I’m a relative newcomer to writing fiction, and I struggle to find enough time for the stories I’d like to write.

I’m currently working (slowly) on a novel set in rural Wales in the 1930s and 1940s, based on the life of my grandmother. Its tentative title is ‘Inheritance’ and it’s currently at the working draft stage. The manuscript was shortlisted in the 2024 First Chapters Competition organised by the Historical Novel Society in the UK.

In mid-2022, I published a short story called ‘The Desert Rose’ in the anthology ‘Analogue’, edited by Paul Dunne and Carolyn Swindell. The anthology brings together short stories from ‘Australia’s oldest new writers’. Profits from the book will be donated to the Buy a Brick Campaign to provide housing for older women. Analogue is available online, directly from the publishers.

In 2019, I entered Furious Fiction 8 times (not quite the 12 I’d planned, but 8/12 isn’t too bad). This competition, hosted by the Australian Writers’ Centre, requires a 500-word short story, written in under 55 hours, and meeting specific guidelines. I used the competition to examine my fiction-writing processes and to improve my writing speed.

My 2019 entries appear below.

January Furious Fiction entry: Desert Rose Dessert

A longer version of this story was published in ‘Analogue’ in mid-2022.

February Furious Fiction entry: Keepers of Memory

March Furious Fiction entry: Road Trip

April Furious Fiction entry: Entering Wonderland

May Furious Fiction entry: A Modern Celt

June Furious Fiction entry: Perilous Pink

July Furious Fiction entry: Rhythm of the Train

October Furious Fiction entry: The Novelist