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Canterbury Tale Disappoints in Short Story Competition

4/30/2013

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The Pilgrimage Continues
It's not often that I get demoralised with writing, but on this occasion I am. The short story (a Canterbury Tale) I wrote for a national short story competition didn't even make the short list.

Anyhow, that was last week! Since then I've added an epilogue to the story, so it's now 2,300 words in length and more importantly, a complete Canterbury Tale - The Merchant's Second Tale, in fact. I've also submitted it to another competition in its full form, and have another competition on the books, if that doesn't pan out, for the shorter version.

Even if the Tale fails in these competitions, I must remind myself that it's another part of my 'Lost' Canterbury Tales project completed.

The last time I felt like this was just after The Monk's Second Tale, aka Robin Hood and Friar Tuck, Zombie Killers - a Canterbury Tale by Paul A. Freeman was published by Coscom Entertainment. The first review of the novella was luke warm. However, I'm glad I shared it with all my writing friends since the reviews that followed were all very positive - see some of them below:

http://chaucers-uncle.weebly.com/reviews.html

Anyhow, to compensate for the disappointment of last week, I've been working on a couple of short stories which have both been submitted to a magazine, and next week I'll get back in the saddle and begin work on a new 'Lost' Canterbury Tale (or finish off one of the two that are half-finished).

Below are links to my Canterbury Tale published by Coscom Entertainment, my most recent Global Short Story Competition winner and my short-listed story for the National newspaper, Abu Dhabi's, annual short story competition:

http://chaucers-uncle.weebly.com/index.html

http://www.inscribemedia.co.uk/assets/october-ebook.pdf

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/short-story-a-day-for-decisiveness

Happy writing!



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Suarez Limerick - and More!

4/24/2013

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Suarez Gets Bitey
How could I resist something so topical?

Said Suarez, "I pecked like a hawk,
coz I hadn't a knife or a fork."
Then he told the FA,
"It's true what they say -
a person tastes somewhat like pork."


In addition, last month I went to a conference of English teachers. One presenter was getting all excited at the use of idiom and whether non-native speakers really need to grasp its ins and outs. Anyhow, at least from this workshop I came away with the idea for the limerick below:

Tatiana, a spoilt young brat,
was peeved at her chest being flat.
So her mum, feeling pity,
googled ‘silicone titty’,
then purchased two new tits for Tat.

Did you notice it was Pi Day a couple of months back? I thought not! Anyhow, below is a limerick for the more mathematically minded:

A woman named Pi was once dared,
to be cloned, and then ’twas declared,
without being troubled,
a scientist doubled
each clone – proving two Pi are squared
.

Oh, and before you ask me about that Canterbury Tale I wrote last week for a competition - it didn't even make the shortlist. I'd jump out my bedroom window if I didn't live on the ground floor.

Below are links to my Canterbury Tale published by Coscom Entertainment, my most recent Global Short Story Competition winner and my short-listed story for the National newspaper, Abu Dhabi's, annual short story competition :

http://chaucers-uncle.weebly.com/buy.html

http://www.inscribemedia.co.uk/assets/october-ebook.pdf

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/short-story-a-day-for-decisiveness

Happy writing!

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The Merchant's Second Tale

4/16/2013

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A 2000-word Canterbury Tale written in just ten days! Would you believe it?

I suppose the reason I managed 25 lines per day had as much to do with the deadline as opposed to any internal motivation. That said, to keep within the word limit I had to excise
The Prologue to The Merchant's Second Tale, and consequently the epilogue hasn't yet been written.

One thing I've learned over the past ten days is that I work better if I'm scrawling ideas and lines of poetry on a whiteboard, with an online theaurus at hand (no rhyming dictionary, though!).

Anyhow, the bottom line is that I submitted the story to a short story competition four hours before deadline and hopefully won't get disqualified because my story's poetry.

Oh, and what's it about? - merchants who want to concentrate on business rather than having to keep their independently-minded  wives in line! Don't worry though, the merchants are hardly likely to get away with it.

As a taster, below are 10 lines from the excised Prologue to The Merchant's Second Tale:

“The ancient fellow seized me by my cloak
And in a deep, resounding voice he spoke
Of strange events decades ago that lined
His frowning brow and made him lose his mind.
The yarn he spun (though reasoning he lacked)
I’ll now narrate as if his words were fact.
So listen up!” the Merchant urged, “and hear
The legend of the Master Puppeteer.”


Below are links to my Canterbury Tale published by Coscom Entertainment, my most recent Global Short Story Competition winner and my short-listed story for the National newspaper, Abu Dhabi's, annual short story competition :

http://chaucers-uncle.weebly.com/buy.html

http://www.inscribemedia.co.uk/assets/october-ebook.pdf

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/short-story-a-day-for-decisiveness

Happy writing!

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April Fools' Day Story Published by Everyday Fiction

4/1/2013

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April Fools' Day (aka Liars' Day(!))
My short story, April Fool (what else would the title be?), is up today at Everyday Fiction:

http://www.everydayfiction.com/april-fool-by-paul-a-freeman/

The origin of the story is quite interesting.

Last Wednesday (27 March), having learned that Everyday Fiction were looking for an April Fools' Day story, I took my notebook with me when I went to watch the Montenegro vs England football match. Just before half time (12:30 am, local time), with the excitement of the match fizzling out, I started writing, having decided that my main character would be named 'April'. The first draft was done by 1:30 am, and I submitted the story at 3:30.

On Saturday the EDF team informed me that my story had been selected. I was helped, I should imagine, by the fact that lighter stories are preferred on a Monday, and April Fools' Day fell on a Monday.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy my little contribution to what in the Middle East is often called 'Liars' Day'!

Below are links to my Canterbury Tale published by Coscom Entertainment, my most recent Global Short Story Competition winner and my short-listed story for the National newspaper, Abu Dhabi :

http://chaucers-uncle.weebly.com/buy.html

http://www.inscribemedia.co.uk/assets/october-ebook.pdf

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/short-story-a-day-for-decisiveness

Happy writing!

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    Paul A. Freeman

    Paul A. Freeman is an English instructor working in Abu Dhabi, in the Middle East. He lives there with his wife and three young children.

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