And here are the photos... (#1 - the award ceremony)

I know you know I won 3rd Place, so I won't mention that, I'll just get on with the photos.

We're on our way!

On camera for my BBC Spotlight interview

Back to the hotel to get changed

Waiting for the announcements to start

Receiving my award!!

Me with Erin Soros (2nd Place) and Danny Murphy (1st Place)

The room, so many people

It's all over, just about to leave

Breakfast, the morning after

Here's the link to my sightseeing photos, from the following day.

And breathe...

Well, that was a busy few days!

New Shoes! Need socks!

I thought I knew what to expect, but I didn't.

Before I continue, I'd just like to say a huge thank you for all the comments - here, on Facebook and on Twitter. I couldn't keep up with commenting, but I read them all.

I was at work when the announcement press release went out from the Costa Book Awards team.

Half way through my shift, I received an email asking if I was available to be interviewed by the Guardian. Yes, I am! But I'm at work...

It's okay, I was told, they'd send an email. I rushed home, answered the questions put to me, and the article was up that afternoon. (You can read it here.) What you might notice is that I'm quoted quite a lot, and the other short listed authors aren't. I imagine we were all sent the same email, but I replied quickest.

The next day, while I was working out at the gym, I received an email asking if I was available to be interviewed live on BBC Radio Cornwall. I paused. Hmm... Radio is different to an printed interview. I have to speak, out loud, fluffed words and muddled thoughts and all. Yes, I am! I replied before I had chance to talk myself out of it.

Luckily, the radio host thought that day was a bit of a rush, so it was moved to the following day, yesterday. (I won't link here, because the link will only be valid for a month.) Of course, that meant I had longer to think about it, but enough time to calm down.

I haven't listened to it. I doubt I will. I dislike hearing my own voice. I don't sound the way I think I do. But that's not the point. The point is, I did it! Something I always panicked about. And it was all right - nothing bad happened.

Things I've Learnt This Week

• Say yes - people who don't know me heard me on the radio, they've seen my name in the paper (in a sub-heading, no less!), they may be moved to search out my books.
• Say yes, quickly - if I'd dallied on that email interview, one of the other authors might have got in first. Okay, replying to emails within five or ten minutes might seem needy and too eager, but to a journalist with a deadline it's vital.
• Say yes, even when you don't want to - in normal circumstances I would have probably run a mile from anyone suggesting a radio interview. But these aren't normal - by entering the competition I agreed to take part in promotion and marketing should I reach this far. Okay, they probably wouldn't have come after me with pitchforks if I refused, but I used that image to force myself into it. And next time, well... it won't be my first!

In short, say yes.

What have you said yes to recently?

Shortlisted, off to London!

I've been sitting on this secret since the middle of November, and at last I can share it...

I'm one of the shortlisted authors for the Costa Short Story Award!

For those of you not up to date with the short story scene, and/or not based in the UK, this is a big deal.

It's a competition, linked in with the Costa Book Awards, for UK only writers. Judging - and subsequent voting by the general public - is completely anonymous, which obviously keeps the judging solely about the stories not the authors.

I've done a proper, author-sounding announcement on my web site, so right now I'm just going to...

Right, that's done... although I don't think it fully reflects the excitement and nervousness I'm feeling. In fact, I don't think I have the words at all... which is a little bit worrying for a writer, I know.

Next week, I'll be going to the Costa Book Awards to find out if I've won, and also to see the winner of their Book of the Year announced. I've got my dress ready, and all I need to do is practise walking in my new shoes, and stop panicking... Easier said than done, on both counts.

There will be updates. And photos... Lots and lots of photos!

Until then, please cross your fingers and think positive thoughts for me.

The second post of the year

I wrote a great post the other day, about my New Year's resolution, and promptly posted it on my web site instead. If you're curious, please pop over and see what I'm planning this year!

And then I realised, I should post something here too, because there's only so long you can wish people Happy New Year before it's weird.

So... Happy 6th January.

I'm currently writing another short story, which obviously means I've been doing a lot of other things instead!

I have

• redesigned my writing submission database (yes, all parts of that are as geeky as it sounds)
• voluntarily taken the dog for a walk during really heavy downpours
• walked to town to pay a bill... a bill!
• possibly organised a book signing with my local independent bookshop owner, and then bought a book from her (A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson)
• chomped my way through lots of Christmas chocolates
• celebrated the return of Castle - yay!

I guess, all that's left is to get on with this story.

Wishing you all a wonderful, happy, and beautiful new year!

I hope 2016 is eventful, productive, surprising and satisfying xxx

Half-way through December already?

I've been busy. I've been meaning to blog for ages - my last post (that wasn't a book release guest post) was on 2 November, when I announced my intention to take part alongside NaNoWriMo.

