I don't enter many writing competitions these days... maybe two or three a year as against the sixty to eighty I used to do. Mostly this is because I am aiming in a different direction... in my writing and in my goals. I have one novel published ('Mrs Winchester's Gun Club') and others out there doing the rounds. If I enter a competition now it is on a whim and just for fun and once I enter I am able to completely forget about it (something I could never do when I was doing it in earnest!!). So, it was nothing short of the most delightful surpise when the lovely ladies at Momaya emailed me this week to say I had won this year's Momaya Short Story Competition. They also chose another of my stories to be included in their annual publication, 'Momaya Review'.
At the same time an independent publisher, having read a sample of a novella I have written and which I submitted to them at the start of the year, emailed me to say they liked it and were intrigued and engaged and so could they see the rest of the manuscript. Of course this does not mean they will like the rest and then want to publish it, but it still feels good that they want to see the rest.
So, bouyed up by these two positives, I put a collection of my stories together and sent it out there - that would be good to have a collection of them to share.
Will keep you informed.
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2 comments:
Hi sir! It's Alastair Barron writing - I'm glad you've got such an active blog otherwise I might not have found you!
I confess that I'm getting in touch because I'm searching for a reference for my uni application, however - since I'm here - I thought you might like to hear a bit about what I've been up to since we last spoke.
Over first year at Glasgow Uni I didn't really find a passion for any of my subjects so I was a bit lost by the time summer came around. By chance I wound up teaching drama for a month in a summer school and had such a fab time that I left in total certainty that I wasn't going back to uni. Of course, then I had a couple of months of unemployment - drifting between busking and half-hearted job applications - until I happened across a trad-rock band looking for a fiddle player. We spent a year together playing festivals which was absolutely fab, although we weren't bringing in much money at all. Eventually I had to split from the guys to make ends meet, and found work as a musical director - bizarrely - at DHS. That's a big old story in itself so I'll save it for now, but since then I've got a job at Costa and been working on an eclectic little mix of musical projects. Slowly I've realised that my first year of Sociology had a far greater impact on me than I'd thought so now I'm coming back to Edinburgh to finish what I started!
As you can see, it's been a crazy old life so far. I'd love to catch up over coffee sometime - let me know if you'd be keen! Oh, and my email is alastaikmbarron@gmail.com so drop me a line on there.
Hope you can help with the reference, and congrats on the Momaya win!
Alastair
Thanks Alastair. I have sent you an email... but the address you have given is just bouncing my email back - maybe an 'r' is missing from your address. I have inserted an 'r' and sent it again, but in case it has gone to a stranger, here is my email address for you: douglasrdbruton@hotmail.com
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