Hello! Sorry it's been a while since I blogged - it's been a very busy summer :D
But it's worth the wait, because I have some good news! After being shortlisted for the Retreat West competition back in May, I've entered lots (and lots) of other competitions and submitted a few things here and there. I like to keep the ball rolling with submissions - sometimes an agent (or a competition result) will take months to get back to you, and so it's good to keep submitting to new things all the time.
So here are a few of my recent success stories:
CafeLit
So far this year, I've had three stories published on the CafeLit blog. They publish a story a day that is the right length to enjoy with a cup of your hot beverage of choice. It's great to see my stories find a home here, and I'm hopeful that one of my stories might be included in one of their anthologies in the future. Fingers crossed! You can read my stories here.
The Open Page Literary Journal
A few months ago I submitted a few things to the Open Page, a new online literary journal that was seeking entries to its competitions - poetry, short story and flash fiction. I entered all three categories, and was completely thrilled to discover that I'd won first place in the flash fiction contest. The judges like all three of my flash entries, and I'm looking forward to seeing them published on the website alongside the other winners. Also, a competition with a cash prize! This feels like such an achievement and a validation that I'm on the right road to achieving my dreams. I'm looking forward to submitting to the Open Journal again in the future! The stories aren't up there yet, but here's the link for when they are.
The People's Friend
If you know me, you'll know that I love The People's Friend, even though I'm not nearly in the usual demographic! I've been submitting to them for years and really believe that, one day, I'll hit the nail on the head. Well, this week (the September 1st issue) I had a letter published in the friend - the Star Letter, no less! I was absolutely chuffed, and of course the lovely prize for writing the star letter was very much appreciated. Vow to myself - the next time my name appears in that magazine, it will be accompanying an awesome story!
Haiku Contest
This year I joined a writing forum website called Scribophile, where authors can post pieces of their work to be critiqued by other writers. There are also forums for chatting and competitions you can enter. This year I entered a poetry competition, to write up to five haiku with a kigo focus. I wrote five haiku on the theme of spring, and one of my haiku was the competition winner! Again, a competition with a cash prize really made my day and showed my that my poetry is not as bad as I thought it was! While I write a number of genres professionally, I've always considered my haiku as just for enjoyment and not really that good, so this was such a lovely, unexpected joy. If you're a member of Scribophile, you can read my haiku here. If not... here they are!
Spring Haiku
1.
then having fallen
do blossoms regret their flight?
cold, the evening ground
2.
does the nightingale
sing any sweeter for queens?
all are gods in spring
3.
sunshine, sunglasses,
sakura still blooming but,
wow! those summer feels!
4.
the bees, oh, the bees!
slush mud springtime, crisp fresh breeze,
we awaited you
5.
by this sakura
who else has dreamt of a life
bigger than their own?
(number 5 was the winning entry)
So... that's my news :) Also, I'm on Twitter these days if you want to follow me - @CeliaJWriter
Looking forward to, hopefully, sharing more writing successes soon!!