In the middle of it all – and by “it all” I mean tech week for my own translation and adaptation of A Christmas Carol, opening this Saturday – I’ve had a lovely surprise: my story was longlisted for the HWA‘s Dorothy Dunnett Award for unpublished short stories…

I’d submitted the story back in late August, right before my medical mishap – and, to be perfectly frank, I’d very nearly forgotten about it, with all that happened afterwards… Which is why it was a surprise when the HWA contacted me with the news that my story had been selected to be in what they called this year’s “exceptionally strong” longlist…

Well, the story didn’t go any farther than the longlist (and, by the way, huge congratulations to the amazing Jennifer Falkner, who won first and second prize!) – but still, it was quite a thrill, as well as a huge push to do more and better.

So I have two new goals now: to hone my short-story skills, and to find more contests and markets for short historical fiction… Any resource to suggest on either account, o Readers?