Competition in Guardian newspaper for UK readers

[Ali]

I spotted this just now:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/competition/0,,-1487,00.html

It's for the first paragraph (up to 150 words) of a novel with the title "All We Know of Heaven".

Unfortunately it's only open to UK residents, but I suspect there's a few of us on the forum? :-)

Ali

[Al B]

Just entered this competition for a laugh. I used to be an employee of the Guardian, since I was a writer for the paper, but hopefully no longer being so means I'm okay to enter!

In case anyone is curious, here's my entry (you have to write the first 150 words of a novel titled 'All we know of Heaven):

Another shuddering protest. Again, stifled gasps, expletives, sobs and muttered prayers chorused along the cabin.

Jim had the vaguely absurd notion it was akin to the annoyance one feels when someone kicks the back of your seat in the cinema. Distracting shudders aside, whether up with the gods, or nestling in the relative discomfort of the best economy’s seat 135A could offer, everyone would have the best seat in the house for whatever this show had in store.

Bing. The mellifluous chime of the cabin announcement clashed horribly with a grave Captain: I won't lie to you folks…

Damn.

But Jim already knew entirely too much about aeroplanes to fool himself with some blissful ignorance. He watched the spoilers on the wing shiver as they struggled to cope with the turbulent airflow, abstractly taking in the glint of the sun on the polished aluminium wing.

Or was that the sun?


Incidentally, the wacky structure of the penultimate sentence, with quite a few grammatical anomalies such as the wrong form of abstract and the use of the word 'wing' twice, was deliberate to seem abstract, like the guy's thoughts, until he snaps out of it with the last sentence. Wonder if they'll figure that's what I was doing or just think the grammar is naff?

Al

[DanielScocco]

Thanks for sharing this Ale.

Al, let us know how it will go.