Reading at Word of Mouth, April 3rd, Bristol

Quickies

Just a quick note to say that I am over at Women Rule Writer today, where Nuala has made me answer the author questionnaire I'd been getting authors to fill in for The Short Review but never thought I'd answer myself  - about My Mother Was An Upright Piano! And, if you want even more of me waffling on, Joe M at Bristol Short Story Prize has kindly published the speech I made at the awards ceremony at ShortStoryVille on July 14th - my "while stocks last" speech! I've never really given a speech before, but was happy I managed to get a little physics in there too (but no Higgs boson, sorry). Also, the program has now been announced for the fab Cork International Short Story Festival so make your plans, book your train/plane/ferry, you don't want to miss this. And do come join me in the four-day flash fiction workshop I'm running, or one of the other fantastic workshops, including the above-mentioned Nuala -  we're going to have fun!

And don't forget to check out my previous blog post with upcoming deadlines, places to send your short stories and flash fictions.

Flash Slam & Bristol Short Story Prize Longlist

 I had a fantastic time as the guest "commentator" at the National Flash Fiction Day flash fiction slam last Wed in Oxford! Thanks so much to the inimitable Dan Holloway for organising, lovely to meet Twitter friends Pete Domican (who blogged about it here), Emily Cleaver and Sue Howe and see old mate Jon Pinnock, all of whom read beautifully, and Rebecca Emin, who judged beautifully! And huge congrats to flash slam winner Kevlin Henney - who read beautifully too, and entertained us immensely! He was in a very good mood the whole way home to Bristol, where he kindly dropped me off. A wonderful night had by all! Roll on next year's NFFD!

In other good news, the longlist for the Bristol Short Story Prize was announced today: 40 stories were longlisted out of a total of 2,304 entries. Some familiar names, many new to me!
  2012 Bristol Short Story Prize longlist:

Eugenia Will Come Back To You Someday – Kaj Anderson-Bauer (USA)
Naked As Eve – John Arnold (Australia)
Running to Nuthin’ – Lewis Bardsley (England)
Unearthed – Catherine Bokkers (The Netherlands)
The Swimmer – Lizzie Boyle (England)
Between Sea and Shore – Darci Bysouth (Scotland)
Dreams of Flying – Alexandra Carey (England)
Lobster – Alys Conran ( Wales)
Inked – Neil Durrant (Australia)
The Angel of the Warmth – Rachel J Fenton (New Zealand)
Time – Clare Fisher (England)
Battleground – Lisa Frank (Ireland)
Keith Morris is a Royal Plum – Martin Cathcart Froden (Scotland)
Something Somewhere Went Wrong – Sarah Gilmartin (Ireland)
People Like Her – Kerry Hood (England)
Apple Shot – Tracey Iceton (England)
Nice Blokes – Brian Jennings (England)
Meat – Avril Joy (England)
Dark Matter – Magda Knight (England)
Last Days of the Unicorn  - Danielle McLaughlin (Ireland)
On The Day Weldon Kees Disappeared – Alan Mumford (England)
Flashpoint – Susan Murray (England)
Heaven on the Horizon – Noel O’Regan (Ireland)
Ghost in the Machine – Christopher Parvin ( England)
Sharks, Choices – Matt Plass (England)
Horses – Thomas Pyner (England)
Yoki and the Toy Surprise – Angela Readman (England)
Going Grapefruit – Ian Richards (England)
Beekiller – Ethel Rohan (USA)
Forty-Five RPM in Chicago – Derek Routledge (Wales)
Senile – Safia Shah (England)
The Bird – Samantha Short (England)
The Attack at Delium – William Telford (England)
Mackerel for Tea – Rhoda Thompson (England)
Jelly Feel Real – Ellie Walsh (England)
After the Flood – Melanie Whipman ( England)
I Once Knew Salman Rushdie - Hilary Wilce (England)
The Life of Ethan – Emily Williamson (England)
Flowers on the Flagstone – Mairi Wilson (Scotland)
Symmetry – Samuel Wright  (England)


