We received a couple of stories from Russia overnight, a rarity for us so far, which is a pity because talk Russian short story writing and you soon encounter some of the true giants of the literary landscape. Among those who have written short stories are Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Chekhov, their stories ranging from the fantastical to the bleak down-to-earth. In Russia, as in most countries, the short story battles to survive in a competitive publishing world but Russia, which is mainly associated in the public mind with the ‘Great Novel’, can certainly look back on one of the finest traditions of them all.So we are delighted to have received entries from Russia overnight. Plenty of time to enter February’s competition.

Fiona Cooper has chosen her winners for the December Global Short Story Competition and first place, and the £100 prize, goes to a writer from Spain with our runner-up from Hong Kong.
Bert Velthuis, of Ibiza, Spain, wins with Napolo of which our judge Fiona Cooper says: “There are some stories that drive me to despair because the idea is there and the style lets them down. There are some pieces of writing that jump off the page purely because of the technique and yet the story simply doesn’t work. In this story, however, I was delighted by an excellent sustained style and also a compelling story, vivid in imagery, strong in pace and altogether satisfying. Well done.”
The highly commended writer, winning our £25 runners-up prize, is Ciaran O Riain, of Hong Kong, with Christmas Present, of which Fiona says: “What a witty sharp and deliciously malicious story. On the edge of satire, it comes across with a light and practised touch and reads effortlessly. Excellent.”
Now that we have completed our fourth year we will deliberate on our latest £250 annual winner and announce the winner in a few weeks.
The writers on the December shortlist are
Mike Woodhouse, Mittagong, NSW, Australia (for Fifty Ways to Leave your Lover)
Denise Bayes, Javea Alicante, Spain
Clinton Bell, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Malcolm Bray, Co Galway, Ireland
Carolyn Douglas, Paringa, South Australia
Jen Knox, San Antonio, Texas, United States
Janice Lynn, Delta, BC, Canada
Paul Freeman, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Chris Carter, Coventry, England (for We’ll go Dreaming)
Winning stories will be posted on www.globalshortstories.net in the next few days.
Well done to our successful writers.

We have talked from time to time about what music we write to. For me at the moment, it’s You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks by Seasick Steve. Poetry in motion and pure simplicity. There’s a lesson in there for us writers, methinks. What about you? What gets you writing? Why not tell us at our social networking site for authors wwww.globalwriters.net?

The January Global Short Story Competition has closed for entries but, and you know what’s coming next, the February Global Short Story Competition is open for your stories.

John Dean

We will announce our December Global Short Story Competion winners on Friday February 4. Plenty of time to enter the January one.

John Dean

This might interest our members in North East England. Darlington for Culture (DfC), which is campaigning to save Darlington Arts Centre, will stage the latest in its series of successful open mic nights for authors on Monday January 30. The events form part of the programme run at the centre by DfC, which is a Community Benefit Society, a type of co-operative.
Open mic nights are events where authors can take to the floor and read their material, anything from prose and poetry to screenwriting and theatre. They take place at 7pm and the cost of entry is £3 paid on the door. There is an open theme. January 30’s will be the fourth, all held on the last Monday of the month, and further ones have been arranged for February 27 and March 26.
More at www.darlingtonforculture.org
John Dean

Still three days to go enter the January Global Short Story Competition and the high quality has continued as the stories come in. Each competition is different, of course, and each one has plenty of quality but this one has been really special with many of the writers, who are from all over the world, on top form.They have shown interesting diverges in style as well. Many have gone for the straightforward storytelling but several have featured nothing much actually happening but nevertheless producing stories with big themes. One writer relied solely on the beauty of the writing. There was no story as such but if this writer wrote a shopping list I suspect it would be a compelling read. We will take entries until midnight on Tuesday January 31 GMT ( December’s competition is still being judged). Believe me, winning January’s will be a real feather in the cap.

John Dean

Interesting stat – many authors in the US are now seeing 50 per cent of their sales from e-books. In the UK, the figure much talked about is that 30 per cent of hardback sales come when they are converted into e-books. Is it killing the book as some suggest? Personally, although I love hardcopy books, I think electronic opens up new readerships. I know some people are reading my novels for the first time on e-book and that can’t be bad for me as an author seeking as wide a readership as I can. That’s why we have moved into e-books. We’re a small publisher, very small, but maybe the ebook will allow us to make a small ripple on the surface of the pond.

Certys, the company from North East England which runs the successful Global Short Story Competition, has entered the world of e-books on Amazon with the publication of four titles for Kindle, two anthologies, one children‘s comic fantasy and a thriller.
The books include:
Global Shorts – an anthology of short stories taken from the early years of the Global Short Competition and featuring writers from around the planet, including a number of prize winners both in the Global Short Story Competition and similar competitions. A compelling, sometimes frightening, sometimes humorous, always excellent read. Price £2.23
Vegemite Whiskers – a selection of some of the finest writing from Australian authors who have entered the Global Short Story Competition. From touching stories to those which make you laugh, this compilation is a true gem. Price £1.48.
White Gold by Roger Barnes A thriller by first-time author Roger Barnes taking the reader into a world of intrigue and danger set amid the poachers of Africa and those trying to thwart their criminals efforts. £2.23
Haghir the Dragon Finder, by John Dean, a comic fantasy for older children, taking the premise that nothing is as it seems. Haghir and his two hopeless comrades are dragon slayers seeking a fresh challenge. £1.48.
All can be obtained keying the titles into the search field at www.amazon.co.uk

John Dean

I love cricket, particuarly the art of the spin bowler whose success depends on disguising the nature of the delivery. I mention this because we received a story into the January Global Short Short Story Competition overnight that did the same thing. It tricked the reader into making assumptions then revealed the sting in the tail when the reader realised what was really going on. Excellent stuff. Using cricketing parlance, I played forward to it and it turned away from me (That’s the last cricketing allusion. Ed).

John Dean