Yesterday's post on Jon McGregor's short story collection This Isn't The Sort of Thing To Happen To Someone Like You was partly by way of introduction to a competition which I'm running with the generous support of Bloomsbury. Let me tell you about the prizes, and then we'll come to what you have to do to win them.
The first prize will be a signed copy of This Isn't The Sort Of Thing ...
Tenth of December
Homesick
Diving Belles
Once You Break a Knuckle
The second prize will be This Isn't The Sort of Thing ... and your choice of one of the four above, and the third prize will be This Isn't The Sort of Thing ... on its own.
How to enter? The competition is open to everyone, no matter where in the world you are, and all you have to do is tell me the title of your favourite short story or the name of a favourite short story author and then tell me why they appeal to you. But, as this is all about short fiction, I'd like short answers, please, ideally no more than 140 characters! The easiest way to do this is to tweet your answer to me (assuming you are on Twitter, of course, and if so you'll find me there @Cornflowerbooks or use the hashtag #shortandtweet), or put it in a comment on this post, or if you'd prefer to enter more quietly, email me (the link to my address is over there on the right) and mark your entry "Short Stories". Why so brief? As with short stories themselves - and as was marked in some of Jon's - a few words can speak volumes, so tell us something of the quality and power of a story or the particular charm of an author in a succinct phrase or two.
I'm looking forward to discovering more good reading from your recommendations, so I'll keep the competition open for a few days while you polish your prose and make your entries short and sweet. Please do have a go!
