Happy New Year Everyone!

I've been neglecting this blog yet again and it's very remiss of me. No excuses, really, unless you count Christmas! It was an incredibly quiet one for us this year, as my mother-in-law went into hospital the Wednesday before Christmas to have a hip replacement operation. She came out the day after Boxing Day. However, she's still very infirm and we're doing meals-on-wheelsy/caring-type duties. I did my usual hermit-thing at Christmas and hardly went out of the house.

I've finally drawn up a longlist for the Yellow Room Short Story Competition which closed on 30th September 09. I really must read the entries as they come in, not leave them to read all at once. Therein lies madness! Having read over eighty stories in more or less one hit, I realise just how crucial that first paragraph is. A competition judge becomes rather jaded after reading half a dozen stories that begin in a rather a banal way. I want that first paragraph to hit me between the eyes. If I'd discarded stories on the strength of that opening paragraph, then I'd have been left with less than half a dozen!

The Yellow Room Magazine has now joined Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Yellow-Room-Magazine/244913764208
Do take a look and become a fan! You can join in lively discussions about writing and reading fiction. There is a discussion at the moment about short story openings, if you'd like to join in!

Here's the competition longlist (in no particular order):

The Old Barn - Carol Rogers
The Chosen One - Clare Reddaway
Get Fit, Get Thin, Get Laid - Clare Reddaway
Tiger In The Guest Room - Joanna Campbell
Rachel's Birthday - Sue Johnson
Decisions Made Over Madeleine's Toast - Joanna Campbell
A&E - Elizabeth Lister
Mozart and Maiden-Form by Julie Ann Lee
Shotgun Bill - Sarah England
Getting Shot - Pam Eaves
Gene Krupa - Lynne Voyce
Ruined Sanctuary - Geraldine Franzen
Finale - Deanna Allan
Time Out - Lesley Mace
The New Heart - Nancy Le Nezet
A Mean Undertow - Freda Love Smith
Mapped Out - Rachel Crowther
Still Waiting - Katherine Clements
Emerik's Ices - Ruth Collett-Fenson
Freedom to Fish - Sarah Barr
Clear As Glass - Pat Jourdan
Zac In A Box - Alison Wagstaff
Daddy's Girl - Teresa Husher
The Nicest Girl in the Pub - Pat Jourdan