Pop!

The title refers to the sound of a champagne cork...

About a year ago I joined the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, or SCBWI. It's an international organisation and the British group organise a lot of great events such as talks, workshops and evenings with various interesting industry bods. The society is made up of writers and illustrators new and established, published and unpublished - there's a newsgroup and various crit groups and it's a very supportive and inspiring. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone who writes children's fiction.

A few months ago SCBWI held a competition for unpublished writers to have an extract of their work included in an anthology. This would then be sent out to agents and publishers as a kind of showcase of the best new undiscovered talent. I submitted the first 4 chapters of my children's chapter book and pretty much dismissed the idea that I'd get anywhere with it. It all happened at around the same time as the whole Miss Write debacle, so I was feeling a bit down on competitions.

Anyway...a week ago my phone rang and it was one of the organisers...I've been chosen as one of the winners!! My extract is one of 12 to be published in the anthology! We're having a launch party and everything!

I'm so chuffed and full of disbelief. The judging panel consisted of three top agents and editors from 3 major publishers and I feel so encouraged that they felt my extract was half decent! It's a HUGE boost. I've been busy doing a final edit to my book so that I can start the submissions process, so this couldn't have come at a better time for me! It feels like a massive step in the right direction and has given me a chance to get my work in front of people who would not normally consider it.

You can read all about SCBWI and the anthology here.

And yes, in the last week I've had a couple of bottles of fizzy to mark the occasion!