Some Recent Writings | Some Recent Successes

Following my previous reflections on the influence of my father – Ron Thornton – on my own writing I’ve been thinking further about our relationship and today posted a short piece which includes a little of how it feels to be older now than he was when he died. It’s called Older than Dad and you can find it at ABCtales (a great site for writers and readers of all genres) if you are interested http://www.abctales.com/story/gletherby/older-dad

I’m at Retreats for You  http://www.retreatsforyou.co.uk/a-writers-retreat/  in North Devon at the moment. As the website promises it is a 'good place to write' (and think, and rest) and alongside some academic writing I’m playing about with some fiction and (non-academic)

The lounge at Retreats For You

non-fiction. Although, like many others, I believe that there is a continuum between these so-called different types of writing and fiction writing is often related to, draws on, reflects real world experiences and factual pieces - based as they are on the memories, experiences and opinions of the particular writer – might not be the truth for all (or indeed anyone!).  So far since I arrived on Tuesday evening I’ve written the first draft of one short, short story (450 words) and I’ve gone back to several other pieces (each between 300 – 2500 words) and polished them up for possible publication.

Since I started to write fiction as an adult (sometimes, not always but sometimes related to my own experience or my research) in 2012 I’ve had several pieces that have been long or short listed or something similar. In the last couple of months I’ve been excited to win a couple of prizes:

Temper and Tenacity (a 500 word piece updating one aspect within Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) was placed 3^rd in the Flash500 final quarter 2015 competition.

http://www.flash500.com/index_files/tqtp15.htm

He Loves Me, Not (a 300 word piece about a difficult choice) won the 2015 Hysterectomy Association women’s fiction flash fiction completion and is published in Hysteria 4: Volume 4 (Hysteria Anthologies) edited by Linda Parkinson-Hardman.  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hysteria-Volume-Anthologies-Linda-Parkinson-Hardman/dp/0992742978

I like to think that dad would be chuffed.

Thanks for reading

Gayle