I had a brief foray into writing in the late-nineties, shortly after we left South Africa to live and work in Bavaria. At that time I was studying a writing course and I wrote mostly creative experiential non-fiction articles. I had some successes in various magazines, Cats World, Dogs Monthly, Lancashire Magazine and, to my surprise two articles in the Financial Times Weekend Supplement. When we returned to England mid 2000, I recommenced working in Human Resources and didn’t write again for ten years.
In July 2010 I started to write a novel and, needing advice from time to time, I joined writewords.org.uk where I was introduced to the concept of flash fiction. Sceptical at first, I quickly became interested in this medium through the weekly challenges which take place in the Flash Fiction forum, and it is in this field that I have had the majority of my work published. I learned a lot from the other writers on this forum, sufficient to realise that attempting a novel had been a tad premature so I put the 85,000 word unfinished manuscript on the back burner and set about learning to write. Again.
Index of Published Work
COMPETITION PLACINGS
Remembering at Christmas (99 Fiction, November 2014 – Winner)
The Chill Factor: (Writers’ Forum Competition Winner, December 2014 – lst Place)
The Reluctant Witness (Writing Magazine Competition Winner, April 2015) – 1stPlace
Another Manic Monday (Writers’Forum Competition Winner #170 1st Place)
A Matter of Minutes (Flash 500 – 4th quarter 2015 – 1st Place)
Finn – (Second Place, Magic Oxygen Literary Prize 2015/2016)
Triangles – (First Place, Flash500 Annual Short Story Competition, 2016)
Rosemary’s Baby – (Second Place, Flash500 Annual Short Story Competition, 2016)
The Sisterhood – (3rd Place, Flash 500 November 2018)
Reasonable Access – Runner-Up, The Kimberley Memorial Writing Competition, Jan 2022
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES:
Bin it, bag it or (glass) bank it? (Financial Times Weekend, March 1999)
We’re moving house again – Johannesburg Style (Financial Times Weekend, June 1999)
MAGAZINES :
Something Different (Lancashire Magazine, May/June 1999)
Memories of a Factory Cat, Part 1 (Cat World, May 1999)
Memories of a Factory Cat, Part 2 (Cat World, June 1999)
The Siege (Cat World, August 1999)
Keeping Mum… and Dad (Murder in the Sun, July 2015)
FLASH FICTION
Rescue (MicroHorror, September 2010) and published in anthology by Static Movement
Prussian Blue (MicroHorror, October 2010)
A Space to Die For (MicroHorror, October 2010)
Pipped at the Post (MicroHorror, October 2010)
Space Invader (Every Day Fiction, November 2010)
The Old Ways (Every Day Fiction, December 2010)
A Free Spirit (Backhand Stories, January 2011)
Missing (The Pygmy Giant, February 2011):
The Old Fox (Shine Journal, February 2011)
Jessica and the Rabbit ( Every Day Fiction, April 2011)
Hero (Short Humour, March 2011)
What Best Friends Are For (Short Humour, April 2011)
A Matter of Death and Life (MicroHorror, May 2011)
All He Wanted For Christmas … (The Short Humour Site, June 2011)
Your Turn to Come to Us …? (The Short Humour Site, June 2011)
Ouma and the Wood Pigeon (Every Day Fiction, July 2011)
My Dad Said … (The Pygmy Giant, July 2011)
The Invisible Woman (The Pygmy Giant, July 2011)
Hidden Depths (The Short Humour Site, August 2011)
Shaken and Stirred (The Pygmy Giant, August 2011)
Cyber Power (Bewildering Stories, August 2011)
Visiting Hour (Bewildering Stories, September 2011)
A Bit More Up Top (Bewildering Stories, September 2011)
A Family Trait (Apollo’s Lyre – Bouquet of Shorts, September 2011)
The Cat That Disappeared (Every Day Fiction, September 2011)
The Sleep Thief (Eclectic Flash Literary Journal, Vol III, September 2011, page 107)
A Telling Tale (Long Story Short, October 2011)
The Bottom Line (Bewildering Stories, October 2011)
Just a Game (Flashes in the Dark, & MicroHorror, October 2011)
Indicium Aquae (MicroHorror, October 2011)
Hand Me Downs, (MicroHorror, October 2011)
The Force (5 Minute Fiction, October 2011)
Deep Down (MicroHorror, October 2011)
Waving Goodbye (Bewildering Stories, November 2011)
Vive La Danse! (Short Humour Site, November 2011)
Handshake (The Pygmy Giant, November 2011)
Faith Stealer (Bewildering Stories, December 2011)
Counting the Minutes (Bewildering Stories, December 2011)
Evening Class (Postcard Shorts, December 2011)
Trading Futures (Postcard Shorts, December 2011)
A Tribute to Jemima (The Short Humour Site, December 2011)
Biting The Hand That Feeds You (Every Day Fiction, December 2011)
The Two Swans (Bewildering Stories, January 2012)
One Good Turn … (Postcard Shorts, January 2012)
Interview with Flash Fiction Chronicles, (January 2012)
The Rag and Bone Man (Bewildering Stories, January 2012)
Another Life (5MinuteFiction, February 2012)
When I Were a Lad (Short Humour Site, February 2012)
The Change of Life (MicroHorror, February 2012)
Moving On (The Pygmy Giant. February 2012)
