Walnut, anybody?

In the belief that it's good to be open to new experiences, yesterday I ate a pickled walnut. Foul! No wonder my manager was trying to get rid of them. My tongue felt all shrivelled and wrinkly from the vinegar - like your fingers when you've soaked in the bath too long. Is anyone a fan of pickled walnuts? If so, please enlighten me about the attractions of these bloated, black, mushy blobs. Don't we do some strange things with food?

I've been working extra days lately, and am really looking forward to having next week off. There are two almost finished stories which I need to polish up and submit. I'm also in the process of shredding my notes from when I did my mental health training and it will be so nice to see the back of all that dusty old paperwork. And then of course there's the garden, which I'm desperate to start on again. It's cold today, but maybe next week will warm up. In the meantime, here are some snowdrops in the park behind our house.

Two anthologies

Last week we had a few Internet problems, meaning I couldn't tell you the previous week's writing news.


Since September, apart from a couple of shortlistings, I had only rejections. And sometimes you know, you do reach a point when you wonder if you will ever be published again. But then a fortnight ago the unthinkable happened and I heard good news about two short stories in one day. The first of these is due to be published on March the 8th, in 100 Stories for Queensland. This is a charity anthology to raise money for people affected by the massive floods which hit the state in January.


Later in 2011 I will also have a story in a Leaf Books anthology. I entered Leaf's micro-fiction competition last year, for stories under 300 words. While I didn't win, I am very happy to be one of the commended entrants whose stories will be included in the book.


Both these things have put a smile on my face, as have my new bedroom curtains! It's not just the lovely primrose yellow colour, making me think of spring and sunshine. The instructions for hanging the curtains mention the need to "train your pleats". The idea of training my pleats amuses me every time I think of it. I wish I could train my pleats to type up my longhand scrawl, do the less interesting bits of research, and keep me stocked up with stamps.

Flash 500

I notice I've gained a few followers in the last couple of weeks. Welcome! At the same time I know I've been a bit remiss in the blogging department. I've been rather despondent. Working hard, without achieving much.

Negativity can be infectious, so I've stayed away until I have more positive news to share. It's a small piece of news at that, but this week I found I was longlisted in the Flash 500 competition for the last quarter of 2010. I didn't progress to the shortlist, but at least I know that in this particular story there must have been something I did right. The next Flash 500 closes at the end of March, with a top prize of £250. Worth entering if you like writing very short fiction.

I should have gone out to stock up the kitchen today, but it's blowing a gale here and I've not yet ventured through the front door. The weather has reminded me of a story I heard years ago when I used to work in Dudley. Dudley is in a part of the West Midlands known as the Black Country on account of its long industrial heritage. There is a place called the Black Country Museum, where restored buildings and staff in period costume recreate aspects of this history. Anyway, parents of a colleague had travelled from Dudley to some seaside resort - most probably Weston-super-Mare. They had dreadful weather and when they saw a local coach firm offering mystery day trips, they signed up. After two hours sitting on a coach they found themselves - yes, you've guessed it - at the Black Country Museum, just a mile from home.

This is exactly the kind of little incident I try to use in short stories now and then, only for fiction editors to comment that it's too far fetched. I have to restrain myself from phoning them up to scream "But it's true!". Have a lovely week, and I hope all your co-incidences are happy ones.

Bath time

What is it about baths? Often I get in feeling so depleted of ideas that I wonder if I'll ever write another story as long as I live. When I get out again some little notion has floated into my brain on a sea of soap bubbles.

It makes me think that if I ever tried to write full-time I would need a constant supply of hot water and fluffy towels. Is bath foam tax deductible? Anyway, despite last week bringing my first rejection of 2011, I also wrote a new bath-inspired story.

Do you want to win an iPad? Every year classical music station Classic FM holds a vote to find the UK's top 300 pieces of classical music. It's called the Hall of Fame. If you vote you automatically get entered into a prize draw, and this year you can win an iPad or £100 of high street vouchers. Admittedly I've never won a bean, although I've voted several years running. But this year you (or I!) may be lucky. Enter at Classic FM's Hall of Fame page. Sorry if you are an international visitor, but this is only open to UK residents.

Thirdly I must just say I'm really loving 'The Lollipop Shoes' by Joanne Harris. I've read a couple of her other novels, but I think this is the best so far. Chocolate, mystery and magic. Scrummy!

Progress (and a dilemma)

After a slow December I've sprinted into January by submitting five stories in a week. Only one is a totally new story, but as I mentioned in a previous post, that unfinished and rejected drawer had been lying dormant for some time. Now I'm in a fit of sorting, sending and shredding, and it feels good. I am never optimistic when I send off a story. I just reach a point when I know I've given it my best shot and further rewriting will only bring stagnation rather than improvement.

It's heartening to hear that even writers who are well established in their field still have doubts about their work. I found lots I could relate to in Teresa Ashby's recent post 'What Do I Do? The Uncertainty of Being a Writer'. I particularly like the bit where Teresa talks about every piece of writing being a new beginning. Certainly every time I start a story, I have no idea of how I'm going to tell it. Often I don't know what will happen or how it will end. The only way I find out is by continuing to put one sentence after another until the story becomes clear to me. I think curiosity is an important factor when I'm writing. After all, if I am not curious about what happens to my characters, then why should anyone else be?

On a different note, I have a balloon dilemma. We all know that it's unlucky to leave our Christmas decorations up later than the sixth of January, don't we. This is not an unfounded superstition. I noticed last Friday (January the seventh) that several households in Coronation Street and Eastenders still had their Christmas trees up - and see how much bad luck they get.

This Christmas I bought one of those foil ballons, which the party shop inflated for me. The lady behind the counter assured me that if I let the balloon down carefully by putting a drinking straw into the valve, I could have the balloon re-inflated next December. Well, last Wednesday I stuck a straw in as she told me. I expected the balloon would go flat fairly quickly. Five days later it's still on the ceiling. Now I know some of you will probably tell me to stab it with a pin. But that seems somehow... cruel. So if anyone has a tip for letting my balloon down gently, then I'd love to hear from you.

Hope 2011 is being kind to you so far.

Quote of the Day

Overheard in the supermarket:

"Dogs have ears, you know."

And a Happy New Year!

Suddenly it's 2011! How did that happen? December went by in a flash and I confess I only managed to submit ONE story the entire month.

I hope you all enjoyed Christmas and received some nice prezzies. My best present was an email from an old friend I hadn't heard from in 30 years. I guess if we'd had an award at school for the girl least likely to get a tattoo, she and I would have pretty near the top of the shortlist. How funny that we have both ended up with one!

Now it's New Year's Day, and I've recharged my writing batteries. The drawer marked unfinished and rejected is about to get a serious makeover as I make up for my lack of submissions prior to Christmas. I'm not big on making resolutions, but I'd like to spend less time faffing about during the next few months.

Wishing you lots of loveliness, sunshine, wellbeing, and success this year. xxx