Yesterday I had some terrific news. My short story “The Woman in His Room” has been selected to appear in the next volume of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW EROTICA. I was giddy when I heard! This is a prestigious annual collection and it's an honour to have one of my stories appear in it. “The Woman in His Room” originally appeared in GIRLS ON TOP, edited by Violet Blue and published by Cleis Press. In more good news, Ashley Lister has reviewed UNLEASHED on behalf of the Erotica Readers and Writers Association, and he’s said some amazing things about my work! Ashley Lister is a prolific author and a creative writing tutor. To have someone with those qualifications say positive things about what I'm doing is an enormous boost. Writing isn’t always the easiest job, it’s lonely and it demands all the things being self-employed does--self-motivation, belief, confidence. I don’t often find myself firing on all cylinders, and I'm especially shaky when it comes to the confidence requirement. Often I feel as if I’m reaching for stars that are way beyond me. When I read what Ashley Lister said about my work, I was SO encouraged.
As anyone who reads this blog knows, I've been writing short stories for a long while now. It's where I started and for the longest time that was all I did, then I moved into longer works. Ashley has read several collections that included my work before now, and he has said some wonderful things about my efforts when reviewing those books. In this latest review, he looks at my single author short story collection, UNLEASHED. Here's a snippet of what he had to say:
Few people recognise that the short story is an art form distinct from the novel. Instead of seeing short fiction as a stand-alone art, they see short stories as a condensed novel: which is not how it works. Mastery of one form does not automatically suggest competence in the other. However, when you come across the work of a writer like Saskia Walker, you find yourself in the hands of an author who can proficiently write novels and short fiction and make either genre irresistible.
Unleashed is a collection of short stories for the Saskia Walker aficionado. Written with Ms Walker’s distinctive voice – never telling the story, always allowing events to unfold before the reader – Unleashed comprises a collection of twenty delicious erotic shorts all written by the inimitable Saskia Walker...
Read full review here.
I am hugely encouraged, thank you Mr Lister!
Meanwhile, on the work front, I completed a short story earlier this week and I’m now back working on the main project, THE HARLOT. It's going slowly but it is moving, and having some self-belief nudged my way helps me no end!
