Writing Competitions to Enter in October

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness..a time to curl up before the fire with a good book. Or maybe even to write one.

To flex your writing muscles, here are some suggestions for October.

To begin with, why not submit your work to on-line magazine Penny Shorts, which is seeking short stories between 1,000 and 10,000 words. They like ‘thought-provoking, surreal, ridiculous, tragic, tear-jerking, painful, philosophical, horrifying or gruesome stories’ and are particularly drawn to twist-in-the-tale endings. Multiple submissions are accepted. Response time is ‘within 4 weeks’ and ‘there is payment for all writers’. Details from: http://www.pennyshorts.com

The Wenlock Olympian Society and the Much Wenlock & District U3A have launched the Wenlock Olympian Flash Fiction Competition 2020/2021 for original, unpublished fiction up to 1,000 words in any genre on the following themes: Five Rings; Winning; Gold is Only a Colour. Prizes are £150, £50 and £25, plus Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. The entry fee is £5, £8 for two and £12 for three. Closing Date: 31 October. Details: http://writ.rs/wenlock20

The ovarian cancer charity Ovacome’s first writing competition is for short stories on the timely theme of ‘overcoming’. Enter original, unpublished short stories up to 2,000 words. The ‘overcoming’ theme can be interpreted broadly and stories do not need to be related to either health or ovarian cancer. The competition intends to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, and money for its support services. The winner will get £250 and further prizes will be announced. Entry is £5 per story. Closing date: 31 October. Details: https://writ.rs/ovacome

Writing Magazine feature a Picture Book Prize 2020, with comprehensive advice on how to win the prize given in their November edition. First prize is a consultation with top agent Julia Churchill, a year’s subscription to the magazine, and £200 prize money. Second prize is a picture book critique by Amy Sparkes, via Writing Magazine courses, a year’s subscription to the magazine and £50 prize money. Third prize is a year’s subscription to the magazine. Deadline is 31 October. Details: http://www.amysparkes.co.uk/picture-book-prize/

Observer/Jonathan Cape/Comica Graphic Short Story Prize for graphic short stories. Prizes: £1,000 plus publication; £250. FREE ENTRY. Closing date: 11 October. Details of what is required: penguin.co.uk/company/publisher/vintage/jonathan-cape.html#capeshortstory

Retreat West Flash Fiction Prize for stories up to 500 words – no minimum word count. Prizes: £300, £200, £100, £15 for shortlisted. Entry fee: £8. Closing date: 25 October. Details: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk/competitions/the-rw-flash-diction-prize/

Retreat West 1,000 word Short Story Prize. First Prize, a professional recording of you winning story, worth £150. Second Prize, a year’s Retreat West Gold Author MJembership, value £100. Third prize, a year’s Retreat West Bronze Flash Membership, value £50. Entry £10. Closing date 4 October. Details: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk/

Cinnamon Press Literature Award for 10 poems, 2 stories or 10,000 words of a novel. Prize: publishing contract. Entry fee: £16. Closing date: 30 October. Details: cinnamonpress.com/index.php/competitions/annual-debut-novel-or-novella-prize

McKitterick Prize 2021  for the best first novel, published or unpublished, by an author aged over 40. Prizes: £4,000. FREE ENTRY. Closing date: 31 October. Details: prizes@societyofauthors.org

Flash 500 Novel Opening Chapter & Synopsis Competition for the opening of a novel, up to 3,000 words, plus a synopsis. Prizes: £500, £200. Entry fee: £10. Closing Date: 31 October. Details: flash500.com/novels/

The current situation means that competitions can be cancelled or altered at short notice, so please remember to check the details extremely carefully before entering.

Good luck!

 

 

Writing Competitions to Enter in September

Thank goodness the coffee shops are open again. Those of us who write and edit best when removed from the distraction of household chores can finally get back into writing mode. And at Taste Well, in Royal Tunbridge Wells, there’s a free chocolate mint – which can be saved as a reward for completing a fresh page of work.

