Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Winners Announcement - "Elemental"

Whoa. I really don't remember such a high percentage of Forties Club inductees in a contest! I also don't remember so many super high scores. I think that overall, this contest had the STRONGEST WRITING of my (now) fourteen contests!! EVERYONE has reason to feel proud.

Also, we have a first. We have a tie for Readers' Choice Award!! I know, you say, well, use some method as a tie-breaker.... So, Aine and I moved to the next statistic, and guess what? Tie again! I feel that the only fair solution is to double the award prize money. So there.

The folks I'm about to recognize coupled great writing with a super creative idea and/or amazingly effective delivery. Great respect and congratulations to them!

(Drum roll please). Now, without further ado, I would like to recognize the following writers:

PLACEMENTS

1st Place--DARBY KRENSHAW, RIF (#48) [Prize: $50 Amazon gift certificate]

2nd Place--LOREN EATON, Golem (#26) [Prize: $35 Amazon gift certificate]

3rd Place--PETER DAVIDSON, The Wall (#86) [Prize: $30 Amazon gift certificate]

4th Place--JANA ANDREWS, Voices (#21) [Prize: $25 Amazon gift certificate]

5th Place--CRAIG SCOTT, Consequences (#7) [Prize: $20 Amazon gift certificate]

(In order of entry number)

Honorable Mention--JOSH VOGT, Outside the Lines (#15)

Honorable Mention--PEGGY McFARLAND, Not Today (#40)

Honorable Mention--JAMES R. TOMLINSON, The Day I Helped Günter Rhodes Find His Way, I Found Myself (#46)

Honorable Mention--ROCKY WING, Weightier Things (#49)

Honorable Mention--SONBERG C. LARSON, Samsara (#55)

Honorable Mention--C. JOOS, Publish or Perish (#66)

Honorable Mention--SIMON KEWIN, I Saw Hearts But You Saw Skulls (#77)

Honorable Mention--WENDY RUSS, The True Story of How Casey Tilson Became a Vegan (#89)

Honorable Mention--GUILIE CASTILLO-ORIARD, Mercury Charms (#97)

Honorable Mention--HILARY ROBERTSHAW, On the Breeze (#101)

READERS' CHOICE AWARD

Readers' Choice--AERIN ROSE, The Fire Blessing (#70) [Prize: $40 Amazon gift certificate]

Readers' Choice--LOREN EATON, Golem (#26) [Prize: $40 Amazon gift certificate]

*********


Again, a tough, tough competition.

STATS
Just how successful was it? Your 102 entries have generated 28,531 hits, and 10,228 visitors!

FORTIES CLUB
Escoring at least 40 out of 45 in my scoring system are inducted into The Forties Club. In my judgment, these writers have done their job excellently. Their strong, skilled writing brought their stories to life. Asterisks have been added to those names in the contest index who are inducted into the Forties Club.

KEEP THE COMMUNITY GOING
Don't let the community end here. I hope to see all of you back at The Clarity of Night and on your own blogs. Link to each other and give your insights and gifts freely. If you'd like, I will definitely trade links and visit you on your own blogs.

HOST COMMENTS
Lastly, I will be adding a brief comment to each entry saying what I liked best about the story.

*********

Thanks again for a great contest experience and for all of the excellent writing. Give the winners a pat on the back for their outstanding work.

After I finish posting my comments, The Clarity of Night will be returning to normal content.

Feel free to contact me anytime. You will always find a welcoming place here.

31 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats to all the winners, and well done to all the entrants. Thanks for running such a cracking contest, Jason.

Regards to all,
Col

Cath Barton said...

Many congratulations to all the winners. And to all of us! Keep writing folks.

Aniket Thakkar said...

Wooohooo! Aerin does it again. :)

And two of my top 5 landed up on Jason's too. Looks like I'm getting worse at writing and better at judging. ;)

Congratulations to all the winners! Muchly deserved.

Wendy said...

Aniket, you're awesome. :)

Congrats everyone. This was such a fun time! I'm really thrilled that I've had a chance to talk with some new folks and have more on my "to go see" list. Something wonderful to look forward to.

And now I'm off to the after-party for jello shots. There were jello shots, right?

Loren Eaton said...

Wow. I'm ... I'm honored. And pleasantly baffled. Thank you all for reading, and thank you Jason for organizing yet another contest. They are always a bright spot in my year.

fairyhedgehog said...

Congratulations to all the winners and to all the honourable mentionees!

And thank you, Jason, for the huge amount of work you put into this. It's a great experience being part of it.

Simon Kewin said...

Congratulations to the winners and many thanks for that honourable mention. The winning stories are wonderful indeed!

Thanks to you, too, Jason for all the work. Much appreciated.

Jodi MacArthur said...

Congrats to the winners and honorable mentions! I thought "Voices" was exceptionable and am happy to see it up there on the list.

Thanks to Jason (and his wife) for all they do to promote imagination. It was another fun contest. Cheers!

Bethany said...

Wow! Amazing job everyone!
I had so much fun, I can't wait for the next contest!

Linda Ryan-Harper said...

