Here are two things I’ve come across recently that might be of interest.

Firstly, Groupon are offering a massive discount on a course entitled ‘Learn to Write Children’s Stories’. It is advertised as being reduced from £349 to £14!

The course consists of 14 modules (those of you who are good at Maths will have worked out that this is the equivalent £1 per module) and guides “beginners through the process of writing great children’s stories, from plot to story structure to voice and style, this course aims to free imaginations and let the inner child create tales of adventure”.

However, this offer is only valid for five more days (which, by my calculations, is until 19th June 2014).

Full details are here.

Secondly, Joe Mynhardt of Crystal Lake Publishing is running a FREE to enter Horror Short Story Competition.

The organisation of this competition is different to most competitions. Initially Joe only wants to see 150 words. These words must be split (in any ratio) over the synopsis and opening of the story. For example the synopsis might be 30 words and the opening 120 words or vice versa.

Those that get through this first round of the competition will then be invited to submit their full story, which must be between 3000 and 7000 words and it must be horror, weird or suspenseful.

The prizes are as follows:

1st: Your story in Tales From the Lake Vol.2; $40; one contributor’s copy; bragging rights; a 30,000 word edit by Joe Mynhardt; all Crystal publish eBooks published at the time of announcing the winners.

2nd: Your story in Tales From the Lake Vol.2; one contributor’s copy; $30; a 20,000 word edit by Joe Mynhardt; any two Crystal publish eBooks published at the time of announcing the winners.

3rd: Your story in Tales From the Lake Vol.2; one contributor’s copy; $20; a 10,000 word edit by Joe Mynhardt; any one Crystal publish eBook published at the time of announcing the winners.

Full details of the competition are here and the first round closes on June 30th 2014 – so there’s still time to write those initial 150 words.

Regular readers of this blog may remember that Joe did an informative guest post for us on fiction writing. It’s still available here and might be worth a read if you’re thinking of entering the competition.