Wednesday, February 27, 2008

"Whispers" Short Fiction Contest



**THE CONTEST IS CLOSED**


Click HERE for the winners announcement.

Click HERE for the contest announcement, prizes, rules, and judging information.


Index of Entries
Abbott, Patrica, Within My Sight (#23)
Absolute Vanilla, The Oneness of the Infinitree (#28)
Aerin Rose, November (#57) 2nd Runner-Up, Readers' Choice
Al, Wuff, The Father (#71)
Ames, Nancy, She Leaves in the Morning (#38)
Ansari, Sameera, Road To Nowhere (#58)
Blackwater, Jade Leone, Night Owls (#12)
Bluesugarpoet, Metamorphosis (#22)
Caffrey, Angelique H., Out on a Limb (#73) Honorable Mention
Camptown, Dottie, The Sleepwalker’s Tree (#27)
Canterbury Soul, 2.5º (#52)
Carrara, Gemma M., A Moment (#32)
Courtland, Linda, The Girl Who Talked to Trees (#36)
DeLeo, Bernard, Skyline (#5)
Dudley, Peter, Faith (#1)
Eldin, Chris, The Burial Site (#21)
Ello, Do Trees Sleep? (#19)
Evans, Jason, Redemption Your Host
Hale, Patricia J., Ugly Roots (#40)
Hartman, Geraldine, The Beckoning Spring (#10)
Hendricks, Rebecca, Order and Chaos (#69)
Hina, Sarah, Christina's World (#45) Readers' Choice Award
Hoodie, My Dog Has Fleas (#48) 5th Place
Janik, Lucian J., Search Results (#43)
Kearney, Seamus, For Every Life Lost (#64)
King, Ronald, Beneath the Ash (#35)
Lake, Rebecca, Please (#26) 4th Place & 1st Runner-Up, Readers' Choice
Lehane, DBA, A Love Engraved (#11)
Lenardson, Anna, Maggie May I? (#70)
Liadis, Paul, Tastes Like Brains (#17) 3rd Runner-Up, Readers' Choice
Lindstrom, Dianne, Still Standing (#6)
Lynskey, Dina, Breakfast with Sarah (#7) Honorable Mention
Lyons, Margaret, A Waiting Thing (#34)
McAuley, John, Walden's (#44) Honorable Mention
McGuinness, Micky, Sub Text (#25)
Monchego, Jr., Victor, Of What Gloom Befalls an Impatient Man Reborn (#72)
Montgomery, J.C., Out On A Limb (#49)
Mystico, The Fog (#2)
Nicolson, Ewen, The Weekend Went Much As Planned (#42)
Nothingman, Her Arms Reach For The Sky (#53)
Odhner, Melanie, She Missed Her Tree (#20)
Ostrander, Beth, Fade to Black (#24)
Pelc, Michael, Trees Don't Dream (#54) 2nd Place
Peterson, Janine, Life’s Celebration (#47)
Posolxstvo, A View of the Field (#63)
Precie, Holding On (#51) 3rd Place
Puresunshine, Rustling in the Wind (#56)
r2, The Tree Wept (#29)
Rachael, Sweet Escape (#31)
Rel, Conspirators (#4)
Rob, Closure (#39)
Rosdahl, Lyle D., The Window (#67)
Salas, Alexander, Whispering Winds (#59)
Scheer, Wayne, The Lonely Tree (#65)
Seamans, Sandra, The Comfort Tree (#3)
Seidel, Christian, Dinnertime (#41)
Simpson, Scott, Bait (#16)
SzélsõFa, Whispers (#33)
Talkington, Amy, Life (#18)
Tanya, Lost Hope (#66)
Therese, Point of View (#62) Honorable Mention
Toporikova, Lena, A New Beginning (#61)
Trexler, Roger Dale, Remembrance (#30)
Vesper, Treasure (#9)
Vinson, Missy, The Silent Treatment (#14)
Vogt, Josh, They Call Him… (#15) 1st Place
Volker, Jane, Winter Love (#60)
...why paisley???, that perfect tree (#13)
Watters, Dave, A Time Past (#46) Honorable Mention
Watters, Kim, Alone... (#55)
Weaver, Raine, The Song Of Spring (#50)
Welch, Terri, A Season Apart (#37)
Wylder, Stephen, On the Cold Hill's Side (#68)
Young, Henry, Grown (#8)

24 comments:

DBA Lehane said...

I for one am certainly very impressed how this photo is drawing out so many different stories, themes, genres and takes. Well done so far everyone!

