Sunday, 12 August 2012

Burn, Baby, Burn

Just a quick note to say that my story, Spontaneous Human Combustion, has won the Summer 2012 Flash 500 competition.

I'm really pleased; Flash 500 is a market I've been trying to crack for a while. It's a well-organised competition and - having at last won a prize there - I can confirm that the stories are published online and the prize money sent out immediately after the results are announced. Why can't all competitions get it right like that?

Spontaneous Human Combustion is one of those stories that I wrote a while ago, and didn't really know what to do with. I liked it, but couldn't think of anywhere it would 'fit'. I left it for a while, subbed it out somewhere, got nowhere, left it a while longer. A couple of months ago, I dug it out again, cut it down by about a third, found a new (and better ending), and tried again. This time it worked! Sometimes things can't be rushed - if you've got a story you believe in, stick with it. Sooner or later you'll know what to do with it.


Chloe said...


Bella De La Rocher said...


FANTASTIC story about a family hit by firey tragedy. I especially like the use of punctuation on line 21.

Dan Purdue said...

Thank you both!

Rachel Fenton said...

Only just seen this news - you're blazing now, Dan - congratulations!

Dan Purdue said...

Thanks, Rachel!