A new flash piece

Just to let you know I have a new little flash piece up on Paragraph Planet today. 

Quick as a flash I'm on Paragraph Planet

This post is rather late in the day but if you catch it before Wednesday is over you could go over to Paragraph Planet to read my 75 piece flash fiction which is published today. I posted it one evening and got a reply the next day. What a quick turnaround. The piece was actually written at Swanwick Writer's Summer School as a 100 word piece of flash fiction which I entered into their competition and it was shortlisted. Never one to miss out on another opportunity, I re-wrote it without looking at the original. I know I kept some of the lines but I honed it to 75 words to fit the bill and was really pleased with the result. Thankfully, Paragraph Planet was too!

I took a lot from the Flash Fiction course at Swanwick with Veronica Bright, and today I've had a good session of writing. Yesterday I entered a 500 word flash into a competition. This one has been sitting in my computer for at least a year and has been tweaked any amount of times but I couldn't find that killer ending. Then I had a light bulb moment. Let's hope it lights up the judge, if you see what I mean!

Flash fiction - 75 words piece published

Today I have a piece of flash fiction up on the Paragraph Planet website. That's all I wanted to say really!

75 words in a flash!

Just a quick post to say that I've had another piece of flash fiction accepted by Paragraph Planet. It is on their website today, after which it will be found in their March 2016 archive at the end of the month. Have a great weekend everyone.

A success!

Reading the email from Paragraph Planet which told me they were to publish another of my 75 word pieces was just what I needed. These small successes boost me up to tackle the bigger stuff as well as the rejections. You can read my piece of flash fiction today, after which it will head off to the archive for February (there is a new piece of flash fiction daily). Do head over there for a read!

Flash fiction published! (Success)

See my 75 word flash fiction  piece
on Paragraph Planet

I've realised that there are only a few more days left for this blog-a-day challenge in November. Where has the month gone?

I'm not sure that I've done a lot of blogging about writing but today I have a success to share with you. Paragraph Planet has published a 75 word piece of flash fiction of mine today on their website. I was thinking this one wasn't going to make it as quite often I get a reply quickly (though they say it can take up to several weeks and they only reply to those successful). Anyway, I'm thrilled to be featured on Paragraph Planet again. What makes this rather good is that it is a true story! The item was found shortly after I submitted the piece, washed and reunited with sporty son! Happy endings all round.

Some hiccoughs but we got there in the end...sort of!

It's been a strange day but I've had a laugh over it. Yesterday I received news that the piece of flash fiction I had submitted to Paragraph Planet had been accepted and was going to be published on their site today. Excitedly I checked it out this morning to find they had linked it to someone else's Twitter account! I contacted them and they later apologised and said they had deleted the post and put up a new one with the right Twitter link. Someone else noticed that they had also linked it to a wrong page on their site! The poor guy must have wondered if this would ever go right. It did. However, the Twitter post had used the wrong first word from my piece - it said 'We' when it should have been 'He'. Someone else pointed that one out - I hadn't the heart! The main thing is the link is right now and the words on my entry on their page uses the right word.

This is the second time I have used an extract from one of my longer pieces of writing to send Paragraph Planet (and had it published). At 75 words exactly it's hard. I did have to slightly edit the piece to fit the word count both times but that is a sacrifice I am happy to make. Today's offering is from a chapter of my Adventures of Austin Stapley novel which I am still writing.

So that's the first thing. Next came a challenge to myself to write a ghost story....well at least something spooky. I have wanted to have a go at another short story, and as I have been reading Susan Hill's Printer's Devil Court short novel I wondered if I could attempt something. It is not my preferred genre (though I like a good fright), even so I decided to have a go. So before I went out this morning I began a piece of work. I have started as usual with just faint idea of something but no real plot! However, I am rather pleased with the way it is going and managed to get down around 1,500 words. I have yet to read back what I've written, so it could be utter rubbish!

On the bus this morning my head was full of idea as to where this story was going and I have scenes in my head waiting for the page. Buses are great places to think! Anyway, I am taking a break from my 'Austin' novel to have a go at something completely different.

The bus was taking me to my choir practice. We have several concerts and singing offers coming up from the start of December so today we launched into White Christmas! I am afraid the enthusiasm wasn't quite there. We also did the chorus from Gaudete and then part of Carol of the Bells (which I love). I know Christmas is coming but I try to avoid it as long as possible. Still with DFS having been promising their sofa deliveries by Christmas for some weeks now, I know I am defeated! We will shortly be doing a whole session of carol practice at choir. The town centre has their Christmas lights up. It's coming!

(PS if you are reading this after the 28th Oct. you will find my piece in the archive section on Paragraph Planet)

Flash Fiction success

Best piece of news for a long time. I have had a 75 word flash fiction 'story' published today on Paragraph Planet. So surprised and obviously very excited! This is actually part of a scene from what I am currently writing. Little things like this give me hope.

Flash Fiction success

Excitement, excitement.  I was lying in bed composing words in my head the other night (as you do) and I had an idea for a short piece of writing.  I should have written it down but I hoped I'd remember it by morning (strangely I often can) so when I got up I wrote it down.  It had to be 75 words exactly for submitting to Paragraph Planet.  Believe it or not I didn't have enough words!  I expanded it and hey-presto I  sent it off.  Within a couple of days I had a reply and.....yes, they have published it on their website.  I am so thrilled as this is the first flash fiction piece I have ever had published (and to be honest I have rarely written flash fiction but this is something I want to do more of).  This was one of those that 'wrote itself'.  I don't even know where the idea came from.  I wish writing always went that way but it's back to the graft now.