Anonymous said...

Jason and Aine - As usual, an excellent showing for your short fiction contests - thank you both, it's a pleasure to read everyone's work.

Beth said...

I sent my last night, but don't see it up there yet. Did you get it? TIA!

Anonymous said...

DBA Lehane, yes, people are showing real inspiration!

Jade, you're welcome! And thank you for your help in spreading the word!

Beth, I sent a reply asking for you to paste it into the body of an email. I can't open that attachment. Thanks.

Precie said...

Whoa! 20 entries already! Excellent!

{Precie scribbles faster...}

Beth said...

Thanks for all your help, Jason. Darn spam folder. =/

I'm all caught up on my reading. Come on, Writers, I'm chomping at the bit over here.

Geraldine said...

Loved reading the entries so far. Look forward to more to come.

SzélsőFa said...

Jason, I have sent you mine on Sunday morning (my local time). Now I feel free to read the entries.
I recall the fun I had the last two times with all those great entries and manifold approaches -I'm all eager to jump at it again!

Anonymous said...

Precie, this contest is on track to be one of the bigger ones.

Beth, oh, there's more. :)

Veggies, great turn out! You are a great group.

Szelsofa, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I'm glad yours is now up there too!

PJD said...

When I finished reading the first 30, I blinked. Then there were 15 more. Holy smokes!

Jason, have you thought of categorizing them, just to satisfy statistical curiosity? It would be interesting to count how many involved death (subcategories of murder and suicide), how many involved unrequited love and/or infidelity, etc. How many use the tree as a character? How many don't mention the tree at all? It seemed to me as I read today that there was a preponderance of hangings. Are there any numerologists out there who might care to take a stab at why that might happen in #30-45 in particular? OK, OK, that might be going a bit far, but still. There are probably four or five distinct themes that appear in most of the entries.

iLL Man said...

I noticed the hanging theme as well, just after I sent mine off and started reading other peoples entries. To be honest, I think it's a good thing, it's always good to see how many variations on a theme people can come up with independently of each other.

Beth said...

I notice common themes in these contests as well, but the stories are always so different. That's the amazing part.

Only one child killer though. (yet) lol

Anonymous said...

PJD, that would be a great study! It appeals to my fascination with the human psyche. I wonder if there are cultural influences also.

Ill Man, yes, I agree that it's good not to be influenced by the other pieces.

Beth, I try to give a couple different angles to the contest. Here, I thought that the picture and the title could each pull in different ways. Nevertheless, the do tend to be popular themes.

Unknown said...

i would like to participate. I found a yahoo id on ur profile and sent my story there. :)

DBA Lehane said...

I'm surprised that people are surprised that certain themes are proving popular. To be honest these themes most probably reflect the most popular catagories in a book store: crime, horror, romance, sci-fi, general/literary, so this would explain why people are drawn to writing them.

Precie said...

I'm really fascinated by the themes that are popping up too. Not surprised, but fascinated.

That's one of the cool things about your contests...not just the variety, but also the convergences.

Thanks for doing this, Jason and Aine!!!

Beth said...

Yes, thank you, but isn't this the tough part? It's not even over and I'm having a hard time choosing only 5. I think that speaks to the quality of the writing, the great picture, but wow, it doesn't make this any easier.

Precie said...

I completely agree, Beth!

DBA Lehane said...

The readers vote is going to be tough enough!

Gone said...

Voting was tough, tough, tough. This contest was excellent and enough material for a book??

SzélsőFa said...

Finally Jason, I'm really curious as to the species stance of the tree- Writings suggest all various species: oak, ash, and everything else.
I think it might just as well be a linden ( Tilia). Can you shed some light ont his matter, please?

Anonymous said...

SzélsőFa - I second that question. I used Ash based on a suggestion from one of my friends who has studied these things, but I also got Sugar Maple from another friend who studies these things.

Paul

Anonymous said...

Puresunshine, glad you found us!

DBA Lehane, true, but it's especially interesting when certain, particular elements come out.

Precie, convergences, yes! That's a great way to put it.

DBA Lehane, you said it, my friend.

Grocer, interesting idea.

Szelsofa, I'll have to wait until it leafs out. The tree is on private property on the way Aine's parents' house. I got the shot from the road.

Strugglingwriter, it could be an Ash. There are many Ash trees in the area. I'll try to identify it when it leafs out.

Precie said...

In addition to the converging themes, I also couldn't help but notice how many writers, including me, used present tense. Again, fascinating!