2023 was HUGE for me. I call it the year of completion but it was really the year of completion and inception and completion and inception. I finished a manuscript I'd been working on for two and a half years, embarked on a novel, finished it, and wrote a big chunk of the sequel. In between we moved house twice and got married!
My hard work editing and submitting short fiction brought results.
Take a deep breath, because this a long one. Ready? Let's go.
January
January 1st: The year stared with fireworks when David Borrowdale of Reflex Press wrote me to say "Congratulations on reaching the longlist of the Reflex winter 2022 flash fiction competition!"
My flash fiction, A Dizzy City Cartwheels Backwards, was published on the Reflex Press website and their print anthology in the summer of 2023.
The Rumen accepted my flash fiction, The Fix. Soon afterwards, it was published on their website with a lovely illustration. The concept was inspired by an interview with Christopher Allen, who spoke about the origins of Smokelong Quarterly.
My suite of four flash fictions, Shards Picked from the Floorboards, was chosen as one of eight finalists in the Defenestration Flash Suite Contest. Judging was decided by both a panel of judges and the public. The top two stories were chosen, with Three Sisters by Maggie Nerz Iribarne chosen as the winner, followed by my suite as a close second.
It was published on the Defenestration website.
My flash fiction, "Seven Things it was Not" made it through the first round of judging in the Wow! Woman on Writing contest and reached the finals, out of 296 entries.
Though the story did not advance further, they rated it 14 out of 15 and wrote:
"Our judges found much to admire about your work. Your story is compelling, expertly constructed, and resonant. We would be overjoyed to read more from you in the future."
The story is part of my historical novella-in-flash.
The Loft Books shortlisted my short story, Unsolvable Crosswords, a hermit crab story shaped by cryptic crossword clues. It was published in January 2023 in Issue IV. You can download it for free from their website or read online.
While my partner went on a ten-day musical intensive, I went on an editing intensive. I worked on a manuscript of historical flash fiction that I shaped into a novella-in-flash, after a lot of research!
At the last minute, I rewrote the opening. It was a great moment to be sitting on a sunlit balcony with a cup of green tea, reading the manuscript on my kindle and feeling the new opening click into place.
I completed the short version at 17,000 words.
February
February brought the launch of Winter Enchantment, an anthology of magical stories from fifteen different authors. We had a successful online book launch, with an interview, live music and readings from several authors. We also had a great offline launch party, with silver and white balloons, a shiny blue curtain, a poster of the book and lots of music.
It marked the culmination of a year spent on this project.
The book is now available on Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Booktopia and more.
My short story, Christmas Gremlins' Delight was published in the anthology, Happy Howlidays by Thurston Howl Publications. Thank you to Vincenzo for your hard work and encouragement.
On Valentine's Day I got the message that my submission to Cast of Wonders had passed the first stage of the review process and will be sent to their editor.
26.2 Ashes and Buttercream was accepted by Cast of Wonders! Thank you to Katherine Inskip.
At the Hammond House Literary Festival, the anthology from the 2022 competition was launched. My short story, Beneath the Surface, was highly commended and published in the anthology, on the theme of Changes.
March
My short story, The Touch of the Frost-Sprite was accepted for publication in the Dragon Gems Summer Anthology. Thank you to Steven Radecki of Water Dragon Publishing!
I wrote a short story inspired by a door in the wall of a fortress, and where it could lead to... The prequel to The Scent of Stifled Colour.
My short story, Dimension-Knitter was accepted by Red Cape Publishing! This was big news for me, because I took this story though many rounds of edits since I wrote it in the winter of 2018 and searched a long time for the perfect publisher. The anthology is called Q is for Quantum.
Pour yourself a cup of tea to read about
a grandmother who sets off to fight monsters with a wooden spoon, a teapot and dumplings. But not all is what it seems and these are no ordinary dumplings...
The month ended with a milestone as I completed the long version of my historical novella-in-flash.
After two and a half years and 45,000 words, this project was finally complete!
April
The Scent of Stifled Colour was published in WestWord Journal by Retreat West, on the theme of vision. Thank you to Amanda Saint for your excellent editing! Love the artwork chosen to go with it.
This month I gave a series of in-person writing workshops, attended a course on writing fantasy and began writing a novel! From April onwards, I worked on it pretty much every day till it was done.
