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I can’t envisage a time when I won’t be writing short stories. Most of mine are targeted at the magazine market but occasionally one pops into my head which doesn’t have a market and it’s these I use for competitions. Way back in 1983 I was awarded first prize in a story competition organised by Radio Wyvern. I’ve been second in the Real Writers’, highly commended Bridport and Writers News. Short listed in the Ian St James awards, the CWN Brian Moore and the Lichfield & District competitions. I was a finalist in the NAWG (National Association of Writers’ Groups) short story competition and runner-up in Focus on Fiction. I hate it when writers say they have been published in ‘various’ magazines so I’m going to give a list of the ones my stories have appeared in. QWF, Cadenza, Writers’ Forum, Highlife, My Weekly, Annabel, People’s Friend, Woman, Chat, Bella, Best, Lounge, Take a Break, Take a Break’s Fiction Feast, Take a Break’s Specials, and in Australia, Woman’s Day, That’s Life!, Fast Fiction, Take 5, and New Idea. Stories for children and teenagers in Catch, Mandy, Bunty, Judy, Girl, Mandy Annual, Girl Talk. Over the past three years I have sold one story per fortnight to British and/or Australian magazines.
Four years ago, I went to the Writers' Holiday at Caerleon to learn how to finish my novel and went to Lynne's short story course to fill in the other half of the week. She came into that huge hall, with a mixing bowl in one hand, a big smile on her face and started talking about recipes and how to put a bit of sparkle in your writing – and it was like she'd flicked a switch in my head. Since then I've sold over a hundred stories to various magazines and Woman's Weekly have just taken my first serial and are eager to see the next - and I still can't quite believe it. As I complete each story I still check it for what I now think of as 'Lynne's bit of sparkle'. Thanks a million, Lynne! Paula Williams
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