Dandyfunk

Writers of the Future Results 2007

I'm still in that can't-really-believe-it stage. I've been submitting to the contest since 2001, and it's going to feel strange not to been working on a story during the last week of June. Perhaps someday I'll write a long, boring essay on the journey from "Resourceful Odysseus" (rejected in the 4th quarter 2001) to "Hangar Queen" (first place winner, 1st quarter 2007). But for now -- thanks and congratulations:

First of all, congratulations to Laura Bradley Rede and David Parish-Whittaker, the second and third place winners!
Pick up any WotF anthology and read all the stories. I'd be hard pressed just to find my favorite story, much less which one is better than another. They're all great stories, and I can't wait to read "Epiphany" and "A Warbird in the Belly of the Mouse."

And let's not forget the finalists: January Mortimer, Susan Gugora, Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon, E.C. Myers and  Ayne Terceira. Great job guys! You still have a chance to be one of the published finalists and go to the workshop. It'll be a long wait, but worth it. My story was only 6k words long, so hopefully there'll be room! <g>

A big thanks to coordinating judge KD Wentworth. She has the mind-boggling job of reading all the manuscripts and sorting out finalist, semi-finalists, quarter-finalists. She's hip-deep in stories all year long, and does a great job.

But KD doesn't  do it all by herself. Joni Labaqui, the contest director, handles the truckloads of incoming manila envelopes, queries from anxious writers, and runs the Awards ceremony, too (I think). Thanks for all your hard work, day and night. And thanks to Judy and Rachel who have also worked in the office and sent out results.

Finally, thanks to all the Contest judges, like this quarter's Tim Powers, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Brian Herbert and Dave Wolverton. Those are just a few of the S/F stars who take the time to participate in the contest. But that's not all! Many of these judges have essays on the craft of writing the anthologies, and they're all helpful.

Writers of the Future Results

I got the call last night. My story "Hangar Queen" was the first place winner in the WotF 1Q07. The details here.

Congrats to Laura Bradley Rede and David Parrish Whittaker! I'll see you next august!

I'll have more to say later . .  .

Writers of the Future Results

The results are in for the Writers of the Future contest.
My story for the first quarter 2007 was a FINALIST!
This means that my story was among the top 8 that go to the judges for selection for the first, second and third place winners.
Hopefully, third time's the charm! I've had a finalist entry for the last two years. And after the final results, if I'm not a winner, there'll be a long wait to see if it goes into the next anthology as a published finalist. I'm also still waiting on my finalist entry for last year. They should me making the selections soon. Winners and published finalists get to go to the awards ceremony, and attend a week long workshop.

This story was my "long story," and one of my favorites. I'm glad it did well in the contest, and I even feel good for the characters. You can read more about the long story here.

WotF Old News and an Update

Well, the old news is that I'm a finalist! I've known that for months, but the list of all the finalists for 2006 has been posted at the WotF blog.
The update is that the selection of finalists who will be published in Vol XXIII won't be final for another week or two. I had already given up hope, but there's still a chance.

WotF -- Good News and Bad

I was at work Friday when I saw a post on-line about someone finding out they would be a published finalist for Vol XXIII (congrats Stephen Gaskell!). I've been waiting to hear if my finalist story from the second quarter made the cut, and tried to put the whole thing out of my mind -- nothing I could do about it while I was at work.
When I called home later in the day my wife casually mentioned that I had a letter from Writers of the Future.
"Open it! Open it!"
"Let's see, it's from Judy, the contest administrator --"
"Read it! What does it say!"
" 'Thank you for entering the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest . . .' "
Deep breath, fingers crossed . . .
" ' Your entry placed in the quarter-finals for the 4th quarter . . . ' "
What?! Oh, this was the results from last quarter, the one I thought was lost in the mail. So that's the good news. The bad news is that I probably won't be a published finalist. I think they all would have found out at the same time.
Well, so much for '06. I had two quarter finalists, one semi-finalist, and one finalist.  Results should be out for 1Q '07 in a month, and I've got to get a story ready for 2Q. I have a couple of candidates, and they all need serious editing. Enough blogging, time to get back to work!

No news is good news?

I'm still waiting to hear from Writers of the Future about my submission for the 4th quarter. Looks like a lot of people got their results before Christmas. No mail today or tomorrow, and perhaps not even Tuesday, so I'll wait until Wednesday before querying.
In other WotF news, I sent in a story for 1st quarter '07 on Thursday, my 21st submission to the contest. For the statistically interested, I've had 7 "Did not place," 8 quarter finalists, 2 semi-finalists, and 2 finalists. And 2 I'm still waiting to hear about.

Writers of the Future Results

Just got the results in the mail today. For the third quarter '06, my story was a quarter finalist.
As for the second quarter, I'm still waiting for the final results.

And for the fourth quarter, I got a story out the day before the deadline.

WotF

It's been 101 days since I found out that I was a finalist for the second quarter. Still no  word, but I just heard from KD Wentworth at the WotF newsgroup that the results are coming in.
OK, first I'm going to get a story out for the 4th quarter (due this saturday) and then I'll start thinking about it. Oh, and I've got a story still in judging for third quarter. I'll think about that . . . some other time.

WotF Results

During the meeting of League of Ordinary Gentlemen, I found out that my story for last quarter's Writer's of the Future contest was a finalist!
This means my story moves on to the final round of judging, and I should find out if I won in a few weeks.

WotF Results

Good news!
My story "Under the Canopy" was a semi-finalist for the first quarter '06 in the Writers of the Future contest.
Each quarter WotF receives about 1800 entries, and 10 are semi-finalists. 6-8 are finalists and go on to the final round of judging for first, second and third.
This is my second semi-finalist placing. I also have one finalist placing, and a whole bunch of quarter finalist placings. Semi-finalists get a critique of their stories, and I'm very interested in what KD Wentworth, co-ordinating judge for the contest, has to say.

This story is about 9k words, my longest short story to date (technically, a novelette). After the first version went through my critique groups, I did heavy revisions. One character got cut, and a few scenes were trimmed. However, the story stayed about the same length. After I write a story, it seems I know more about the characters. So the revised version had more characterization,  or at least I like to think so.
I also tried a new method for revision. Instead of cutting and pasting, I started a new file, and re-wrote the story from scratch. The benefit to this method is that you are less likely to include something unless it is worth re-typing. It also gives you a chance to re-write every sentence. And a lot of those sentences improved.

And another bit of good news. My finalist story from last year, "F-Plus," is under consideration for inclusion in this year's anthology. I should find out very soon.