All good things come in threes

I’m not a lover of superstitious ‘facts’ but I have to admit that this has been true for me during the past couple of weeks or so in the writing world (if you ignore the rejections, that is!).

Recently I’ve been writing short snippets of memoir, flash fiction, creative non fiction and short stories that are influenced by my working class roots and my start in life in Scunthorpe. I’ve been thinking about lives ruled by shifts and sweat, by pints at the pub and a game of darts. And then suddenly, Scunthorpe was in the news – possible shut down forever, and then a government intervention to keep the blast furnaces going. It was serendipitous that my research and scribblings might fit a call-out for a short piece by Mslexia magazine (the magazine for women who write). So I submitted and they liked it…. and it’s scheduled to be printed in Issue 106 for June/July/August 2025. I didn’t think anyone would want a piece about Scunthorpe… and I’m chuffed that they did.

I’ve also been writing about relationships (which I usually do) and exploring, in particular, conflict within families and resolution (if any) that can be found. I must state that this exploration is purely fictional but is sometimes inspired by my reading. The poem, ‘White Basin’ by Lindy Barbour had a profound effect on me. It is the kind of poem that yields more each time I read it. The poem is told with love about a woman too weak to wash herself. I particularly love the lines:

‘Each morning I held her upright as her white hands/swam like little fishes through the warm water…’

This inspired me to write a piece about an elderly mother and her daughter and how they have been estranged but have now come together. My favourite lines from my little piece are:

‘And when she is at last turbaned and warming by the fire, our guards slump a little and we revisit our unforgotten ghosts, calling them in one by one.’

I was chuffed that Ink Sweat & Tears accepted this piece called ‘Gilded by a Thousand Sorrows’. Ink Sweat & Tears is a great UK based webzine ‘which publishes and reviews poetry, prose, prose-poetry, word & image pieces and everything in between. Our tastes are eclectic and magpie-like and we aim to publish something new every day’. Check them out if you have a few minutes – I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

And finally, I applied for, and was accepted, as a voluntary judge for the Henshaw Press short story competition. I’m pretty chuffed about this and looking forward to reading my first batch of stories in July. This is a great quarterly competition where proceeds are used for buying books for a chosen school. So if you’ve got something you think might fit, submit it and know that your entry fee is going towards a good cause.

In the meantime, I’m still working on my next novel, my final uni assignment for this year (I finish my degree in June next year – hurrah!), and miscellaneous short pieces. And I’ve got everything crossed for another batch of threes (of the good kind, obviously!).