What a turnaround

 Writing Contest

                                                              Facebook

Several years ago, I entered the Bristol Short Story Contest, but withdrew my application as I saw 3 of the 4 judges were looking for stories with a theme from Asia. I am considering expanding a story I wrote, partly set in India into a possible series. This project is depending on if the opening book sells.

I am even considering entering a writing contest this year.

Facebook Ban

This week, I was banned from using my Facebook account as one of the links I posted on my page went against their rules; naturally, I asked for a review of the case. Years ago, a jealous writer I used to know said she would get FB to block my account, at the time, I pleaded with her to change her mind. Now, if my account is deleted it will have no effect, other than to cut my blog readerr figures. The only contact I have on Fb was with my family, and we are now in a WhatsApp group, so that is no loss to me.

The Truth be told, if I get a ban it will save me from deleting the account; I had over 140 "followers," mainly from when I was on a writing site based in Germany, that was over a decade ago. 

Writing Contest

 Historical Fiction

Amazon Bestseller

I have not written a lot of Historical Fiction, not that I have anything against the genre, for some reason, I cannot explain I never ventured there a lot.

My Amazon Bestseller - Holding Richmond - is definitely fiction. My  other eBook which could be classed as historical fiction is Did we see him? However, I would contest the fiction element of the classification, why?

This is the story of what I think happened to the final expedition by Lord Percy Fawcett, the journey is well-known, it is a mystery how it ended. You could say it is fiction, as there is no proof of their deaths, but in the same context, it is not fiction as the beginning of the voyage is documented.

On the other hand, I don't enter writing contests as I found many are rigged. The judges are prone to what is known as in-house-favouritism. What id IHF?

This happens when judges look for writers they know, so an unknown has no hope of being noticed. One contest I entered was won by one person who had two of the top three prizes.

Saying that, I am considering entering a Historical Fiction Writing Contest this month

Alan Place - Published Author

Alan Place - Award Winning Author

Writing Contest

I had my first short story published in the UK when I was 16 from then I could be classed as a published writer.

As a rule, I rarely enter a writing contest. At one time I did, but found that many judges are biased to what is known as in-house-favouritism; this arises when a judge seeks out works by a writer they have read.

The award shown here I earned in my glory year of 2012, by coming third in a contest on Facebook, a time when my eBooks sold.The same year, I earned another award for a short story selection called The Chronicles of Mark Johnson.