Squidge

Hope so @elle! In truth the numbers game is a problem for me, as I struggle to write enough to get the hit rate. Will keep trying though. The Barren editors are lovely, they gave me the nicest rejection ever 🤣

Thanks @@daedalus. In all honesty for every publication there are about a dozen rejections as well. It’s kind of a number’s game. People who run Barren Magazine are just great, so thoughtful of writers. Who knows 2019 might be the year for you.

Well done Elle. I’m impressed with all these publications. I still haven’t had one since my first nearly four years ago, despite a concerted effort recently. I did have a very kind rejection from Barren Magazine recently, which still counts as ‘a miss is as good as a mile’.

Thanks @philippaeast!

Very clever John – you’ve left me poised and nervous as to what sort of ‘reality’ comes next.

Congrats again, @Elle!

My last story of the year has been published today by Reflex Fiction https://www.reflexfiction.com/a-thin-blue-line-flash-fiction-by-laure-van-rensburg/

Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy the holidays! xx

That’s brilliant news! Congratulations, cannot wait to read your story in Disturbing the Beast.

Yeah, do post an update when you have time, @philippaeast! I’d love to hear how it’s worked doing such big edits with your agent as editor. I didn’t really get much of that with mine, so would be interested to hear how it’s been.

Thanks Ath and Libby!

Yes I think my experience was unusual in the sheer volume of rewriting I ended up doing. It really didn’t help that I began writing the novel with absolutely no idea about plot or where I was headed. I’m pretty sure that if I’d had a clearer outline and idea of the shape of my book from the start it wouldn’t have needed 24…[Read more]

In absence

‘Anna’s party’s on the 21st. I’ll stay over.’

Anna. Beth’s sister. She and I had a hate:hate relationship for reasons neither of us ever disclosed to Beth. Beth had sense enough not to ask.

On this occasion my smile was for more than gratitude at her tact. An entire night to myself; twelve plus hours, taking into account Be…[Read more]

The Penlee lifeboat disaster was 37 years ago today, Twitter reminds me. If you haven’t read Richard’s blog about it, above, I highly recommend you do

Fascinating then and fascinating now! I think one thing that you express so well here is the sheer workload of writing a successful book. OK, not everybody is going to make the huge changes that you did, but the fact remains that ‘tinkering’ is almost never enough. Great blog.