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Special Note to Contestants:
We had another phenomenal season! All the winning stories you see on this page, including the Honorable Mentions, scored a “15,” which is the highest possible score they can have. With so many 15s, it was hard to narrow down the entries to the Top 10. All the stories were superlative in subject, content, and style—it really came down to technical aspects and the guest judge’s personal choice of which ones made it into the Top 10. Every story is a winner in its own right and has the potential to win a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Place. They were that good.
We want to thank each and every one of you for sharing your wonderful stories with our guest judges this season. We know it takes a lot to hit the send button! While we’d love to give every contestant a prize, just for your writing efforts, that wouldn’t be much of a competition! One of the hardest things we do after a contest ends is to confirm that someone didn’t place in the winners’ circle. But, believe it when we say every one of you is a true winner.
Every writer has been a gracious participant through the whole process, from the beginning of one season to the next. We’ve written emails to authors, agents, and publicists who have donated books to our contest, and we’ve shared our delight regarding the true sportsmanship among our contestants. It doesn’t matter if it’s one writer who placed or another who tried but didn’t; all writers are courteous, professional, and wonderful extensions of WOW! Women On Writing’s team. Writers’ stories and e-mails fill us with enthusiasm.
Kudos to all writers who entered, whether you won or not, you’re still a winner for participating.
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To recap our current process, we have a roundtable of 4-7 judges who blindly score equally formatted submissions based on: Subject, Content, Technical, and Overall Impression (Style). That’s the first step of the process. If a contestant scores well on the first round, she (or he) receives an e-mail notification that she passed the initial judging phase. The second round judging averages out scores and narrows down the top 25 entries. From this point, our guest judge helps to determine the First, Second, and Third Place Winners, followed by the Runners Up.
As with any contest, judging so many talented writers is not a simple process. With blind judging, all contestants start from the same point, no matter the skill level, experience, or writing credentials. It’s the writer’s story and voice that shines through, along with the originality, powerful and clear writing, and the writer’s heart.
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We’ve enjoyed reading your stories, each and every one of them. The WOW! Women On Writing judges take time to read them all. We recognize names of previous contestants, writers familiar with our style. We enjoy getting to know you through your writing and e-mailing. Remember that each one of you is a champion in our book. We hope that you continue to enter so we can watch you grow as writers and storytellers, because each season is a rebirth of opportunity.
Now on to the winners!
Drum roll please....
1st Place: Beth Blake
Smithfield, Utah
Congratulations Beth!
Beth’s Bio:
Beth Blake is so excited to be in the top ten of another WOW! contest! She has been writing short stories for as long as she can remember. She was asked to be a part of the National Undergraduate Literature Conference when she was in school, and won the first place award for her university's literary journal contest. She has also been delighted to write the Christmas program for the past three years for her church congregation. She graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a degree in marriage and family studies, child studies, and creative writing. She is from La Grande, a lovely small town in Oregon, and draws much of the material for her stories from the town and people she loves so dearly.
She is the second of seven children and really enjoys spending time with her family, including her seven nieces and nephews. She LOVES to cook and makes pretty good desserts if she does say so herself! Her long-term writing goal is to not be so critical of herself and afraid of what others might think. She wants to write a book one day, but most of all simply hopes to continue to touch hearts through words.
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The Best Friend
By Beth Blake
When I married Jenny, I gained her best friend Joy as well. Joy’s husband Carl and I became friends simply because we knew we couldn’t pry our wives apart. We went on double dates and spent vacations and holidays together. We were Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethel. The girls were delighted when they became pregnant almost within a month of each other. Our two girls, Katie and Melissa, became inseparable as they grew up. Then one day, I arrived home from work to find a hurriedly scribbled note from my wife, “Munsons in a car accident. Melissa hurt badly.”
When Jenny came home that night, I held her while she cried. Together, we climbed into the little white bed that held our sleeping angel, and both of us took one of her hands in ours as we grieved for our friends’ loss. We grieved again when a year later, Carl and Joy divorced.
