I WON!

If you read any of my blog posts in December, you may know that I was a contender for the Nottingham Writers' Club,Writer of the Year trophy.

Usually it's presented at Awards Night in early December, along with all the other annual competition trophies, before we have the Christmas party.

Unfortunately the external judge wasn't able to get the results to the club until a week or so after the event - unforeseen delays on both sides. But as the first meeting in January was New Year's Day- a public holiday in the UK- it wasn't until yesterday evening (15th) that the trophy was finally handed over.

So here's the trophy being presented to me by Vice President,

Writer of the Year 2013-Carol Bevitt

Viv Apple.

Hopefully the next time I get presented with a trophy the photo will be able to catch me when I'm not missing a front tooth and can smile! :-)

My winning entry, The Ladies of the G.O.D Club received praise from the judge, a knowledgeable local bookseller.

I'm sure she won't mind me revealing some of what she wrote for the club.

"In a short story, time is precious, and it can be easy to lose readers' interest by adding unnecessary detail, but by selecting just the essential elements, Carol makes the most of her small word count. Her scenes are set wonderfully, ('rattan chairs', 'large metallic coffee pot', 'plump cushioning in cerise' – all add an instant sense of comfort and leisure), and characters' speech is designed to hint at exactly the right traits without being over-prescriptive: it is here particularly that Carol has balanced the 'show/tell' storytelling techniques most proficiently, setting her writing apart from the competition."

There's a bit about the symbolism used too, but I must admit that wasn't an element I was consciously aware of, it just came out of creating Jenny's (my viewpoint character) story...

My other entry was a 500 word flash fiction with an historical romance leaning. Admittedly, hard to do with a limited word count. It is a bigger story, which is probably why the judge said of it, " I feel Carol's imagination could be honed to produce romantic fiction pieces on a much larger scale: this short story has all the wit and personality to take her writing further."

So that was a great way to end 2013; and with the presentation of the trophy, to start 2014.

Sadly I only get to hold onto the trophy (and get my name added to the little plate on the side of the base) until late November, but I will receive a certificate this December to mark my 2013 win...

I have plans for my winning story so won't reveal it, but it will have a home somewhere and when it does I'll let you know where so you can read it.

Likewise the 500 word flash will be made into the longer story it is determined to be.

2014 is going to be a year of hard work...