Highly Commended:
Crik Crak – E.L. Appleby ( England)
The Homecoming – Cait Atherton (Thailand)
And the Sea Gave Up Its Dead - Faith Barnes (Wales)
The Swanrite – Phillip Belcher
Last Wednesday – Cristina Burduja (England)
Stillness Comes – Michael John Burrows  (Canada)
Transition – Holly Corfield Carr (England)
Beautiful Horizon – Sharda Dean (England)
White – Mark Dixon (England)
Living – Samuel Dodson (England)
For Gracie – Ruth Driscoll (England)
Glimmer – Kat Ellis (Wales)
Vitiligo – Jo Else (England)
A Death in the Family – Kathleen English (England)
The Beginning – Louise Gethin  (England)
Where Steamers Wait... – T.D. Griggs (England)
Soap Opera in a Red Camaro – Norma Harrs (Canada)
A Young Country – Joanna Herrmann (England)
Angel Eggs – Nydia Hetherington ( England)
The Genitals and the Soul – David B Huebert (Canada)
Confessions of a Pigeon Feeder – Charlotte Humphries (England)
Puddings in the Park – Clair Humphries (England)
Lally – Tina Jackson  (England)
The Wish Improvement Mechanism – Amy Kellam (England)
Detective Noir – Ryan Anthony Licata (England)
Yellow River – Karen Lindsay
The Lady Bandit – Kelly Matsuura (Japan)
The Novel Factory – Luke Melia (England)
Geminids – Will Miles (England)
Sweetness – Lorraine Nevin (South Africa)
You Always Hurt – Michael Nicholson (England)
The Elephant Sun – Emyr Payne (Wales)
Frank Has Weeds – Mike Pym (England)
Greasbys – Olivia Rana (Northern Ireland)
Flight of Fancy – Mary Reynolds ( Ireland)
White Witch – Don Roy (Canada)
Afternoon Lullaby – Susha Chandra Ryner  ( England)
Craving – Erics Sail (England)
Moving In – Janet Swinney (England)
A Dance in the Bomb Shelter – Steven Tizzard


Congrats to all, fingers crossed for the shortlist!

Book launch!

I had the most amazing time last night at the launch of my new collection, My Mother Was An Upright Piano: Fictions, here in beautiful Bristol at the Arnolfini bookstore. Walking in to see the amazing display of about 60 copies of the book was fantastic! I was too flummoxed to take a picture...

 To be honest, I'd had a few book launch anxiety dreams, but it exceeded all my expectations, a gathering of people from all walks of my life here in Bristol - and some from much further afield, thank you Elizabeth Baines, Calum "Mr National Flash Fiction Day" Kerr and Elaine Chiew for travelling so far!

I didn't really have a minute to chat to people, from the first moment I was sitting at a table, signed copies...

Me signing books for Sara Davies and George Ferguson

The other special guest of the evening, who hadn't told me til a few hours before that she was coming, was....

Yes, she is no upright piano!

... my mother, who had fashioned this lovely hat for herself, although some doubted she actually was my mother ... :) The star of my book trailer, it was great to have her there, and she hadn't known that I dedicated the book to her, so I think that was a nice surprise for her.

Half way through, my publisher, the simply superb Richard Jones, of Tangent Books, made a speech, talking about difficult times for publishers and the need to support beautiful bookshops like the one we were in at the Arnolfini, and then he said some embarassingly lovely things about me.

I said some lovely things back, and talked a bit about how it feels to have a second book, and how this time rather than elated and deeply shocked, I feel really happy and very proud, a different sensation, very very nice. I mentioned how it's important to most short story writers that their stories find good homes, and how I feel that these 56 fictions have found a wonderful home and, although they were written over several years with no thought of a collection, I imagine them inside the book, having a conversation with each other... And then I read a few stories...which I thought were at the more cheery end of the spectrum, but look at their faces, poor dears!:

Some more attendees...

Fabulous writer friend Ally Kennon and wonderful partner Dan

Becky Jones the Biochemist, from the biochemistry lab at Bristol Uni that I was writer-in-residence in.

Wonderful writer friend Elizabeth Baines and her lovely partner John.

Professor Michael Berry, Galit and Robert

Dr Michael Short

My mother and my brother, Nick H

The excellent Joe "Mr Bristol Short Story Prize" Melia & the lovely Ali Reynolds, one of the BSSP judges

After the bookshop closed, we adjourned to the Arnolfini cafe and then the remaining few moved on to Las Iguanas for Mexican food, cocktails (and a cup of tea for me).

