Wave bye-bye to 2010, a pretty good year for my writing.

Over the last twelve months I’ve been published in The New Flesh, 100 Stories for Haiti, The View From Here, Eclectic Flash, Metazen, Up The Staircase Quarterly, Litsnack, Chinese Whisperings, Metazen again, 50 Stories for Pakistan, Deck the Halls, Metazen Christmas Charity eBook and have work forthcoming in The View From Here again, Neon and Dirty Bristow.

Ether Books started publishing my short fiction on their iPod/iPhone app.

My story ‘Where’s Tracey?’ was commended by the judging panel of the Winchester Writer’s Conference Short Story Competition. They described it as ‘stylish.’

Best of all my story ‘Half-mown Lawn’ won the Yeovil Literary Prize for short fiction. Judge, Francine Lee, said this:

Beautifully crafted, never sentimental or maudlin, we follow Annie in the first few days after her husband’s sudden death as she adjusts to life without him.

There is little dialogue but what there is adds to the restraint of the story. The author uses spare, crisp language to explore Annie’s stunned reaction as she goes shopping with her amended list and her ‘bags for life’.

The deft description and attention to the smallest of details, such as the Ikea pencil she finds in her pocket, define the character and her life. The deeply satisfying ending stayed with me for a long time after reading. An everyday subject lifted out of the mundane by the sheer quality of the writing

The story will be available to download to your iPod/iPhone on the Ether Books app.

Considering I started 2010 with only one previous publication and a 2nd Prize at the Winchester Writer’s Conference Short Story Competition in 2009, I am very happy with how 2010 played out. Now I must keep the pressure up to ensure 2011 is even more better.

How about you? How did your writing year work out?

UPDATE: Oh, and just to put me in my place, on this, the final day of 2010, I received a rejection.

UPDATE: 1/1/11 – Woke up New Year’s Day to find an acceptance in my inbox. Liking 2011 already.