On a Roll...Long May It Last

Once Josiah Stubb was deemed read-worthy and ready to be sent out, I was free to wade back into the short story genre. Actually, let that read, "free to wade back into the short story genre full time," because there was only a short hiatus during the period that it took to write that novel's first draft. Let it not be said that I was idle between readings. Actually, it's better to have something else to occupy the mind between those sessions. Editing a manuscript too intensely is all too easy to do - it gets to the point where you no longer see what you're reading - and it's a malaise to which I have a chronic susceptibility. So work on multiple projects - in order to flush the overfamiliar from the system - is often called for. In fact, one abets the other. On the one hand, wading into a short story buys you time between heeding the siren's call of the manuscript. On the other hand, you launch yourself into the short story with all juices flowing, courtesy of a catch-pool left over from the creative process of the novel. I wrote three stories during that time - two have been recognized - one, The Mathematics of Fate, short-listed with Arts Hamilton, and yet another, Roll of Honour, short-listed in the Galbraith Award. A third, Baggage, written afterward, is due to be published at the end of May.