I sympathise with Tracey Chevalier as judge of this years Mslexia competition. So many short stories deal in pain, death and loss. Several years ago I remember a similar plea from QWF Magazine for writers to ‘lighten up’ and I guess that the appetite for reading submissions must diminish rapidly when every course is another … Continue reading Let me entertain you
I have to admit that I’m so accustomed to receiving rejection letters that the moment when Jo Derrick of the The Yellow Room wrote accepting (yes, an acceptance!) Blue-Sky Thinking was more of a buzz than when I at last held Issue 4 in my hand on Saturday morning. But hey, no matter how … Continue reading The Hard Stuff
For people like me whose short stories come few and far between, one of the bugbears is getting the word-count right. Now that my new baby is down to 2,750, nearly all the upcoming competitions want 2000 max. – and there’s only so much editing that can be done before the thing loses its character. … Continue reading Short(er) Cuts
On Saturday, Issue 3 of The Yellow Room arrived, and being too beleagured by seasonal franticness to engage with the writing there and then, I settled for skimming through the ‘bios’ – helpfully picked out in bold at the end of each story. To a certain extent this is dangerous – these people sound so interesting compared to … Continue reading Life lines
Resting from some severe RSI pains (they call it something different now, Upper Limb Disorder?) So no more typing. Instead I’m putting my feet up with the new issue of The Yellow Room. Following my disconsolate tweet, I’ve got over my disappointment and am thoroughly enjoying it. Meanwhile here’s a souvenir photo of our recent trip to … Continue reading Same difference
Ali Bacon / Books Etc 