The Adventures in Fiction New Voices Competition is aimed at writers who have started a novel and completed at least fifty pages of a manuscript, with the prize being a start-up mentoring package, including an appraisal of up to 50 pages (16,000 words), guidelines, a development strategy and a consultation. The package is worth £500. To enter, send a one-page synopsis and the first page of the novel manuscript. To be eligible to enter, you should not have been commercially published, though self-published writers may enter. Entry fee: £10. Closing date: 14 September. Details: https://adventuresinfiction.co.uk/

Hammond House 2020 Literary Prize. Short story: 1,000-5,000 words. Poem: max 40 lines. Screenplay: max 10 pages. Theme: ‘Survival’. Entry: £10 per category; £5 for members. Prizes: £500 short story; £100 poem, screenplay. Deadline: 30 September. Details: hammondhouse-publishing.com/competitions

Telegraph ‘Just Back’ Weekly Travel Writing Competition for a travel article of maximum 500 words. Prize: £250 plus publication – with the potential to win an annual £1,000 prize. Details: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/just-back-travel-writing-competition

Poet Aurelien Thomas is inviting poetry and flash fiction with the theme of fatherhood for a new anthology with the object of donating all profits to Families Need Fathers. Submissions are open to UK writers and there is no word count for poetry, but flash fiction should be no longer than 1,000 words. A fifty-word biography should be included. As a charity anthology, there is no payment – but you are contributing to a good cause. Deadline: 30 September. Submissions should be emailed to Aurelien Thomas at celebratingfathersanthology@gmail.com

The Manchester Writing Prize – given by the Manchester Writing School at Mancheste Metropolitan University, has £10,000 awards for fiction and poetry. The Manchester Poetry Prize is given for the best portfolio of three to five poems (maximum total length 120 lines)and the prize is £10,000. The entry fee is £18 per portfolio. The Manchester Fiction Prize is for the best short story up to 2,500 words. The prize is £10,000 and the entry fee £18. All entries must be original and unpublished. Closing date: 18 September. Details: http://www.mmu.ac.ul/writingcompetition/

Mslexia Fiction and Memoir Competition. Short Story, up to 3,000 words, with a first prize of £3,000, an optional week at an Arvon writing centre and mentoring by an editor at Virago Press. The winning entry and three finalists will be published in Mslexia magazine. Entry fee: £10. Flash Fiction, up to 300 words, has a first prize of £500. The winner and three finalists will be published in the magazine.Entry fee: £5. Children’s & YA Novel – submit first 5,000 words only – finalists will be invited to a pitching and networking event with agents and editors, and will receive manuscript feedback from TLC. Entry fee: £25. Memoir & Life-Writing is for prose of at least 50,000 words that narrate events in the writer’s life and/or a quest or investigation she undertakes by women who are previously unpublished. Finalists are inviting to a pitching and networking event with agents and editors and will receive manuscript feedback from TLC. Submit first 5,000 words only. Entry fee: £25. Deadline: 21 September. Details: http://www.mslexia.co.uk/competitions

Caterpillar Story for Children Prize. For stories up to 2,000 written by adults for children aged 7-11.Prizes: 1,000 Euros. Entry fee: 12 Euros. Closing Date: 30 September. Details: http://www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com

Crowvus Christmas Ghost Story Competition for ‘Spooky stories, up to 4,000 words’. Prizes: £100, £75, £50. Entry fee: £3, £5 for two. Closing date: 30 September. Details: http://www.crowvus.com/competition

We live in strange times, which is perhaps why there seem to be less creative writing competitions on offer, so perhaps it is time to work on that long-planned novel, if nothing here appeals.

As always, do please check with the relevant websites before entering, in case entry details have been changed.

 

Sexual Exploitation in 18th Century London

Tags

18th century sexuality, Boswell, Dr Johnson, Harlots, Maggie Richell-Davies, Maggie's blog, Pepys, The Servant

 

If that headline has caught your eye – and you’ve maybe been watching Harlots on the television – you might be interested in Maggie’s blog on this subject on her new website, which was created to coincide with the publication of her debut novel, The Servant, this spring.

https://www.maggiedaviesiswriting.com

It is sad but, sadly no surprise, to learn that from Pepys, to Boswell to Johnson, the leading figures of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries considered female servants existed for their convenience, in more ways than one.

Maggie would have copied her piece here on the ninevoices’ blog, but hasn’t quite mastered the technology involved…

…she would also be more than pleased if you chose to follow her blog. No cost is involved, and any comments on what you’d like her to write about in future would be welcome.

Writing Competitions to Enter in August

High summer, and not one competition entered? Shame upon you. We are told that reading is good for depression and for our mental health – not to mention being hugely enjoyable when you pick up the right book. So isn’t it our duty to keep putting words on paper – and create a bit of drama to share…?

