Friday, September 01, 2006

Winners Announcement--The "Lonely Moon" Short Fiction Contest

Anne and I have the privilege of announcing the winners of the "Lonely Moon" Short Fiction Contest!!

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1st Place--REBECCA SNOWDEN, THE MAN IN THE MOON (#41).
[Prize: Autographed copy of Pale Immortal, $35 Amazon gift certificate, 8 x 10 print of the "Lonely Moon" photograph (signed by Jason Evans)]

2nd Place--ROY, ENTRY #97.
[Prize: Autographed copy of Pale Immortal, $25 Amazon gift certificate]

3rd Place--STEPHEN ALLAN, THE TREE DOESN'T FALL FAR FROM THE APPLE (#62).
[Prize: Autographed copy of Pale Immortal, $15 Amazon gift certificate]

4th Place--REBECCA HENDRICKS, RUNAWAY (#55).
[Prize: $10 Amazon gift certificate]

5th Place--JASMIN RANDICK, SAIGON (#43).
[Prize: $5 Amazon gift certificate]

Honorable Mention--ELLA LESATELE, SOMEONE ELSE'S NIGHT (#6).

Honorable Mention--JAYE WELLS, I CAN DIG IT (#21).

Honorable Mention--ALCOHOLIC POET, SOBER MOONS (#40).

Honorable Mention--NICHOLAS ABBOT, HOWL (#45).

Honorable Mention--PAUL LIADIS, HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF (#90).


READERS' CHOICE AWARDS:

Readers' Choice--FLOOD, ROBBED (#44).
[Prize: Autographed copy of Pale Immortal, 8 x 10 print of the "Lonely Moon" photograph (signed by Jason Evans)]

First Runner-Up--JASMIN RANDICK, SAIGON (#43).
[Prize: 8 x 10 print of the "Lonely Moon" photograph (signed by Jason Evans)]

Second Runner-Up--REBECCA SNOWDEN, THE MAN IN THE MOON (#41).
[Prize: 8 x 10 print of the "Lonely Moon" photograph (signed by Jason Evans)]

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Now that you've caught your breath, let us humbly thank you for a most amazing contest! It was so heartbreaking to select winners. Please know that there are many more deserving entries than are recognized above. You've shared such wonderful talents and insights into writing, it's almost beyond words.

STATS
Just how successful was it? Your writing has generated 23,090 hits from 4,681 unique visitors! Astounding!!

KEEP THE COMMUNITY GOING
Please don't let the community end. We hope to see all of you back here at The Clarity of Night, on Static, and on your own blogs. Let us know if you'd like to trade links.

MORE COMMENTS
Over the course of next week, Jason Evans will be adding a comment to each entry saying what he liked best. If you would like constructive comments by private email, just let us know at jevanswriter at yahoo dot com.

(From Jason) Anne has gotten so emotionally involved in the contest that she has graciously offered to give constructive comments also. However, we must be sensitive to her schedule as she prepares to promote Pale Immortal, which will be released on September 5th. I will be monitoring how she's holding up and may need to cut off her comments if she becomes overwhelmed.

FINAL WORDS FROM JASON
I often get asked why I do this. Am I crazy? Perhaps. But just look at the response! I can't help but feel we need a place where we can come together once in a while to share and help each other grow. A little fun along the way doesn't hurt either. I'm honored to provide that place for you a few times a year.

Writers have to support each other. We all know the writing industry has suffered. Fewer people take the time to read. Fewer people buy books. We have to change those things, and I challenge each and every one of you to start at home.

Lastly, never forget that we are blessed. We are the voice. The intricacies of the human condition, our nobility, our evils, our love, all of these things and more are recorded in our words. Stories capture the depths of the mind unlike any other medium. I want posterity to hear our voice too.

For having the drive and courage to speak out, to lend your own voice, you have my profound respect.


--Jason Evans and Anne Frasier

39 comments:

Ginny Warth said...

Wow! that is great. Congratulations Rebecca Snowden for winning this amazing contest! To all who placed, and reader's choice, congratulation!

anne said...

Congratulations to all, this is a fantastic podium!
And thank you again, Jason and Anne, for your time and commitment. :)

Flood said...

Congrats to everyone who entered or placed. And deep thank you to all who took the time to consider me in your votes, when there are so many great stories to choose from. I feel very honoured.

Thank you Jason and Anne for a wonderful contest. Looking forward to the next one!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to all who placed! You are all so deserving. This was fantastic! So many talented writers and so many wonderful stories.

Kudos to all the entrants. Just a wealth of talent here.

Jason and Anne, you have done a remarkable job! Thanks.

Jaye Wells said...

Congrats to those who placed--quite an accomplishment given the talent represented here.

Jason and Anne--thanks, really.

Bernita said...

Wonderful job! Congratulations to you all!
I suspect Jason has less hair now as there was so much superlative writing among which to choose.
I know I had 20 favourites before the contest was half over - at least!

Joni said...

I don't envy your position in this contest, Jason. But thank you so much for doing it.

Congratulations to those who placed. You were all very deserving. Glad to see some of my top picks made it.

Anonymous said...

Congrats to all the winners and kudos to all that participated. And of course, thanks to Jason and Anne for hosting.

Great stuff.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Awesome. Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

I liked Rebecca's entry. I'm sad I didn't get the chance to cast my reader's choice vote. :(

Maybe next time!

And thanks for a cool contest.

anne frasier said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
anne frasier said...

thanks everyone for the nice comments. and a big thanks to jason for inviting me along! i have to say this was one of the toughest things i've ever done. where are all these fantastic writers coming from? and in no way do i want to take away from the wonderful winners, but my god! i wanted to give out 20 awards. and if your name isn't on the list above, that doesn't mean we weren't talking about your entry and agonizing over it. but what about this one??? what about this beautiful story???

i'm clapping for all of you. fantastic writing.

