October 2017

A quiet month for subs...

I did spend a week at the Cheltenham Literature Festival (again!). It's a wonderful event, with a host of great speakers from authors to doctors to travellers to celebs. The atmosphere is fabulous. There are marquees, food stalls, book shops, and free events as well as ticketed ones. The highlight for me was the Literature Pub Crawl, as well as finishing the evening's events at the Hotel du Vin where there was live music as well as performance poetry. I came home and ordered lots of books from Amazon (cheaper than at the Waterstone's marquee), which I shall read and, of course, review.

A few weeks back, I wrote a short piece on a Facebook post called Hush. It was in response to a call from Mslexia, and was a bit of a spontaneous online competition. I didn't win, but as my piece was exactly 100 words, I decided to submit it to CafeLit. CafeLit publishes flash of 100 words as well as longer stories. The best pieces are selected each year and are published in 'The Best of CafeLit...' I have been lucky enough to have had work included in the 'Best ofs' for the last four years. I am waiting to hear from the editor, Gill James.

This month, I changed the cover of one of my children's books: Salt (see above).

I felt that the old one rather let it down. Hopefully, this new look will encourage more readers and I will get more reviews...

I have had a finished children's book sitting in my computer for over a year. I sent off for Mslexia's Indie Presses 2016/7 for ideas of publishers to approach. Unfortunately, there weren't many for children's fiction, but the one which stood out for me was Nosy Crow. Their website is fresh and exciting, and I would be thrilled to have a publication with them. Since submitting, however, they have changed their policy. They have been inundated with books from Indie authors, so have now decided to stop accepting unsolicited manuscripts. I think my submission will still be considered, but there is a six-month wait to find out! In the meantime, I have been going through the Indie Presses directory with a highlighter pen for short stories and poetry publication opportunities.