For those of you who might have just stumbled in, let me give you a run-down of what is going on here.
Weeks ago the submission window opened for this year's contest where we asked anybody wishing to participate to submit a 500-word writing sample – using a pen name. The sample can be from any genre, flash fiction or something from a larger piece of work, basically, anything goes except that it cannot have been previously published or posted on the internet. All of the rules regarding how to submit can be found here. After the submission period closed, we had fifteen judges (we call them our slush pile readers) read all 181 submissions from 132 writers and once all the ballots were total we narrowed the 181 down to the 30 that will be stepping into the ring over the course of the next three weeks. Today is the first of those bouts.
How this works – two anonymous (pen name only) writing samples step into the ring. Visitors to this blog (that’s you) read both entries and vote for the one that resonates the most with you. We ask that you leave a brief critique for both writers with your vote because that is one of the real values of this contest – FEEDBACK. Please be respectful with your remarks!
Even though there will be a different bout every day (M-F), the voting for each bout will remain open for seven days from the date it is posted to give as many people as possible to have a say. The voting for today’s bout will close on Thursday, April 26th (noon central time).
It’s that simple. The piece that garnishes the most votes moves on to the next round where they’ll face a different opponent. Using a tournament style format, the 30 contestants will be whittled down to just 2, and the winner of that final bout will be announced at the DFW Writers Conference in Hurst TX June 9-10. You can follow along with all of the bout results right HERE.
In case of a tie, I’m the deciding vote. I can do that because, like all of you, I do not know the real names of our contestants either (my wife processes all the submissions).
Oh yeah – for every bout that you vote in, your name (see rule #2 below) will be placed into a hat for a chance for a $40 Barnes and Noble Gift card that will be drawn after the contest concludes.
A few rules –
1) One vote per visitor per bout.
2) Although our contestants are anonymous, voters cannot be. Anonymous votes will not count, so if you do not have a Google account and are voting as a guest, be sure to include your name and email address.
3)Using any method (email, social media, text, etc) to solicit votes for a specific contestant will result in that contestant's immediate disqualification. It’s perfectly okay, in fact, it is encouraged to spread the word about the contest to get more people to vote, just not for a specific writer!
That’s enough jibber-jabber…like the man say’s –
In the far corner, we have BananaGram representing the Cozy Mystery genre.
Where was Gabby yesterday after the casino players came back to Wise Acres? There was something going on with Gabby and Gertie was bound to find out what. “More research,” she chuckled to herself as she went to meet with Maude and Clarice about the murder.
All they knew was that someone had been murdered at the casino the day before while the residents were on their monthly gambling outing and Ben, one of the residents of Wise Acres Independent Retirement Living Center, was arrested. They decided the best way to get information was to visit the scene of the crime: the casino.
“There won’t be another bus trip for a month, though. We can’t wait that long. Poor Ben will already be convicted by then.” Maude pointed out. “And, since none of us has a car, we can’t drive to the casino.”
“I know! We can take MyRide! My daughter uses MyRide all the time.” Clarice sat up and looked at the others.
“Do you know how MyRide works?” Gabby asked.
“No, but I have seen my daughter touch something on her cell phone, and a few minutes later a car drives up.”
“She must have an app on her phone for MyRide. Do any of you have apps on your phone?” Gertie took out her phone and looked at the screen. “I have no idea how we can get apps. Or even what apps are.”
“I remember when phones were for calling people. Now you can take pictures, do email, order food, and apparently even order MyRide cars. At least that is what I have heard. I have never done any of those things.” Gabby flipped the lid open on her phone. “I’m not even sure if this phone will do those things.”
“Gabby, I told you to get a new smart phone when I got mine. That old flip phone won’t do anything but make phone calls.” Gertie tapped the screen on her phone, frowned at it, and then set it on the table.
“Well, let’s figure out when we want to go and then figure out how we will get there.”
“Let’s go tomorrow. We can ask around and find out who was murdered.” Clarice liked going to the casino. Her favorite machines were the penny slots. She could play all day on $10 worth of pennies and not feel like she lost anything.
“What day is tomorrow? I have a chair yoga class on Friday at 2:00.”
“Tomorrow is Thursday, Maude. You won’t miss your chair yoga class. Does anyone else have any plans tomorrow?” Gertie picked her phone up again. “I think there is a calendar on here somewhere.”
“I think we all can go.” Gabby said, “Now, how will we get there?”
“I’ll call my daughter and ask her to order us an MyRide. She’s always telling me that I should get out more.” Clarice picked up her phone and punched in some numbers.
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And in the near corner, we have Peter Pen representing the Science Fiction Romance genre.
The lightning strike hurt almost as much as getting dumped five minutes earlier.
Of course this happens to you, Dave, I thought as the bolt violated my body on its way into the ground. Only, I didn’t so much think the words as get the vague sense that I was the butt of some cosmic joke. There’s not much to think about when electricity is scrambling every anxious thought in your brain.
Speaking of anxious thoughts, as soon as I hit the sod my head began filling with them. Would Laurel come out to help me? Would she even look out her window and see my body face down, smoking on her front lawn in the rain? Part of me hoped she wouldn’t, because I’d have to tell her I’d been on her front porch crying for five minutes. Which is more embarrassing than getting struck by lightning in your ex’s yard.
Maybe she’d take care of me, feel sorry for dumping me? Or maybe now I was just like any other crispy twenty-five year old guy dying in front of her house. I mean, we dated since our senior year of college. Three years, two months, and sixteen days. That’s at least worth an ambulance call, right?
When we had dinner with Laurel’s parents last week, I’d overheard her dad saying I didn’t have a future. Guess the lightning proved him right.
Then a new anxious thought arose. Partly because my hair was standing on end with that feeling of static like I’d rubbed a balloon all over my body. But mostly because I found myself hovering six inches above the rain-soaked grass.
“What the…” I croaked. I didn’t curse. Couldn’t. Laurel always called me a boy scout for it, but my parents hated foul language.
Then another strange thing happened. My skin started glowing with a pale light. Faint, the way blue flames lick the yule log at Christmas. Shoot. Christmas. I won’t get to give Laurel the earrings I got for her. Then I realized how ridiculous I was to worry about that, what with hovering above the ground, glowing blue and all. Do I worry too much? Is that why Laurel broke up with me?
I attempted to force away the thought. Laurel couldn’t come out and find me crying again before I died. I tried to stifle the tears, and, luckily, only two thin laser beams escaped my eyes. Uh... I blinked away the beams and stared at singed grass. I need to stop hovering. I pushed at the ground to stand, but instead shot straight up fifty feet into the air. I hung there for a moment, thunder peeling around me as I stared down at Laurel’s house. Then it dawned on me.
I could fly.
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Leave your votes and critiques in the comments below. Again, be respectful of your remarks and try to point positives as well as detractions.
We’ll be back next week with another five bouts. See you then.