London Independent Story Prize for short stories, maximum 1,500-words; flash, 300-words; screenplays, maximum 30 pages. Prizes: £100 for stories and flash, Final Draft Software for screenplays. Entry fee: £7 for stories, £5 for flash, £10 for screenplays. Closing date 2 August. Details: http://www.londonindependentstoryprize.co.uk

Costa Short Story Award for stories up to 4,000-words. Prizes: £3,500, £1,000, £500. FREE ENTRY. Closing date: 28 August. Details: costa.co.uk/behind-the-beans/costa-book-award/short-story-award

Cinnamon Pencil Mentoring Competition for 10 poems, two short stories or the first 10,000-words of a novel. Prizes: A place on the Cinnamon Pencil mentoring scheme. Entry fee: £12. Closing date: 31 August. Details: http://www.cinnamonpress.com

Exeter Flash Competition for fiction up to 750 words. Prizes: £200, £100, £50. Entry fee: £6. Closing date 31 August. Details: http://www.creativewritingmatters.co.uk

Exeter Story Prize for stories on any theme up to 10,000 words. Prizes: £500, £150, £100. Entry fee: £12. Closing date: 31 August. Details: creativewritingmatters@virginmedia.com

Teens of Tomorrow. Future-focussed diverse teen fiction, 2,000-5,000-words. Prizes: £200, £100, £50, anthology publication by Odd Voice Out. Entry fee: £4. Closing date: 31 August. Details: http://www.writers-online.co.uk

Hysteria Writing Competition for stories up to 600 words, poetry up to 12 lines, flash fiction 100 words. Prizes: £25 each category, anthology publication. Entry free. Closing date: 31 August. Details: healthyhappywoman.co.uk/hysteria-writing-competition

Not a vast number of competitions this month, but if you win one of them, that’s more than enough. Do, however, remember to check all the details before committing to enter any of them. Our current situation has made some competitions alter their deadlines, or even pull out altogether.

Enjoy your summer, and stay safe!

My Apologies…

My apologies for straining people’s eyesight. Here is that wonderful GoodReads review for my historical novel, The Servant, by Maggie Richell-Davies:

This book is a very powerful read. It vividly depicts the Georgian era in all its visceral rawness, the harshness of life for a young servant girl who has very little security in either her life or her work. It doesn’t in any way sugar coat the horrific experience of poverty and exploitation and at times is a difficult read because it is so unflinchingly honest and deals with some emotive subjects. It is also beautifully written with such elegant language. Hannah is an admirable heroine, brave, strong and entirely credible, whilst the love story is an uplifting thread running through the book. I found this a compelling read that I continued to think about long after I had finished the book.

Nicola Cornick

This kind of review is every writer’s dream. I neither know the lady nor have bribed her, but she has made my day, my week, my year with those generous words.

 

 

 

Writing Competitions to Enter in July

 

Summer is upon us and, with it, some new competitions to enter. If George Gissing could write 23 weighty novels and 111 publishable short stories in under thirteen years (see Valerie’s recent post about him on this blog) four weeks should be ample time to come up with a thousand words or so…

The Aurora Prize 2020 from Writing East Midlands is a national creative writing contest in two categories: poetry and short fiction. In each category there are first prizes of £500 and a session with Society of Authors staff. There are second prizes of £150 and third prizes of a one-day writing course of the winner’s choice from Writing East Midlands. Enter original, unpublished stories up to 2,000-words and poems up to 60 lines. The entry fee for the first entry is £9 and £7 for any further entries. Closing date is 8 July. Details from: https://writ.rs/auroraprize2020

Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition for stories up to 1,200-words on an open theme. Prizes: £200; £100; £50. Winning entries may be published in an anthology. Entry fee: £5. Closing date: 15 July. Details: http://www.wrekinwriters.co.uk

Ilkley Literature Festival Short Story and Walter Swan Poetry Competitions for stories 1,000-2,000-words; poems up to 30 lines. Prizes: £200 for short stories, £200, £100, £75 for adult poems, £100, £75, £50 and 18-25 year olds’ poems. Entry fee: £5. Deadline: 31 July. Details: ilkeleyliteraturefestival.org./uk

HISSAC Annual Open Short Story Competition for stories up to 2,000-words; flash fiction up to 500-words. No connection to Scotland needed, either by theme or entrant. Prizes: £200, £75 and £50 in both categories. Entry fee: £5; £12 for three; £18 for five. Deadline: 31 July. Details: http://www.hissac.co.uk

