I would love to write more short stories for specialist magazine submission, but finding the time is a real issue, when you're already spending your day with non-fictional writing for clients (and therefore have this brain-dead feeling at the end of a long day).

Who here on Bookrix has had their short story accepted by a respected publication? If accepted, what was the experience, good or bad?

Am busy setting up an editorial business providing the whole range of editing process. Up to now I've only "dabbled" in this, when friends asked me to edit their books for a modest fee. It's a departure from content writing and blogging, but a welcome one, I must say, after some 5 years of slaving away as a copywriter. I'm also considering offering online writing tuition, which I've done on and off over the past few years and always really enjoyed. Life's too short, so we might as well fill it with activities we really enjoy, even in our work life.

Yesterday I discovered this chap on aboutme.com who has survived more cancer attacks and cutting-edge treatment than any other person on the planet. He was supposed to have died 13 years ago, but here he is, still standing, but one-eyed, running half marathons and publishing books about his various cancer conditions (neck and head). Utterly inspirational stuff. Made my breast cancer episode seem positively pedestrian. Long, long may he live to enjoy life, I say!

If you live in the UK and would like to participate in a writing competition, here's another chance to shine and walk away with a large prize:

https://mslexia.co.uk/competition/novel-competition/

Your novel must have at leasst 50,000 words and not have been published anywhere else. Entry fee is rather steep at £25.00 per person.

As most fantasy writers know, trolls are nasty and not very intelligent creatures. As most writers also know, the web is full of trolls who are continuously looking for fresh meat to vent their spleen on. Just like their supernatural counterparts, they are not the brightest of contributors.

While supernatural mountain trolls boast warty faces and huge scaly bodies, the average Internet troll who leaves silly, rude or plain stupid messages on authors' blogs or Bookrix profiles is invariably somebody with a green face - green with envy, since they lack the talent others have in abundance. Typically, they are also green behind the ears, since they lack the expert knowledge to make a worthwhile comment, critique or worthwhile point.

In other words: those of us who have a proven track record of earning a living from their writing don't give a flying fig if virtual trolls like what we do. We know what TROLLS do: wasting their time with troll messages instead of being truly creative.

Can't see trolls achieving their dream of becoming a respected writer of repute any time soon, can you?

In the current book publishing climate authors and illustrators depend on each other more than ever to help each other promote books with virtual book tours, joint signing events, joint launch parties etc.

Therefore, rubbishing somebody's work (especially when not actually reading the full work in the first place, but merely glancing at the bit available for free), be it here on Bookrix or other publishing platforms, will eventually come to haunt book-writing trolls. Nobody will ask them to be a guest blogger, participate in book tours or any other type of joint promotional work. Illustrators will run a mile before working with trolls. So will freelance editors. Nobody wants to work with a nasty person, if they can help it.

Your virtual troll messages will also eventually come to the attention of those in the publishing world who might have considered representing your work. No literary agent or publishing house works with somebody long-term who is utterly unprofessional. Word gets round surprisingly quickly and writers who constantly bad-mouth others will find doors shut firmly in their face before long.

So even if the book you've written and self-published has commercial merit, you've scuppered your chances of getting a publishing contract - and sizeable advance - before you've even got a foot in the door. The virtual world may appear huge, but it isn't when it comes to bad karma coming round to bite you in the butt.

For those of you looking for a summer writing challenge, there are plenty of competitions out there. Have a look at

http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/adults/short-stories/prizes/

to find one just write for you (and your kids, for there are quite a few interesting contests around for children)

Not that I've got time these days for competitions - still several books to finish off so Bookrix bookworms can have more to choose from with regard to my fiction:)

Good luck, if you're entering something into any of these contestsQ

Met with my illustrator friend yesterday for an update on illustrations for my Flippety Floppet stories (for kids aged 5-7). It's amazing seeing my little alien and her new Earthling friends come to "life" on the page, to see the little town I imagined suddenly fleshed out with roofs and church towers, trees and streets. If you're an illustrator out there in the Bookrix cyber space, watch out for events hosted by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators:

https://britishisles.scbwi.org/forillustrator/

They run master classes and workshops and you can showcase your work on their site as well as participate in contests. Writers should watch out for events like this one in September:

https://britishisles.scbwi.org/events/london-agents-party/

Meet the agents and present your work in person at Foyles bookstore in London. Please note: you must be a member to participate in events. The Society has international presence, so there may well be a chapter hosting events in your corner of the world.

I've read through the blurbs for you books for children and they seem terrific. I think I'll suggest to my cousin who has 5 children all of whom are under the age of 10, that she takes a look at your webpage. Good luck to you!

I'm getting a consistent average of ca. 300 views per week on aboutme(dot)com now that the site has added "shared interests" to their search facility. Is anyone else from Bookrix on aboutme and has had positive experiences? Promoting one's fictional efforts is such hard work as a self-published author! Goodreads is finally paying off for me, since I'm now regularly uploading reviews. Any good (free) sites anyone can recommend for promotional purposes?

Am working hard on a brand new picture book series aimed at children aged 5 to 7. The Flippety Floppet, a cute little alien, comes to Earth on an educational visit and gets more than she bargained for when she meets Wilbert the Wizard and Rabbit.

Thanks to a chance meeting at a Subway eatery in Kent I've found a brilliant illustrator I can work with on this series. It's so exciting to see your fictional creation appear as an image on a page! Is anyone else in the Bookrix virtual world working on a picture book at the moment?