January 06, 2010

Five Second Delay - Accepted


I had my 1100-worder, Five Second Delay, accepted by a UK-based magazine, Delivered today. I made a conscious decision over the festive period to send some of my mixed-genre pieces to UK publications. Stories of mine such as this one, It Goes Without Saying (coming of age over the school fence), A Life Unlived (the baby that never was) and The Full Blown Farce (student meets old, bullied teacher) have a strong, incisive British feel to them and wouldn't go over well in a US market, so it's pretty pointless me sending them there!

Anyway, Five Second Delay deals with a normal suburban bloke preparing for an evening debate on the local radio station. Malcolm Popplewell has not had a glorious life down in the suburbs, but tonight, he has his chance of Warholian glory, just for a while.
Malcolm Popplewell's moment had arrived. Fifty-two years of mediocrity, of not daring to raise his head above the suburban rooftops of Beckenham, of timidness in love and life, would end tonight. Just for a while, he would rule all he surveyed and his existence would mean something and it would be acknowledged by others, at least those listening to LBC on 97.3 FM in the South-East.
This story will appear in the summer/autumn of 2010 and have a readership of at least 17!

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