Sunday 14 July 2013

The Puffin Review Short Story competition, deadline 1 September 2013

Just come across this new writing competition, so thought I would post full details for my followers:

NEW - Short Story Competition
To celebrate the launch of our editor's new book, Casting The Net, we are pleased to announce a new short story competition, which we are running with Blasted Heath, the book's publisher.
Casting The Net is a bold, funny, sometimes painful, account of Julie McDowall's time online dating in Glasgow. It's not called 'no mean city' for nothing, as Julie finds herself sipping gin and cringing with a cavalcade of freaks, sexual perverts and screaming drama queens. A mean bunch indeed. However, the main man is the one known as The Clown. Throwing dignity, caution and clothes to the wind, Julie pursues him shamelessly despite her growing realisation that he is a liar and a cheat.
The reader cringes, ducks and grimaces as Julie gets deeper into a total obsession with this ginger maniac, and it is obsession which drives the book's narrative. This is no giggly, female tale of cocktails and dancing shoes; it is about an unhealthy obsession with an unworthy man, whilst Julie's mental health disintegrates. All is cast aside in her pursuit of The Clown.

This true story - from our now-recovered and sane - editor is gritty and shameless in discussing her obsession and the damage it causes - but also the lust and wonder and sheer excitement it threw her way.

Obsession can be delicious and delightful or plain deviant and destructive. It can be with a person, a place, a band; with a memory, with a song, with a job, or with a fairly unattractive ginger clown. Either way, it dredges up emotions which can be hideous, frightening and as exhilarating as nothing else you'll ever feel. Is it a state of passion or madness? Can you be obsessed but still be safely planted in reality, with sturdy mental health?

We're inviting short stories on the theme of obsession. The subject matter is yours entirely, but we want gritty tales which yank us - whether we want to go or not - into the heart of the obsession.
The word limit is 3,000 words and entries should be sent to editor@puffinreview.com by the 1st September 2013 with the subject 'competition' in the e-mail.

Please send your entries in an attached Word document.

And now, to the prizes....the winner will receive a signed paperback copy of Casting The Net along with 16 e-books - yes, 16 e-books - from the Blasted Heath catalogue. These will be THE BARBERSHOP SEVEN by Douglas Lindsay, THE CAL INNES OMNIBUS by Ray Banks, SMOKE by Nigel Bird, RIP ROBBIE SILVA and THE STORM WITHOUT by Tony Black, and THE MAN IN THE SEVENTH ROW by Brian Pendreigh.

You can read more about these titles at the Blasted Heath website here

Three runners up will each receive an e-book copy of Casting The Net

All four winning entries will also be published in The Puffin Review.

 

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