The Fiction Factory Flash Fiction Competition is looking for a maximum of 1,000-words on any subject, though they are not excepting children’s stories or YA. Prizes are: £150, £50 and £25. Entry is £5 for a single entry, £8 for two, £12 for three. Deadline is 31 July. Details from their website http://www.fiction-factory.biz

 

Norwich Writers Circle invite entries for the sixth Olga Sinclair Prize, its annual open fiction short story competition, inspired this year by the word ‘News‘ and celebrates the Norwich Post, which in 1705 became the first provincial newspaper to be published outside London. The first prize is £500, with two runners up prizes of £250 and £100. The top ten shortlisted stories will be later published in a 2020 Anthology and a gala prize-giving evening held in Norwich, circumstances permitting, on 3 November. The entry fee is £9 for the first story and £7 each for two or more stories. The deadline is 31st July. Details: https://norwichwriters.wordpress.com A member of ninevoices was shortlisted for this a few years back and although she didn’t win, did go on to revise the story and have it published in an anthology.

Do you live in Surrey? The free Surrey Life magazine and Guildford Book Festival invite original, unpublished short stories up to 1,000-words by unpublished Surrey residents. Shortlisted writers will be invited to the October festival launch, when the winner will be announced. Entry is free and the deadline 31 July. There is no mention of a monetary prize, but there is always La gloire and an opportunity to see your work in print. Details: https://writ/rs/surreylifecomp.

Because of our current situation, the British Czech & Slovac Association Competition for short stories and non-fiction, up to 2,000, exploring the links between Britain and the Czech/Slovak Republics at any time, has extended its deadline from the end of June to 31 July. Prizes: £400, £150, together with publication in the British Czech & Slovac Review and an invitation to a dinner – moreover, ENTRY IS FREE. The suggested, but optional, theme for 2020 is sporting. Surely some of you have humorous memories of sporting events that you have attended, or viewed on television. A batchelor party in Prague? Or maybe romantic lingerings on the wonderful Charles Bridge in your youth? Do get writing. Details: http://www.bcsa.co.uk

Finally, the Sean O’Faolain Short Story Competition is looking for stories up to 3,000-words on an open theme. Prizes: 2,000 Euros, week-long retreat at Aman Cara Writers’ and Artists’ Retreat; Euros 500, Euros 250×4. Entry fee: Euros 18. Closing date: 31 July. Details: http://www.munsterlit.ie

Please take special care at this unsettled time to check entry details, since some events may have been cancelled or had their entry dates altered.

Remember that reading is good for depression and uplifting for those in isolation. So it is up to writers like ourselves to grab those notebooks, cudgel our brains and keep providing fresh material.

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Writers – Is Your Work Autobiographical?

Tags

Agatha Christie, Eighteenth century, Henshaw Short Story Competition, Hilary Mantel, Martin Amis, The Servant

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A good question. Clearly Agatha Christie was never accused of murdering anyone. Nor did Hilary Mantel have first-hand experience of the Tudor court. Yet both convey a convincing reality through a research and skillful storytelling.

In writing about the squalor and hardship of nineteenth-century London in The Servant, nobody would suggest I wrote from personal experience. I live in a broad-minded welfare state, where women have access to education, to reliable birth control, and take for granted that they deserve to be treated as equal to men. And yet. The glass ceiling still exists, the fear of university debt prevents many getting the education they might wish and powerful men can still get away with taking advantage of female employees. So it was not an impossible step to imagine how the women who went before us lived their lives.

And personal experience has a place.

I lived for twenty years in a house built in the middle of the English Civil War. Our cottage (above) was at one time called Speldhurst Farm and in earlier days was thought to have belonged to a yeoman farmer. How could I not make use of it as the home of dairy farmer Thomas Graham in my story? How not call on my knowledge of creaking elm plank floors, lime-washed walls, beams as thick as a man’s thigh, and sparking inglenook fireplaces?

In addition, my husband had a much-loved mare called Calypso, and though she was a grey rather than my farmer’s bay, when I wrote of a horse’s ‘warm breath on my stroking hand‘ I did, of course, write from personal experience.

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Two Christmases ago, a neighbour’s handsome English bull terrier came to visit and was swiftly inserted into my story as my hero’s dog. Woody (re-named Hector for plot purposes) could not, sadly, be described by his breed, since a quick spot of research discovered that the bull terrier, as such, did not exist until the following century, but I allowed myself poetic licence and merely avoided naming the breed. I am, after all, a storyteller rather than a historian.

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I’m convinced all writers draw on personal experience and feelings to some extent. Certainly I do.

