Tough times

 The last couple of months have been difficult and writing has really taken a back seat. Apart from the odd submission I have been unable to motivate myself to write. After the joy of my youngest son's wedding blessing in June, I lost my cousin a week later. As she had no other family, I had to step up and arrange her funeral and am now dealing with all the legal stuff. My cousin lived a good few hours away by train from me and I've had to make several trips in the last few weeks. After the funeral I felt quite flat, but I am trying to take things up again. I forced myself to open a writing file a few days ago to do some editing. As I worked on that manuscript, things became a little easier.

Thankfully, previous submissions have borne some fruit. A short story of mine was longlisted by Cranked Anvil, and I have two poems due to be published later this month. More on that when I have a link. I also won The Poetry Kit Easter poetry competition with my poem River Man. My prize is a mentoring course worth £110. I asked if I could defer it for about a month as my head really isn't in the right place to tackle a course. They have been really good and I can take it up when I ready.

Yesterday I sent a novella-in-flash to my proofreader/beta reader friend, and am now trying to put together some stories for self publishing. I think I know which ones I will publish together now, but I could still change my mind. At least it's a start.

So, sorry for being silent for so long. Until next time, happy reading and writing.