International Tree Foundation

I wish I could remember for sure which blogger posted the link to a recent short story competition run by the International Tree Foundation. I would like to say a big thank you to that kind person, as I have won second prize.

In the picture on the left you can see some of the lovely contents of my prize goody bag. (There was also a nice green tie, but my husband has already taken to wearing it and he's out!) If you want to read more about the work of the International Tree Foundation, this is their homepage. For the competition results and three top stories, just go down that page a little, and on the right hand side there is a column headed 'Latest news'.

It may have been Patsy who originally mentioned the competition. If not, I think Patsy deserves thanking anyway, for all the competition details she shares with us. Well done Patsy - keep it up!

Yesterday I met two writing friends in London. We spent most of the day in the Victoria and Albert Museum, admiring beautiful gems in the Jewellery Gallery, seeing the famous Great Bed of Ware, and of course buying the obligatory postcard and fridge magnet in the shop.

Here's a heron who was posing perfectly in Kensington Gardens on my way from the station.

The One and Only

One of the nicest things about being published in magazines is seeing how a story has been set out and illustrated. I am always keen to know whether the characters pictured will match up to how I imagined them when I was writing. They are sometimes quite different, but I am never disappointed.

In the latest People's Friend Fiction Special, I am especially lucky that alongside my story, 'The One and Only', is a short piece about the man who illustrated it, Mike Italiaander. Thank you Mike! I really enjoyed reading this fascinating 'Meet the Artist' slot. It's also a reminder that it takes the skills of many people to bring a story to the page.

My writing continues to plod along at its current slow pace. My submissions are right down as a result, but I am enjoying allowing myself more time to think hard about each story. One of my problems is that I have too many ideas. Maybe some people wouldn't see that as a problem. But I have spells of feeling very frustrated that I cannot use every single idea.

Because of the number of ideas that overwhelm me, I tend to try and use too many of them in one story. Taking stories more slowly has made me realise that I don't need to throw in more and more ideas. What I need to do is go into the original idea more deeply instead of flitting off at a tangent. We're always learning, aren't we, which is one of the reasons why I don't think I will ever be tired of writing.

Here's me, gazing philosophically into a river on a freezing February day!

I couldn't possibly comment

Usually I try to reply to comments as they arrive, but Blogger is not letting me add comments on my own blog right now! Thanks to everyone who has commented on yesterday's post. Hopefully normal service will be resumed soon.

When more is less

After an intense month of writing I am just coming up for air. Every year I tell myself I must send out more work than I did the previous year. But why do I let myself be tyrannized by numbers? With the demands of the day job it's not realistic to keep increasing my output - or at least, not without sacrificing other things.

I am not a very accomplished pianist. To be honest, I am not even a competent one. I had lessons for a short while, until it became too much of an expense. Since then I've been noodling around on my own. Except, I haven't. Last year I hardly touched the piano because I was trying to meet my self-imposed writing targets. Now I realise how much I've missed the relaxation of tinkling away to myself. I'm also cross that I've become so out of practice and can't manage tunes I could play a year ago.

Of course it's fantastic to have stories published. And being paid for them still seems nothing less than a miracle. But I notice that in my case, increased output doesn't necessarily lead to more acceptances. And if I am focusing too much on numbers, then I lose some of the enjoyment of writing. So although it's nearly the last week of January I am adding some new resolutions.

1. I will be happy if I only submit one story a month as long as the stories I do send out are absolutely my best work.

2. Concentrate on the markets where I tend to do well, rather than waste time trying to fit my writing to magazines that don't suit my style.

3. Write what I enjoy instead of always thinking of what is commercial.

4. Don't lose touch with other life enhancing things, e.g music, friends, and spending time in the great outdoors.

How is your January going so far? Any resolutions made, broken or revised?

New Year News

Merry New Year from Harvey and me.

I always begin January full of beans, writing and submitting in a frenzy of good intentions. But it's oh so hard to keep that up once spring comes and the weather improves. My challenge for 2012 is to hang onto my New Year momentum beyond crocus time.

To do this I am going to have to be much stricter about using any spare minutes constructively. So, I, Joanne Fox, hereby declare I shall only visit Facebook every other day. I am also resisting the urge to rearrange my study yet again. There's an irritating chap called General Clutter in there, and all my attempts to evict him have been in vain. Therefore I hereby recognise that rearranging the study is another displacement activity, rather than a way of achieving anything. Shut that door!

Now I can share some positive news to kick off the year. As a result of entering the Earlyworks Press short story competition in 2011, I will have my story included in their competition anthology. I know I shall be in some good company, and congratulations to the overall winner.

Here's to less faffing about in 2012!

Happy Christmas

In case I don't have another chance to say it, I'd like to wish you all a very happy Christmas. May 2012 bring us lots of good stories to tell. Take care and I will catch up with everyone soon. xxx

The Great Book for Girls

Loving all things 30s, I could not resist this book in the local Oxfam shop. Yes it's old. Yes it leaves my fingers dusty each time I open the heavy pages. Yes it smells musty. But to me all these things are good!

Published in 1931, The Great Book for Girls is mainly short stories, with a few poems here and there. The black and white drawings have been lovingly coloured in with pencils by a previous owner. And I must say they've done a very neat job.

As for the stories - well, what ripping yarns, as one of the characters might say! They have titles like 'Dimsie Wins Through' and 'The Fourth Form Entertainment'. The girls in the stories are all so busy and active, they almost wear me out. They go sailing, camping, trekking and have lots of adventures in the jolly-hockeysticks type of fashion. Several of the stories are set in boarding schools. I used to adore boarding school stories when I was young, though I don't know why as I would probably have hated it if I had ever had to go.

And yes, the writing style is a little dated, or 'politically incorrect' to our modern ears. I mean, we wouldn't refer to someone as a 'village idiot', for instance, would we. We most likely wouldn't call somebody 'a brick' either, even in a nice way. But for traditional stories, with a beginning, middle and end, this eighty year old book has given me a lot of entertainment this past week. I shall be looking out for more!