Costa Short Story Award

I've been sitting on this news for weeks and weeks, waiting (im)patiently for the anonymous public voting to close and the author names to be announced. But now I can finally reveal that my story 'Red' has been shortlisted for the Costa Short Story Award!

When I first found out I was stunned. I sat at my desk, reading and re-reading the letter, muttering 'Oh my god, oh my god' at the computer screen with my hands over my face!

I still can't really believe it, in fact it probably won't sink in until I arrive at the Costa Book Awards ceremony on 29th January.

I hardly wrote any new stories last year, as I was busy editing/promoting my flash fiction collection, Brightly Coloured Horses (Chapeltown Books), and my short story collection, Separated From the Sea (Retreat West Books) - as well as concentrating on my poetry collection and the beginnings of a novella. So 'Red' was one of only two short stories that I wrote in 2018, alongside a handful of flash fiction pieces and a lone travel article.

The story had already been entered in a couple of competitions and subbed to two magazines with no success. However it was a story I believed in and I was a long way from giving up on it. And now it has done better than I could ever have hoped!

I'm really looking forward to the awards, and mingling with all the fabulous writers on this year's shortlists - though I know I'll be a little bit terrified on the night!