Funny thing. Last night as I was blogging about Every Day Poets, I was wondering what had happened to all the short stories that I’d submitted to competitions recently. (Actually, I know full well what happened to the ones that I entered for the Fish and for Bristol. Bugger all is what happened.) But then out of the blue, a mail pops into my inbox this evening to tell me that my story “Nature’s Banquet” has just won first prize in the Earlyworks Press “Old Magic in a New Age” competition. I am mightily pleased about this for two reasons:
1. It’s the first time that I’ve won first prize in an external competition (which was, curiously enough, one of my writing ambitions for this year)
2. It’s the piece that absolutely tanked in Round 3 of the Whittaker Prize, with a score of 58/100. I love it when that happens. I hasten to add that it’s no reflection on the judge of either competition. This piece was always a risky proposition, given that it’s written in the second person. But I’m rather glad I took the risk now.
The moral? Stick to your guns. If you believe something works, you might just be right.
Congrats, Jonathan, on that first place!!!
Thanks, Gay!
(Oh, and I haven’t forgotten about Flash Fiction Chronicles, BTW – I’ll see what I can do when life gets a little less manic)