Last week, I received an exciting package in the post: three copies of a book in which my winning story ‘From the Ashes’ has been anthologised. It’s the first time I’ve ever been paid to feature in print media (rather than published online) and it feels amazing to have my words in a physical form. I can clear a shelf on one of my bookcases and hope that one day I will fill it with a range of published stories.
Another success came through via email a few minutes ago. My story ‘Observation’ has been selected as first prize in another competition and has been published. You can read it online for free here.
When the small prize
comes through (£100), it'll be my first fiction earning for the current financial year. I’ll still be a long way from matching my living
costs, but I’m hopeful that writing for Fiction Express this year will help with
that. My first story will feature there in September, a novella called Blood
of the Giants, which is loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s The Merchant
of Venice. It's starting to feel ‘real’ (after a very long wait) since they
have sent me a proof of the digital cover!
In other news, I’ve sent the openings of both novel projects
to my agent. We’re meeting up in London on Friday to chat about them, and
hopefully then I’ll have the clarity I need to develop a full draft before the
end of the year.
Small steps, but each one is a hopeful sign!