It was a little less than nine months after that when my own life was shattered in the garden department at Wal-Mart. Jenny and I were shopping for tomato seeds when she collapsed. I held her hand in the ambulance and then again until the long beep on the monitor told me she was gone. She never opened her eyes again. They told me it was a brain aneurysm. I couldn’t even spell what killed my wife.
For the next week, I was buried in casseroles. Katie and I spent our dinnertime silently poking our forks at mounds of green and gray that neither of us had the stomach to eat. At the funeral, Katie and I held hands as women who wore too much perfume cried over us and murmured, “You poor little things.”
Katie said that the room was too hot and the perfume stuck to her clothes. She said Mommy wouldn’t have liked it at all…and I agreed.
I saw Joy at the funeral, sitting by herself.
Weeks went by, and I was still holding my Jenny’s clothes up to my face at night to smell them. My daughter was still screaming whenever we came within the vicinity of Wal-Mart. I went back to work after leaving my crying, clinging daughter with a sitter. At night, I scorched dinners and left iron-shaped marks on the clothes. By the time school started, Katie and I were exhausted.
The first morning, I helped her pack her backpack, made a peanut butter sandwich (cut diagonally because that’s how Mommy did it), and helped her double-knot her sneakers. But when it came to her hair, that lovely mass of black curls, I was hopeless. I could see her disappointment as I did the best I could. Jenny could work wonders with it. When Katie had started second grade last year, Jenny had done up her hair in braids. I didn’t have the slightest idea how to do a braid.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I whispered as I kissed the back of her head. She shrugged, trying to look brave for the old dad. I placed my hands on her shoulders as I heard the doorbell ring.
“Joy!” I said in surprise as I opened the door.
“Hi John,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry to intrude. I just…I thought Katie might like some help getting ready for her first day of school.”
I honestly had to fight back tears as I nodded. She slipped in quietly, squeezing my arm as she made her way to Katie’s room. Katie was overjoyed to see her. I watched her hands shake slightly as she touched Katie’s hair. She closed her eyes as she ran her fingers through it, a smile crossing her features.
“Now,” she instructed. “Separate the hair into three parts and just go back and forth, overlapping each other…see?”
I leaned in and watched carefully as she skillfully weaved the long hair into a beautiful braid.
“Good?” she asked, holding up a mirror in the back so Katie could see.
Katie gazed up at her with adoration. “Just like Mommy.”
Joy put her arms around Katie and gave her a squeeze. “Have a good day, honey.”
When she was done, I walked with her to the door. “I can come,” she said. “In the morning, if you want, until you get the hang of it.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it,” she said, smiling.
“Joy?” I called after she left. “What made you come?”
Her face was full of peace. “Because wherever Jenny is, she’s taking care of my baby, too.”
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What Beth Won:
- $200.00 Cash Prize
- Publication of winning story on WOW-WomenOnWriting.com website
- A WOW! Prize Pack
- A Year’s Subscription to Premium-Green Markets
- Interview on WOW!’s blog The Muffin
2nd Place: Noah Pedrini
Roxbury, Vermont
Congratulations Noah!
Noah’s Bio:
Noah Pedrini has always felt a strong affinity for the written word and wanted to be, more than anything, a writer. Taking some creative writing courses in college, it wasn't until relocating to Buenos Aires in early '09 when he began writing in earnest. Inspired by the city's strong literary history, he embarked upon the never-ending process of honing his craft, writing regularly and joining a weekly workshop of expat writers. When not writing, he makes art out of found notes, plays fingerstyle blues guitar, and travels.
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Rose
By Noah Pedrini
In the middle of the pedestrian thoroughfare stood the lone gypsy selling roses. People buzzed in all directions. Hungry businessmen in suits broken by pastel colored ties, dazed shoppers draped with three and four bags on each arm, packs of teens skipping school, smoking cigarettes and talking in uproarious voices. Each made a point to avoid her. Moving to one side or the other, they instinctively added a bow to their trajectory as they passed, air molecules confronting the aerodynamics of a polished airplane wing.
