Giving up the day job, winning free books and chocolate

Yes, it may seem as though the title to this blog implies that if you give up your day job, many freebies will come your way, but that's deliberately designed to mislead, just so you'll come and read this post. Sorry! So: just a quick roundup:

I was asked by fellow writer and blogger Michelle Teasdale to talk about what it was like to give up my "day job" and become a full time writer, and I have tried to answer as honestly as possible over at her blog.

Now for the free books:

Tom Vowler's running a competition over at How To Write A Novel:

You have to write the best six-word story. Five words will be regarded as woefully short, seven as a rambling epic. And the prize? A signed copy of Lisa Glass’s debut novel, Prince Rupert’s Teardrop. Deadline Oct 31st.

Visit How To Write A Novel to win.


Canongate has very kindly given The Short Review five copies to give away of Rebecca Miller's short story collection, Personal Velocity. Visit the Competitions & Giveaways page and answer the pretty easy question for the chance to win one.

And the chocolate? Head over to Nicola Morgan's excellent blog, Help! I Need a Publisher, who has much Hotel Chocolat chocolate to give away. What to do?:

Flash fiction. A very short story, up to 100 words, which most gorgeously, elegantly, poignantly, creatively, wittily or movingly (or any combination thereof) includes three ingredients in any proportion or combination: chocolate, fear and the written word. Any genre, any age-range. 

Deadline: midday, British time, on October 21st. That's 21st, NOT 31st... 

If you want some inspiration for what to write and you're in or near London, I happened to know that there are a few spots still available on the workshop prize-winning writer Vicky Grut is running on Sat 17th Oct: "The Paper Clock: Handling Narrative Time". Visit London Writing Workshops for more info.

So, free books, chocolate and a workshop. All we need now is for someone to make the tea. Good luck to all!