Art

National Flash Fiction Day ‘Freedom’ Anthology and More!

It’s hard to believe that I last posted here in February and we are now into June. All of the projects I was involved in have now been completed or are about to complete, and I’m looking forward to the next six months. More on that later, but first here’s a mini round-up of what I’ve been up to.

The National Flash Fiction Day ‘Freedom’ Anthology

This week, the cover reveal for this year’s annual anthology took place on social media. It was a thrill to hear NFFD tell me that they thought my painting was ‘perfect’ for the ‘Freedom’ theme. John at Ad Hoc Fiction chose the border and text colours, which I think compliment my work beautifully. The response on social media has been very positive, which is always a joy. And a relief! 

My flash fiction, Step In, Step Out is also between the covers, so that’s even more joy. NFFD are holding a Facebook launch for the anthology on the day of the celebrations, Sat 18th June. You don’t need to be on Facebook to join in.

Flash Flood – National Flash Fiction Day

It was also great news to know that my flash fiction, Sugar, will appear at 9am on the 18th, as part of the annual Flash Flood. This event always has a real buzz about it, with the submissions’ window only open for three days in May. The publication slots are highly sort after, so I’m thrilled to be in this year, amongst many writers I admire, and many of my friends in the flash fiction community. A flash fiction will be posted every ten minutes. You can see how the event earned its name!

Sybilla – Publication 

June is always an exciting month because of all that’s going on at National Flash Fiction Day, but this year there’s added excitement for me because it’s the month Joanna Campbell’s Sybilla, winner of the NFFD Novella-in-Flash Award will be published. I launched the competition with Stephanie Carty, back in February 2021, and I’ve been working on the book production with Joanna since January, when she was announced as the winner.  We’ve now fixed Joanna’s publication day as Thursday 16 June. On the day, if you are having a coffee break, why not listen to the two stories that Joanna has recorded for us on our YouTube channel. Each story will last around 2 or 3 minutes. My interview with Joanna will also be available on the website. Sybilla will be available to buy from the National Flash Fiction Day bookshop. 

Flash Fiction Festival

July will be an equally exciting month because it means the Flash Fiction Festival is back in Bristol! It has been online during Covid, but is now live again. Several of the workshops will also be available to attend online.  I’m very excited about it! It’s such an inspiring and welcoming event. I’m looking forward to taking part in some amazing workshops, meeting up with old friends, and making new ones. The festival takes place at Trinity College and there is still time to buy day or weekend tickets Flash Fiction Festival

Writing Projects

My own writing has taken a backseat in the last six months, although I did manage to write and edit a few flash, including the ones I’ve mentioned above, and I have two out on submission. I’m a very slow submitter anyway, so I’m happy with that. My main priority has been to think about and pull together an idea I have for a second flash fiction collection. I plan to write some new ones in the coming weeks and hopefully have the collection ready to sub before the end of summer. Fingers crossed. I still have a novella-in-flash on the back burner, but I’m taking a step back from it for the time being while I think about whether or not to extend it. 

That’s about it for the moment, except to say that I’m planning on writing the occasional blog post about flash fiction in the coming months. My first post will focus on endings in flash, which are extremely difficult to get right. Having judged four competitions in the last year I’ve read a lot of submissions that were so close to being placed, but fell at the last hurdle because of a weak ending, so I thought it might be helpful to offer my thoughts on what makes an ending successful.  

Watch this space.

Bye for now.

 

Competition News, NFFD Artwork, and More

It’s been a busy few months and there are more busy months ahead! Lots of exciting things are happening, I’m delighted to say. In March I will be judging entries for Retreat West’s themed monthly flash fiction competition. I’ve chosen FOREST as the theme. I’d love to see you let your imagination go with this! You do not need to include the word ‘forest’ in your entry. You might like to keep an eye on my Twitter feed as I’ll be posting some triggers and possible ways to get going in the coming weeks, before the closing date on 27th March. 500 max word count. £8 per entry. First Prize £200. Second Prize £100. Both prize winners are also offered online publication and a professional recording of their winning entry. Retreat West

I’ll also be creating the cover for the annual National Flash Fiction Day Anthology in March. The cover is always great fun to do and I’m looking forward to exploring ways to represent this year’s theme, FREEDOM. The anthology will be launched as part of the NFFD celebrations in June. National Flash Fiction Day

Right now, I’m having a lovely time moving Joanna Campbell’s wonderful novella-in-flash, Sybilla, towards publication. Joanna’s novella, set in West Berlin, in the shadow of the The Wall, won NFFD’s inaugural Novella-in-Flash Award, judged by author, Sophie van Llewyn. You can find out more about Joanna’s entry in Sophie’s report here

I recently judged Reflex Press’ Winter flash fiction competition. It’s a real privilege to be trusted with a writer’s work, thank you again to anyone who entered. If you aren’t already aware, each of the four winners will be published online between Thursday 17 Feb and Sunday 20 Feb. My comments on the winning entries will also be published on Sunday. Reflex Fiction