February already!  Christmas seems an age away, but I'm blowed if I know where January went.  Somehow I always think I can fit more in.  I have set up a website and a facebook page and started tweeting (all of which were easier than I thought, despite being instant death to anything involving technology).  I've also had a story highly commended in the Sunpenny Open Short Story Competition, which should be published later this year, and a publisher has expressed interest in my fantasy novel, Discord's Child, so maybe I haven't done so badly, after all.

In the past year, several long-established writing competitions have bitten the dust.  Sadly, the latest is Hastings Writers' Group's Legend Writing Awards.  One that's hanging in there is the Slingink Shorts competition, which now has details online at http://slingink.com.  It's for works of 140 words exactly plus a one-word title, and it's still very reasonable to enter.  The closing date is 30th April 2011.  It's well worth having a go.