I'm not generally much of a party person, but last night was very special, just amazing - thank you Richard for throwing me the launch, and thank you to everybody who came and everyone who couldn't make it but was there in spirit! My Mother Was An Upright Piano: Fictions is launched!

New story and some upcoming deadlines

I have a new story, The Tragedy of Tragic Men, (which was a finalist in PANK's 1001 Awesome Words Competition) published today in the February issue of the excellent PANK magazine, which just got a fabulous mention in the New York Times Style magazine's feature on literary magazines, one of the intello-chic, apparently! 

I am planning a blog post talking about the wonderful-so-far experience of working with my new publishers, Tangent Books, a small press based here in Bristol, on my new collection, but not quite ready yet - we're still choosing fonts and the illustrator is working on some ideas! (Wow, so exciting to be involved in the whole process!)

In the meantime, here are some upcoming deadlines for you...

BBC International Short Story Competition - closes Feb 27th

Open to international entrants for the first time this year, in honour of the London Olympics! Story: 8000 wds max. Prize: £15,000/£2500/8x£250. Rules: Strictly one entry per person. Open only to writers who have been previously published by an established UK publisher or an established UK magazine (no self-publishing or online publishing) Email entries allowed but must be accompanied by entry form from website. If posting entry you must send 8 copies of your work. No entry fee. Enter here.

The Binnacle Ultra Short Competition - closes March 15th

"We are looking for prose and poetry: all works should be 150 words or fewer; poetry should be sixteen lines or fewer and fewer; all works should have a narrative element." All submissions should be made via email to ummbinnacle@maine.edu. No entry fee, a minimum of $300 in cash prizes awarded. And all the finalists are published in a beautiful publication! Enter here.

Fish Flash Fiction Prize - closes March 20th

"This is an opportunity to attempt what is one of the most difficult and rewarding tasks - to create, in a tiny fragment, a completely resolved and compelling story in 300 words or less." 1st prize 1000 euros and publication in winners anthology. 9 runners-up. Entry fee 14.00 euros for first entry, 8 euros for each subsequent entry.  Enter here.

Fish Poetry Prize - closes March 30th, judged by Billy Collins!

Poems of up to 200 words. 1st prize 1000 euros, 2 prize a week at heavenly Irish writers retreat Anam Cara. Entry fee 14.00 euros for first entry, 8 euros for each subsequent entry.  Enter here.

The Bristol Short Story Prize - closes March 31st

One of the most prestigious short story comps around (yes, I am biased!) Stories up to 3000 words - can be much shorter (was won by a 300-word story a few years ago). Entry fee: £7. Prizes: £1000 + £150 Waterstones gift card/£700 + £100 Waterstones gift card/£400 + £100 Waterstones gift card. Winner and shortlisted published in the prize anthology. Enter here.

Short Fiction Short Story Competition - closes March 31st

Stories up to 5000 words. Entry fee: £10 for 2 stories and includes a copy of the next issue of the excellent SHORT Fiction lit mag. Prizes: £500 + publication, 2nd prize £100. Enter here.

Good luck to you all!

Help Save Short Stories on BBC Radio!

Following swiftly in the footsteps of the first short story festival in Bristol, UK, ShortStoryVille, which was hugely successful - comes the distressing news that BBC Radio 4, which until recently broadcast a short story in the Afternoon Reading programme 5 days a week, which was then reduced to 3 days a week - and now will be only once a week. This is the BBC - who only a few years ago was proud to announce the BBC National Short Story Award, and on their website say:

The BBC National Short Story Award, managed in partnership with Booktrust, continues to serve as a reminder of the power of the short story and to celebrate a literary form that is proving ever more versatile in the twenty first century, enjoyed not just on the page, on air and increasingly on every sort of screen, but also in flash fiction events, short story festivals and slams. The short story has moved beyond the revival of recent years and is now experiencing a golden age.

BBC Radio 4 is the world's leading broadcaster of short stories and a staunch and long-time supporter of the form. Short stories are broadcast every week, attracting over a million listeners.

BBC- you are a "staunch and long-time supporter", don't let us down now!

The Afternoon Reading has for many many years been a showcase not just for well-known writers but for new voices - on a personal note, it was my first "big break", the first time I felt I was taken seriously as a writer, coupled with the joy of hearing my story, The White Road, (later the title story of my first book) brought so wonderfully to life. Not only that, the payment the writer receives is no paltry sum and has formed a significant part of my writerly earnings in the years since.

