Happy Sunday!

I’ve had a REST today and it’s been lovely.

I didn’t wake up until 10am, I’ve pootled about, I’ve cleaned bathrooms (for the first time in…erm, I’m too embarrassed to tell you but hey, I enjoyed it!); we walked the dog and ended up at the village pub and had a lovely lunch and drank wine and it’s been r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g.

Do you remember what Sundays used to be like? When all the shops were shut and there was nothing much to do apart from go to Sunday school youth club? And ‘Songs of Praise’ was on TV and ‘Sing Something Simple’ was on the radio on Sunday evenings?

And today – oh, what a contrast – at 4pm I went on-line, ordered a new mobile phone from Argos and it’s going to be delivered by 10pm tonight! (Imagine telling 14-year-old me that one day, I’d be able to do all that! And on a Sunday, too). NB: phone has just been delivered.

Short Story Winners

The winners of the Evesham Festival of Words short story competition have been announced and are on the website here, if you want to see them.

I wasn’t involved in judging the competition this year but I recognise at least 3 names from the shortlist, so well done to Katie, Sherri and Rosie (as well as everyone else, of course!).

It’s often a very tiny margin between being shortlisted and being placed in a competition, so you should be pleased and those stories may well scoop a prize in the future, so don’t give up on them!

The Festival is also running a free-to-enter ‘Coronation Quiz’ – details here.

There’s just one prize of a £10 book token but it’s the taking part that counts! And you’ve got until 8th May to get your entries in, should you wish to.

Easter

I can’t believe it’s almost Easter! How did that happen?

I think, in this household, at least, Easter’s going to be cancelled and we’ll have an Easter get together once my mum’s home.

She’s been moved from the hospital into a rehabilitation unit (which sounds as though she’s a drug addict but is, of course, to help with her mobility and hopefully get her back on her feet).

Whatever you’re doing, I hope you enjoy yourself.

The RTE Short Story competition is now open for entries but WAIT before you all spring into action: it’s only open to those who live on ‘the island of Ireland’ (I love that) or who hold an Irish passport.

So, I’m guessing, that excludes quite a lot of us. But there’s still plenty to read/listen to on the website, not least, a piece by one of the judges – Claire Kilroy – on what she likes in a short story.

I particularly like her point about editing. I bang on about editing A LOT in my classes (because lots of writers, particularly at the start of their writing journey, are resistant to it!) but, as Claire says, editing might not mean ‘cutting’, it may also mean adding more words to your work. (Which is exactly what I will be doing once my edits for book #3 come back from the editor…any day now!)

If you’re lucky enough to live on the Emerald Isle and you’re going to enter the competition, remember that that winning story will be read on the radio, so it’s even more important to read the story aloud to yourself before you submit it. There are plenty of stories on here to listen to and/or provide inspiration.