It wasn't until I was cooking lunch for guests this weekend that I learned my stove has two temps, burn-to-a-crisp and OFF.
Forget that, I bet everyone wants to know who the winners are in the short story contest, yes?
The judges have sent in their votes and most sent comment which I will share with each writer. In addition to the judges' take on the story itself, they judged with the criteria that is linked to the cactus logo in the top left on the sidebar.
I want to make sure everyone understands the crux of this gig. If I had a dozen lit agents judge this contest, the results would be much the same, their opinions would run the whole spectrum - as it did this contest. There was of course clear winners, but the non-winners were not too far behind and mostly grouped close to each other.
The point of this is: take rejection letters from agents with a grain of salt. Do improve your query letter, but also know, as I've said before, this is a subjective industry. I think everyone can recall a time when there was a buzz about a certain book, then after reading it couldn't figure out the big fuss everyone else was making. Keep writing, keep improving, keep sending out queries.
So...now, the envelope, please!
In the published writer category, the winner is THE LEMON MAN FROM AGEROLA. Congratulations to Jo Smith!
In the unpublished writer category, the winner is THE HUNTER. Congratulations to Peggy Nolan!
I will get your prize checks in the mail and see about getting a winner icon you can use if you like. Also the rest of this week I will be introducing our judges on my blog.
Important note: I'm thinking about posting the link to the entries for everyone to go read the entries and see if you agree with the judges' decision. If anyone who entered the contest does NOT want their entry available, please email me this week, or leave a comment on this post.
Again, congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who entered. Keep writing!
Monday, March 15, 2010
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When Paul Fenton stops for breakfast in a small town, he gets more than he bargained for in the process.
When two-hundred-year-old human remains are discovered on one of Neptune's moons, Earth's history falls into question.
Emily's husband persuades her to try thalidomide to ease her symptoms as she is unaware of the devastating effects.
Who is the women's shelter bomber? Melissa Ryan suspects that her husband knows.
Further developments with the Wilder family.
A hidden past shakes the O'Donovan family to its core
A swirl of emotion and choice, set in Cape Town, South Africa
Love is a constant, but it comes at a price.
When the road ahead is unclear, sometimes you have to rely on trust.
The struggle between good and evil is ages old. It gets all the more complicated when the good guys aren't all good and the bad guys have redeeming qualities.
Story of a land mothering two races of people – the light-skinned and the dark-skinned.
A gifted Ukrainian ballerina comes into possession of a mysteriously coded address book.
Six passengers' lives change for better or worse after they arrive in Honiton.
Resilience and love in a harsh and unforgiving age
Kathryn's Beach
High Tide
Storm Surge
Many congratulations to the worthy winners. As one of the judges, I confirm that I really did enjoy reading all the entries!
ReplyDeleteIt would be great if the winning stories could be published here, so that everyone can enjoy them.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Jo and Peggy! I look forward to reading their winning stories.
ReplyDeletePS: I am happy for mine to be shared.
Wow! Thank you, judges. I'm chuffed to bits! And thank you to Nadine for a great competition. Well done to Peggy and to everyone who entered.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the experience of judging. Something I hadn't done before. I think I learnt a lot from the process. I would have hated to have been solely responsible and I think the final result was fairly arrived at.
ReplyDeleteWell done to all.
In the words of Sally Field: You like me...You really like me!
ReplyDeleteThank you Nadine for sponsoring this contest, giving us clear guidelines to help us submit our future work, and providing us wannabe writers with fantastic tips and advice! Thank you judges for taking your time to judge the contest and our work!
Congratulations Jo!!
Peggy
Peggy and Jo, congratulations.
ReplyDeleteI admire writers hugely, I know what work goes into writing.
I too would love to have the winning entries published here.
Wilma.
Congratulations, Jo and Peggy...and congratulations to Nadine for running a contest that was actually a lot of fun. Personally, I'd love to read all the entries. Let us know if they're going to be available.
ReplyDeleteDon -
I've been offline all day - what a day for that to happen! Just a reminder, I will delete any comments not in English. Now, to go respond to the remaining comments.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to everyone who entered the contest. It takes committment to get something submitted and to overcome the concern of being "judged" so "Well Done."
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading all the stories submitted and each of the judges commented they enjoyed the process too.
Yes, Peggy and Jo - we love you, we really love you. Congratulations!
It is going on 8 PM here and I haven't fixed dinner or done anything since I worked late then called the tech support for the internet company, so I will stick with my new schedule of posting on M-W-F and hope you'll all return for more details.
Peggy and Jo, please email me your mailing address. I know I have it somewhere, but trust me, I am soooooo not unpacked it isn't funny.
BTW, so far no one has indicated they rather not have their works made public, so it is looking like I will reveal the link to access the stories later in the week - I want to make sure everyone has a chance to decline.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Wilma. I enjoyed reading your blog. What an adorable grand niece you have.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back to everyone else, and shall I tell that Carolyn sent and email that said I made her smile? Hmmm, maybe it will just be our little secret.
Am I driving you guys nuts with all my posts? There are a couple of requests to not post their stories. We'll see how it goes. Might just post the winners' stories, if they agree.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to the winners! And thank you, Nadine, for this contest. For us beginners it was a great chance to get our stories out there and get feedback. I'm looking forward to reading all the great stories :)
ReplyDeleteHello Ivana. Thank you for entering the contest. Thanks to everyone because I know it takes time to get a story written and the nail biting to submitting.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting more requests not to share the entries and in the beginning I said I wouldn't, so looks like I'm sticking with that. However, if anyone wants to post their entry on their blog, I'll be glad to post the link.
There will be a special surprise on Wed's post. Stay tuned...
Hi Nadine .. ah! now I see you'll be posting the links later in the week .. goody! Go well .. seems to be a good contest ..
ReplyDeleteHello Hilary and welcome. I do hope it was a good contest. I never expected to get a job and move during it - the best of plans, eh?
ReplyDeleteI think this turned out positive enough to consider doing it again sometime. What does everyone else think? It will be totally different next time. Even I don't have a clue what I'll do - figures, don't it?