Woolly Hat Trail
December 2, 2025
Author: Peter
I'm a retired civil servant in Surrey, UK and long-time blogger. These days I'm spending more time writing stories and doing other creative stuff
Container Candles
November 29, 2025
I made a multi-coloured set of container candles in glass goblets, each with a different fruity scent*. These need a quicker-melting wax than pillar candles. No skill at all is required, but they are quite practical (they never dribble) and look especially good when the wax is molten.
*From the left: passionfruit, grape, strawberry, mango, banana and watermelon
December 2025 Competitions
November 20, 2025
Here is another monthly round-up, covering competitions with deadlines in December.
As always, these are contests I may enter myself, so generally no poetry or flash and no competition that isn’t open to an elderly bloke in the UK. Prizes and entry fees vary a lot, so check the benefits to see whether they appeal to you. There is no point in entering a competition if you don’t even want the prize! In some cases the entry fee amounts to a large slice of the prize, though there may be other benefits such as publication, trophies, free books or courses, etc.
If you do get anywhere with any of these, please do let me know.
| Contest | Word Count | Fee | Prize | Deadline | Details |
| Breakwater Review | 4,000 | $10 | $1000 | 01/12/2025 | |
| St Louis Writers Guild | 3,000 | $15 | $50 | 01/12/2025 | Poor value? |
| Neilma Sidney | 3,000 | $20 | $5,000 | 05/12/2025 | Travel |
| Chaotic Creators | 1,250 | £10.00 | £50 + pub | 06/12/2025 | Small prize? |
| Leopold Bloom Prize | 5,000 | $10 ($15 quicker) | $500 | 08/12/2025 | ‘Risk-adept narration’ |
| Masters Review Chapbook | 25-45p | $25 | $3000 +50 copies | 15/12/2025 | |
| Globe Soup | 8,000 | £16.00 | £2,000 | 16/12/2025 | |
| Ruth Rendell | 1,000 | £15.00 | £1,000 plus performance | 21/12/2025 | Interact Stroke Support (upbeat stories) |
| Letter Review | 5,000 | $20 | share $1,000 | 30/12/2025 | |
| Anthony Veasna So | 9000 (3 pieces) | $20 | $200 | 31/12/2025 | To become an ‘Anthony Veasna So Scholar’ |
| Boulevard | 8,000 | $18 | $1,500 | 31/12/2025 | |
| Danahy | 5,000 | $20 | $1000 | 31/12/2025 | |
| Lascaux Review | 10k | $15 | $1,000 + medallion | 31/12/2025 | |
| Write Time | 1,500 | £5 (£3 for £10) | £100.00 | 31/12/2025 | Older writers |
| Farnham First Five Pages | 5p + syn | £10.00 | £1,000 | 31/12/2025 | For draft novels |
| Inkitt Love at First Kick | Min 20k No Limit | Free | $300 + various | 31/12/2025 | Soccer Romance. Linked with Galatea. |
| ASP Anthology | 2-7k | £5.00 | £0.005/word | 31/12/2025 | UK only, no horror or disturbing content |
| Henshaw (Hobeck) | 2k | £6.00 | £200 | 31/12/2025 | The old warhorse, still going. |
Old Git
November 12, 2025
I’ve been waiting patiently for the official announcement of my poetry win at Writer’s Digest, but it turns out I missed it and it has been up for over a month… it’s here.
Candles
November 7, 2025
I made sparkly candles. It must be about sixty years since I last used glitter. It still gets everywhere.
No Mo’ NaNoWriMo
October 28, 2025
November is coming, but there will be no NaNoWriMo…
You may know that this was the annual exercise in which people attempted to write an entire novel (well, 50,000 words, a bit skimpy actually) in a single month. You could register your progress, meet up with fellow writers and so on.
There was always something a little strange about this. It seemed designed for people who didn’t really enjoy writing, but wanted to get it off their bucket list once and for all. Arguably it encouraged bad writing because quality was not important, just quantity. And while it was meant to be encouraging, most people always failed.
Apparently there had been several problems. There were claims that its forums were misused, though the organisers were quick to act. It weirdly decided to allow the use of AI, which most people thought rendered the exercise pointless (it even claimed that denying AI to participants was ableist). Somehow it ran out of money.
My feelings are ambivalent, but they include a big element of regret. I entered (and succeeded) in 2008 with a story about, what else, someone entering NaNoWriMo. I polished the result up afterwards, but it’s still medium bad with a few good lines. Probably my biggest mistake was to make my hero, the narrator, pretentious and verbose. Humorously, but still.
Nevertheless, in a spirit of commemoration and for what it’s worth, here it is.
