For those not in the know, First Edition was born in January this year, appearing on the shelves of WHSmiths seemingly out of nowhere. I’ve been buying the magazine from issue one, and it’s seen some changes over the first three issues already as the editorial staff get used to format, advertising and content. No doubt there’ll be more changes over the first year of its life, but this is one publication I think new writers should get behind as it is, let’s face it, one of the few newsstand publications left that publishes short fiction. Other than Borders and sometimes Waterstones, you’ll be hard pressed to find many newsagents or booksellers that sell copies of say Interzone or the Magazine of Fantasy or Science Fiction. And I’ve never seen an issue of Granta anywhere other than Borders. Writing Magazine and Writer’s Forum hold regular competitions, but they’re devoted to writing rather than being a showcase for fiction.To publish a new magazine focused purely on short fiction – and not just for a specific genre but all kinds of beasts – is a big gamble in this financial climate and takes a lot of courage. Even if I wasn’t being published within their pages, I would still be buying every issue as it hits the stands – they’re more deserving of support than perhaps other newsstand magazines I could speak of.
As for my story, well this is a big deal for me. It’s the first short story of mine to be published, and while it won’t have as much impact as say The Secret War or The Hoard of Mhorrer, it’s a red-letter moment. After all, it was the short form that attracted me to writing in the first place, with anthologies such as Stephen King’s Nightshift, the tales of HP Lovecraft and Barker’s The Books of Blood. I’ve tinkered on occasion with writing short stories, but other than a short-lived foray into the small presses while I was at university, I haven’t seriously submitted anything for publication before.
The Favourite is a small slice of menace – which is perhaps the best description on what is a slow-burning narrative crammed into a few thousand words. It leans on the apocalypse genre a little, but it’s more a character piece and it’s quite different to either Secret War or Hoard.
I’m certain that once I see The Favourite in print, I’ll be eager to polish off the other three or four short pieces I’ve been writing this year, submitting them to various publications around the UK, and perhaps abroad too, though probably under the pseudonym of Frank Wallace, so The Favourite might be the first and last MFW Curran headed short story to see print. We’ll see.
Until then, check out First Edition now. The Favourite will appear in issue 4, out 7th May…
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