Something that has happened since I had my book published, that I didn’t expect and never really thought about, is that I’ve been asked to judge a couple of writing competitions.

The first one is at creativewritingcomp.com. I don’t know much about these people yet, but they’ve just held their first writing competition, so I suppose now they’ve done it once they know what they’re doing and will be professional and brilliant at it (as usual I will be the one who doesn’t know what they are doing, but is good at pretending she does). As far as I’m aware the next competition will be launched this Spring. I’m nervous, as I always am when I do something new. They will send the entries to me in the post and it will be up to me to sift through them and pick the winners. Pressure! I just hope they don’t want me to talk with any intelligence about why I’ve picked the ones I’ve picked, as it will probably be a simple case of me liking one more than all the others! Very complicated, I know.

I was once a runner up in the Mike Hayward short story competition in good old Rotherham about three years ago. I’ll never forget talking to the judge that night. After I’d tried flirting with him at the bar in a sad attempt to get myself in first place, he told me that he’d had mine and the other two winning entries spread out on his kitchen table at home for weeks while he daily changed the order – 1st, 2nd, 3rd – not being able to make up his mind which he liked best. It felt wonderful to me to think of my entry on his kitchen table while he deliberated and tried to decide. Of course, he’d already made up his mind by the time I was propping the bar up with him, but I still liked the idea of my story receiving such attention from the judge.

I now picture myself in weeks to come with chaotic wads of paper on my kitchen table, kids eating their coco pops around them, cats leaving scruffy paw prints on them, while I try to decide. Maybe not quite the same as the Rotherham judge then!

The other one I’ll be doing is at beboauthor.com. Run by the lovely Claire Connolly, cyber friend of mine and all round top girl! I don’t have too many details on this either, except to say it started on Thursday 7th Feb and will end March 21st! What? I can feel the pressure mounting already. Better clear the kitchen table…