Hey there friends!

In all of my businesses, I've always banged on to others about the importance of having a newsletter. And I used to have one for each business, but not for lisakalma.com. I've realised for quite some time that I don't have one for my writing because, well, I quite honestly thought I'd have nothing to share with you. But now I do. There's my notebooks/diaries and teacher resources on Amazon now under the Brindie Books banner (of which I'm designing new ones all the time) and there's the flash fiction and short stories competitions I'm entering, the poetry I might get brave enough to shared, and of course... that llama picture book I'm about to embark on self-publishing. And this is just the beginning!

I'm pleased to say I've put my money (or time) where my mouth is and I now have a newsletter subscription option. It's free to subscribe, won't be spammy and I promise I'll only get in touch when I have something to say or have a competition for you (yes, I have plans... insert evil laugh here).

Of course, if seeing me in your inbox once in a while isn't your thing, you can always catch me on social media. 

​Hope to see you around one of the many places I lurk!

When I first read about the annual NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge back in June I was intrigued. The idea sounded like a heap of fun, and a bit of push, which I needed as I am a total procrastinator when it comes to writing sometimes. 

The way the competition works is this:

• You and a bazillion other people around the world register to enter the competition. Okay, maybe not a bazillion. Something more like thousands.
• In July at exactly midnight (in the USA) on a given date you are sent an email with a genre, setting and object that you MUST use to write your story (no longer than 1000 words). A group of approximately 25 people all get the same details as you and must do the same thing.
• Here's the clincher. You have exactly 48 hours to write your story and submit. Ouch.
• The top 15 stories in each group are awarded points. Number one gets 15 points, number two gets 14 points and so on. 
• Everyone in the first round is invited to participate in the second round, where the process begins again.
• Only the top point scorers (combined scores from each round) move to the third and fourth rounds, until there is only one winner!

For the first round, I was mortified to discover I was allocated the genre of political satire, on a street corner, with a boomerang! People who know me know that I'm not very interested in politics and have a very basic understanding of how it all works, so I was feeling pretty out of my depth. I was absolutely stuck for the first half a day. I looked at the other allotted genres with envy. Ghost stories, fairy tales, murder mysteries. Why did I have to get political satire? Boo hoo. But, lucky for me there has been so much political shenanigans going on over the last few years I wasn't short of inspiration. But did I dare? 

Having a strict deadline really helped me to knuckle down and get the thing done! I changed my mind a couple of times until I thought I had a decent idea on which I could build. One that was a bit out there, but I thought 'bugger it! Just do it anyway! The judges will either hate it or they'll see the funny side.' I still didn't think I had a chance.

I got the results last night for the first round. Part of me didn't want to open the email, the other part was itching to open it but also bracing myself for disappointment. Needless to say, I was astounded to find that I ranked fifth in my group!!! I had to check twice, but there my name was fifth down the list with 11 points! I was, and still am, absolutely chuffed.

I'm about to embark on the second round this weekend. I received feedback on my first story from the judges this afternoon and it was very constructive and helpful. The best $45 I've spent in a while, even if I don't get any further than the next round.

If you're keen to read the story you can find it by hitting the button below.  

Just an FYI. I've drawn inspiration from a pretty controversial subject, so if you have strong opinions about the matter and can't voice them respectfully please don't share them here. Remember, IT IS FICTION, and supposed to be satire at that. Otherwise, please leave a comment to tell me what you think!