Friday 23 September 2011

On My First Publication or Why I Go About Things in a Backwards Fashion

It might seem as though I've done nothing but read and review lately, and although it's true that I've read A LOT since the lovely Mr S bought me a Kindle (did I mention I got a Kindle? Did I mention I love it? Thought so :D ), I haven't been neglecting my writing.

I've ventured - much to the amusement of some of my friends, I swore I'd never do it - into the realms of short stories. To be exact, third person, historical, and, of all things, horror. I've taken much the same approach to writing as I did to birthday cakes (bear with me.) Until three years ago, I'd never made a cake in my life. I'd actually gone to great lengths to avoid baking or cooking of all but the most rudimentary and basic you-must-cook-now-or-starve type. But one day I decided that no more would my children have shop bought birthday cakes. No, they deserved better. They deserved cakes that weren't mere cakes, but creations. And so, the first cake I ever made looked like this:



And I, after hours of wrangling chocolate frosting, and maybe eating a small, reasonable (read: I felt sick afterwards) amount, looked smug. My mother decided that this was more evidence, as if she needed any, of my perverse nature. I couldn't just start with a jam sponge?

No, I could not.

I started writing about eighteen months ago. With a first person, urban fantasy YA novel. I wrote a second novel this year, and then, in the last couple of weeks, decided that maybe I might just get around to possibly attempting a short story. The result was a third person historical that is currently out on submission. After that I don't know why I even bothered to resist the inevitable. I had to write a flash piece. It's in my backwards nature.

Granted, it was NOT my idea - that honour goes to the lovely Amaleen Ison, but my protests were futile. I was fighting actual DNA. So I wrote my first piece of flash, subbed it, and an hour later, sat smiling at my first acceptance email.

'The Hunter' will be published by Pill Hill Press in Daily Frights 2012: 366 Days of Frightening Flash Fiction. The anthology should be available in November. It's not so bad, this going about things in a backwards fashion.

I've still never made a jam sponge though :D