Laura Besley is one of the talented writers whose stories (4 of them to be exact) appear in our very first microfiction anthology Mum Life Stories: Micro-Fiction, Volume One. She has recently been listed by TSS Publishing as one of the top 50 British and Irish Flash Fiction writers with her story ‘On Repeat’ (Reflex Fiction) and her talent with the 21st-century pen has been noted in many online publications, including Fictive Dream, Spelk and EllipsisZine, as well as in print (Flash: The International Short Story Magazine), and in various anthologies like Adverbially Challenged, Another Hong Kong, and Story Cities. Her debut flash fiction collection, The Almost Mothers, was published in March 2020.
When Laura’s new book 100neHundred was released in May (2021) I decided it was time to find out the secrets behind her success and what inspired her. I asked her a few questions about her new book and the journey she took to get to the point of publication, and it surprised me that this book was actually several years in the making.
A bit of back story: Laura is a full-time mum to two young boys and squeezes her writing time into the bookends of her day. Having lived in Holland, Germany, and Hong Kong, she now lives in landlocked central England and misses the sea. Laura writes short (and very short) fiction in the precious moments that her children are asleep.
You can follow Laura on:
Twitter: @laurabesley
Instagram: @besley_laura
Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash
This page contains affiliate links that may earn me a small commission (at no extra cost to you) should you click through and make a purchase. See our privacy policy for more information. Affiliate links are how I keep this blog running. Thank you!
100ndHundred
100neHundred is a collection of 100 flash fiction stories, which are each exactly 100 words long. Equally divided into four seasons, the stories cover a number of themes such as poverty, loss, grief, parenting, and historical fiction, and are written in various different styles.
What inspired you to write a collection of flash fiction?
“I’ve been writing flash fiction for about 10 years and I absolutely love it. I love the challenge of being able to tell a complete story in as few words as possible.”
How long did it take?
“Years. I’m not joking. I started writing 100-word stories several years ago to enter into an online competition run by Morgen Bailey. Each month is themed and you can enter up to three for free, so each month for years, I wrote and entered three. Over time I amassed quite a few and the idea started forming about putting one hundred of them together in one book.”
Were there any obstacles in getting the book out?
“Lockdown was a major obstacle. My manuscript was accepted in March 2020 just as everything in the UK closed and of course, small retailers, including independent booksellers, were hit hard. Luckily Arachne Press was awarded an Arts Council grant which meant that the publication of my book 100neHundred, was able to go forward as well as several others.”
Can you share anything about the submission process and how you got the book published?
“I was extremely lucky because Cherry at Arachne Press contacted me, as well as several other authors she’d already published in various anthologies, to ask if we had manuscripts of either short fiction or poetry to submit. I had all these 100-word stories, some of which had been previously published, but most hadn’t and I spent a couple of weeks editing and ordering them and then sent them off.”
How did it feel when you found out it would be published?
“Absolutely amazing! I can’t imagine that the euphoria of getting a publishing deal ever wears off. “
Any words of advice to anyone who is thinking about publishing a book?
“My advice about writing is always read a lot and write a lot, but more recently I’ve learned that you also need to find “your people” and by that I mean the people who believe in you, really truly believe in you, as a person and a writer; people who will be in your corner no matter what. There are going to be fantastic moments and you want people to celebrate with you, but it’s not all going to be plain sailing. There are going to be disappointments and times you want to give up. In those moments you need people to listen to you, help you, pick you up and tell you it’s going to be ok.”
Laura’s new book 100neHundred is available on Amazon in the UK, USA and, AUSTRALIA. You can purchase Laura’s new book plus her previous publication by following the links in our book shop.
Thanks
Thank you for reading this blog. If you’d like to list your book with us, check out our listing page.
If you’d like to submit a story for consideration to publish, please visit our submissions page.
Sign up HERE, or fill in the form below to be added to our email list and you will receive all the latest news, stories, and promos (including giveaways and competitions) as well as a FREE Ebook exclusive to our email subscribers.