Issue 52 Mslexia

I've got a story in issue 52 of Mslexia. It's the story that won the Edge Hill MA Prize, but as publication wasn't part of that prize, it remained unpublished.

Kate Figes, who selected the poetry and prose for issue 52 writes:

‘Just in case’ is a chilling and heartbreaking tale about the disabling consequences of losing a baby because of ‘complications’ soon after birth. Emma works in a luggage shop and is obsessed with bags, a wonderful metaphor for pregnancy. When her next-door neighbour asks her to hold the baby for an hour because her father has been rushed to hospital, we feel the palpable emptiness in Emma’s life as she takes the baby into her arms.

'Just in Case' was one of the first stories that I wrote on my MA and it's lovely to finally see it in print. All but one of my MA stories have now been published and the remaining story is currently being considered somewhere, so fingers crossed.

Paraxis

A week ago, Claire Massey invited me to be a co-editor at Paraxis. Paraxis publishes short stories online and was founded by Claire and Andy Hedgecock, co-fiction editor at Interzone. I'm very excited to start reading the submissions for Paraxis 03 which will contain stories on the theme of transformation and will be published in 2012.

Research

I don't like to blog about my novel. I feel all jumbly and nervous about it; just mentioning it gives me the shivers. I know what will happen in it; I know the story - in fact, one of the early chapters will be published as a short story in an American journal in a couple of weeks. But I'm finding it hard to know exactly where to open the novel. I'm currently working on my fourth version of the opening. This version begins on Southport beach.

I went for a walk along the beach/marsh/mudflats this afternoon. For the first time, I saw a group of fisherman returning with their catch of cockles. It was pouring with rain which made it even wetter and muddier than usual under foot. I took my notebook with me - it got pretty wet. I found out some of the things I needed to know and I'm going to go back again soon when the weather is better.