So what next? Well, I’ve got rather a lot of stories that could do with a good edit, and there’s also that full-length project that really needs a bit of attention. So it’s not as if I’m going to be idle

[EDITED TO ADD: Ooh, and I've just noticed that I get a free copy of the anthology for coming second. Yay!]

I also have nine new poems, which (in conjunction with the STIRRED POeTS competition earlier on this year) has roughly doubled my poetry portfolio. Still some way to go, then, before that first slim volume is ready …

And the final results come out next week. I’m quite pleased with the couple of pieces that I’ve submitted for Task 9, but on past form that means that they’re going to bomb. In any case, the current leaders are too far ahead in both categories, but it would be nice to get as close to them as I can. I’ll let you know.

As far as the short story section is concerned, the first two rounds went very nicely, and I was actually in the lead at the end of Round Two. Then for some reason I hit the self-destruct button and entered my first-ever piece written in the second person for Round Three and garnered a truly horrible score for my pains. (I actually still quite like the piece, but it’s probably one of those Marmite things – you either love it or hate it. I think it’s got an afterlife, though, so watch this space.) I followed this up with a pretty wretched piece for Round Four, written in a single draft late on the night of the Friday before submission, with no time for editing. Fortunately, the judge was in a relatively generous mood, and didn’t mark it quite as harshly as I’d feared. But I’m going to have to pull some spectacular stuff out of the bag to get back in contention.

In the meantime, the poetry section is behaving very strangely. For a start, I won Round One. This should not have happened. I was also joint winner of Round Two. This should not have happened either. I didn’t win Round Three, but I did somehow manage to increase my lead. My Round Four score was respectable, but my lead has now been cut to one point, and the real poets in the field are snapping at my heels. So I’m trying very hard to come up with something really good to try and pull ahead again. The trouble is that I know so little about poetry that I don’t know what I am doing right, so I strongly suspect that it’s all down hill from now on. Still, it’s been nice whilst it’s lasted, if a bit weird.

So like I said, it’s been an interesting ride so far, and I think there will be a few twists and turns still to come. And the most important thing, of course, is that I’ve got some quite promising material out of it already.

I have written the first chapter of my first grown-up novel. This has taken the total word count (including the prologue) to around 4000, which (as those who know me will appreciate) is completely uncharted territory. The good news is that I even know what happens next, and it seems to be flowing reasonably easily so far. It is, however, rather silly.

Eurofiction has come to an end. I had high hopes for my Task 10 piece, which was unbelievably massively clever and intricate, but it picked up a very average 6. Needs more contextualization, apparently. Although the lack of context was part of its charm. I can guess that it’s going to be one of those stories that I really like, but is going to hang around the house taking up space and asking me to do its washing for the next five years.

The Whittaker starts on Saturday. I am doing both fiction and poetry this year and I really wonder what I was thinking of when I signed up. However, Geoff Nelder will be an interesting judge for the fiction, so I’ll try to stick with it for a round or two at least.

The STIRRED POeT continues, increasing my poetry portfolio at a rapid pace. Whilst my ranking could not in any way be described as stellar, I’m actually picking up a few votes from some of the real poets on TWI, which pleases me no end.

And I’ve got a few things coming out later this month – specifically in Litro, Every Day Poets and Aphelion (and possibly FlashScribe).

Finally, if you’ve nothing to do for a few minutes, take a look at this piece from my mate Oscar. It’s ace.

