Introduction

The best place to start this blog lark is with a quick explanation of its title - why 'Scallops'?  
It came to me in a dream:  short stories are like scallops!  Similes and metaphors don't usually come to me in my sleep, I wish they did,  but on this occasion  I had watched rather too much of Hell's Kitchen before bedtime.  At some point, the wannabe chefs had competed to free perfect scallops from the gelatinous mass inside the shells. Craggy-faced Gordon was not pleased if any scallops had been spoiled in the process which, of course, most were.

A short story should also be small and perfectly formed:  it is the result of the skillful cutting down of a large, slippery concept in to a small, firm morsel of art.  As a writer still learning her craft, I know how easy it is to mutilate a good short story.  But I am hoping I'll get better with practice and - fingers crossed - that'll happen before my face turns too craggy...

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Two new discoveries...

1. It's great to see publishers showing the love for the short story and my new favourite is Harper Perennial whose site, www.fiftytwostories.com, delivers one short a week, free.

2. You know something's in trouble when it's deemed worthy of its own charity. The short story, by some people's reckoning, is endangered but thankfully through www.one-story.com - a nonprofit 501 (3)(c) - you can have a short story posted to you by snail mail every three weeks. Great for junkies like me who need a constant supply and don't much like reading shorts online.

The best thing about both these publishers, is they take submissions from just about anybody...

Subscribe to both these sites folks (see links) and get your regular diet of shorts started.
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