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There is a contest for a 2 sentence story that several writing friends have entered. I am proud to say I know the first 2 winners!
So I decided to give it a try. If you read my previous blog post you know the inspiration for this one. Please vote if you like it. Here’s the link.
I was so excited to win the short story contest. In fact, as soon as I received my $100 in prize money, I sent in my entry fee for the next one. No resting on my laurels for this girl. No sir!
I had several ideals for the Fire and Ice theme. I couldn’t wait to start writing. Then, well, these laurels turned out to be pretty darn comfy. In fact they were so comfy that I didn’t want to get off them.
I haven’t written a darn thing all month. My poor blogs have tumbleweeds blowing around on them. My paypal accounts are sitting empty because I haven’t been writing articles and getting paid. I haven’t written one word of my short story. Darn stupid laurels!
So tonight I vowed to get off of them. I rested instead on my computer chair and started writing. I managed 2 articles and started the first short story. I am excited. I am typing away at 2:31 in the morning trying to decide if I should sleep or keep going.
I am going to keep going.
How about you? Are you going to try the contest this time around? The grand prize is $300, copies of the book and a publishing contract. You could be a published author in an actual honest to goodness, not self published book. Care to join…click here.
Even if you don’t want to enter, you should check out the site. Accentuate services has so much to offer for writers. There are job and contest listings that have all been verified. You can get critiques on your work. You can get help if you have something that needs tweaking. You can ask the grammar question that has been driving you crazy.
Check it out, you won’t be sorry. As for me, I will be sitting here typing up my contest entry. Think you can beat it? You won’t know unless you enter the contest.
I didn’t win last time, but undaunted I submitted a story for the next one.
I am a semi-finalist in the Accentuate Services short story contest. There were 18 entries this time. The competition was pretty fierce too! I can truly say that I am honored to have made it this far. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners all are included in the anthology. There are some cash prizes and stuff but my main goal is to be published. Published in an actual book! I am so excited.
Please cross those fingers and toes for me! Send me good ju-ju to land one of the top 3 spots!!
The next contest is bigger and better. The theme is fire and ice. First place will win $300, plus other goodies!
If you are a writer check out the September/October contest. Good luck!
I have been having a problem with spiders at the house. Arizona brown Spiders have decided to do battle with my family. The are related to the brown recluse. They have a nasty bite. So far we have been victorious, but it was touch and go for a while there. Good thing the hubby has a lot of life insurance. hmmm.
oh, uh anyway, I had the bug people come out and spray the house again. The problem is I can’t breathe the poison in so I had to leave the house.
I went to the library where I couldn’t sign on because of network problems. no biggie, I figured I could work on my short story for Accentuate’s July/August contest. After a couple of hours I go home and immediately start having trouble breathing. I head back out to the MCDonald’s that advertises wifi available. Turns out it ain’t free.
So I spend the day writing and finishing my story. That’s it. I could probably squeeze out an article but the story kind of wrung me out. It was a little close to home and I cried while writing it. Hope that means it is good enough to win this time. I sure as heck plan on editing the heck out of it.
So, now I know work on fiction when I am done with the non fiction stuff. Got it.
Off to go get a breath of fresh air while picking up the child from daycare.
A pic of the monsters, yea, it isn’t that clear, but if I got to close it would eat me!
The proof is in the pudding? Anyway, what I am babbling about is why I lost the contest. That’s right folks came in 4th place. It was very close, so close in fact it came down to counting the editing mistakes.
I had more.
It is a very good lesson to learn- edit edit edit! Enlist someone else to help you edit. Also turn off the auto edit feature on your word processing program. There were mistake that my good friend Susan caught that I corrected- that showed up again.
See my rooky mistakes in this blog post in Michy’s editing & Proofreading Blog here . As soon as I read this post I smacked my head because the mistakes were glaringly obvious when someone else wrote them. I wondered how I could have missed it with my own writing. It is very hard to edit your own work.
I had some wonderful feedback though. I plan on cleaning up the story and submitting it to a magazine. All is not lost!
I have already sent in my money for this month’s contest. If you are a writer I highly recommend checking out this site and entering the contest.
Good luck!
The news was posted today. I am one of 7 finalists. Well really one of 6- one person entered twice and both stories were picked. Over achiever! hehe
I am very shocked because, quite frankly, some of those stories were really good. Professional writer good. So even if I don’t win I will be happy having made it to the finalists. but, I really want to win.
I could never make it on one of those awards shows. Anyone see the Friends episode where Joey is up for a daytime Emmy and he loses? He had been practicing his losing face all week but come crunch time he just has a fit. He is cussing and all ticked off and the camera catches his temper tantrum. It is too funny! That would be me. Thank God there isn’t video on this laptop!
I especially want to thank my fellow writer and good friend Susan Sosbe. Her edits really helped me with my story. She very gently pointed out when the story didn’t make sense. Please give her some link love people…Susan’s AC page and click on the Blonder by the Moment link. She has a gift for comedy, and has one the 1st official AC April Fools challenge with her Smoking diary of a quitter.
If you want to see what the buzz is about, check out this site. I am telling you, if you are an aspiring writer this is the site you should get to know!
It has been a productive month of writing for me. Well not productive as far as actualy writing, but productive because I have started branching out more.
I shut out the little voice inside my head that said I am not good enough and submitted an entry in Associated Content’s $5,000 article contest. You can read it here. I didn’t win, but it was a good experience for me and I am very proud that I thought I might stand a chance.
I also have entered the Accentuate Services forum June short story contest. I am on pins and needles waiting to see how I did. There are some really good entries so I am nervous. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will be published in a short story anthology. I really hope I win.
What could be better than saying ‘I am a published author.” Even if I don’t win this months contest, I will keep trying.
Writing was something I always have done. Being a writer is my secret, well not so secret anymore, dream. It’s hard to know if I am good enough, but time will tell.
I am toying with the idea of hiring Michelle L Devon from Accentuate Services to edit some of the works I have in progress. I hate to keep writing if I have screwed something up and it will all get edited out.
Anyway, please wish me luck for the contest! I consulted my tarot cards and they seemed very promising about the contest. Tarot cards wouldn’t lie to make me feel better would they?
