SC Fiction Project 2010 News

While it hasn’t been publicized yet by the South Carolina Arts Commission, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been selected for the second time as one of the 2010 winners of the SC Fiction Project. In 2008 my story “Howdy from Upstairs” was honored with this award, and here we are two years later with another prizewinner.

The short story in question, “Heroes and Villains,” is quite dear to my heart, and autobiographical enough to give me a little catch in my throat whenever I’ve read it aloud to people, including my previous Midlands Technical College fiction writing class. After I read the draft to the group, both students and author felt that the piece was good, but not good enough. So, I went home, revised the story, read it through, and then felt so strongly about it that I chose “Heroes and Villains” as my entry to the Fiction Project competition. And here we are today, with a new piece of award-winning fiction. Good lesson for you aspiring writers out there—read, revise, and submit. Submit to the process, and then take  your polished and accomplished work and submit it to journals and web sites. And keep doing so until you hit the mark—every rejection, however painful, is a step on the road to eventual publication and success.

To be published in the March issue of Sandlapper magazine, I couldn’t be more honored and happy to have my story recognized with this prestigious award. Thank you, Arts Commission and Sandlapper!