Meredith Mansfield, Author

I  received a very nice piece of validation for my writing this week. I was notified that my fourth quarer submission to the Writers of the Future contest had been awarded an Honorable Mention.

Okay, you say, it’s just an Honorable Mention. Yes, but it’s an Honorable Mention in the biggest and most respected contest for short speculative fiction. When I stop and think about how many–and how many really excellent writers I personally know (well, in cyber space anyway)–enter every quarter, it’s a huge honor to have gotten this far.

It’s only the third story I’ve entered in the contest, too. So, all in all, I’m feeling pretty good about it. I had to read the email through three times before I quite believed it, in fact.

I’ve been submitting stories, short and long, to agents and publications for three and a half years now. I’ve gotten a couple of nice, personal rejections. I’ve gotten to the second round of a pro-paying publication. I’ve had agents request full or partial manuscripts of my novels. And sometimes it feels like I’m beating my head against a brick wall just because it’ll feel so good when I finally stop.

I’m nothing if not persistent, though. And I love to write. And, of course, I’m so in love with every new story that this one just has to be the one. So I’ll keep at it.

This feels like a validation. I am indeed on the right track. I can so write. I will get there eventually.

It’s especially sweet because I really consider myself more of a novelist than a short story writer (there must be some more elegant way to say that). I work on short stories because they’re an excellent way to hone my craft. And I submit them, so far without success.

It’s funny, though. My short stories seem to have a tendency to become novels if I let them sit for a year or so. The stories just seem to grow.

I’ve been hard at work on novels most of this year. Finishing up SEVEN STARS (except for the polishing edit scheduled for early next year). A revision to BLOOD WILL TELL. Making some late revisions to MAGE STORM. First drafts of BLOOD IS THICKER and MAGIC’S FOOL.

I don’t have a short story for Quarter 1 of the Writers of the Future contest. But I do have a couple of ideas percolating. I’ll be back in Quarter 2. This time, it might even be near-future science fiction.