Just in from L.A.

I've just returned from my daily zombie shuffle brisk walk around the botanical gardens and found this, my WOTF semi-finalist certificate, in an envelope of course, deposited by my front door. Yay! Up on the wall it goes.

There is also a very helpful critique from K.D. Wentworth (it's a multiple P.O.V story; she suggested that I strengthen one of the characters and add more conflict*). Otherwise, she was quite complimentary. I feel honoured and touched to have received it. As anyone who keeps up to date with WOTF knows, K.D. recently passed away, so I actually didn't think this critique was going to happen.

It was a lovely surprise to come home to.

* I actually deliberately wrote this story with a more dreamy, inevitable, magical, unfolding flow, but perhaps I need to get real about the difference between what I want to write and what pleases readers. This story keeps almost making it. Perhaps a K.D. inspired tweak will, as Jack Dann keeps saying at his workshops, ' get it over the line'.

Oh look, it's official.

4th Quarter Standings for the Writers of the Future Contest

And there's me amongst the semi-finalists. :)

Me? Why, thank you!

Good news on a Friday night is always welcome, so I was very pleased to get the following email instead of the traditional end-of-the-week rejection:

Dear Gitte,
Congratulations, your story - The Nameless Seamstress - was a semi-finalist in the 4th quarter of the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest!

I'm pretty happy with that! I entered this competition once many, many, many moons ago (Hmm, maybe I should dig out that old, typewritten* story and have a look at it. Dilmun was the title, I think) so that makes The Nameless Seamstress my second submission to WOTF.

I think it's safe to say that I'm now officially hooked. I'm already scanning my stock of stories for something to send off for the next quarter.

*Meaning written on a typewriter, clack, clack, clack, after which it was put into an envelope and posted off the US. Ah, how I love email submissions.