County matters

The Raunds Ukulele Orchestra, of which I'm pleased to be a member, was invited to play at the Dean and Shelton Country Show on Saturday. It was a splendid affair, with a fine display of lawnmowers and tractors, stalls and sideshows, hog roast and a tea tent. I was pleased to see that refreshments were served in proper cups and on proper plates, with bamboo cutlery: no plastic in sight.

A particular highlight for me was a demonstration of a sheepdog herding ducks. I was too enthralled to take any pics, so you'll just have to trust me when I say it was extraordinary. The countryside is a very strange place. There was also, of course, a flower and produce competition - the photo shows the entries in the category of 'Heaviest Vegetable'.

And talking of competitions...

The closing date for the Moulton Literary Festival Short Story Competition has been extended to 26 October. Does this mean there haven't been many entries? You could be in with a chance. Details are here. Full disclosure: I'm the judge!

Mood swings

Writing: it's a funny old game. One day you're riding high because ideas are abundant and the words are flowing; the next day, you take someone's casual remark as a sign that your work is hopeless.

On Tuesday, while loitering in the Doldrums, I decided that if A Sparge Bag on the Washing Line  doesn't sell well I shall never write again. By Wednesday, I'd perked up again and I wrote a rather fine short story, if I do say so myself. I was also invited to submit two poems to an anthology being produced by a local writing group. Then yesterday, I heard I'm on the short list for the Writers Bureau Poetry Competition and I was approached to do some creative writing workshops. Today, Friday, I still have the wind in my sales.

If you're looking for inspiration, take a look at The Ruth Rendell Short Story Competition here. At £15 entry fee, it's a bit on the steep side, but it's for a good cause. The word limit is 1,000 and the prize is £1,000, which is a good per-word rate. The winner will be commissioned to write four more stories; I don't know if there's a further fee payable for this. I do, though, know someone who was runner-up one year; apparently, the awards evening is rather splendid. As always, make sure you read the rules and all the Ts&Cs.

Linking up

Isn't it strange how one thing leads to another?

A few years ago I wrote a short story called 'Scoring An Own Goal in Tennis'. I sat on it for a while because I didn't know what to do with it; it clearly wasn't a womag tale. In the end, I entered it into the H E Bates Short Story Competition and it won one of the prizes. I subsequently published it as a little e-project for the Kindle.

Since then, I've attended the HEBSSC awards evening as a guest and it's always an interesting event. The second year I went I sat next to a lovely lady called Rachael, whose partner is a writer. She runs Open Stage Performing Arts in Northampton, where she does wonderful things, and I've been privileged to have been a judge at the group's awards day three times.

A couple of those times, one of my co-judges has been Radio Northampton presenter Jules Osmany and we've kept bumping into each other here and there. Well, last night she invited me on to the radio show she co-hosts, for a chat about public speaking. If you're interested, you can catch my bit on BBC Sounds here; I was on at 1hr 16min for about a quarter of an hour.

Coincidentally, my blogworld friend Sally Jenkins has just posted about this topic, because her book Public Speaking for Absolute Beginners is now available in paperback and Kindle formats. There's more about this on her blog here.

I wonder what the next link in the chain will be.

Making up my mind

I've spent a lot of time this week reading other people's short stories in my role as a competition judge. I've done this before and it's always a privilege, but it's also very difficult.

How do I compare, sci-fi with romance, humour with horror? How do I stop myself choosing a story that is to my taste, but not necessarily the best written? Indeed, should I?

Then there is the question of entries that are beautifully written, but not, to my mind, stories: that is to say, they read more like extracts from a bigger piece of work. Am I judging the quality of the writing from a technical point of view or is the tale itself the most important element?

The answer to all these questions is, of course, that it's up to me. I've been asked to judge, but that only means to give my opinion; and this is the case with all competitions. So if you're slogging away submitting entries and rarely or never walking away with the prize, this doesn't mean you're not a good writer. Judging is subjective. Another panel might have picked you - and may well do so next time.

Fancy winning £500?

Details have been announced of this year's H E Bates short story competition. Submissions of stories of up to 2,000 words are invited by the closing date of 3rd December. Top prize is £500. Further details are on the competition website here, where you will also see that Head Judge is yours truly.

Good luck to everyone who enters.

Breathing space

When you're self-employed, Bank Holidays can be a good time to catch up with admin, secure in the knowledge that any clients with 'proper jobs' won't be interrupting you. That's what I'm doing this morning, pottering about and shuffling papers; but the rest of the weekend will be dedicated to relaxation and restoration, whatever the weather throws at me.

Mr Thorley has reported sorrowfully that according to his allotment spreadsheet (don't judge), we are already a month behind compared to last year's planting schedule. The old adage about watching the weather not the calendar has never been truer. The lack of onion sets in the ground is the talk of the field, I can tell you! Nevertheless, he has gone off this morning, with his spade over his shoulder, to do 'something'.

So while it's peaceful at home, I'm going to take a look at some short stories I have lurking. I was one of the short-listed writers in the Words Magazine Short Story, so that tale needs moving from the 'can't be used' file to the 'needs a home' file. Then I shall return to my Lee Child book. I can't get enough of this writer.

