It’s been a little while since my last “update” post, and actually quite a lot has gone on since then. Last weekend I went up to Sheffield Film and Comic Con with my boyfriend Dale (in costume as Clara and the Eleventh Doctor!) and had an awesome time.
My hands are a lot better than they were at the time of the last blog post. I’m typing this one, and yesterday I typed a good 1000 words with no problems. I’d been writing stuff in longhand and “typing up” via dictation – which makes a mangled mess of your lovingly-crafted prose, but at least I was getting words down. Apart from the occasional ache which means I need to take a break, I’m back to full productivity. Best of all, my thumbs are now recovered enough for some (careful) Tomb Raiding, Skyrim traversing and zombie hunting.
I had a couple of acceptances! One “maybe” and a definite “yes”. The latter is for the Grey Wolfe Storybook Anthology. The Enchantress and the Stripy Umbrella was written last year, and I loved working on it so much that it “grew out of” the submission guidelines of where I’d originally intended to send it. Here’s the synopsis:
Once upon a time, the Enchantress ruled over the icy world of Glacia – until she was banished for her tyranny to the land of England-on-the-brink-of-winter. She must complete three tasks to prove she can earn another’s trust in order to return home, but when she befriends a lonely schoolgirl she begins to question which is more important: Daisy’s life, or the icy home where she rules supreme?
I’m so happy to say that it has been accepted for publication by Grey Wolfe Publishing. It’s one of my favourite stories I’ve written. All proceeds from the book will go to the American Society of Deaf Children, and it’s due to be published in late September.
On 28th August, my flash fiction Ghosts will be published in Horrified Press’ In a Flash… anthology. It was shortlisted for a competition a little while ago so I’m happy to see it in print!
Still another month before I’m back at uni so I’ve been trying to stay busy. I started a new draft of Pyromancer, although I feel that my enthusiasm for the project is dying a little. Might be the case that it’s put on hold for a while, unless I don’t find anything else that interests me enough to do my dissertation on. Keep an eye out for the next Rewriter’s Block post.
The Big Care Write-Up have just opened the submission call for their third anthology, The Heroes Among Us. Stories themed with “acts of heroism”, 1500-5000 words should be submitted to submissions.bigcarewriteup@gmail.com. Proceeds from the e-book will go to LOROS, a Leicester charity who provide care for terminally-ill adult patients, their family and carers. It’s a great project to be involved in so do have a look on their website for the full guidelines.