There are many, many writers, listeners and readers who are very concerned about this development. Writer Susie McGuire and Ian, organiser of the UK's National Short Story Week, have formulated the following:

The new Controller of Radio 4, Gwyneth Williams, will be a guest on FEEDBACK on BBC Radio 4 next week. How very timely.
Would you add your name to a letter/question to ask her?
Would you pass on this email to other writers who care about the health of the short story…?

The more of us, & the better known the writers who sign it, the more likely it is to have some effect.

If so, please find below a short, polite question, proposed by Ian of http://www.nationalshortstoryweek.org.uk

Reminder: info on her decision to cut the short story’s presence on Radio 4 outlined here  http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/07_july/10/radio4.shtml

If you’d like to add your signature, please email YES to
ian AT shortstoryweek DOT org DOT uk

& cc to me: info AT susiemaguire DOT co DOT uk

NB – It would be really helpful if you could reply within 24 hours so that the question can be lodged as soon as possible. This is by no means the *only* action interested parties can take, but it’s a start, and I hope you might add your weight to it with this (and further suggestions are welcomed)
thanks
Susie

*******************
Proposed question:
We were surprised and disappointed to learn of the decision to reduce the short story output on Radio 4 to once a week from next spring. Radio 4 has been a great champion of the short story for many years. It is one of very few places in the UK where both new and established writers can have their short stories broadcast to a large audience, and where radio listeners can enjoy readings of the short story form. This move comes at a time when interest in the short story is growing, but paid opportunities for short story writers are still scarce. Could Gwyneth Williams please explain:
1) what has led her to make this decision?
2) whether the short stories on Radio 4 extra will be new commissions or repeats of existing recordings?
3) how this decision fits with the BBC’s sponsorship of the National Short Story Award (and indeed if this will continue?)

If you are moved to do so, please take action, following the instructions outlined above. Signatories so far include:

Clare Wigfall

Sara Maitland

Philip Pullman

Nicholas Royle

Vivian French

James Robertson

Michael Holroyd

Jane Rusbridge

Dr Charles Smith

Sarah Hall

Sarah Hilary

Vanessa Gebbie

Jill Dawson

Lucinda Byatt

Maggie Gee

Sarah Sheridan (Soc of A, Scotland)

Tania Hershman (Ed, The Short Review)

Helena Nelson (publisher, Happenstance)

Morag Joss

Lola Perrin

Jules Horne

Suzanne Bellenger

Richard Beard (Nat Academy of Writing)

Ali Bacon

Nicky Parker, (Publisher, Amnesty)

Dan Powell 

Ian Cundell

Kathleen Langley

John Courtney-Grimwood

Wendy Ann Greenhalgh

Alison Wells

James Wall

K E Bergdoll

Linda Cracknell

Jonathan Pinnock (also see his FB links)

Sarah Salway

Alison MacLeod

Louis Winters

Emily Dubberly

Karen Whiteson

Griff Griffiths

Sara Schofield

Ian Macpherson

Stella Burchill

(and counting...)

Please join us!

ADDENDUM: There is now an online petition here - please sign!

ShortStoryVille - Bristol's first Short Story festival!

Now, if you are in Bristol, anywhere near, or prepared to travel for the love of the short story on July 16th - then do it! ShortStoryVille is the brainchild of Joe Melia, the organiser of the Bristol Short Story Prize, and will culminate in the awards ceremony for this year's prize, all held at Bristol's Arnolfini arts centre. The entire afternoon leading up to that event is filled with short story goodness, including some of my favourite writers: Janice Galloway, Alison McLeod, Sarah Salway, Sarah Hilary, Stuart Evers...! I am very honoured to be part of it, and can't wait to be in the audience for the events I am not participating in. Just check this out:

12.00 – 1.00 Women and Short Stories - panel discussion chaired by writer, broadcaster and critic Bidisha. Often ignored in ‘greatest’ and ‘best of’ lists in other areas of literature, it is widely acknowledged and chronicled that women have led the way in the development of the short story. Is there something specific to the form, missing in other genres, that enables women writers to be taken as seriously as their male counterparts? Are short stories the most emancipated form of literature? Bidisha explores the bond between women and short fiction with 3 of the UK's most celebrated short story writers: Janice Galloway, Alison MacLeod and Sarah Salway. Tickets £3