She Who Can Do No Wrong (Postcard Shorts, February 2012)
Payback (MicroHorror, February 2012)
Such A Cold Heart, (MicroHorror, March 2012)
Missing Her (Every Day Fiction, March 2012)
Wicked (Postcard Shorts, April 2012)
An Inappropriate Choice (Postcard Shorts, April 2012)
Four Play (The Short Humour Site, April 2012) and in People of Few Words, Vol 4
A Gethsemane Moment (5 Minute Fiction, April 2012)
Scarce Resources (Pygmy Giant, April 2012)
Another Day in Paradise (Bewildering Stories, April 2012)
Nemesis (The Short Humour Site, April 2012)
The Big Issue, (The Pygmy Giant, May 2012)
The Sound of Silence (Postcard Shorts, May 2012)
Bossy and the Beast, or A Not So Distressed Damsel (Bewildering Stories, September 2012)
The Man in Black (Long Story Short, September 2012)
The Things You Do for Love (Postcard Shorts, October 2012)
Brotherly Love (Short Humour Site, January 2013)
Sangatte (Postcard Shorts, January 2013)
Calling Home (Postcard Shorts, January 2013)
The Untaken One (With Painted Words February 2013)
Menage a Trois (The Story Shack, February 2013)
Ephiphany (Pygmy Giant, February 2013)
Smack Head (The Story Shack, March 2013)
Last Day on the Island (Postcard Poems & Prose, May 2013)
The Evil That Men Do (With Painted Words, June 2013)
James and Jaz (The Shine Journal, July 2014)
First on the Scene (With Painted Words, November 2014)
SHORT STORIES:
No Secrets Now (Bewildering Stories, May 2012)
POETRY:
Keadby to Cromwell Lock (Every Day Poets, January 2011)
The Tattoo (Every Day Poets, February 2011)
Monsieur Ragondin: (Every Day Poets, March 2011)
That day: (Every Day Poets, June 2011)
Ode to a Tom Cat: (Every Day Poets, August 2011)
Flight of Fantasy (Every Day Poets, January 2011)
castelsarrasin 
Hey there. I found your site via a comment you left on Every Day Fiction. Lucky you to have been published so much! I need to get writing! It’s true, writers do need to write…and then relearn how to, as many times as possible. 🙂
By the way, the link for “Hero” published by Short Humour is broken. I think there’s a missing colon after “http”.
Good luck getting your blog into gear. I’m also working on a blog; it’s for my editing service. It’s kind of fun. 🙂
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Thanks for commenting Lauren, and bringing that broken link to my attention. ‘Hero’ was one of my favourite stories, and I’ve fixed it now. Good luck with your blog, and with your editing service.
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Hello Sandra,
Glad you commented on my 100 words. It helps.
May I be personal and ask why you have abandoned your book; for which you had so many words already in place?
Do you find publishing your very good short stories (they are all short??) gives more satisfaction than perservering.
I too have that book in the bottom drawer and am only fishing for advise.
Liz
PS Where in South Africa were you from?
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Hi Liz, thanks for dropping by. I originally put the book on the back burner because I seemed to be learning so much that I needed to incorporate into the book. Lately I’ve looked at it again, and decided that it’s the plot more than anything that it is too convoluted. Not sure what I will do with it now.
I’ve enjoyed writing flash, (it just doesn’t seem like so much hard work :)) though now and then I’ll find that a good idea simply can’t be handled in that format, so I’ll do longer stories, but not so often. I’d recommend taking your book out at regular intervals, and reviewing where you need to go with it. Or, if you can bear it, (I couldn’t), get someone else to read it and comment. Someone you trust.
Re South Africa: we lived in Johannesburg when my husband was assigned to work there. Nowadays, when we go back, we usually go to Cape Town which is a particular favourite of ours.
Good luck with your book!
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Do you have a particular time goal before you get back on to your novel again? Because I similarly have started a novel, and then I started writing flash fiction and haven’t worked much on it for a while.
I guess I’m also trying to get better at writing, but at the back of my mind I kind of want to at least finish draft one before I let it percolate to eventually return to with fresh eyes.
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Hi there! I don’t have a time goal but I do have another trigger which would get me back to it: I’d need to start believing in it again. I think the plot is good and original, but my coverage of it isn’t, and it’s not something I know how to put right just yet. I’m a great believer in ‘leaving something to percolate’. Whilst you’re writing flash you’re honing your writing skills and you may return to it better equipped to complete it. But sometimes these days I wonder about my ability to write longer pieces now that I’m so completely entrenched in ‘flash’. So I’ve got no concrete answers for you I’m afraid.