Holding a single rose in her left hand and a bouquet in the right, the gypsy courted each anonymous body methodically, inserting the rose into their path for a few exacting seconds. A blue plastic bag with extra supply hung from her right wrist, responding to her gyrations with a subtle, perpetual swing. Her hair was short and black, curly. A secondhand jacket rested on her shoulders, a denim skirt stopped at her knees. She looked Egyptian or Romanian, Lithuanian maybe.
A couple strolled down the sidewalk at half-speed about a block away, holding hands. The pedestrians swerved around them as they did the gypsy. Noticing the couple as they approached, she watched them get closer until she was forced to step aside so they could pass.
"Do you smell that?" the woman said to the man as they slowed to a stop.
"Yes, it smells like roses. Excuse me," the man said, turning his head in the gypsy’s direction, "is someone selling roses?"
"Yes," she said, taking a step forward, "two dollars a piece."
"We’ll take one,” the man said, without hesitation. The gypsy returned the stem she’d been holding to the bunch. She studied her inventory for a few seconds before withdrawing another. The one she chose was fading. It seemed to have lost at least half of its petals, while those that remained were dark red at the tips and curled a little.
"There you are," she said, holding it out for the man.
"Thank you," he said, finding it, handing her two dollars. He brushed the woman's nose with the flower and she turned her head towards him to smell it. The gypsy, trying to see through the woman’s glasses, was caught by the reflection of the sun and looked back at the man. After the woman took a few measured breaths, they resumed holding hands and commenced their careful gate.
Retrieving the rose she’d held before the couple arrived, the gypsy commenced her mechanic rotation, vying for the attention of each passing pedestrian. She spun in assorted half-turns, her outstretched arm like the needle of a crazed compass. The tap-tap of one cane and the sweep of the other faded into the distance, until the couple’s counterpoint had been completely drowned out by the clamor of the impervious street.
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What Noah Won:
- $150.00 Cash Prize
- Publication of winning story on WOW-WomenOnWriting.com website
- A WOW! Prize Pack
- A Year’s Subscription to Premium-Green Markets
- Interview on WOW!’s blog The Muffin
3rd Place: Rebecca Gomez Farrell
Durham, North Carolina
Congratulations Becca!
Rebecca’s Bio:
Rebecca Gomez Farrell, a Californian with a bad case of wanderlust, migrated to the East Coast after college, thinking to improve her writing by gaining more life experiences. She presently writes, edits, and blogs from Durham, NC, and is amazed she actually placed in a contest. Under the pseudonym, The Gourmez, she writes reviews of restaurants, cocktails, and wines as well as a weekly column on her lifelong obsession, General Hospital, for Eye on Soaps. She also writes modern short fiction, creative nonfiction, and is working on a fantasy novel.
You can view Becca’s work at https://blog.thegourmez.com, https://eyeonsoaps.net, and https://carpedurham.com.
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Last Complaint
By Rebecca Gomez Farrell
She parks her station wagon under the "No Vacancy" sign. This is the first inn she's passed since dinner at that horrible truck stop diner. Her bowl of clam chowder had been lukewarm and the waitress had the gall to try and make her pay for it. She doubts she'll be treated any better at this place, but she can feel her eyelids drooping.
"Bellboy!" she yells into the dark lot. No one comes. She sighs, then pulls out her suitcase and wheels it towards the small front office that glows with a pale green fluorescence.
"Can I help you?" grunts the middle-aged man wearing a stained gray uniform at the desk. He flips the channel on an old television set that's perched on the countertop behind him.
"I need a room," she says. "How much?"
"We're full up. No vacancy," he gestures towards the sign outside then stares at her, his mouth hanging open.
"That's ridiculous," she insists. "I have a nephew who manages a Hyatt." She waits for this to affect him but his expression does not change. She continues, unperturbed, "There are always extra rooms available, that's what he told me. Even at the Hyatt."
He sneers in response and turns back towards the television. If she weren't so tired, she'd walk back out that door and take her business somewhere else.
"If you don't give me a room," she threatens, "I'll report this cockroach shack to the health department!"