Last time around, this was what I came up with, and what happened to them:

Task 1: (In competition)

Task 2: The Great Gandolfini and His Wife (came second in the City of Derby comp, as The Amazing Arnolfini and His Wife)

Task 3: The Birdman of Farringdon Road (accepted by Litro)

Task 4: (Currently submitted)

Task 5: (Awaiting its next competition)

Task 6: The Inheritance (published by apt as The Guitarist’s Inheritance)

Task 7: (Currently submitted)

Task 8: (Awaiting its next competition)

Task 9: Somewhat Less Than Thirty Pieces (longlisted in Cadenza, published by TheRightEyedDeer)

Task 10: (In its first competition)

So they’re all working stories, and I don’t anticipate any of them being retired for a while yet (although Task 7 is showing signs of fatigue). This time around, though, I’m less sure. Here’s what we’ve got:

Task 1: Mirror Image (published by EDF as Mirror, Mirror)

Task 2: (In competition)

Task 3: (Needs some work before I decide what to do with it)

Task 4: (High hopes for this one, once I’ve worked on it)

Task 5: (God knows)

Task 6: (Missed)

Task 7: (God knows)

Task 8: (Might sneak into a horror mag if I do a lot of work on it)

Task 9: (My highest mark this year – might be a competitor for a shorter short story comp)

Task 10: (My favourite of the lot, but not sure if others will see it that way)

What’s for sure is that none of them is going to turn into a Bridport contender. Well, you gotta dream. In the meantime, the Whittaker Prize starts up again in a couple of weeks’ time, and this time I’ve gone in for the poetry as well. I must be mad.

Oh, and I’m in there too, with this piece, which grew out of something I’d done as part of a flash fiction exercise last year. I liked it, but I couldn’t work out what the hell to do with it, until I realised that it might work well as part of Greyling Bay. So there it is.

the phone rang at 4 a.m.

stained ground beside Forsbury Chapel

orange wellies

going down an angle so sharp it makes Pythagoras puke

the middle of nowhere sings

nicotine-stained walls and a broken air conditioner

Do you take American Express?

he was always such a quiet boy

on Friday, a duck fell from the sky

See what I mean? That’s the sort of stuff that’s guaranteed to send you off into all sorts of odd directions. Anyway, one piece (”Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions”) has already been published, and one other is currently in competition. The rest will be out there just as soon as I’ve hacked them around a bit. Oh, and I’m currently in fifth place. Can’t see much chance of getting any higher, as I had a couple of duff rounds. You can sit one round out, because only your best eight count, but two’s gonna bring you down. Still, like I said way back when this started (before this blog had even got going) the most important function of a comp like the Whittaker is to force you to generate stuff, and winning it is a secondary issue. (Of course, if I was leading the comp at this point, it is possible that I might have a different opinion.)

And speaking of comps like the Whittaker, its spritual parent, Eurofiction, has just started up again on the SlingInk site. The first prompts went up on Wednesday. So off we go again.

BTW, I spent the rest of today writing stuff for the Grail charity writeathon. Great fun, and lots of interesting ideas bubbling around. I eventually came up with eleven pieces altogether: 8 stories, 2 poems and 1 piece of non-fiction. I’m fairly happy with this, although one of the people there managed to do 35 pieces altogether. I suspect that she is actually an alien with more than one brain. And, of course, the donation page is still open here.

As for the event itself, I’ll be fascinated to see what happens. The pressure often disengages the left brain and throws up some interesting stuff, such as this one that emerged during last year’s Children in Need event. I’ll let you know how it goes …

The only question is whether or not I really want to commit myself to another rolling competition (ten prompted pieces over twenty weeks). Y’see, it’s about time that I sat down and wrote a proper, full-length (I can hardly dare to say the word) novel. It’s all very well having these one-night stands with story ideas that you pick up in some sleazy internet forum, but it’s really about time that I grew up and showed some, y’know, commitment.

And yet … last year’s Eurofiction was a massively creative experience, and most of the longer stories that I’m currently touting around arose from it. The judging is as eccentric as you’d expect, given that upwards of fifty stories have to be judged and graded every two weeks, but that’s part of the fun (and my sole round-winner last year was spectacularly controversial, setting in chain a sequence of events that led to one of the other contestants either flouncing off in a huff or being banned – we never did quite work out which).

So I guess I’m up for it, then. Anyone else fancy joining in?