Tami Klockau said...

Thanks to Anne and Jason for taking the time with the contest. I had a GREAT time submitting my own work as well as reading everyone great stories! Congrats to the winners! You're stories are awesome!

Anonymous said...

Thanks again for the contest and to all who submitted such great writing. I don't think there was a bad entry in the bunch. Since I didn't win, it looks like I'll have to buy Anne's book!

So, who's hosting the next contest? :) .

bekbek said...

What an awesome experience! I was a little sad to see that not one of my Reader's Choice picks had made it to Jason's finalists list, so you can picture my face when I realized... uh... I do know that one name pretty well. GOSH! I am truly honored!

Of course thank you Jason and Anne, so very much for another fine adventure, but I also want to really thank everybody for the comments and the wonderful sense of a sharing community. You've got me hooked, that's for sure.

Jerilyn Dufresne, author said...

Congrats to all the winners and all of us who submitted. This was fun, although it was a bit daunting to read 100 entries. I'm thinking next time I need to start taking notes immediately. This time I just tried to remember which ones I liked the best, and was a miserable failure.

Jason and Anne, thanks again for doing this. What great fun!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Jason for a great contest. I had lots of fun reading all the great stories.

Scott said...

I love it that you picked Rebecca to win. Maybe now she'll start to believe she has a smidgen of talent. Thanks to both of you for hosting this. I can't even imagine what this must have taken out of your days. I couldn't even manage a comment on the last twenty or so entries.

Anonymous said...

Thank you everyone!!

Congratulations to the winners!

Congratulations to this community of writers!

And most of all, congratulations to those who used this opportunity to share their work for the first time!

I want to echo Anne's sentiments. Selecting winners was truly agonizing, but we felt it was important to make the hard choices and force ourselves to select the top 10. But there are so many more gifted entries. So many more examples of shining talent.

I join in Anne's applause!

Anonymous said...

Sorry I couldn't join in the fun this time around, but great job to all who participated, congrats to the winners, and thanks Jason for bringing everyone together again for a bit of fun.

Cheers,
JLB

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to all the winners!! And many thanks to Jason and Anne.

writingblind said...

Jason and Anne, and everyone who voted for the Reader's Choice, thank you so much. There were so many great stories in this contest and I feel like I'm in such good company right now. Here's hoping the next contest is an even bigger success.

Rebecca

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to the winners! Thanks Jason and Anne for the time and effort you put into hosting this contest.

Roy said...

Thanks. I am honored, and feel like I'm in such good company. Jason and Anne--that had to be more work than I could imagine.

It's great to see so many people be so positive--that in itself is some sort of accomplishment.

Anonymous said...

Once again, a most awesome contest. Jason, Anne, thank you for all of the time and effort you spent on this one!

This is not just one of the most remarkable blogs I have encountered. It is one of the most remarkable experiences of community and support.

Words are failing me...THANK YOU for everything you are doing.

Nicholas Abbot (Elisha Bridges, SF Johnston)

Rand said...

Thanks so much. This was great fun! Congrats to Rebecca for winning!!!

mr. schprock said...

Thanks for doing this, Jason. As always, it's wonderful fun.

Sandra Ruttan said...

Congratulations to all the winners, in both categories. A fantastic achievement!

Sam said...

Congrats to the winners and thanks for the contest!

Marcail said...

Kudos to all the winners. Applause and bow for all who entered. Great reading. Thanks Jason and Anne.

LE Sweetz said...

congrats to the winners! glad i could be a part of something wonderful.

Linda said...

Congratulations to all the winners and also to everyone who entered. I have enjoyed reading your entries. :)

anna said...

Oh gosh I can't believe it is all over - it was such fun.
Congrats to all the winners;
your stories were fantastic.
Thanks Jason and Anne for doing such a wonderful job!
Kudos to all us brave souls who
let you guys see what goes on inside our heads.
::::Huge Applause:::

Steve Allan said...

Holy crap - third place! Wow, that's pretty incredible considering all the entries. Thanks. And congrats to everyone else.

Anonymous said...

Congrulations to all the winners!

Thank you, Jason, for coordinating the contest.

Thanks, too, to those who read and commented on my entry.

briliantdonkey said...

call me lazy but rather than type all that has already been said again, I will simply say.....

Ditto!

great job Anne and Jason Thanks for another great contest.

BD

Bhaswati said...

I can scarcely add more to what everyone else has said. This has been such a remarkable contest. What a reading pleasure (and pressure, LOL) this venue has provided over the last few days.

There could be only so many "winners", and we can imagine how tough it must have been for you, Jason and Anne. In the end, you did a great job and picked deserving entries. Thank you for all your efforts. :)

HUGE kudos to all those who took part and made this contest so very delicious. Thank you all for giving me the chance to relish such top class writing. :)

Kingfisher said...

Vague poeticism does not a story make. Much work needs to be done here (including my entry.)

Too much gushing, not enough criticism. Congrats to all, but where are the constructive comments???

I don't know that I will contribute again. (Not because I lost, but because there is too much ass kissing here.) A published author should not lead us down the primrose path, but be honest in what we have done wrong.

Feel free to send hate mail to lightningbolt@myway.com.

R. W. Randall

Anonymous said...

Kingfisher,

Perhaps you should refresh your recollection of the contest announcement and the winners announcement above. If you want constructive comments, they are provided by private email upon request.

Pointing out what was great about a piece is just as important as hearing the negatives. This forum is for the positives. The negatives are given privately. That is the rule here, and yes, it is your choice whether to participate.