There’s a shit load of things going on in the world at the moment.
It’s a weird time to share good news. But I have a small piece of news, and I want to share it because it has made me smile in times that are dark, and sometimes it’s good to grip onto a handful of sparks. By sharing the good things, I hope this doesn’t distract from the significance of everything else that is going on.
But here you go.
After collecting rejections like they’re going out of fashion, and then struggling to get into writing gear as the pandemic hit and quarantine took hold, I’m super pleased and proud that a little piece I wrote for the Cabinet of Heed’s Stream of Consciousness challenge was accepted into one of their drawers – you can check out “Walls” over at the Cabinet of Heed website, safely stored away in the Stream of Consciousness special issue drawer seven. Gotta make a point of saying thanks to the cabinet’s curator Simon Webster for setting up such a great writing challenge, it certainly helped me get some words down. I also can’t say how warm the email accepting my work made me feel. It’s the sort of email you read through spread fingers expecting the “it’s not for us” line, then it turns out they want it and, well, yes, I may have done some dancing. Possibly even twerking. I shall let your imagination fill in the blanks.
Happy National Flash Fiction Day 2020
National Flash Fiction Day has rolled around again for another year. It’s a great chance to get involved with this shortest of short forms of fiction—reading stories, writing stories, listening to stories, getting inspired, getting words down. I’d heartily recommend heading over to the National Flash Fiction Day website and following the flood for all sorts of flash fiction-based fun.
I’ve not got anything coming up in the Flash Flood this year (not for want of trying, mind you I do have some nice new shiny rejection emails to add to my collection though). That said, I do have some stories available to read here, and one of my favourite flashes HTTP Error here. Alternatively, if you wanted a very short collection of very short stories, you could always pick up my collection Double Vision if it takes your fancy.
Black Lives Matter
It feels like it would be weird to be posting here without acknowledging everything that’s going on in the world at the moment—the pandemic, the terrible way that it’s being dealt with in the UK and US, the Black Lives Matter protests.
Black Lives Matter—show support where you can and check your privilege. I try to do the same, and will keep trying. There’s many excellent resources being shared at the moment, including suggested reading lists such as 10 Books About Race To Read Instead Of Asking A Person Of Color To Explain Things To You or Books About Race In Britain To Add To Your Anti-Racist Reading List and I also found the thread by Mireille Cassandra Harper an excellent starting point.
Whatever you’re doing at the moment, stay safe and be careful.
The Dust Lounge 