It’s been a spell since I updated the world about my writing progress and writing competition adventures so that is what I’ve decided to do today.
Writing Competitions:
Page Turner Awards: I am really excited to have had the first 10 pages of my novel long-listed for the Page Turner Writing Mentorship Award. I posted before that I was selected as a finalist, well long-listed is the next step, or round if you prefer. Now, I anxiously await the results of the next, from what I believe, is the final round of judging. Winners are to be announced in October!
NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge: I recently wrote a short story for the second round of NYC Midnight’s Flash Fiction Challenge. The first and second rounds were open to everyone and were scored using a point system. The final total for the two stories will determine if I move on to the 3rd round which takes place the 7-9 October. I did well for my first story and anxiously await the results of my second, and obviously whether I move on!
NYC Midnight Rhyming Story Challenge: I am currently participating in the first round of this new challenge offered by NYC Midnight. I was given a genre, theme, and emotion and only 600 words to write a short story that must rhyme. I am really excited to be participating in this one.
NYC Midnight 250-word Micro Fiction Challenge: This one hasn’t started yet but I am signed up and ready to write!
CBC Short Story Prize: I have until the end of October to write a 2500-word short story and I can submit it to CBC Literary Awards for a chance to win some cash and be published in a short story anthology of sorts. We shall see if I can find the time. ** I would love it if someone wanted to give me some ideas for this as I am finding it difficult to write this short story without a prompt. Let me know and if I am allowed to dedicate it to someone if I win, I will give you a shout-out in the dedication**
The Write Practice Fall Writing Contest: This competition is put on by the amazing writing community I am a member of. The Write Practice has helped me so much over the past year by developing my skills, letting me practice giving feedback to others, connecting with other writers from around the globe, and so much more. The theme for this one is “Haunted”, so I am looking forward to writing my first ever (possibly) scary short story. I was shortlisted for the short story I wrote in their Spring Writing Contest and have been hooked ever since!
My Novel:
So editing is incredibly daunting and once I did a quick read-through, I realized that there was a bunch I wanted to add so I have so far added five more chapters….eek, with about 3 more that I think I will need to add to be satisfied.
However, in addition to this, I have also been working on the prequel to my novel which I suspect will end up being a few novellas that I will just combine into one “prequel book.” There is so much history that will come into play in the rest of the series that I thought it might be best to put it in its own little book instead of trying to jam the back story into the actual series.
And I’ve started planning a new book/series set in an entirely different world. I’m thinking dystopian YA novel because every writer has one of those in their portfolio, don’t they?
Stay tuned for more updates and as always, thank you for reading.
Alicia's Word Haven 