However, I should make one final point on the subject. Some years ago I was fortunate enough to win a Henshaw Short Story Competition. The piece, Till Death Us Do Part, told of a cheating wife and how she killed off her husband. Let me reassure you that my own husband, the same one then as now, is still very much alive.

The Stress-Free Way to Attend a Literary Festival

I’ve never been to a literary festival, though I have often meant to do so. Yesterday, however, a neighbour drew our attention to fact that the 33rd edition of the Hay Festival, usually held in Powys, is being broadcast free online this week.

This meant that last night we were enthralled to share in a discussion with Maggie O’Farrell about her recently released, and much applauded, Hamnet – an imagined take on the death of Shakespeare’s young son and how it might have affected the playwright’s life and work.

DO PLEASE GO AND TAKE A LOOK: hayfestival.com/wales/bbc

There are many other other treasures to share: poetry readings, ballet, discussions on the science of corona virus. Stephne Fry being erudite about Ancient Greece. All free – though the festival organisers do hint for a donation. But Maggie is probably the highlight for anyone with an interest in historical fiction or, for that matter, quality fiction of any kind.

I was particularly taken by her tale of the difficulties of writing a fraught emotional scene while sharing a household with noisy and intrusive family members. Her solution? To spend two hours hidden inside her children’s Wendy House, accompanied only by her her cat. It worked a treat, apparently.

Being confined at home with one’s family can, of course, be challenging. Young children will need to be home-schooled or entertained. Older ones found space where they can continue to be gainfully-employed on-line. Partners will need to be placated at being abandoned in favour of a laptop and fistful of editing notes. But, as Maggie proved, a way can always be found.

And for those creative people who are completely isolated from their nearest and dearest, just remember that the artist Lowry once confided to a friend: ‘Had I not been lonely I would not have seen what I did.’

Put your isolation to creative use. And find something to watch from the Wye Festival.

 

 

Writing Competitions to Enter in April

Tags

Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize, Bath Short Story Award, Bristol Short Story Prize, Cranked Anvil Short Story Competition, Grey Hen Poetry Competition, Grindstone Literary Prizes, Hastings Writers Room 'Misrepresentation' Stories, Mairtin Crawford Awards, Manchester Metropolitan University QuietManDave Prize, Momya Press Short Story Competition, Red Planet Prize for new TV Series drama scripts, Retreat West Micro Fiction Competition, Royal Academy & Pin Drop Short Story Award

Annie, adored granddaughter of ninevoice’s Christine

 

In these difficult and troubling times we thought we would treat you to a small, but precious ray of sunshine. This very young lady was born on 18th March, and is therefore rather young to enter writing competitions – but she has absolutely the right genes, so give her time. 

Welcome to our world, lovely Annie! 

In the light of my most recent post, I expect you all to be encouraged to enter one of the following competitions.

Because I entered the HWA/ & Sharpe Books Unpublished Novel Competition last September my book – The Servant -will be published some time next year. And because I entered another competition, I got as far as the Exeter Novel Award longlist. On top of which, another member of ninevoices has TWO Exeter trophies in her possession – because she did the same. ‘Nuff said…

Red Planet Prize for new TV Series drama scripts. Prizes: Script commission and masterclasses with award-winning writers. Entry is free. Closing date April 3rd. Details: http://www.redplanetpicture.co.uk

Manchester Metropolitan University QuietManDave Prize for flash fiction. 500 words maximum. Prizes: £1,000; £200; £50 in each category. Entry fee: £5. Deadline 17 April. Details: http://www.2.mmu.ac/qmdprize

Bath Short Story Award for 2,200 words max. Prizes: £1,200; £300; £100; £50 local prize; £100 for unpublished writer. Entry fee: £8. Deadline 20 April. Details: http://www.bathshortstoryaward.org

Bristol Short Story Prize. 4,000 words max. Prizes: £1,000; £500; £250; 17 x £100. Entry fee: £9. Deadline 30 April. Details: http://www.bristol-prize.co.uk/rules 

Grey Hen Poetry Competition for a poem of up to 40 lines. Rules: for women poets aged 60-plus. Prizes: £100; £50; £25. Entry fee: £3, or four for £10. Deadline: 30 April. Details: www. greyhenpress.com/poetry-competition-entry-rules

Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize for prose up to 2,500 words on the theme of ‘Forgiveness and Retribution’. Entry is free. Prizes: £10,000; £3,999; £2,000. Closing date April 1st. Details: alpinefellowship.com

