Save Livejournal Month, Day 5: Finalist

A week ago I stood alone outside the Free Word Centre in Farringdon. Creative Future’s Literary Awards ceremony was about to take place inside and I was one of 12 finalists.

“Impossible Things” was this year’s theme. Impossible was what I used to think whenever someone asked my feelings on reading my fiction in public.

Glass of champagne in hand, I travelled the reception room reading the winning pieces up on white boards. One finalist, a writer from Northern Ireland, gave me a life-saving tip: “read slowly”.

When they ushered us into the small theatre, I sat beside him.