Really pleased to have had my story No Rule Book for Old Men shortlisted in the 2023 Flash 500 short story competition. A second story, By Appointment Only: Marika’s Studio of Dreams made the longlist. I was fortunate enough to win this competition in 2022.

A second success was seeing the opening of my novel The Warm-up Man on the shortlist of the Retreat West 2023 First Chapter Competition. Fingers crossed for future success somewhere!

“Will anyone come to save him? Last night, four feet of water swept into Pieter’s house, leaving him beached upstairs like a whale on the shore. The only way he’ll get out anytime soon is if someone comes to get him, and that’s dependent on anyone remembering he’s here….“

My little story, The Seesaw of Isolation, won joint third prize in the 2020 Yeovil Short Story competition. Now, it’s been recorded by Tempest Productions, beautifully read by Stephen Blake. Click here to listen.

Absolutely over the moon to see my little story, Forest Bathing, take first prize in one of my favourite competitions run by Bridgend Writers’ Circle. You can read the story and those of the other winners here. This somewhat strange and rather dark story was sparked by long woodland walks during the second (winter) lockdown when rivers ran high and imagination roamed free!

Many thanks to all at Bridgend for choosing my story as their winner (for the second time!)

Flash 500 is one of my favourite competitions. Their quarterly 500-word limit story competition is always a challenge, but their annual short story competition is, for me, the greatest pinnacle to aspire to. So I was shocked and delighted to discover I’d been awarded first prize in this year’s competition. The judge’s comments were the icing on the cake!

You can read The Road to Nowhere here.

I’m delighted to report that this month a short, short story of mine won second prize in a competition run by Writing Magazine. It’s lovely to have the exposure of being published in such a significant journal and to receive the judges’ feedback.

They wrote:

“What works so beautifully in this story is the way Dianne uses the gaps in the story, and the power of suggestion, so that everything is implied and nothing is spelled out. The reader sees everything from the perspective of the unnamed child in the close third-person narrative, picking up and piecing together clues and scraps of information.

Everything jars and creates a sense of unease. There’s the barren feel of the day at Aunt Liliane’s, the unexpectedly lavish ice-cream, the money gift and the odd choice of a pair of cheap sunglasses. The writer’s quietly confident skill in using the power of suggestion to tell this family tragedy means that what is unsaid – to the child, to the reader – speaks volumes. It’s beautifully done – a sad, subtle story steeped in sorrow and permeated with atmosphere from beginning to end.”

This story started as an exercise in an online flash fiction writing course run by the wonderful writer, Ken Elkes. It pushed me to think of creating unusual connections in stories, which is something I find compelling as a reader.

Great news recently. My story All Human Wisdom was awarded first prize in the Hastings Writers’ Room competition, addressing the theme of Missing.

The judges commented:

“The benign setting, contrasting a rural domestic idyll with an unexplained and unexpected disappearance, provides a layered and sustained tension right up to the final line, building a profound and tortuous sense of loss, hope, and longing for resolution that continues far beyond the story.”

Wonderful comment. And a lovely trophy to commemorate my win!

My rather strange story (That) Hollow Place astounded me by taking first prize in the fiction competition in this month’s Writers’ Forum magazine (December issue). It was its first outing and I wasn’t sure whether it worked or not.

I’m delighted that it hit the spot and was judged:
‘A moving and inspirational story with a strong plot and satisfying resolution.’