A Few Prize Opportunities...

It was a busy week so I missed writing my Thursday post, so you'll be getting 2 for 1 today. :-)


If you are a young woman writer who writes articles, then you may be interested in the Cassandra Jardine Memorial Prize that was launched in 2013 in memory of the Telegraph journalist, who sadly died from cancer in 2012.

When it was launched in 2013 it opened to women aged between 18 and 25. The prize is seeking "creativity and potential in an original feature article."

If you're interested pop along to the Telegraph's Lifestyle section here, and check the criteria for entry, and what you're aiming for.

You can follow their link to read last year's winning entry.

Closing date: 31st March 2016.

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If you read my blog regularly you'll know one of my annual features is the Diagram Prize shortlisted titles.

Odd book titles are suggested by readers, and could make the shortlist...

Well here is your opportunity to suggest an odd book title for consideration. You can either send your recommendations by email or on Twitter using the #DiagramPrize hashtag. Find out who to email or tweet to in this Bookseller article.

The shortlist will be unveiled 26th February, so there isn't long to make your odd title suggestions.

Self-published titles are eligible too.

But remember, the titles "must be unwittingly odd, not deliberately so."

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Now, I need to get back to that short story-it's almost finished, a few final tweaks and it will be ready to go out into the world. I'll update you on my progress later in the week... :)

Nothing is Wasted...

Every writer knows the value of carrying a notebook or some device to record those moments we all get when an idea pops into our heads; we see something that attracts our attention, or we overhear a conversation and there's a line or phrase we just have to use in a story.

I've been known to be walking down a road in the city centre, hearing someone on a phone, stopping and then sidling to a discreet position to casually remove a notebook and pen, before madly scribbling down the words that attracted my attention- and listening for more.

Many of these 'moments' disappear into my notebook and don't emerge again until I'm reading through them weeks or months later.

Others stick in my mind, then years later other thoughts immediately bring that long ago note to mind and a story starts to emerge.

Many years ago- before the tram lines were put in Nottingham city centre- I overheard a phone conversation, and put a single line of dialogue in my notebook. It was asking for a story, but none of my ideas worked, so it was stored.

Ideas...

Last week at the informal NWC meeting in the pub, in conversation I mentioned the comment I'd overheard. We all laughed- because it did sound funny- and back it went into my mental filling cabinet.

Then over the weekend I was reading an article by Patsy Collins in last month's Writing Magazine (February 2016 issue) '101 Ways to Inspire Ideas'. I've no idea which one or more of her ideas started it, but two voices began holding a conversation around the words I'd heard all those years ago...

There's a competition I want to try writing it for, with a deadline in March. Whether it is good enough, or finished in time, I don't know, but I have to try... :D






Image courtesy of Ventrilock & www.freedigitalphotos.net.