New Publication

A couple of updates are due here on the blog.

First, my short story Singapore Wept was published in Zetetic: A Record of Unusual Inquiry. The story is short, five or six paragraphs, and worth reading. Very relevant in this age of gun-related violence. If you have the time, hop over to it and give it a quick read. Also, every time you click on the link, it helps the spider bots of the internet with searches related to my name =). 

The second piece of big news is that my novel has been longlisted! I’ve told you all about the Stockholm Writers Festival coming up this spring (Next weekend!!!). They had a contest, open to anyone across the world, to submit the first five pages of their novel. The contest is called the First Pages Prize. I took the first few pages from a novel I’ve been working on called Truthsayer and submitted them. A few days later, I received an email notifying me I was on the longlist.

I’m so excited! For those of you who don’t know what longlisted means, I’ll explain. When judging a contest or award, hundreds of submissions are considered. From those hundreds, or sometimes thousands, the judges narrow it down to a longlist. From the longlist, the judges will narrow it down again to a shortlist. From the shortlist a series of arguments back and forth between the judges begins. It ends when everyone settles on the winners.

I have no idea if I made the shortlist or not. But making a longlist is an accomplishment in and of itself. Once I got the news, I checked out some of the other authors. I am constantly amazed by the level of talent all over the world. Let’s just say I’m honored to be included in this list with these other writers.

Next weekend, the Festival begins! We’ll all discover who won the contest, take part in a variety of workshops, meet some fellow authors and agents and have a blast. I promise to take pictures.