A month ago I posted a short story that I entered into a small writing contest that was being held in my valley. It was endorsed by the two little libraries, and the theme this year was, “It was a dark and stormy night…” Well, I entered with my piece titled, The Making of a Private Eye, which you can read if you click the title.
Well, much to my delight, I ended up in second place for the adult submissions! I was quite pleased, and I hope it helps forward my career. It was good practice for me as I’m not comfortable showing off my work to most people. I am embarrassed most of the time because I’m far from confident that anything I write is worth reading. Funny thing to be a writer. What is the point of writing if you never show it to anyone?!
So, there you have it. Supposedly I get a certificate and a button. We’ll see. I’m just happy to have the second spot. Now, I have to find out about the anthology that they say my story should be in. I think. I guess I had best call.
Signing off
~Kate
Kate's Bookshelf 
Congratulations on your prize! Showing your work does get easier, some days 😦 It’s a bit like taking two steps forward and one back and just when you think your confidence has grown, it’s ‘go directly to zero, do not pass go, do not collect…’, but truly, one day you look back and realise how far you’ve come 🙂
Well thank you so much for your comments. I figure practice, practice, practice, and eventually I won’t be quite so insecure about showing off what I write. I guess it is one of the curses of writing. But I do look forward to that looking back moment. Thank you so much for your thoughts!
Congratulations! I’m so happy for you!! 🙂
Thanks so much! It was a nice little boost to the self esteem. Something I’m seriously lacking in. I think it’s one of the curses of being a writer.
Congratulations! I know exactly what you mean about the fear of sharing your writing, which when you think about it is a really funny thing for a blogger to say, but then again, blogging isn’t fiction, most of time. At least in my case. I’m in the midst of working the second draft of my first novel and in the back of my mind is the fact that I’ll need to compile a trusted set of readers to go through it sometime this fall and frankly it terrifies me. Kudos to you for the courage and the win!
Thank you so much. Yes, blogging is like the antithesis of saying you don’t like to show your work, but like you said, rarely is it fiction. I’ve been leary about who I want to show my work to, and I’m learning that sometimes you just have to step out of the comfort zone. Congrats on a second draft of a novel. That takes a lot of dedication. And bravery.