New Rose Prize 2011 - The Shortlist!

At the end of July I launched the first ever New Rose Prize for short stories from unpublished writers. Nearly 80 entries were submitted, the judges pored over each one and now I am very proud to announce our shortlist!

First of all, I need to say an enormous thank you to everyone who entered. The standard of entries was very high and ranged from intense emotional pieces to shock fiction, comedy and even a fairytale! It has been a privilege to read your work and I know that the judges have enjoyed every minute of it.

So, without further ado, here is the shortlist for the New Rose Prize 2011...

The Apple by Jo Burnett
In Loco Parentis by Laura Sandell
Because I was too much by Naomi Frisby
Books, Scars and Me by Matthew Laurence
When I Died by Stacey Matheson
Margaret by Heather Gauthier

Massive congratulations to all our shortlisted authors and commiserations to our other entrants. Over the next week, I am going to mention a couple of entries that I liked which didn't make the list and we have also decided to award a Judges Special Mention Award for one entry which all of the judges felt should be recognised. So keep watching for that!

So now Jamie, Ruth and myself will be re-reading the shortlisted stories and deciding who will be our two runners-up and overall winner. We'll announce the result in the next couple of weeks, so keep watching and make sure you're following me on Twitter @wurdsmyth to be the first to hear the news.

Best of British to all of you! xx

I must be CRAZY...

I've signed up for NaNoWriMo again!

The National Novel Writing Month is 30 days of complete madness where people all over the world spend the month of November frantically scribbling an entire novel. I did it last year for the first time and it was manic, scary, exhilarating, tough, crazy - but most of all, fun! My NaNo novel from last year, The Mystical Wombat's Guide to Life, is currently nearing the completion of the Big Final Edit, so it's time to wrap it up and get ready for chaos to begin again on 1st November!



Like last year, I'll be posting excerpts of my new novel here at Coffee and Roses, so please, please, please let me know what you think... Any encouragement, words of wisdom or offers of caffeine will be gratefully received!

Till then, I'm stockpiling coffee and chocolate and grabbing as much rest as I can!

Fancy a Coffee?

Now, you know me - I can't resist the odd visit to my local coffee shop for a spot of people-watching over the rim of my cappuccino...

I was chatting to my best friend Helen, who works in a coffee shop, and we were discussing how often you see people and wonder what their stories are. This gave me an idea (which can often be dangerous!)... Why not create a fictitious coffee shop and create stories for its customers and staff?

So, I've created a new blog for my coffee shop stories. Called September's, it will feature a new story each week and will give you a unique insight into the characters who visit or work at the small café in Northbridge, a small market town on the River Severn. The tales will cover the whole range of human experience: some sad, some funny, some tragic - there may even be even some fantastical ones every now and again.

Of course, Coffee & Roses and my website are still very much alive - I just wanted to create a home specifically for a series of stories.

If you've got a spare minute, please pop over to September's and be sure to let me know what you think!