Two days later, I was offered the opportunity to include extra short stories in my collection with Vine Leaves Press next year. So I got busy with that - writing and rewriting - and didn't actually get anywhere near the 500 pages I was hoping to. I do, however, now have four new stories and another couple in very early-idea stage.

I've got a couple of other exciting things in the pipeline, but they're not relevant at the moment. I'll be sharing some time in the New Year, though.

**  **  **  **

There has been much excitement in the Crawford household over the new Star Wars film. Yesterday, we spent the day watching all the previous films apart from Episode I. We followed what's known as the Machete Order, where you watch IV, V, II, III, VI - missing out the first one entirely because it's pointless.

I first heard about this order in an episode of The Big Bang Theory, but apparently - with acknowledgement to my librarian friend who has to research everything! - it dates from a blog post written in 2011. If you're curious, the blog post is an interesting read, and explains things much better than I can (mostly because it's 4600 words long!)

We will be watching Episode VII on Saturday. We've had our tickets for ages!

Rena Rocford talks Unicorns

It's my absolute pleasure to have Rena Rocford on my blog today, celebrating the launch of her new book. I've known Rena for a long time through our blogs, and I'm delighted she's finally achieved her ambition to get her first book published. May there be many more!


Thanks for hosting a stop along my book release blog tour, Annalisa!

Unicorns aren't always nice.

People always want to know where an idea for a book comes from, but the truth is, they come from many different places, and my book was no different. When I built the world around my story, I started with one little idea: 

We've stereotyped mythical creatures. People talk about how dogs have lots of personality, or cats are so different from each other (though, all cats are convinced my keyboard is the holy grail of nap locations!) but no one ever talks like that about dragons. If you look up dragons, there's a pretty good set of cranky, dangerous, cantankerous, do not approach do not approach types. Literature is littered with these great reptiles, their greed a tangible thing that burns inside them as they brood over their gold.

Which made me think about what it would be like if dragons were more like a roaming people, drifters, and less sit-in-one-place-and-have-gems-and-coins-fuse-into-your-scales kind of people. But almost as soon as I thought about dragons as being their polar opposite, it hit me: What about all the other mythical creatures?

What would happen if unicorns were lawyers and doctors? What if all of the gryphons had tight knit family groups? And then, as I always do, I started building a world around these ideas. What if Centaurs were really like cowboys, and what if all the different kinds of creatures were as suspicious of each other as different religious groups are? One idea led to another, and eventually, the plot bunnies showed up to take over.

And now, the manuscript that started out by wondering what it would be like if unicorns were lawyers is a book! Check it out, here!

Allyson fights acne, not trolls. As an inhaler-carrying member of the asthma society, she just wants to meet the father who turned her mother into a paranoid, move-across-the-nation freak. Now she’s trying to fit in at yet another school, but for the first time in her life, she has a best friend, Beth. When Allyson accidentally spits fire at kidnappers in the mall, she realizes why her father isn’t in the picture: she’s half dragon. Her acne? Emerging scales. Her asthma? The side effects of her dragon’s fire breath. Instead of freaking out, unflappable Beth reveals her own troll heritage and explains how things work with the supernatural creatures hiding within the modern world of smartphones and skyscrapers.

When trolls kidnap a unicorn, Beth gets blamed. Allyson is determined to prove Beth’s innocence and keep her friend off the unicorn chopping block. When they start looking for the kidnappers, they get a call from the last person they expect: Allyson’s father. He tries to warn them off, but he’s been put under a spell by the kidnappers to keep the victims from escaping. Nothing short of death can stop him. Now Allyson must choose between killing the father she’s always dreamed of, or letting her best friend die for a crime she didn’t commit. 

Like most mad scientists, Rena Rocford’s early works were largely met with scorn and mockery, but she bided her time. After all, what did her fellow kindergarteners know about literature? From that day forward, Rena kept her writing on the mythical back burner as she pursued more logical goals. Today, crayons. Tomorrow, the world. She moved on to essays and egg drops, then experiments in shady laboratories. 

Living as a muggle brought Rena some levels of success, procuring a master’s degree from a well vetted university, but always the stories returned, calling her to the keyboard in the dark of night. Now, having built armies from words, Rena has set her sights on world domination, one book at a time.

From her secret base in the wine country, Rena has enlisted the help of her cats, her loyal dogs, and her family―who can be relied upon to hide the launch codes at a moment’s notice. You can find Rena at her blog, follow her on Twitter, or find her on Facebook. Her debut novel, Acne, Asthma, And Other Signs You Might Be Half Dragon just released with Curiosity Quills. You can find it here on Goodreads, or buy it here!