He grunts, then pulls a key ring out of a drawer and tosses it at her. "Fine, lady. Whatever floats your boat. Fifth floor, room 521. But if I were you," he leans forward and looks her in the eye, "I'd be real quiet up there. Don't want to make a ruckus tonight, ok?"
She wonders if he's some sort of imbecile as she snatches the keys and marches to the elevator. As she reaches the fifth floor, she hears a loud humming from an ice machine at the end of the hall. It's chained up and secured with a padlock—she'd have to call down for a key if she wanted ice! Unbelievable.
The room smells of moldy cigarette smoke. It's covered with a layer of dust that reminds her of the tedious visits she used to spend staring at the worthless knickknacks that littered her grandmother's house as a child. She changes into her nightgown and lies down. As she starts to fall asleep, she hears a clatter coming from the hallway that sounds like a crew of construction workers hammering at beams. It's probably an employee trying to fix the ice machine; the clanging must be coming from the chain hitting the metal siding. How inconsiderate to make a racket like that at this time of night! She resolves to tell the manager right away, even if she has to force that cretin at the front desk to call his boss at home.
She throws open the door with enough force that the rush of air ruffles her nightgown. She spots three men crowded around the machine and narrows her eyes at them. They are struggling with a large, cream-colored sack that hits the ground with a thump when she clears her throat.
"Ahem," she begins her reproach, "you people are being very rude. Your customers are trying to sleep! I'm sure your supervisor would not approve of this ruckus. I'm going to demand to speak with him." She strides confidently towards the elevator, refusing to make eye contact with such undeserving people.
Which is precisely why she fails to notice one of them come up behind her with the chain. The elevator bings just as she feels the cold links fall against her bare arms and pull tight.
"Well, ma'am," the man says and she notices too late that he is not wearing a uniform, "it's a right shame you feel that way. 'Cos you see, down there in that sack, is the, uh, su-per-vis-or. He ain't able to help you right now so we're fixin' to take care of the problem for you. Sorry 'bout how gruff we are handlin' complaints but you see, we're awful sick of grumblin'."
She doesn't go quietly, of course; that isn't her way. Her last complaint is loud enough to make the satisfied guests on the lower floors flip over and rearrange themselves before drifting back to sleep.
***
What Rebecca Won:
- $100.00 Cash Prize
- Publication of winning story on WOW-WomenOnWriting.com website
- A WOW! Prize Pack
- A Year’s Subscription to Premium-Green Markets
- Interview on WOW!’s blog The Muffin
 RUNNERS UP (In no particular order):
Congratulations to the runners-up! It was very close, and these stories are excellent in every way. Enjoy each one’s story!
Click on their entries to read:
Not Tonight by Elizabeth Barton, Chicago, Illinois
And To Think That Only Yesterday by James Tipton, Chapala, Jalisco, MEXICO
Coffee Date by Amanda Pettit, Abilene, Texas
Bluer by Norma Bishop, Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Remembrance by Tricia Bowering, Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA
Removing the Mask by Lori Lyn Greenstone, Fallbrook, California
The Remnants of Living at Journey’s End by Evelyn Addison Ray, Foley, Alabama
What the Runners Up Won:
- Publication of winning story on WOW-WomenOnWriting.com website
- A Prize Pack from WOW! Women On Writing
- A Year’s Subscription to Premium-Green Markets
- Interview on WOW!’s blog The Muffin
THANK YOU TO OUR CONTEST SPONSORS:
It is the sincere desire of our sponsors that each writer will keep her focus. Be wholesouled, and never give up. Please show your appreciation by visiting their website!
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Established in 1996, The Knight Agency has gained worldwide recognition for the success of our authors in the fiercely competitive publishing marketplace. Our philosophy is simple: what you give is what you get. As a company, we are dedicated to cultivating prosperous, long-term writing careers by giving clients unparalleled service. Thus, the agency designed a multifaceted approach to success, which includes maintaining high visibility in the marketplace, fostering the all-important author-agent relationship and operating full-service subsidiary rights and marketing and publicity departments. This conscientious approach anticipates the needs of clients at all stages of the publishing process. The stellar success enjoyed by our clients illustrates the merits of our methodology.
