Threads

Last night was the launch of Threads - The Bath Spa University MA in Creative Writing Anthology and a chance for graduates to pitch to agents. The 5th floor of Waterstones, Piccadilly was buzzing with students waiting for the agents to arrive.  It was good to hold a copy of the book - the volunteers on the anthology launch team, led by Jane Hammond, have really done us proud.  The cover, designed by Madeleine Pilkington, is stunning with its embossed silver threads and I managed to tell her how much I loved it.

I was a bundle of nerves, despite a new frock and telling myself that agents are humans too. But, as I spoke to my third agent of the evening I was in my stride and actually enjoying myself. My business cards were a hit and having the photo of the Salvesen Sisters on the reverse helped as a talking point. By the end of the evening I had managed to speak to seven agents, four of whom expressed an interest in my novel, The Salvesen Sisters. Despite the competition everyone was kind - one person going so far as to chase after an agent saying, you must speak to Anita. 

With Amanda - getting ready to face those agents

It was so nice to catch up with friends and tutors and I left Waterstones buoyed up by a sense of achievement and of course relief!

The Steyning Short Story Prize 2018

Following on from my last blog post about making the long list I'm happy to report that my short story, Tides, was one of the five highly commended stories in The Steyning Short Story competition.