Congratulations to all the winners and all the entrants! I was not only impressed with the talent exhibited in this contest, but the wonderful spirit of community. Gotta love writers—

PJD said...

Congrats to all the winners! Yay Aerin! Sorry I didn't get to read all the entries before hiking into the Montana wilderness.

Darby Krenshaw said...

I sneaked a peek at work. Then I had to close my office door so no one could see my awkward happy dance. This was great fun. There were so many imaginative takes. Jason- thanks for hosting such a great contest.

Claire Gillian said...

Congrats to all the winners, honorable mentions and 40's club members. Thanks for a memorable contest.

Precie said...

I posted a comment earlier, but it's not showing up so...

Congratulations to all the winners! And bravo to all the entrants! And many thanks to Jason and Aine and the guest writers. What a pleasure.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to the winners!! What a great experience. I'd been away from blogging for a couple of years and this was the greatest way ever to ease back into it. Thanks, Jason and Aine and all of the participants!

Michael Morse said...

Congratulations to the winners, including the folks who won the prizes! Everybody won here. I am honored to be included in this club. The stories inspired me, and will stay with me every time I put my two fingers to the keyboard. If publication is your goal, every one of the participants has the chops, and I look forward to reading more!
It took me years after finishing my first book to get an agent, then another year to find a publisher.And i am quite sincere when saying my writing talents are not even close to what was displayed here, humbling to say the least!

Aine said...

I just posted this over at the Thank-U party (www.thankyoujason.blogspot.com), but I'll repeat it here, too.

Congratulations to all entrants!! Anyone who puts forth their writing for all to see deserves hearty applause and admiration. I consider you all Gryffindors (and if you know me, you know that's the highest of high praise!)

And if I may request one more thing from all of you-- please keep writing! We can't let books and literature become a thing of the past.

A writer (okay, actually 2 writers) changed my life in unmeasurable ways. Please keep helping each other hone your skills so that the stories that need to be told can be heard (and read) by all!

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Jason and Aine for a rocking contest, and congratulations to all the winners, as well as all the writers, because every one of you excelled.

__Wills

J. Ryan Rosser said...

Congrats to all the contest winners! Thanks for running the contest. This was my first time submitting. I'll look forward to the next contest!

JaneyV said...

Another splendiferous contest comes to a conclusion. Thank you Jason and Aine for playing hosts yet again. It's been an amazing gathering and there has been such a lot of truly fantastic entries this time round, the mind boggles at how you manage it!

To all the winners and the honorable mentionees, I send huge congratulations. You were all fantastic. It's been wonderful to get to 'know' you all.

Catrina said...

Jason, I always look forward to your contests. They bring such talented and amazing writers out of the woodwork. It's such a great service that you do for the writing community. So, thank you for all your hard work putting this together.

Thanks for the HM--I'm absolutely flabbergasted; there were so many excellent stories this time around that it's humbling to be singled out.

Congratulations to all the winners, honorable mentions and participants. Everyone should be proud of what they have accomplished. Keep writing, folks. =)

Michele Zugnoni said...

Congratulations to all the winners, and to everyone who entered. You shared a piece of yourself here: a wonderful story that touched your reader's life, if only for the briefest of moments. You should all be proud.

Jason, thanks again for hosting such an amazing contest. This was my first foray into a writer's community, and it was a wonderful experience. I never realized what I was missing. I will definitely take part in the next endeavor.

Mikki (aka Michele)

Katherine Tomlinson said...

Congratulations to all the winners and again, thank you Jason! See you all next time!

C. Sonberg Larson said...

Thank you Jason for hosting such a great contest! I know it is a lot of work, This is the second time I've participated in your flash fiction contest and both times it's been a wonderful experience.
Congratulations to all the winners and thanks for the honorary mention.
See ya next time!

Erratic Thoughts said...

Many Congratulations to all the winners...This is such a fine place to read so much of literature...So many awesome writers...

Thank you Jason, Aine...You guys are doing a great job!I really appreciate your hard work in putting up the contest:)

bluesugarpoet said...

Wow - I've been on the road traveling from Oregon to home (imagine us driving thousands of miles with the four kids and the dog in an SUV packed with stuff - the whole thing is pretty comical...) so this was a complete surprise to even be mentioned! I am speechless. Congrats to all the winners!

Thank you, Jason, for creating this valuable community of writers. :)

Mystico said...

Made the forties club! *does happy dance*

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to all the writers for yet another invaluable learning experience!

And, last but definitely not least,
Thank you for bringing us all together, Jason!!! :D

Till next time, then!

Unknown said...

Congratulations to all the winners, honorable mentions and participants!

Great work, Jason! :)

Margaret said...

Many congratulations to all the winners, honorable mentions and 40's club members. Well done!!

Some great writers out there.

It was a terrific contest, Jason - thank you!

Choco said...

Congratulations to the winners. Thanks Jason for hosting the event. I read some brilliant posts. And I still have lots more to go through. Thanks again!

Jade L Blackwater said...

Congrats to all the winners! Jason, thanks for sharing your space and your audience.

Until next time....