You can never know what will please the judge of a short story competition, I’ve discovered recently, and this is very cheering as it means there’s always hope and the unexpected can happen.
The June issue of Writing Magazine contains my story Marshmallow Truth; it’s the winning story in a subscribers only competition. But the story is very different from anything else I’ve ever written, which you could see as a little disconcerting – some stories which I like much better and are written in my usual more traditional style have never got anywhere in competitions!
However, it’s a very nice reward for straying out of my comfort zone. We are always being told to do this more often and now I am encouraged to make the effort. Thank you Writing Magazine – I am especially grateful to the editor for his sensitive and thoughtful comments about the story.