Get Shorter! Why I'm a Flash Fiction floozy

It was an invitation too tempting to ignore.

Romantic suspense author Bronwyn Parry last week ran a flash fiction competition on her blog http://bronwynparry.com/blog/. The criteria was simple - submit a 55-word story for the chance to win a copy of one of three books; Bronwyn's latest Dark Country, Helene Young's Border Watch and Joanna Sandsmark's The Wisdom of Yo Meow Ma.

The entries were to be judged by the doyenne of Australian romance writing Valerie Parv.

To cut a long story short, I won.

I was tickled pink that Valerie wrote on Bronwyn's blog that she kept coming back to my story because it had a beginning, middle and end (fair enough), a sense of plot, intrigue and deception. And that it featured dogs. (The dog comment is interesting and I will write about it in my next blog.)

Here's my 54 words (yes, I can write 'em shorter than 55) titled Foiled:

She turned at the tap on her shoulder.

"Did you drop this?"

He held out a cream silk scarf.

A sharp breath. Ooh la la. What harm can it do. "Thanks."

Ollie gave an approving wag of his tail. She bent down to pat his dog.

"Cute."

"Mmm."

"Hey," another voice interrupted, "that's mine."

PS: I knew I was onto a winner when I ran the story by my partner Spanner and had to explain the meaning behind every line.

PPS: It's a shame I can't manage 55,000 winning words.

The right time to write is 2010

I always think of Australia Day as the official last day of the summer holidays.

During the Christmas break lots of Sydneysiders leave town, most for the coast, and it's not until January 26 that they're all back and poised to jump onto the treadmill for another year. In the interim Sydney has a relaxed laid-back feel to it as if those who've stayed around have infused it with their good-holiday vibes.

Sadly, it's all come to an end. I heard a traffic report on the radio this morning and it's back to normal already - endless traffic jams and accidents signal the return of the peak hour (which runs into hours and sometimes all day).

I've got another week before I return to work, which is a relief as I've been delaying the inevitable preparation work. I did quit my job at one of my workplaces last year but was asked back to do a less-stressful job. I couldn't say no. Money is a strong motivator. Sigh.

But I'm determined to write, so I've moved my office and computer into the spare room. Now it's time to sit down at the computer and do some serious writing. I wrote a short story and entered it in the Little Gems contest, so that's a start.

Next on the list is ironing out all the rough edges on my ms and entering it in the Valerie Parv comp.

It's all systems go. Stress is back big time.

Romance Writers of Australia conference in Brisbane and a chance meeting with Valerie Parv

Last weekend over 250 like-minded women (nary a man in sight) gathered to discuss their passion for writing at the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Brisbane.

It was full-on. After two days holed up in the SebelCitigate Hotel, frantically trying to absorb the wisdom of the guest speakers, catch up with my Bootcamp mates, and attend a cocktail party and awards dinner, I was buggered!

Overall, it was a huge learning experience.

One of the highlights (and there were many) for me was meeting romance writer and educator extraordinaire Valerie Parv.

Deadset, the poor woman thought I was stalking her (and she did ask: "Are you stalking ,me?). After I got her to autograph my copy of her new book Heart & Craft, she said: "Where's the camera? I know you want to have your photo taken with me."

She's such a generous person. I mean, who on earth would let a bona fide stalker such as myself be photographed with them?

I am now on a mission to become a Valerie Parv mignon - I'm giving myself 12 months!

But for now, it's back to reality while romance moves to the backburner for a little while.

As my youngest daughter says, "Life goes on..."

(Photo: Bootcampers 109)

The romance-writing diary and the first KISS dilemma

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