1.30 – 2.30 Reading Short Stories - panel discussion chaired by acclaimed short story writer Tania Hershman. Is there an art to reading a short story? Is it very different from other forms of fiction? Does it depend on where a story is read: a collection, single story in a magazine, on an ereader? Tania is joined by three passionate short story readers- book reviewer and blogger David Hebblethwaite, Clare Hey, former editor at HarperCollins and founder of trailblazing, digital-only short story publisher Shortfire Press and Scott Pack, publisher at The Friday Project, influential blogger, commentator, reader, and creator of the popular meandmyshortstories blog. Tickets £3

3.30 – 4.30 Helen Oyeyemi and Stuart Evers - Editor of Venue magazine, Joe Spurgeon, interviews two of the UK’s most exciting writers. Helen Oyeyemi’s Mr Fox (Picador) and Stuart Evers’ Ten Stories about Smoking (Picador) are two of this year’s most anticipated books of short stories, both taking a different approach to the linked stories tradition. Helen and Stuart will be signing copies of their latest books in the Arnolfini bookshop after the interview. Tickets £3. Sponsored by Venue magazine.

5.00 – 6.00 Choice Cuts - The Bristol area pulsates with an abundance of brilliant short story writers. Sample some of the finest exponents’ stories, including Patricia Ferguson, Tania Hershman, Sarah Hilary, Amy Mason, Emma Newman and Gareth Powell. Compered by poet, publisher and performer Bertel Martin. This is a free, ticketed event and likely to be very popular so please book early.
Light Studio – Following on from their brilliant exhibition last year, Henbury School art students present original mixed media prints inspired by Nastasya Parker’s short story ‘The Meek Inherit’ published in last year’s Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology.  Free, no ticket required.

Dark Studio – Showing throughout the day, Fairfield School’s Year 11 animation students adaptation of Craig Hawes’ short story ‘Pictures in the Dust’ published in the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 2.  Free, no ticket required.

Reading Room – Display of magazines and journals that publish short stories - one aspect of the vibrant and di­verse world of short story publishing. Lots of real gems on show.

The 2011 Bristol Short Story Prize Awards Ceremony will be the closing event of the festival.

Tickets available from Arnolfini box office : phone 0117 9172300 or visit www.arnolfini.org.uk 

We are extremely grateful for the funding and sponsorship help of Arts Council England, Bristol City Council, Venue magazine, Arnolfini and The Bristol Hotel in making this exciting event happen.

I really hope to see you there! I am so excited about this happening in my home city - short stories and more short stories...

Few upcoming deadlines for you

Three weeks until March 31st and here are 2 lovely comps to send your darlings to before that date:

Short FICTION is accepting submissions for its 5th annual Short Story Competition from 1 January - 31 March 2011. This year's prize money is increased to £500. Stories must be no longer than 6000 words. All submissions must be unpublished in print or on the web. Also new this year, we invite entries from writers at any stage in their career. Award-winning Irish writer, Gerard Donovan will act as final judge. Mr Donovan is the author of three novels, including the much-landed Julius Winsome, and the story collection, Country of the Grand. A £10 entry fee allows entrants to submit up to two stories; all entrants receive a copy of the journal with the award-winning story in it (which itself retails for £10... effectively making the competition entry free). All stories submitted will be considered for publication in the journal. Please note: no changes to stories can be accepted after submission. The winner of the competition will be announced on our website no later than 1 May 2011.


Bristol Short Story Prize: (for which I am one of the five final judges again this year):
Stories can be on any theme or subject and are welcome in any style including graphic, verse or genre-based (crime, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, romance, historical etc.). While there is a maximum word count of 3,000, it should be pointed out that there is no minimum. The 20 shortlisted writers will be invited to an awards ceremony in Bristol on July 16th 2011 when the winners will be announced and the BSSP Anthology Volume 4 will be launched. Prizes and anthologies will be sent to any shortlisted writer unable to attend the awards ceremony.
Prizes :
Ist- £1000 plus £150 Waterstone’s gift card
2nd- £700 plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card
3rd- £400 plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card
The other 17 writers who feature on the shortlist will be presented with a cheque for £100.