28 April - Q is for Quantum was launched by RedCape Publishing.
My short story, The Flame and the Anchor, was published in the anthology Underdogs Rise.
It came to be when I attended a writers' group in Dublin and we were given the prompt, 'anonymity is cowardice.' I wrote the opening paragraph and continued writing until it was done, editing and shaping it over the years to follow. Nearly five years later, the story found a home in this excellent anthology, on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3Y7n9SN
After one year, the next project came to completion, a contemporary novella-in-flash. I completed it at 17,000 words. Several pieces within have been published by Reflex Press, Hammond House and Defenestrationism.
May
Hatteras of Diet Milk Magazine accepted my story A Bittersweet Tang for the Diet Milk Mini Issue, to be launched in November. Happy to find the right home for this pungent autumn story.
June
Reviewed the proofs for my story coming out in Dragon Gems.
Devilish Bookworms, "two women on a mission to share their love of literature through podcasting", did an episode on Winter Enchantment. Thank you for a fun and lively discussion!
Find them at linktr.ee/DevilishBookworms
@DBookworms on Twitter
And... I got married! We celebrated with a stag and hen boat race, picnic and concert.
July
I was invited to attend the Flash Fiction Festival! I flew to Bristol and the event was packed with workshops and sizzling with inspiration. Summer in Bristol was lush, bright and full of sudden showers. It was amazing to meet so many writers for the first time in person.
The Apricot Seller, the Biker and the Monk made the longlist of the 2023 Bristol Prize! Thank you to Joe Melia for this announcement. "Congratulations to the writers of these stories – it’s a great achievement." https://www.bristolprize.co.uk/news/2023-bristol-short-story-prize-longlist-announced
The River's Whim was published in From the Yonder 4.
Find it here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/from-the-yonder-4-joshua-p-sorensen/1143730062?ean=9781954043091
My short story, Guru Grapple was published by Samjoko Magazine.
I gave an interview for them, which can be found on their Patreon.
The story is free to read here: https://www.samjokomagazine.com/gurugrapple-malinadouglas
25 July - Ashes and Buttercream was published by Cast of Wonders and they turned it into a beautiful podcast episode! The story was read by Elena Crane and you can listen to it here: https://www.castofwonders.org/2023/07/cast-of-wonders-541-ashes-and-buttercream/
28 July - Water Dragon Publishing launched the Dragon Gems Summer 2023 Anthology, where The Touch of the Frost-Sprite was published.
I have fond memories of writing this story in a mountain village in Nepal. Of all my work, it was written at the highest altitude, 3800 metres!
At the end of July, I got news that my short story made the longlist of the Leicester Writers Contest and made the top twenty out of 250 entries...
August
My entry made it to the Leicester Writes shortlist! I waited with anticipation, until I got this message:
"I'm thrilled to let you know in advance of our official announcement that the judges have arrived at their decision.
The winning stories in this year’s competition are:
1st prize: A Form of Freedom by Laura Coleman
2nd prize: She Went There for the Weekend by Hannah Retallick
3rd prize: Your Own Abyss by Malina Douglas"
Thank you to judges Joe Bedford and Mona Dash!
Joe Bedford wrote:
"In the end, choosing a winner and two runner-ups was extremely difficult, but for me it was that commitment to imaginative storytelling that shone through. In ‘Your Own Abyss’, the figurative, the dream-like and the emotional come together to help build a powerful allegorical reflection on the creative spirit."
Mona Dash wrote:
"Your Own Abyss: A beautifully written story in a second person POV which can be tricky at times. But here it’s been done skilfully. I loved that it told a story that has been told before, in a unique way and explores the interiority of the protagonist in a haunting way.
Your Own Abyss was published in the Leicster Writes 2023 Anthology."
My flash fiction, The Fragrant Path, was published by Ginosko Literary Journal in Issue 30. Thank you to editor Robert Paul Cesaretti.
From their website you can download a free pdf of issue 30, June 2023: https://ginoskoliteraryjournal.com/
September
21.9 When it came time to submit to the Oxford Prize, I had a feeling about which story to send. I sent my character Fergus into the fray, and on this day I found out that my story made the longlist.
An interview came out on Tales from the Dragon's Lair:
24.9 Attended a great launch party for the Leicester Writes Anthology and read from my story, Your Own Abyss. Thank you to Farhana Sheikh for making this event a great success!
