January was a busy month as I was editing the sequel to my first novel (I'm still waiting to see if any publishers are interested in the first book). I’m currently receiving feedback on the sequel's second draft from members of my writing group, and my current plan is to work on more revisions in March.
As the sequel was taking up all my attention last month, I haven’t submitted
to any short story competitions for a couple of months, but I need to get
started again. In the last couple of days, I’ve received some news worth
sharing: a story that I submitted in December reached second place in a
competition. It’s called ‘A Book Report’ and is available to read for free
(along with the other winners).
While I was researching competitions today, deciding what to
enter next, I also discovered that I’ve been longlisted for another
competition. It’s too early to know which story caught the judges’ attention (I
entered two) or how far it might get in the competition, but it’s good to know
that I’ve received some recognition. Fingers crossed!
In other news, I’ve written an opening chapter for Fiction Express. I’m going to get some feedback from my writing group this week, and
then I’ll be sending that off to my agent next week. Hopefully, the
organisation will like the concept. I’m not sure I’ll begin writing for them in
February/March (given how soon their next batch of stories will go live), but
hopefully they’ll slot me in for their April books.
Steady progress overall, but the shorter works have a much quicker turnaround!
