Announcing the winners of The Yellow Room Spring Short Story Competition 2011

Announcing the winning entries...

1st Prize: A Night Out by Sharon Birch

2nd Prize: A Few Vital Minutes by Sarah Barr

3rd Prize: Enduring the Sun by Shirley Golden

Highly Commended: Free Running by Jenny Roman

The Girl In Red Shoes by Jo Carroll

Commended: The Billet-Doux by Gill Blow

This Beautiful Day by Elizabeth Xifaras

Tear Analysis by Joanne Fox

I found it so difficult to decide between the top five stories. All were worthy winners and very well written. It just came down to personal choice in the end. I picked A Night Out as the winning story, because it moved me emotionally and my heart was in my mouth as I read, racing to see what the denouement would be. I felt total empathy for the characters in the top five stories and willed them to be allowed a happy ending. I will be publishing the top three stories in future issues of The Yellow Room Magazine.

Website updated!

I've spent far too much time fiddling around with The Yellow Room website this morning. I have updated the competitions page and the news page. I've also added a 'Back Issues' page. You can now buy previous issues as back issues for £4. There is also a Paypal button to pay online for both the back issues and the competition entries.

The Paypal buttons can be a bit of a headache, but I finally got there. I was getting more and more frustrated at the time it was taking, as I really wanted to press on with my writing.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned in previous blogs that I'm writing a novella set during the Blitz. It's a romance, basically, and I'm hoping to target My Weekly Pocket Novels. It is an exercise in pressing on to the end and satisfying my craving for writing something historical.

I've had a bit of a break from my main novel, but printed off a chapter to read through yesterday. I hope this will reignite the fire and I'll be able to press on with this, too!

Issue 6 of The Yellow Room is currently with the typesetter, and I hope to send the magazines out in June. I'm going to spend part of today reading the shortlisted entries in The Yellow Room Spring Competition and hope to have the final three stories sorted by the end of the week.

My 16-year-old son is taking his English Literature GCSE exam as I write. I just hope he's doing well. He seemed to think he didn't have to do much revision for this one. What is it with boys?

The Yellow Room Spring Short Story Competition Shortlist

Despite me saying repeatedly that I'm going to update this blog regularly, I don't! Most of the time, it's because I don't think I have anything worth saying. However, today I drew up the shortlist for The Yellow Room Spring Competition, which is something to shout about. I'll be re-reading these stories over the next week and choosing the top three.

The Girl in Red Shoes by Jo Carroll

The Billet-Doux by Gill Blow

Enduring the Sun by Shirley Golden

Tear Analysis by Joanne Fox

A Night Out by Sharon Birch

The Real Deal by Tracy Fells

Free Running by Jenny Roman

Trauma At The Gym by Di Horsfield

How Strange This Life Is by Michael Ross

A Few Vital Minutes by Sarah Barr

This Beautiful Day by Elizabeth Xifaras

A Teacher’s Tale by Ali Loconte

Telling Javier by Jocelyn Kaye

There were 99 entries in total.