Back in May, I was shortlisted for the Luna Press Publishing short story competition. The winner and all short listed stories are to be published in an anthology later this year.

Earlier this week I got an email from Luna Press, their editor had been through ‘Beyond Fiction’ and made some changes; would I look at them and approve or otherwise?

It was a nervous moment for me, my first professional edit. I’d heard horror stories from other writers about working with editors who wanted to change the whole story, or make amendments that altered the flow of the whole thing. My insecurity started babbling away that it would be full of comments pointing out the flaws in the plot and my writing. Secretly relieved that I didn’t have time to edit it for a few days, I closed the email and added it to my to do list for my one child-free day this week; today.

In the end, it was actually a pleasure. Most of the amendments were minor grammatical things; I didn’t know you needed to put a space before an ellipses, for example. There were two or three weak or confusing sentences which the editor noticed, and I made changes. Then I read through the whole story again, and I could see how much it had benefited from it. It was a really polished piece of writing.

It’s also reminded me of what a cracking story this is, and how much potential it has. It could easily become a novella, or a novel (heck, probably a series!) I just need to find the time to write it …

Not something I have at the moment because I’m doing final edits before publication to Shape Shifter, and working on a new book with co-author Dan Crow; Wonderling. More about that, soon. Promise.

‘Beyond Fiction’ will be published in ‘Beyond Realities, Volume II’ by Luna Press Publishing in December 2016. Volume I is available from the Luna Press Shop and includes a short story by my friend, Sally Mitcham.