News update: Short Story Competition Success!

I’m delighted to announce my short story, ‘A Different Tuesday’, has won 2^nd place in a writing competition and will be published in the December issue (#206) of Writers’ Forum magazine.

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This feels like a huge milestone. It is my first success with a short story (not including the couple I had published when I was much younger back in school organised anthologies).

A Different Tuesday is a heart-warming story about the relationship between two neighbours: an elderly man with dementia, and a young adult who recently broke-up with her boyfriend.

I wrote the first draft of this story about 5 years ago and stumbled back upon it a few months ago. I completely rewrote it (the finished story is barely recognisable compared to that first draft).

It just goes to show, if you have written a story you believe in, don’t give up. You will be able to find it a home, even if it does take five years and several re-writes!

Winning 2^nd place in this competition has been a massive confidence boost. I’ve been a subscriber to Writers’ Forum magazine for many years and have entered several stories previously (with no success).

Therefore the second lesson learnt here is practice really does make you a better writer. Going to classes, engaging with other writers, and most importantly writing are all things you can do to improve your chances of publication and competition success.

Writers’ Forum is available to buy in the UK from WHSmith, most newsagents and online (UK and International postage). I also used to be able to find the occasional copy in Indigo, Toronto, back when I was living in Canada. I believe issue #206 should be published around the end of November 2018.