‘Degsie’s All-time Runners’ goes live on YouTube
‘The Queen of Campbeltown’ finalist in the Earlyworks Press short story competition 2014
Due for publication in the finalists’ anthology over the next few months, ‘The Queen of Campbeltown’ is about a little lad marooned in the Highlands who is desperately trying to get home to his mother.
The Work of Lesser-known Artists
‘The Work of Lesser-known Artists’ judged joint runner-up in the London Short Story Competition 2014.
These are the quotes from the judges:
‘This story packs a punch and puts a smile on the face – quite an achievement. An energetic and ambitious take evoking the humour and vitality of one woman’s life as she breaks free of the imprisonment of the everyday.’ – Cathy Galvin, co-founder Sunday Times/EFG short story competition.
‘An uplifting and irreverent story – bold and engaging, it asks important questions about reality and perception and art.’ – Jackie Kay, poet and novelist.
London Short Story Prize
Reading from my short story, ‘The Work of Lesser-known Artists’ at an event to mark this year’s London Short Story competition, at Waterstones, Piccadilly, London on Monday, 24th November, from 7pm.
http://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/events/view/the-london-short-story-prize-2
Her Health in Your Hands
Online journal of the Ahimsa Fund July 2014
http://www.ahimsa-fund.com/non-classe/her-health-in-your-hands-by-janet-swinney/
Fantastic Event!
Fantastic night last night at our local community cafe, the Hill Station. Another opportunity for local writers to have their work read by professional actors from the area. Owen Teale’s account of an aged Sir John Geilgud in an extract from Rupert Frazer’s memoire, ‘Relative Times’, was something not to be forgotten, while Rupert’s own delivery of work by Guy Ware was breath-taking.
Singer and actor, Helen Moore, read an extract from one of my recent stories ‘Washing Machine Wars’, a sorry tale of snobbery, bigotry and racial tension in South London.
Friends and community provided terrific support as usual, some coming from quite far afield.
A Great Night!
A great night with a book group in Wilmington, Kent, the other night. This small, but perfectly formed, group were extremely attentive and very responsive. I really enjoyed reading and discussing extracts from my work with them. Not to mention the fact that books were sold. Many thanks are due to my mate, Christine, for organising this and providing the refreshments.
There’s Short, and then there’s Blinkin’ Ridiculous
Why are the limits on the entries for short story competitions getting shorter and shorter? I know we’re supposed to have the attention span of gnats these days but, on the other hand, the short story is allegedly in the ascendant, so why not give us something to work with?
I fell upon the the most recent edition of ‘Mslexia’ with naive optimism as usal, some days back, only to find that word limits are continuing to plummet, some as low as 200 words – What? I thought that was a postcard! – and that there was hardly any competition into which I could squeeze an entry. I consider 5,000 a decent read, and a decent write, for that matter, though I would prefer the latitude of something between eight and ten thousand. You can probably count on the finger of one finger the number of competitions that offer that luxury these days. Worst of all, the much-vaunted Manchester fiction prize has halved its limit from 5,000 to 2,500 this year. Too much trouble reading the entries, I suppose.
Funny though, once you’re established, you can do what you damn well pleasy. I’ve just finished reading ‘Cold Sea Stories’ by Pawel Huelle, and the stories in that anthology vary enormously in length. Come on, folks, what happened to biodiversity in the short story?
Is it Sunday Yet?
Trapped in a relationship she cannot end, Barbara has reached the end of her tether. Will she find a way out? To find out, get hold of the anthology, Significant Spaces. To buy your copy, click on the external link, or visit Amazon.
Significant Spaces, Earlyworks Press, July 2013
http://www.earlyworkspress.co.uk/short_story_winners_2012.htm
Pigeons are Worth a Fortune in Fiction
A Belgian racing pigeon sold for £260,000 this week. There’s a lot more to pigeons than meets the eye. If you would like to read about pigeons in fiction, try my story ‘Internet Explorer’, where they play a significant role.
‘Internet Explorer’ appears in the anthology ‘Ways of Falling’, available from Earlyworks Press