November 2025 Competitions
October 20, 2025
Here is another selection of writing competitions I might enter with deadlines in the coming month.
Presented once again in a handy tabular form!
As always these are just the competitions I might enter myself, so they don’t generally include flash fiction or poetry. I hope, though, that there’s something that interests you.
| Prize | Length | Fee | Prize | Deadline | Comments |
| Commonwealth Short Story Prize | 2-5k | Free | £2,500 region, £5,000 overall | 01/11/2025 | |
| Ascent Novel Prize | first 3000 words, pitch and synopsis | £29.00 | £1,000.00 | 01/11/2025 | Feedback for all entrants + online community |
| Scribble Short Story | 3,000 | £5.00 | £100.00 | 01/11/2025 | Theme ‘Accused’ |
| F(r)iction | 1,001 – 7.5k | $15 | $1,000 | 07/11/2025 | |
| Galley Beggar Press | 6,000 | £11.00 | £2,500.00 | 08/11/2025 | |
| Curious Curls | 10,000 | $2.00 | $250 | 15/11/2025 | Theme ‘Hole’ |
| NORward | 20p | $21 | $750 | 15/11/2025 | |
| Writer’s Digest short short | 1,500 | $30 | $3,000 | 17/11/2025 | |
| Narrative Magazine | 15,000 | $27 | $2,500 | 21/11/2025 | |
| Fish short story | 5,000 | £24.00 | £3,000.00 | 30/11/2025 | |
| PrairieFire | 5,000 | CA$34 | CA$1250 | 30/11/2025 | |
| Tadpole Press | 100 | $15 | $1,000 | 30/11/2025 | |
| Inkspot | 2,500/5,000 | £10/£15 | £1,000.00 | 30/11/2025 |
If you get anywhere with any of these, please do let me know.
Mirabelle Gin
October 19, 2025
This year I have tried out using Mirabelle plums to flavour gin, in the same way as sloes. (I’ve done some of those too.) The result is now bottled and while it doesn’t have quite the impact of the sloe variety it’s an agreeable fruity variation. The sloes need a bit longer but will be ready before Christmas (which is creeping up on us now).
October 2025 Competitions
September 17, 2025
The tabular format seemed to work last time, so I think I’ll stick with it (feedback always welcome, though).
As always these are just the competitions I might enter myself, so they don’t generally include flash fiction or poetry. That said, there’s a range of prizes here, some generous, others less so.
| Prize | Word count | Fee | Prize | Comments | Deadline |
| Calvino Prize | 25p | $25 | $2000 | In the spirit of Calvino but not pastiche | 01/10/2025 |
| Zoetrope All-Story | 5,000 | $30 | $1,000 | 01/10/2025 | |
| Jeffrey E. Smith (Missouri Review) | 8,500 | $25 | $5000 | 01/10/2025 | |
| Letter Review | 5,000 | Free ($5 for extra) | Share of $1000 | 01/10/2025 | |
| Dzanc Books | 40,000 | $25 | $2,500 +pub | Collections | 01/10/2025 |
| Spokane Prize (Willow Springs Books) | min 92 pages | $25 | $2000 | There are some other rules about lengths. | 02/10/2025 |
| What the Wild Carries | 5,000 | $20 | $2000 + pub | Various genres | 05/10/2025 |
| Moonlit Getaway | 2,500 | $CAD8 | $CAD250 | 12/10/2025 | |
| Caledonia Novel Award | 20p +200 syn | £28.00 | 1500 + framed award | You don’t have to be Scottish. | 15/10/2025 |
| The Raven (Pulp Lit) | 2,500 | $35 | publication + $300 | 15/10/2025 | |
| Tennessee Williams Festival | 7,000 | $25 | $1,500 + Festival invite | 15/10/2025 | |
| Eyelands | 250k | €40.00 | Translation into Greek, pub + ceramic | Unusual comp based in Greece | 20/10/2025 |
| Bedford | 3,000 | £8.50 | £2,000.00 | 31/10/2025 | |
| Southport Writers Circle | 2,000 | £3.00 | £200.00 | 31/10/2025 | |
| Ironclad | 6,000 | £9.00 | £100.00 | Theme: ‘Switch’ | 31/10/2025 |
| The Hope Prize | 5,000 | $30 | $10,000 + pub | Stories of ‘Hope, courage, and resilience’ | 31/10/2025 |
If you get anywhere with any of these, please do let me know.
Presentation on writing competitions
September 9, 2025
I did a presentation on writing competitions! Regular entrants will know all this stuff already, but here it is if you’re interested.
Seen and Done 