Hooray! The winners of Big Finish’s Doctor Who short story competition have been officially announced, and I was one of the 24 shortlisted. I can now publicly celebrate the fact that I’m going to have my first professionally published short story in an anthology next year – woo!

Michael Coen’s What I Did On My Holidays has won the Big Finish Doctor Who short story competition, launched on our website and aimed at previously unpublished new writers. The story – which features the second Doctor and his friends Jamie and Zoe – will be published in the Defining Patterns anthology, in September of this year. Norman’s homework worries his teacher. Instead of a trip to the beach or the zoo, it’s about meeting a man from the future. Norman of course knows better than to talk to strange men, but this is his own grown-up self. Surely he can’t mean any harm… Can he? “To have actually won the competition is a huge surprise and an absolute delight,” says Michael. “I can’t wait to see my story in print and I’m also looking forward to reading the stories from other entrants, which I’m sure are equally deserving.” The competition aimed to give one new author their ‘first break’. Open to anyone who had never had a work of fiction professional published, the brief was to write a 2,500-word story based on the theme How The Doctor Changed My Life. The response was massive. With more than 1,000 full-length entries, the judges read the equivalent of 50 new series hardback novels before picking Michael’s as their favourite. “It’s a lively, funny and strangely moving story,” enthuses chief-judge Simon Guerrier. “Michael keeps you guessing all the way along. And, very importantly, he’s really brings the second Doctor to life.” “Having now fulfilled one of my life’s ambitions,” says Michael, “I can start to work my down the rest of the list – travelling in space (and time, if possible), finding a cache of missing Doctor Who episodes, meeting [actress] Anneke Wills… And, of course, trying to persuade Big Finish to accept some more submissions from me!” What’s more, though the competition was aimed at finding just one winner, the judges were so impressed with the quality of many entries they’ve decided to extend the prize. “We had an incredibly strong shortlist of the best 25 entries,” explains Guerrier. “Defining Patterns will see Michael’s story published alongside many established and well-known writers. But we felt our shortlist was of such quality that it deserved a whole book of its own.” This special anthology, deftly titled How The Doctor Changed My Life, will be published in late 2008. The 24 runners up are: Violet Addison; Steven Alexander; Mike Amberry; Arnold T Blumberg; Anna Bratton; John Callaghan; Dann Chinn; Stephen Dunn; Richard Goff; Peter Hallbright; Tim Lambert; JR Loflin; Nick May; James C McFetridge; Simon Moore; Michael Montoure; LM Myles; Einar Olgeirsson; Bernard O’Toole; Andrew K Purvis; Michael Rees; Mark Smith; Chris Wing; Caleb Woodbridge

I was informed by email last Thursday, and I’ve been buzzing with the news ever since. As an aspiring writer, it’s a real encouragement for me that I must be doing something right to make the shortlist. Here’s to making it to the top spot in the next competition I enter!