Retreat West Micro Fiction Competition for 100 words exactly, to a prompt posted on the website at the start of each month. Prizes: 50% of total entry fees received. Entry fee: £4. Closing date: 12 April, monthly. Details: http://www.retreatwest.co.uk

RA & Pin Drop Short Story Award, up to 4,000 words. Prize: A reading by a special guest at an evening at The Royal Academy of Arts. Entry is free. Deadline 15 April. Details: http://www.royalacademy.org

Momya Press Short Story Competition for stories up to 3,000 words on the theme of ‘Outsiders’. Prizes: £110; £55; £25. Entry fee £11. Closing date: 15 April. Details: momyapress.com

Grindstone Literary Prizes for short stories, up to 3,000 words, and poems, up to 40 lines. Prizes: £500, £200, 4 x £50 in each category. Entry fee: 8. Closing date 28 April for short stories, 28 May for poems. Details: http://www.grindstoneliterary.com

Mairtin Crawford Awards. 3-5 poems; short stories, up to 2,500 words. Prizes: £500 and invitation to read at the Belfast Book Festival. Entry fee: £6. Closing date: 29 April. Details: http://www.crescentarts.org/about/book-festival/mairtin-crawford-award

Cranked Anvil Short Story Competition for stories up to 1,500 words; quarterly. Prizes: £150; £75; £30. Entry fee: £5, £3 for second, £2 for third. Closing date: quarterly, 30 April, 31 July, 31 October. Details: https://crankedanvil.co.uk/shortstory/

Hastings Writers Room ‘Misrepresentation’. Short stories, up to 1,500 words, on the theme ‘misrepresentation. Prizes: Gold and Silver memberships of Retreat West. Entry fee: £6, £10 for two. Closing date: 30 April. Details: http://www.hastingswritersroom.org/competitions 

There is a fair amount of choice there, so why not enter more than one?

As ever, please take care to check details, especially deadline dates. And good luck…!

 

The Rejection Diaries – and Why Persistence Might be More Important than Talent

Tags

Fish Publishing, Getting Published, HWA & Sharpe Books Unpublished Novel Award

A writing competition spurned my entry last week. Well, they didn’t spurn the thing – they were too nice for that – but they gave it a firm thumbs down. No place on their shortlist; no place on their longlist. Not even a commendation. 

But do I care? I do not, for reasons you will find below.

Rejections are normally the occasion for private breast-beating and lamentation, however much we put on a brave front to family and friends. I recently received a rejection from an agent who added that they offered professional advice to ‘beginner writers’. As someone who has slaved not only over computer keyboards but, once upon a time, actual typewriters, that made me want to heave a brick through someone’s window.

But let me tell you a story. Back in 2015 I visited London’s Foundling Hospital for the first time. It is an incredibly emotive place and I couldn’t get the stories it told out of my head. So I did what writers do. I drafted a short story, The Gingham Square – about the tokens those tragic mothers left in the hope that they might one day be able to retrieve their precious child. The story was entered into a Fish Publishing competition and, while it failed to earn a prize, their senior editor said that she felt it had the potential for a book.

Reader, I wrote the thing. Not with either ease or expedition, because considerable research was needed and I had never tried to be a historical novelist before, but a year or so ago I started showing the result to agents and entering competitions. Many drafts had been taken apart at ninevoices‘ meetings. Many discussions had ensued about whether a ‘happy ending’ would dilute the story’s force. Many red pencils had crossed through purple prose and lamentable grammar. It went through four different titles.

I also sent it back to Fish for a professional critique by the editor whose vision had made it all happen. It was a sound investment, for her suggestions made it a better book.

This month I received the wonderful news that I had won the HWA/Sharpe Books Unpublished Novel Award and that my book, The Servant, will be published next year. I have actually signed a contract.

I am always nagging people to enter competitions and do not intend to stop since acting on such advice has, amazingly, worked for me. That, and being a member of a tremendously supportive writing group. So when you see my next Competitions to Enter post, I suggest you do not dither. Winning IS possible. And even if you don’t win, be inspired by Sylvia Plath’s famous quote: I love my rejections. They prove that I am trying.

What are you waiting for? It CAN happen. 

Oh, yes. A poem, for which I had high hopes, was also rejected in the middle of the week – and my longlisting for the Exeter Novel Award did not translate into a shortlisting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, yes. A poem I had high hopes for was also rejected in the middle of the week.