All 20 shortlisted stories will be published in both print and ebook versions of Volume 4 of the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology.

So, for a grand total of £17 if you enter both comps, you could win £1500 +£150 waterstone's vouchers and you get a copy of SHORT Fiction too. Frankly, I think it's not a bad deal... I might see what I've got to send to SHORT Fiction, since this year it's open to all writers. And I'm looking forward to reading your stories for the Bristol Prize - remember, short is sweet too, give us something to read that we can't put down!

Good luck!

Audio story and Bristol Short Story Prize

I'm reading my story, Vegetable Mineral, in the new issue of the excellent audio magazine, 4'33, if you'd like to listen. I've also contributed to Salt Publishing's article on the future of the short story with a little futuristic dreaming on my part...Read what the others have to say, they're far more sensible! Eg Nicholas Royle:

The short story will survive anyway because it is a perfect art form. A novel is too big to sit in your mind and unfurl like a flower. A poem is too short to tell you a story involving enough to absorb you. I guess it could do with a little help, though.

The full article is here.

And... the 2011 Bristol Short Story Prize is now open! Not only that, the first prize money has now doubled, to £1000. Sadly, I am a judge again this year so I can't enter. Hmm. Shame. But we all look forward to reading your entries - and do keep in mind that last year's competition was won by Valerie O'Riordan's fantastic 350-word flash story, so no need to nudge right up to the maximum word count of 3000 words. Write a story as long as it needs to be. International entries welcome.

The details:

20 stories will be shortlisted.

The 20 shortlisted writers will be invited to an awards ceremony in Bristol on July 16th 2011 when the winners will be announced and the BSSP Anthology Volume 4 will be launched. Prizes and anthologies will be sent to any shortlisted writer unable to attend the awards ceremony.

Prizes :
Ist- £1000 plus £150 Waterstone’s gift card
2nd- £700 plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card
3rd- £400 plus £100 Waterstone’s gift card
The other 17 writers who feature on the shortlist will be presented with a cheque for £100.
All 20 shortlisted stories will be published in both print and ebook versions of Volume 4 of the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology.
The closing date for entries is March 31st 2011.
The maximum number of words for each story is 3,000.
There is an entry fee of £7 for each story submitted.
Stories can be on any theme or subject and are welcome in any style including graphic, verse or genre-based (crime, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, romance, historical etc.).
While there is a maximum word count of 3,000, it should be pointed out that there is no minimum.

(If you're a reader of Venue magazine in Bristol or Bath, you can win a free entry.) Get your entries in!

Flash Fiction Scoops Bristol Short Story Prize

Last night the Bristol Short Story Prize awards ceremony took place so I can now reveal that this year's winner is...

... Valerie O'Riordan with her story, Mum's the Word. Congratulations, Valerie!

A stunning story, and - take note! - it is one page long. Yes, it is flash fiction, several hundred words, and it won the prize against stories whose lengths were up to 3000. This goes to show, as I've been saying for a while, that it is never necessary, when entering a short story competition, to enter only those stories that are as close to the maximum word limit as possible. A story is as long as it should be, this story is utterly complete, and it took the judges' breath away. (Keep this in mind as the deadline for the Sean O'Faolain short story competition deadline looms on July 31st. Stories of all lengths very very welcome!)

Congratulations to the 2nd and 3rd prize winners, Ian Madden and Rachel Howard, and the entire shortlist, all of whom are published in the Bristol Short Story Prize 3 anthology, which has the gorgeous cover above. Buy your copy now!

It was wonderful meeting many of the shortlisted writers last night, and hearing the ever-inspiring Sarah Salway share her thoughts about the short story, urging us not to waste our lives reading anything that declares either that "the short story is dead" or that "the short story is being revived" because neither is true, the short story is and always has been alive and well! She suggested that the next time we run into someone who says "I don't read short stories", we suggest a few titles they might like to try, an excellent idea. One of her recommendations is Lydia Davis, whose Collected Stories I am reading now for review for The Short Review. It is mind-blowingly good!

All in all, a great short-story-filled birthday yesterday, now I'm recovering and wondering what this new decade will bring. One thing is that Sarah S and I will have news to share regarding short stories, but more on that soon. Now, I need to get on with some writing!