seek'.  'Hide and Seek' was about a girl adjusting to her new step family, while 'Top of the World' features a couple who've been together seven years, just to prove that romance doesn't have to be all about boy meets girl (at least not for the first time).  I loved writing it, and am very grateful for the help that Doncaster Writers' Group gave me in tweaking the closing lines. 

I hope you enjoy the story, if you get a chance to read it, and I'm looking forward to reading Lorraine Mace's book, 'The Writer's ABC Checklist', which is part of the prize. 

A big thank you to Lorraine, and to the lovely people at Yorkshire Ridings Magazine!