Wednesday 7 December 2011

Two new stories for December

From reading my blog, I realise that it might seem that I spend my time wandering about the countryside taking photos. But you'll perhaps be glad to know that I also spend time writing stories, and last week I heard that two had been accepted for publication. Things have moved impressively fast, and they're both out in the world already.


The first is in Litro, a London-based print and online magazine (http://www.litro.co.uk/). I wrote the 'The Flotsam Cafe' last summer after reading a call for submissions elsewhere, asking for stories on the subject of Britishness. It seems to me that - though we're rarely aware of it - we're people who live, physically, on the edge. We're an island on the edge of Europe, never really fully part of life on the mainland. We're never far from the edge of our land (try living in mid France - or the middle of the US, where the sea is a distant rumour). I wanted to include that feeling with a story about someone who's living on the edge psychologically too.


The second story, 'All fall down', is in Untitled Books (http://www.untitledbooks.com/fiction/new-voices/all-fall-down-by-sj-butler/). I wrote it a while ago, and when I'd finished it, I showed it to my son, who said 'It's great, Mum - really mad!'. I wasn't sure that I'd been aiming for 'really mad', so I put it aside. A couple of weeks ago I had another look, decided that I liked it after all, and sent it off to Untitled. I'm really glad I did.