A few weeks back, I had an idea for a book / film. Around the same time, the Herald newspaper and Blasted Heath publishers held a competition. Here’s how they pitched it:

To be eligible to win, send us your pitch for an ebook, in no more than 100 words, with the distinction that this book should have the potential to be published digitally.

It’s up to you what you send - it can be an outline for (or excerpt from) a cracking piece of fiction, or an idea that explores the digital medium further, such as a plan for a graphic novel with audio, or an interactive non-fiction work.

First prize was a copy of all Blasted Heath books to date, and all books they are due to publish in 2012.

This weekend, I sat down at the computer and try to put my idea into 100, competition-winning words. This is what I wrote.

Protector

As she stared at him across the classroom, one thought crossed her mind; he must not leave here with his shoelace untied.

When the bell sounds he will stand up, walk out of the door, meet his friends in the corridor; they will run out of school, he will trip on his shoelace, and he will land face first on a spiked fence. He’ll be dead in minutes.

Velda Cate gazed at the boy’s red Converse sneaker, concentrated on the lace, and completed the perfect surgeon’s knot. She blinked and refocused on his shoe, smiling at her handiwork.

I entered under a pseudonym as I know one of the owners of Blasted Heath and didn’t want my entry to be viewed any more positively or negatively than others. And, to be honest, I didn’t want my name to be attached to it if it was shite.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I won!

Thanks to the folks at both the Herald and Blasted Heath for picking my story. I guess the main question now is, do I have what it takes to expand this and turn it into something else? I can tell you right now that I very much doubt it.