So I entered a competition recently and
neglected to read all of the small print – and that can come back and bite you!
I happened to look again at the competition details after submitting two
stories and I noted that the competition judge was named. It was Alex Keegan.
In case you don’t know, Alex doesn’t muck
about when it comes to judging fiction. He has very high standards, exacting even,
and if he doesn’t think he can award a prize because there are no stories
entered that are any good, then he’ll say so. It’s happened like that.
See me quaking then, because I hadn’t really
subbed my best work. Indeed, I had subbed a romantic piece and another quite
airy piece. I was just looking to see if they were ok and maybe one of them might make the
longlist… I don't always enter to win… that's not the point for me. But it was Alex Keegan judging! Alex Keegan, and so I did not expect to do well and with Alex I wanted to have done well. Oh well, I
thought, that would just serve me right - read the small print always!
Imagine my surprise then when the results
were published and I was there. Alex picked three stories to be commended and I
had one there; he chose three to be highly commended and I had one there, too –
the romantic one, which Alex commented on and said was a bit of a coup
getting it past him. He said ‘well done’. So, not on the podium, but this
recognition feels surprisingly good.
The competition was Sentinel’s Annual Short
Story Competition.
Also did well in Exeter's annual writing competition (3rd) and in Flash 500 (2nd).
