Tag Archives: creative non fiction

NOW THAT YOU ARE HERE & KARAOKE GIRL

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Yesterday was a first for me, I had TWO pieces published in one day. One is a personal essay about my mother’s death, titled Now That You Are Here published by the wonderful Cutleaf Journal (the most money I ever received for a literary magazine publication!), and the second is Karaoke Girl which I entered into a little competition where you record yourself reading a flash piece, and apparently I’m shortlisted. I only entered last week. I’m not entirely sure how it works, if you like it and leave a comment (only if you DO like it), possibly it helps get the piece further in the competition! Or just click if you want to hear what I sound like…

I should say that these are not brand new stories. In fact the essay took NINE years to get published, turned down by far lesser (and non paying magazines), so it’s worth never giving up.

Photo by Tony Wan on Unsplash

On Writing First Pages

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I planned on posting about this interview with me on the day it was published, in the hopes of getting the word out about this fantastic competition before the deadline, but then I had an M.E. relapse. Well, the First Pages Prize IS a fantastic competition, and now you have a year to plan to enter the next round! I wrote about my experience in 2019, and since then the Prize has gone from strength to strength. The prizes are exceptional, a substantial cash award, partial developmental edit, and consultation with an agent. So… sign up to their newsletter so you recieve news of when they are open for submissions again (they also now have an additional prize for creative non-fiction).

As I say in the interview:

For me, entering competitions is always worth it, even if I don’t place. It encourages me to look at my writing with a different eye, the eye of a reader. It encourages me to polish and edit.

And, I find deadlines extremely useful in getting me to the desk and working. I’m not sure I ever would have written as much as I have if I hadn’t sought out competitions to enter (and literary grant applications to complete!).