The title says it all... I
happened to check my junk inbox today and discovered that I'd come in first
place in a story competition. For eight whole days, my work has been published
online, and I've been none the wiser! Anyway, you can check out the story
‘The Slumbering Dragon’ here.
According to my records, there
should be a £300 prize for first place in this competition. Hopefully, this
should come my way now that I’ve responded to the email from the competition
organisers. If it does, it will be a dream come true, as I will be in profit
from my ventures into short story competitions.
Reaching a longlist was
incredible, but perhaps a fluke. Reaching a shortlist and being published was
amazing, but perhaps just a one-off. To win a competition and be published a
second time suggests that people do actually want to read what I have to write.
It’s still early days, but I’d love to make a career from my writing. My agent is currently approaching editors at publishing houses for my YA Fantasy novel. It will be at least six weeks before we hear anything about it. Garth Nix (a fellow writer!) wrote a post comparing this stage to 16th-century merchants setting out in their ships across the sea, uncertain whether their venture would lead to profit or shipwreck. To keep busy, I’m at work with the sequel. But if nothing comes from the novel series, I have plenty of other projects to consider in future years.
