I was delighted to have my story Tarting up the Ship Canal accepted by Step Away Magazine. You can
read it here. Step Away seems a good publication to be in.
It has a touch of the literary about it.
It's really odd about this story, though. This was its first
outing. Usually I send out my short stories, they get rejected, I tweak with
the insight that a little distance and more maturity gives me and eventually
they find a home. Naturally I've edited copiously before but we get sharper all
the time.
This one apparently hit the spot.
Lately I've found that items are going out of print and
publishers are shutting up shop faster than I can get things out. I have
decided to have a go at self-publishing. In some ways it seems hypocritical not
to. I am a publisher after all. Have I no faith in my own work? I am however,
paying for an edit and proof read out of my own pocket. I can do this for other
people. I just can't do it for myself.
So, what went right with Tarting?
Well, they do say write what you know, don't they? I know Salford and its
dichotomies. This is a work of fiction but it is heavily influenced by a few
things that have happened over the ten years that I've worked there. The setting
is really vivid to me. I wonder whether you see what I see. What is your
impression of Salford if you don't know it? I may have got right into the young man's head
and given him a voice. What do you make of him? Do let me know.
And darn. That eternal editor never goes away. Does his voice shift a little? I would write it very slightly differently today
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