26.9 My story made the shortlist of the Oxford Prize! It was accepted for publication while the judges worked on their final decision.
October
I found a cute little pumpkin, carved a jack o' lantern and scoured the city for pumpkin lattes till I found a way to make my own, with a lot more pumpkin and a topping of vanilla ice cream.
I powered through the final conflict and finished the first draft of my novel! We celebrated with white wine in a beautiful restaurant.
Drinking a pumpkin spice latte on the day I finished my novel.
An incredible moment.
I attended the Plot Forest Summit online and got so much inspiration from countless authors. Listened to talks on writing craft while strolling an autumn forest amongst the last yellow leaves. A lot of workshops were inspiring this year, so I'll do a separate post on those.
16 October, I received this message from the Oxford Prize:
"Dear Malina,
We are thrilled to be able to tell you that our judges have picked your story 'Solve the Problems that Fergus Denies He Caused ' as our first place prize winner. They absolutely loved your story!
Congratulations! We are absolutely thrilled for you. You are now officially one of our 'Greats in flash'.
Once again, congratulations and we hope this inspires you even more in your writing career."
A huge thank you to Freya Morris! The story is part of my historical novella-in-flash, set in Ireland and was published in the Oxford Prize Anthology, Flashy Gifts.
November
In November, my winter dreams came true. I saw snow falling for the first time in five years. The snow piled up, transforming the landscape, Christmas trees popped up like mushrooms, bringing a festive start to the Christmas season.
I joined Nanowrimo for the first time and began a new novel! It's the sequel to my recently completed manuscript and takes place two years later in a different setting.
I set a goal to write 30k while editing my novel. On the last day of November, I reached 31k and made great progress on editing!
I got this message from Jude Higgins of the Novella in Flash Award:
"Dear Malina, Delighted to let you know that your NIF Spring of Ash and Sunflowers has been selected for the longlist of 25 in our 2024 Award." The competition was judged by John Brantingham. While he didn't select my work for the shortlist, it's an honour to have made it this far.
December
I celebrated my birthday with a bonfire in the snow.
I joined Writers Reading, an event hosted by Debbie Voisey, read out two Christmas micros. listened to an exciting array of flash fiction, and enjoyed hearing the work of Tracy Fells, the featured author.
I cranked up the editing to full power, finished editing Part II of my novel and the first half of Part III (each 20k). Continued on with Part III and sent off my last stories of 2023.
Thank you to everyone who's made this year amazing!
Finding the right magazine for the right story is like solving a jigsaw puzzle sometimes... or playing pinball with your eyes closed.
Sometimes stories just aren't the right fit, but I'd like to acknowledge the editors who sent encouraging feedback.
Thank you to Billy O'Callaghan of Southward Magazine, who wrote: "I just want to add a short note to say that I really did enjoy your story. I had to whittle the submissions pile down from 1200 to about thirty before selecting the six for publication. There was a lot of accomplished writing this year, and competition was fierce, but yours made it right through to the final reckoning."
Gratitude to the editors of Silver Blade for providing detailed feedback of my work. And to the editors of Orion's Belt.
Last, I'd like to send out thanks to these editors and magazines for encouraging me to submit again:
Arley Sorg & Christie Yant of Fantasy Magazine, Patrick Halloway of Four faced Liar, Jeff Bogle of Stanchion, the Uncanny Magazine editors, Tommy Dean and the Fractured Lit Team, the Editors of Craft Magazine, Woodward Review, the Nashville Review, Apparition Literary Magazine, Untethered Magazine, Crimson Quill, Ger Burke of Crannóg, Joshua Palmatier of Zombies Need Brains, Andrew of Mythaxis, Sadbh of Splonk, Leon Perniciaro of Haven Spec Magazine, James P.W. Martin of Eggplant Emoji, Christophe of Crow Toes Quarterly, Calie Voorhis of Intrepidus Ink, Fred Coppersmith of Kaleidotrope, Ginetta E.B. Candelario of Meridians.
And the winner of Most Encouraging Rejection of 2023 goes to.... The Editors of One Story! Thank you for your kind and appreciative feedback, and for encouraging me to send more.
Publishing is hard work, but keep going and it will pay off! Inspiration is all around you. So keep reading, keep writing, keep polishing your work and sending it out to the world. The right publication is out there!