#31Days31Writers: The Christmas Edition is back!

In December 2013 I did something called #31Days31Writers, and the whole idea was for people to tell one thing they were grateful for, one thing they’d learned, and one thing they would change if they could relive 2013 all over again.

The responses were as diverse as they were gorgeous! I loved reading every one of them, editing, and then experiencing the emotions that run through each piece. Awesome time!

I did a mid-year edition in July last year, and have wished I had time to run another edition since then! Now I’m ready! Whoop!

Who can join in? Anyone! Be sure to read up a number of the entries from 2013 before you send in yours, so you have a proper idea of what it should read like.

What do I need you to write about? 600 words (I’ll accept a little above or below – not greater than 100 words each way) stating

1. Name, nationality/nationalities, place of residence (not address, just area), what you do.
2. One thing you’re grateful for
3. One thing you’ve learned this year
4. One thing you would undo if you could (don’t want to tag them as regrets).
5. Then send in a photo of yourself! Last year a friend sent in a photo of his feet, lol. We’d much prefer your face thank you!

That’s it! There are 31 days in December, and I have 15 slots to give away; I always select 15 people I feel I want everyone to hear from (taking nationality, location, profession et al into cognisance, and then there’s the one slot I keep for myself. Here’s what I wrote about in 2013.

As always, it’s a first come, first serve basis, I’ve never said no to an article whether I know the person or not, long as you get yours in before the slots are all taken up. Interested? Send your entry to dfairygodsister@gmail.com

So excited! Can’t wait to start reading all of them! Whoop!

YoU wIn SoMe, AnD lOsE sOmE

Hey, how have you been? Good?

In fact, skip the pleasantries. Today’s one of those days you wish wouldn’t come, or at least would come right before something fabulous happens so it can wipe out the memory of the ‘not-so-good. Thirty four minutes after I received a bit of unpleasant news, and nothing fabulous has happened. Oh well, maybe it’ll happen before the end of today.

Why am I sad? I’ll tell you. I sent in an entry for the  Commonwealth Short Story competition. I remember the night I wrote it; I kept on sending drafts to my friend Andy Watt to read and give feedback. It was funny after some time, I had read the story so much I almost knew it off heart!

And then, after one last glance at it, I knew it was ready, so I sent it in, and the wait began. It was on one of them really cold nights in February, and the next morning I got an email acknowledging receipt of my entry, and saying I’d hear back from them after the first round of judging in May.

February to May? Quite some time to wait and true to form, I forgot I entered for the competition. I got an email today though, and immediately I saw the sender, for some reason my heart began to skip. Read with me……

The letter…..*sigh*

Yeah, so I didn’t win this one, or even move to the next round. Sucks. I’ve brushed back hot tears from my eyes, and told myself I’ll never write a short story again. That one, titled ‘Devil May Care’, was the first short story I ever wrote, word limit was 600 so I didn’t have a lot to play with. Before you think I’m making excuses (and I’m not), I actually enjoyed the challenge, and the effort it took to reduce sentences and look for synonyms just to make sure I remained within the word limit.

I thought I had a really great story, but it looks like it either wasn’t as ‘great’ as I thought it was, or maybe there were ‘greater’ stories. Either ways, it sucks. I’m going to allow myself sulk about it the rest of the afternoon, and maybe when my mood lifts, I’ll put the story up for you to read, and then I’ll send it to my big writer friends to see where I went wrong, so I don’t make the same mistake again. I enjoyed writing that story, and I want to keep writing so I’m going to hone my skills. For now though, I’m going to sulk!

*sigh*

This is me at the moment

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