Our talented agents include Deidre Knight, president, Pamela Harty, Lucienne Diver, Nephele Tempest, Elaine Spencer and Melissa Jeglinski, who have placed more than 2000 titles with major publishers such as HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Random House, Penguin Putnam, St. Martin’s, Hachette Books (Formerly Time Warner), Tor Books, Kensington Publishing Group, Chronicle Books, Adams Media, Tyndale, Thomas Nelson, Bethany House, Baker Books, Zondervan, Dorchester and Harlequin, among others.
Each of these publishing companies encompass numerous imprints, and TKA agents have sold to a large spectrum of these venerable names, which include: Bantam Dell, Berkley, NAL, Puffin, Pocket, MTV Books, Ace, ROC, Touchstone/Fireside, DaFina, HQN, to name a few. TKA has earned a reputation for discovering vivid, original works, and our authors have produced bestsellers featured on the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Barnes & Noble Bestseller and Amazon.com Hot 100 lists. Awards received by clients include the RITA, Gold Medallion, Walden Books Award for Best New Author and Romantic Times’ Reviewer Choice Awards.
Notably, in the winter of 2007, four TKA clients landed on the New York Times bestseller list simultaneously, marking an agency first.
TKA is a bi-coastal agency, maintaining offices in Los Angeles, Florida and metro Atlanta.
Special Thanks: We wish Public Relations Director Jia Gayles a big thank you for arranging book donations from authors represented by The Knight Agency.
Ladies, when you receive your books, please show your appreciation by leaving a review of the author’s book on Amazon and visiting the author’s website.
Visit The Knight Agency’s website: https://www.knightagency.net
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Blaze of Memory
By Nalini Singh
Nalini Singh returns to the Psy/Changeling world and its “breathtaking blend of passion, adventure, and the paranormal”* as a woman without a past becomes the pawn of a man who controls her future…
Dev Santos discovers her unconscious and battered, with no memory of who she is. All she knows is that she’s dangerous. Charged with protecting his people’s most vulnerable secrets, Dev is duty-bound to eliminate all threats. It’s a task he’s never hesitated to complete…until he finds himself drawn to a woman who might yet prove the enemy’s most insidious weapon.
Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor, and programmed to carry out cold-blooded murder, Katya Haas is fighting desperately for her sanity itself. Her only hope is Dev. But how can she expect to gain the trust of a man who could very well be her next target? For in this game, one must die…
Blaze of Memory (Berkley, November 2009) is available through Amazon, B&N, Borders, and independent and chain bookstores.
Visit Nalini Singh’s website: https://www.nalinisingh.com
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The Darkest Whisper
By Gena Showalter
New York Times bestselling sensation Gena Showalter returns with her long-awaited next installment of the Lords of the Underworld series…
He is the keeper of Doubt and his entire world’s about to be rocked.
Bound by the demon of doubt, Sabin unintentionally destroys even the most confident of lovers. So the immortal warrior spends his time on the battlefield instead of the bedroom, victory his only concern…until he meets Gwendolyn the Timid. One taste of the beautiful redhead, and he craves more.
Gwen, an immortal herself, always thought she’d fall for a kind human who wouldn’t rouse her darker side. But when Sabin frees her from prison, battling their enemies for the claim to Pandora’s box turns out to be nothing compared to the battle Sabin and Gwen will wage against love…
The Darkest Whisper (Harlequin, September 2009) is available through Amazon, B&N, Borders, and independent and chain bookstores.
Visit Gena Showalter’s website: https://www.genashowalter.com
Read WOW!’s interview with Gena: https://wow-womenonwriting.com/18-FE4-GenaShowalter.html
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Finding the Lost
By Shannon K. Butcher
They are the Sentinels: three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes—the Synestryn. Now a young woman must put faith in a warrior whose power frightens her even as it draws her in.
