Hello

I am Joe Lavelle, a fifty-something gay writer based in Liverpool, England. I have started this blog because I want to:

  • find and share opportunities to learn from other writers – not just other gay writers (although that is important to me)
  • find and share contacts for publications and opportunities to publish short fiction

I aim to produce blogs of 500 words or less and encourage other writers to contribute too.

Why start this blog?

I have written short fiction since the 1990s, but I have not found writing easy. Finding the time to write is one thing, especially if you have a day job, but finding opportunities to publish short fiction is another. Writing is a solitary affair too and I need to communicate with other writers. Short fiction doesn’t get the credit and prestige it deserves and I want to add my voice in support too.

My writing experience:

I came to writing late (in my late thirties) after attending several short courses at the Continuing Education Department of Liverpool University (www.liv.ac.uk/continuing-education). Initially, I found some success as a freelance journalist writing features for UK gay publications, but mainly “mainstream” publications in Northwest England. I withdrew from journalism, because I found the competitive nature of freelancing daunting. In any case, I really wanted to write short fiction, which I did with some success between 1995 – 2008 when I had gay-themed stories published in publications in Canada, USA, UK, Australia and Germany. Gay sexuality, however, is not my only theme and my fiction takes in issues relevant to the whole of humanity.  Some of my obsessions include (but are not limited to): childhood, the family, mental health, modern Germany, cities, poverty and class (very British of me, I know) and clubbing.

After various successes and failures, a need to learn more about the craft of writing led to a BA (German and Creative Writing) at the Open University (www.open.ac.uk). Then in 2014, I achieved a Creative Writing MA from Lancaster University (www.lancaster.ac.uk) for which I produced a collection of (as yet unpublished) gay-themed short stories set in Germany.

Markets for Gay Short Fiction:

Between 1995 and 2005, I had short fiction published in many print publications including the queer and gay erotic anthologies produced by the Canadian publisher Arsenal Pulp Press (www.arsenalpulp.com). I also wrote gay erotic fiction for various US anthologies (most notably Alyson Publications). I even had a story published in New Millennium, New Writing: The Gay Times Book of Short Stories (Gay Times Books, London, 2000).

More recently, however, I have found markets for gay male fiction (outside erotic fiction) harder to find. That said, in 2014 I had stories published in Polari an online international alternative queer literary journal published in Australia (www.polarijournal.com) and Glitterwolf a British LGBT online literary journal (http://glitterwolf.webeden.co.uk).

Markets for Other Short Fiction:

I have had less success in getting non-gay short fiction published and what successes I have had are through competitions. In 2014, I won the short story strand of the “Mental Health and Me” writing competition organised through Writing on the Wall (www.writingonthewall.org.uk). Rather than competitions, however, I want to find online and print publishers for short fiction.

Writing Groups:

I was a member of several “general” writing groups, which I found useful, but I tended to self-censor my gay-themed writing. This led to my involvement in Queer Scribes, a writing and performance group in the late 1990s, it was a very positive experience, but short-lived.

I am currently involved in setting up the Merseyside LGBT Writing Group, which has its first meeting in Liverpool on 31 May (www.meetup.com/LGBT-Creative-Writing-Meetup-MERSEYSIDE).

Some things that have been useful:

Finally, here are some things that I have found useful and/or interesting.

  • For LGBT writers, the “Calls for Submissions” page of the Lambda Literary is worth bookmarking:  www.lambdaliterary.org/category/subs
  • Similarly lesbian and gay writers who use facebook should check out the “Gay/Lesbian Writers/Poets” public group
  • With reference to the craft of short fiction, a book I often refer to is: Gebbie, Venessa (ed) Short Circuit: A Guide to the Art of the Short Story (Salt Publishing, London,  2009). I particularly gained a great deal from Nuala Ní Chonchúir’s essay “Language and Style: A Guide from a Short Story Writer/Poet”