The results are in…

(There is a drum roll, it rattles on longer than the nerves can handle, rumbling through your bowels and building like rising water until you wonder if you will ever be able to breathe again…) Annnnndddddd… I didn’t win! Not even the top 10. I’m not sure where I placed outside of that, as only…

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“The ‘Burbs Are My Ghetto” – More writing success

For the first time in a long time, I entered the Australian Writers Centre’s Furious Fiction competition. I’ve had some luck before, and am proud to say I was long-listed for the major prize once again in October 2021. You can read my story, The ‘Burbs Are My Ghetto, by clicking on the link you…

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Ghost Cities

Earlier this year, I wrote about my first round entry into the 2021 NYC Midnight Short Story Competition. I wasn’t overly happy with my submission. I loved the premise and the setting, but ran out of time. It felt very much like a second draft. Luckily for me, the judges liked it enough and I…

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Success! – Furious Fiction May 2019

Since the beginning of the year, by popular demand*, I have been blogging about my entries into the Australian Writers Centre’s Furious Fiction competition. In May’s Furious Fiction, I finally cracked the winners’ circle. No, I didn’t win the five hundred dollars. But my entry, CARDIAC ARREST, was long-listed for the big bucks. (For my…

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Furious Fiction – Holidays With Rover

(Shortcut to story: Holidays with Rover). When the email announcing the first Furious Fiction of the year popped into my inbox, I was in a car with my little family driving to a caravan park on the South Coast of New South Wales. I doubted I would have time to submit an entry, so all…

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Furious Fiction – Walpiri

Next up is my first Furious Fiction entry for March 2018: Walpiri. This is my first entry into the competition. I’m not sure I quite captured what I was after, but I only had 500 words and three days, so maybe I was shooting too high. I’ve simplified since. The elements for this month: The…

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Furious Fiction – Gate 47

For the past little while I’ve been entering a flash fiction writing competition run by the Australian Writers Centre. At 5pm on the first Friday of each month, the AWC reveals three elements that must be included in a story with a maximum of 500 words. You’ve got until midnight on Sunday – just over…

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A 30-foot tall story in eight words

Ever tried to write a story in eight words? That’s what the Queensland Writers Centre has challenged you to do, and if they like it, they’ll put it on a billboard! And not just any billboard, but an extensive network of digital billboards across South-East Queensland! A few have already made it, plastered in orange…

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Readying the Dead

The winners of the 2017 NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge have just been announced, and I am pleased to announce I am one of them! Sort of. My final story landed me an ‘honourable mention’, sufficient for a handful of minor prizes, but just outside the cash. I’m totally excited about the outcome and proud…

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