Have a lovely weekend, folks.

A story for bonfire night

Some time ago I wrote a 100-word story for a competition organised by writer Morgen Bailey. If you're not familiar with her, I strongly recommend you pop over to her website here. In fact, if you visit today (5th November) you can download one of her books free of charge. Anyway, my little story was highly commended, so I won one of Morgen's online courses. Since it was on the theme of fireworks, it seems appropriate to share it today:

KAMURO*

She clutched his hand beneath the canopy of colour and light, as the explosions illuminated families and friends, and other couples just like them, their gasps visible in the autumn chill. They felt the energy poised to be released, hanging in the air and eager to be tasted and absorbed. Then at last it exploded in unexpected and delightful ways. The next morning, the damp grass was littered with debris where expectation had come down to earth. She picked her way through the empty tubes and fallen rockets, avoiding soot and scorch marks, reminders of last night’s anticipation now spent.

*A type of firework. An effect that hangs and trails in the air not unlike a willow, often strobing or twinkling. Commonly used in finale sequences to fill the sky with long-lasting effects that often persist to near ground level.

Maytime celebrations

Welcome to this week's celebration of small things. Today, I'm celebrating the honesty of friends. I sent my writing buddy Elaine a story I'd written that I knew needed some work. Elaine has gently pointed out all that was wrong with it - quite a list, as it turns out - and I've heeded her advice. A revised version will be heading her way soon.

Also on the writing front, I'm celebrating finally getting my backside in gear and publishing a story in the Kindle store. It's the one that did well in the H E Bates comp, Scoring an Own Goal in Tennis, so I thought I'd give it a wider airing. I'm not expecting it to make my fortune, but at least it's out there. The link is here if you'd like to take a look, please and thank you.

Finally, this afternoon I've taught my first outdoor yoga class of the year: a one-to-one session with a lovely lady with a house in the country. It was glorious to do some Salutes to the Sun actually in the sunshine.

Have a lovely weekend, folks.

Celebrate the Small Things  is a blog hop. Visit Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week. Originated by VikLit) and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog.   

Bagging a prize

Remember  how I said I'd been shortlisted in the H E Bates short story contest? Well, I went along to the awards do last night, and a good time was had by all in a very convivial atmosphere. This was the function for which I'd been rehearsing my public speaking skills - and big thanks to poet Kezzabelle for all her help - so I was a tad nervous, to say the least, but I managed to get through it without making an idiot of myself.

I'd been asked to go along and read out my entry: 'Scoring an own goal in tennis', and I had assumed that this was because I'm local, but no: I won a prize! No, not one of the main ones, but the award for the best Northamptonshire writer. (H E Bates was a local boy.)  I was amazed. I was presented with a certificate and a cheque, which latter has been turned into a lovely new bag.

Have a good weekend, folks.

Celebrate the Small Things  is a blog hop. Visit Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week. Originated by VikLit) and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog.  

Free stuff

I am indebted to my blogger friend Helen on 'Blog About Writing' for her tips regarding some free-to-enter writing competitions.

Here's another that I've come across in Writing Magazine, Feb issue, with a first prize of £300 and second and third prizes of £100 and £50. Stories should be 1,500-3,000 words long and on the subject of bingo. Details here. Closing date is 28 February. Let me know if you win!

Free-to-enter competition

I've had an email today from 'Your Healthy Living' promoting its new competition: 'Write a short story for bedtime' - details here. With no entry fee and a first prize of £500 that's got to be worth a go.

Trouble is, I've got a lot of 'proper' work on at the moment. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad to be busy. But I always seem to get lots of ideas for other things to be doing the moment the phone starts ringing or projects land in my email inbox. I must prioritise.

One thing that has taken up a lot of time today is a series of, shall we say, conversations with the Customer Service bods at Phones 4U. I'll spare you the grizzly details, suffice to say that it's amazing how obliging people can be when you ask to be put through to the Cancellations Department.

I'm singing in a concert later on today: 'Music For a Summer's Evening'. Pity we haven't got the weather to match. Think of me shivering in the church, fa-la-la-ing my heart out!

Bookish matters

I went to hear Miles Jupp last night at our local arts centre. He has a book out at the moment: 'Fibber in the Heat', which is about how he blagged himself a job as a journalist following the England cricket team on tour in India.

I wasn't sure what to expect - perhaps a reading of a few extracts from the book with an anecdote or two and a bit of a comedy turn. What he actually did was brilliant. It was a one-man-show-style rendition of the book, just him and a microphone and a couple of hours of wonderful actorly performance. Witty, clever, thought-provoking.

It was also a bit of a masterclass in how to promote a book. The Waterstones team were on hand to ensure that there were plenty of copies and we were ushered through efficiently but with no sense of hurry. Miles J was charming - and he signed my ticket, as well as my book! The lovely thing was, though, that it didn't feel like it was just another stop on an author tour; it was like a proper night out - oh and by the way, do buy the book, if you'd be so kind.  If he's coming your way, go and see him.

On my own writing front, two near misses in short story competitions: an 'honourable mention' and a spot on a short list. Oh well, reread, rework and resubmit...