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Hi Sandra,
After you left a comment on my story, I clicked your name (I’m curious like that!) and discovered your blog and all these published works. Congratulations! As a result of reading your blogged stories, I’ve linked up with two other writers today as well, so thank you for that. But the best bit is I now have a face to put to the name ‘Sandra’. 🙂 I look forward to reading more of your stories in future.
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Lovely to hear from you Rose, and thanks for dropping by. I was absolutely floored by your story on Wednesday Write In this week and was pleased to know that you might be overcoming ‘writer’s block’. Otherwise it would be a criminal waste of your talent, judging from what I read this morning. Off to follow you now. 🙂
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Looking forward to working my way through these! You have a great talent for flash, as your published list shows. It’s always a pleasure to read what you produce,
Mikaela 🙂
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Thank you Mikaela, so glad you dropped by.
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Dear Sandra,
I promptly came over to visit your blog and was hooked the moment I saw your page Cruising in France. I try very hard to learn French – it is difficult with not too many to speak to on a daily basis. Loved the success you have enjoyed being published – perhaps you should pick up that 85,000 manuscript again?
I have been writing forever and have had long quiet periods of not writing, sometimes for years. But now I am seriously inspired to write novels. It has been a long road and there are no detours and shortcuts in sight – I just have to continue to see where I end up.
Thank you for dropping by my blog. Please do visit as often as you can. Likewise, I will pop in to enjoy your beautiful cruise adventure.
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Thanks for dropping by and having a look around. Interested to read you are setting your sights on a novel. These days, with e-books, it’s so easy to publish your own so I think that’s quite motivating. Not motivating enough for me to pick up my novel again yet, but perhaps I will put together an anthology of all the short pieces I’ve done and publish that.
Enjoyed your piece; I’ll pop back in a few weeks or so to see what’s going on.
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I thought about you when it was time to pass this award on. Please accept.
http://wp.me/p28tjX-D7
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Thank you for thinking of me, I appreciate the thought. And congratulations to you. 🙂
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Hi! Is your work available for purchase?
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Hi Abraham, I’m working on pulling all my flash fiction together for an e-book, but compiling and editing is a long job and progress is slow. On the right of this page you’ll see the anthologies that have included one or more of my pieces in them, and there are a further three in the pipeline. Thanks for reading, reblogging and commenting – I appreciate your support.
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what a feat you have achieved Sandra! lovely to come across you ! Thanks for your visit
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Hi Sandra – congratulations on all these publications – mighty! I am pushing myself to explore the world of flash and came across your blog link on 99Flash website where I see you won the November 2014 competition. I loved that piece but it also made me realise that I have a bit of work to do to get my flash pieces as honed and precise as yours (2k words is my more comfortable zone). Thank you for the inspiration!
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Thanks for dropping by Safia. Why not take a look at Friday Fictioneers? A weekly photo prompt is released (Wednesdays) and about a hundred or so writers generate their own stories from the photograph and then comment on each others’ stories. If you want constructive criticism just indicate so and many writers will be happy to offer assistance. Or take a look at WriteWords, an internet forum with several different groups concentrating on different genre, one of which is Flash Fiction. Enjoy your writing!
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Thank you, Sandra. Friday Fictioneers sounds good – I’ll check it out. Sx
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It’s interesting to here you say about re- learning to write. I’m right there with you. It’s much scarier this time around but fun
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I think, as writers, the process must inevitably be ongoing for ever. 🙂
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Hi Sandra. I’m glad I stumbled upon your blog. I’ve been attempting to write flash fiction – not very successfully- so I’m looking forward to reading all yours and maybe … learning something? I’m also gradually going through your book reviews. Anyway, interesting blog, I’m looking forward to exploring.
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Hi, thanks for visiting. Maybe you’d like to visit Friday Fictioneers too, by clicking on the linky tool at the end of each FF post. I can think of no better place to get started on flash fiction – you’ll get some good advice there. It’s run by https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/ Hope to see you there and feel free to explore some more here.
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Great idea! I will!
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Hi there Sandra and thanks for dropping by my blog.
It’s great to meet you and you have certainly been busy with your writing. I too have written for Dogs Monthly. We have had two retired racing greyhounds… so theres’s lots to write about there!
I look forward to following your blog.
Dorne x
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Hi Dorne, I love greyhounds. We used to have two border collies, about whom I wrote in Dogs Monthly way back in 1998 when we brought them from South Africa to Germany and later on to England. The process was much more complicated then than it is now. We’ve just acquired a rescue cat, and loving every minute of her company. Looking forward to visiting your blog often to see what’s going on, and thanks for dropping by here.
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Wow… you’re truly a busy and accomplished lady! Great!!
PS – I only see the South Africa connection now… how long did you live there?
😉
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Thank you. Three or four years, I guess, back in the nineties. Happy memories.
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HI
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