Hello again! Thought I'd better do a catch up and tell you about some more competitions that are running and what I've been up to.
I've been out and about quite a bit, took a fantastic trip down the Manchester Ship Canal on the Mersey Ferry (although we had a bit of trouble at the Salford end with a bridge that wouldn't open for two hours!) and I've been on a small mammals workshop in Cheshire where I got to learn about trapping to find out species live in an area.
I got to see a common shrew and lots of wood mice up close and had to help weighing them and picking them up by the scruff of their tiny necks which is very tricky! It was a really interesting day - with a very early start! I'm sure it'll come in useful for my Dr Midas stories one day too, it's great to get first hand experiences like that.

There are fewer and fewer opportunities for short stories to be published in magazines. One market that still accepts them is Ireland's Own, and they also run an annual writing competition which is currently open.
There is €2200 total prizemoney up for grabs and winning and some highly commended stories will be published in a Winning Writers Annual in May 2010.

Hello again, apologises for no blogs recently but I've had some personal things to deal with. Anyway here's a great short story competition from the Writers' and Artists' 2010 Yearbook for writers both published and unpublished.
Your story must be up to 2,000 words long and be about the theme of 'Unity or Union' it must also be aimed at adults. The winner will receive £500 in cash and a place on the Arvon Foundation residential writing course.

Topping & Co in Bath - photograph by Susan Humphreys
I guess its hardly surprising that I haven't had much time for writing lately - well not unless you count filling in application forms for jobs - I've written plenty of those! I've even written a report on social networking as part of my volunteer work and of course i'm writing all the time on Facebook and Twitter - even on here whe i can think of something to share! but as for actual fiction - nothing!

Can you finish a story by an Usborne author?
I have also been quite busy applying for jobs so apologies for the gap between posts. I've had another rejection, a basic slip, came back very quickly, and the envelope had got chewed up in the post. Was a bit disappointed as the agency's requirements ask for the first 50-100 words with a footer, which took a bit of time sorting. Oh well.
I have just received the new programme for this year's Bath Festival of Children's Literature. Inside there is the usual fantastic list of visiting authors (perhaps I'll get to go this time, so far I've always had diary clashes!) and there is mention of two competitions that I thought I'd pass on.

Well if you've been following me on Twitter you will know I've had a reply from the agent who was looking at my full manuscript of my revised Dr Midas and the Pirates. Sadly the whole thing had come back so I knew it was going to be bad news.

Don't look down! I loved watching this amazing double high wire walk by Sky Productions at Maryport harbour.
One of my characters in Dr Midas and the Khmers, Tomistoma, wants to be an acrobat and tightrope walker, so when I heard about a free high wire event I just had to go!
I love any excuse for a research trip and this one was to take me up to Maryport in the Lakes. My mum went along with me as she's been before to see for a pirate day which I couldn't make.
The event was called 'Walk to the Stars' and was part of Lakes Alive a fantastic arts event which included six Reach for the Sky performances by aerial acts including Corazon de Angeles which I've looked up on You Tube.
The event I chose was on Friday night at Maryport harbour and was by Ramon Kelvinck Jr and Jade Kindar-Martin (Sky Productions) from France.

As you may know I now volunteer one day a week at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery in Preston, Lancashire. I was really excited to hear about their new summer exhibition which is all about fairy tales.
Enchanted Worlds: Art of Fairy Stories and Mermaid Tales runs from the 13th June - 5th September 2009 with a big family fun day planned for the first Saturday at 12 noon.
Enchanted Worlds will include painting, sculpture, photography, film, animation, puppetry, print and illustration from some of the world's most revered artists of the genre.

Hello again. Haven't really got anything particular to talk about this week so I thought I'd upload my photo of me meeting the lorikeet at Rainbow Landings, Edinburgh Zoo.

The bird is such a beautiful colour you can see why they called the exhibit rainbow landings!
I had an email last week from someone I know via volunteering who said their granddaughter loved reading and animals so they'd had a look at my website (www.drmidas.co.uk) and really enjoyed it which was really nice to hear. Its nice to know I'm not the only one who loves books and animals!

The Alan Titchmarsh Show are looking for 'The People's Author' - a writer who has a "strong, real life inspirational" story to tell.
The winner will receive a publishing deal with Orion including a £20,000 advance.