One good thing leads to another

‘At the end of 2020 I came across a post on the News page of www. writers-online.co.uk about a competition to be included in Muswell Press’ Queer Life, Queer Love anthology, dedicated to the memory of Lucy Reynolds, the trans daughter of Muswell Press publisher Sarah Beal,’ writes subscriber Rosy Adams.

‘I submitted a story called My Name is Frida, inspired by Frida Kahlo and was thrilled to have it chosen. Queer Life, Queer Love was published in November 2021, and was favourably reviewed by the Times Literary Supplement in March.

‘When I came across a call for applications for a writer development programme on The Writer’s App I sent them that story as a writing sample. It was Representing Wales, a 12-month programme delivered by Literature Wales, which is our the national organisation for the development of literature. Representing Wales 2022/23 is focused on providing development opportunities for writers from low-income backgrounds. Having only found out about it the day before deadline I had to work fast to get my application written and submitted in time, after which I promptly forgot about it (two children’s birthdays and Christmas in the space of a month being rather distracting!), so when I received a phone call from Marvin Thompson of Literature Wales to say I’d been chosen as one of the fourteen writers I was surprised to say the least.

‘I would like to say thank you to the Writing Magazine team because without you I would not have known about either of these opportunities, and without the boost from winning the Love Story competition (Lockdown Recipes, February 2021) I might not have had the confidence to apply for either of them.

I am currently working on a collection of YA contemporary fairy stories and have a tentative plan for a novel. Hopefully I’ll have more good news to share in the future.’