Story on the InkTears Shortlist

Hurray! I’m thrilled that I have a story on the InkTears Short Story Competition shortlist. Many thanks to the readers. I had two stories on the long list, which was a marvellous surprise, and now one of them, Volare, has made has made it through. The shortlist is here. There are twelve of us.

InkTears is a great competition and unusual in that you can submit stories that have already been published online or in magazines. This is such a good idea for the writer.

Volare is set in Venice and I incorporated details from my trip last summer to see the Venice Biennale. This meant that it was much quicker to write than usual because the settings were very clear in my mind. Like many cities, Venice is full of contrast and complexity, and I tried to reflect this in my characters, Tom and Lilia. I also tried to give a taste of its sinister mix of glamour and mortality.

The story was originally published by the wonderful Synaesthesia Magazine in their ‘Cities’ issue. I’ve written a post about my visit to Venice, it’s here if you’re interested and there’s a link to the stunning ‘Cities’ issue of Synaesthesia on this page.

And in case the link goes away, here’s a shot of the InkTears page.