I’m supposed to be working on the first draft of a novel at the moment, so naturally I’m doing anything but. Though not generally a flash fiction writer, I find myself writing one flash after another, in part to get the stories out of my head quickly so as not to distract me for too… Read More Spring-summer flash fiction competitions 2019
I have previously written blog posts on things I’ve learned about using Twitter and blogging, so I thought I would offer up a few thoughts on the joys of submitting work to literary magazines. Please don’t take this to mean I’m an expert on the subject, however. While I’ve been submitting for a few years… Read More 6 things I’ve learned about submitting to journals
It’s been a while since I did a round-up of novel competitions, so here are a few dates to put in your diary. Sometimes I find it helpful having a deadline as motivation to actually complete a project. But I recently attempted to write a 3-5 page synopsis of my incomplete WIP for a competition… Read More Novel competitions for 2019
Today I have a tiny flash fiction piece up on a British literary journal called Fictive Dream. It’s part of an annual special feature they do called Flash Fiction February, where a different story is published every day of the month. I won’t tell you anything about it because it’s an odd little thing that… Read More ‘Baggage’ in Fictive Dream
[Updated regularly] It may feel as if January is in its 95th day, but you have to trust me when I say it really is coming to an end. And if you’ve been struggling to get back to disciplined writing time after the lovely laziness of Christmas, this list of upcoming short story competitions might… Read More 2019 short story competitions
Cork writer Billy O’Callaghan is probably best known as a short story writer: winner of the inaugural Short Story of the Year prize at the Irish Book Awards in 2013, runner up for the 2016 Costa Short Story Prize and the 2017 choice for Cork’s One City, One Book with his collection The Things We… Read More My Coney Island Baby author Q&A
Eagle-eyed readers may have spotted one or two mentions of Cork literary salon Fiction at the Friary on this blog in the past. Among the many interesting people I’ve met there is Cork-based writer Catherine Kirwan. The very first time we spoke, Catherine had just had some interesting news about a manuscript she had tentatively… Read More Darkest Truth author Q&A
