Last November two authors, Chris Nuttall and L. Jagi Lamplighter, asked for contributions to a new anthology of 'Fantastic School' stories. They have both written a series of novels set in schools of magic.
I remember the date very well, because I had just arrived at the annual British Science Fiction and Fantasy convention 'Novacon'.
I was writing an Urban Fantasy novel at the time. One of the characters was an adolescent girl who had found she could do magic and, as a result, had been sent to an English residential school. I realised that this setting could be used for a short story that might fit within the editors' guidelines.
I described my concept to Chris, asking for his opinion, and he said it sounded good. So I started writing.
This imaginary world already existed in the notes for my novel. One difficulty for me was to explain this background to the reader within the word limit of a short story. I kept adding scenes until I realised the story was getting too long. It was also unbalanced, with too much buildup, which outweighed the final act. So I had to prune it back again. I completed my story, and eventually decided on a name, 'A polite request from a tough soldier'. I sent it off at the beginning of February.
The editors have just informed me that my story has been accepted. They hope to publish the anthology in May. You will understand that for a struggling author, this acceptance is very encouraging.
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