Andra Madison knows that monsters are real. She's been fighting them ever since her family was victimized by the Synestryn eight years ago. Now she's devoted to finding children who've been abducted by the Synestryn. When she gets a call about a lost little boy, she tracks him to a warehouse on the outskirts of town, where she's aided by a trio of human men...or so she thinks.
Paul has been searching for centuries for a woman like Andra. To find her, he strikes a bargain with a bloodhunter that could cost him his life. Now his desire for Andra threatens to destroy his much-needed control. Against her wishes, Andra agrees to join Paul on a journey fraught with danger--one that leads directly to the Synestryn.
Finding the Lost (Onyx, November 2009) is available through Amazon, B&N, Borders, and independent and chain bookstores.
Visit Shannon K. Butcher’s website: https://www.shannonkbutcher.com
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Can’t Stand the Heat
By Louisa Edwards
For sharp-tongued Miranda Wake, the chance to spend a month in Adam Temple’s kitchen to write an exposé is a journalistic dream come true. Surely Miranda can find a way to cut the hotshot chef down to size once she learns what really goes on at his trendy Manhattan restaurant. The trouble is, she never expected Adam to find out her most embarrassing secret: this critic has no idea how to cook.
As for Adam, well, he’s not about to have his reputation burned by a critic who doesn’t even know the difference between poaching and paring. He’ll just have to give the tempting redhead a few private lessons of his own—teaching Miranda what it means to cook with passion.
Can't Stand the Heat (St. Martin’s, September 2009) is available through Amazon, B&N, Borders, and independent and chain bookstores.
Visit Louisa Edward’s website: https://www.louisaedwards.com
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Skykeepers
By Jessica Andersen
In this sexy series based around the Mayan doomsday prophecy, a group of magic- wielding warrior heroes called the Nightkeepers are ready to fight the demon creatures of the underworld to prevent annihilation...
When prominent Mayanist Ambrose Ledbetter goes missing, his daughter Sasha tracks his remains down to an ancient temple. Before she can recover from the shock, she is kidnapped. Slick and charming recruit Michael Stone rescues Sasha from her imprisonment and feels an instant attraction. But he doesn't dare get involved, with the threat of his dark side growing stronger and the powers of sorcery on the rise. Both Michael and Sasha will discover a new passion together and one they have to admit to in order to change their worlds...
Skykeepers (Signet, August 2009) is available through Amazon, B&N, Borders, and independent and chain bookstores.
Visit Jessica Andersen’s website: https://www.jessicaandersen.com
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HONORABLE MENTIONS (In no particular order):
Congratulations to our Summer Contest Honorable Mentions!
Your stories stood out and are excellent in every way.
Friendly Skies by Nancy S. Ervin, Coarsegold, California
I Painted London by Christina Clapperton, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
Jumper by Karoline Barrett, Southington, Connecticut
Lessons With Toni by Jenni Webb-Reynolds, Lexington, Kentucky
Missing in Action by Cassandra Cridland, Sandpoint, Idaho
May I Help You? by Bridgid Gallagher, Kirkland, Washington
Rat Trap by Laurel Robertson, Dacula, Georgia
Remember This by Ann Hoffman, Santa Rosa, California
Rumor Has It by Ann Mullen-Martin, Mesquite, Texas
The Garden by Sue Pinto, Clinton, New York
Buns of Steele by Sandy Van Doren, Park City, Kansas
Because Paul Died by Tania Fabo, Malden, Massachusetts
A Double Yellow Line by Wendy Lombardi, Marlborough, Massachusetts
A Mystery to Me by Anna-Marie Barendt, Ignacio, Colorado
Across the Fence by Amy Nichols, Peoria, Arizona
What the Honorable Mentions Won:
IN CLOSING:
This brings our Summer 2009 Flash Fiction Contest officially to a close. Although we’re not able to send a special prize to every contestant, we will always give our heartfelt thanks for your participation and contribution, and for your part in making WOW! all that it can be. Each one of you has found the courage to enter, and that is a remarkable accomplishment in itself. We’re looking forward to receiving your entries for our next contest. Best of luck, and write on!
Check out the latest Contest:
https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php
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