It’s been another winning month for me! Since my last post just three weeks ago, I have
been lucky enough to see my work published in four national magazines (see
photo).
My short story Motherly
Love in the People’s Friend Special number 101 (in the shops now) tells of
two soon-to-be grandmas who don’t seem able to agree on anything, right down to
the sex of the baby! Obviously one of them is going to be proved wrong, but
which one? And once the baby arrives, does
it really matter anyway? With a lovely illustration by Mandy Murray, this story
is very close to home for me as I await the birth of my first granddaughter,
due in March.
Bigger, which
appears in Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special (March issue) is another story that
came, at least partially, out of my own experience. It follows the very
different but intertwined lives of twin sisters Susan and Linda, from childhood
to their sixtieth birthday party. Growing up in the same time period myself (1950s
and 60s) and having twin daughters of my own (one of whom has always loved to
dance, just as Linda does) helped to make so much of this story very easy to
write!
A Good Judge of
Character is my first story to appear in Ireland’s Own magazine (13 Feb
issue). And I can honestly say that, in this case, the overbearing and snobby
mother who tries to rule her daughter’s life and control her choice of
boyfriend is in no way based on me! Just a small line drawing for this one, but
I am very pleased to have found my way into a magazine I had not written for
before and to reach a brand new audience for my fiction.
Putting fiction aside, I also have two separate articles in
February’s Practical Pre-School magazine – one about playing snakes and ladders
and the other exploring some creative ways for children to use plastic drink
bottles to make music, play games, and in art projects. This magazine is sold
on subscription only and is read by nursery staff, childminders and nannies all
over the UK, giving them lots of information and ideas to help them in their
work with the under-fives.
My new novel is coming along nicely, having just passed the
20,000 word mark, even though I still have nothing to report on the progress of
the finished one which is still doing the rounds of literary agents looking for
a publishing deal. I have also returned to poetry, with two free-verse poems I
feel particularly proud of now entered for competitions, in the hope of a
prize. I am nothing if not versatile when it comes to my writing!
Now, over to my other love: cryptic crosswords. After 50-odd
years of enjoying the daily challenge of cracking them, I have now finally compiled
one of my own - which will, I hope, be appearing in the next issue of The Woman
Writer, the members’ magazine of the Society of Women Writers and Journalists
(SWWJ), whose Council I have recently joined. And that brings me to a very
important announcement… the winner of my crossword competition, launched here
on the blog last month.
I was a little disappointed by the low number of entries,
but nevertheless I am very happy to announce that the winner is… Wendy
Clarke.
Wendy wins a personalised crossword compiled specially for
her husband's upcoming fiftieth birthday, and I will be in touch with her soon
to get a few ‘clues’ about him to make sure the finished puzzle really is all
about him!
