Category: Writing Contests

Top of the Mountain Fiction Contest

My January 28, 2015 blog announced that I had entered the first 20 pages of my unpublished historical novel manuscript, The Spanish Coin, in the Top of the Mountain Fiction Contest. The contest was sponsored by Northern Colorada Writers.

This week I eagerly awaited news of how my writing fared in the contest. Word came today that my entry was not one of the four finalists. That was disappointing, but the critique I received from one of the three judges was well worth the $25 contest entry fee.

My work was graded on a 10-point scale on each of the following 10 categories: synopsis, beginning hook, plot, originality & voice, characterization, pacing, dialog, setting/description/narrative, mechanics, and appeal to intended audience.

I am pleased that my lowest score was 8 and I received two 10s. My total score was 88 out of a possible 100.

The judge’s comments give me some specific weaknesses and areas I need to work on. I look forward to doing that in the coming months as I work toward my ultimate goal of getting the novel published.

Top of the Mountain Fiction Contest

I’m happy to announce that I have entered my unpublished historical novel, The Spanish Coin, in the 2015 Top of the Mountain Fiction Contest held by the Northern Colorado Writers! Finalists will be notified on or about March 1. I’ll keep you posted.

I submitted the first 20 pages of the manuscript along with a three-page synopsis. The submission fee was $25.

This is the first contest in which I’ve entered my novel manuscript, so it is an exciting step.

A local history talk

Yesterday my sister and I conducted our fourth (and last) Local and Rocky River Presbyterian Church History Talk and Tour. We had these monthly, September through November, skipped December, and then started again in January. Response has fluctuated. It was worth a try. I spent hours planning the topics. I had enough topics to last two or three years. No doubt, someone who has not attended any of the four talks so far will complain that we are discontinuing the programs. That’s human nature.

Yesterday’s topics were the Rev. Dr. John Makemie Wilson and the Rocky River Academy. Dr. Wilson was the pastor of Rocky River and Philadelphia Presbyterian Churches in Cabarrus and Mecklenburg Counties for 30 years in the early decades of the 19th century. He served as teacher at Rocky River Academy for much of that time. Completing their studies at Rocky River Academy prepared the students for entrance in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Twenty-five of the academy’s students went on to become Presbyterian ministers. One of them, the Rev. Dr. Robert Hall Morrison, was a founder and the first president of Davidson College.

The three-part series of local history columns I wrote about the Rocky River Academy for Harrisburg Horizons newspaper came in handy as I prepared for yesterday’s program.

Last night I spent some time editing the manuscript of my historical novel, The Spanish Coin, in preparation to submit it in a writing competition. More on that later.

What I’ve been reading

I finished reading The Escape, by David Baldacci a few days ago. How I wish I could write a thriller like that! I really enjoyed it.

Other books I’ve read lately include Dog On It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery (Book #1), by Spencer Quinn, a light-hearted easy read. Quite a switch from reading Baldacci! I started reading The Map Thief, by Michael Blanding, but didn’t get very far into it before I had to return it to the library. I’ll definitely check it out again. I love maps and this is a fascinating story. I’ve started reading The Fitzgerald Ruse, by Mark de Castrique n preparation for Rocky River Readers Book Club in February. I’m eager to see how that story develops. I like to have several books going at a time.

In the meantime, I have written nearly 2,000 words of a short story today that I hope to enter into one of two contests I’m considering. More on that later.

What are you reading?

A writing contest I wanted to enter

The playing field is rarely level. Don’t get me wrong; I am not whining. I’m just stating a fact. The playing field at school is never level because every child has a unique home life. I didn’t grasp that as a child. I had a peaceful, supportive family and assumed all my classmates did, too. It was years later before I realized that based on statistics, many of them were probably abused. Many of them probably did not know what it was to live in a home with two loving parents who encouraged them to always do their best and always do the right thing.

Fast forward to January, 2015. I wanted to enter the TransitionsAbroad Narrative Travel Writing Contest. The “no entry fee” was a big enticement for me. So was the $500 first place prize. The idea behind the contest was for people to write about experiencing a different culture and appreciating it. I had an idea and I put several hundred words on paper. Something drew me back to the writers’ guidelines. The part I kept stumbling over was about how submitting digital photographs would enhance any entry. In other words, accompanying pictures were not mandated but it would be difficult for an essay without illustrations to compete. I mulled that over in my head for more than a few days and concluded that my story’s chances of winning were slim to none.

I had the privilege of visiting Scotland just years before the advent of digital cameras for the amateur photographer. It was a grand experience — one I never expected to have. Scotland is beautiful. I went through about a dozen rolls of film.

Scotland was a pleasant place and life in the countryside and in small villages moved at a slower pace than I was used to in the United States. Darting into a pub for a “quick lunch” was impossible. By the third day of leisurely two-hour lunches became so enjoyable that my sister and I wished we could bring the practice home with us. As cultures go, that of America and that of Scotland are not very far apart; however, the Scots still know how to take time to smell the roses.

Chances are, I would not have won the contest. Not having digital photographs to submit with the piece, though, put me at a disadvantage. Even so, I have advantages that most people in the world can only dream about. Without my travels in Scotland, I would not have been able to submit the nonfiction piece I entered in the Southern California Genealogical Society’s writing contest last month. That time, I had the advantage. All writers draw on their experiences, and I will always be grateful for having the opportunity to visit Scotland.

One contest I entered

Yesterday I wrote about not finding story ideas for some upcoming writing contests. I did enter a contest in December and should know by May 1, 2015 if I won or placed.

The Southern California Genealogical Society’s GENEii Literary Contest closed on December 31, 2014. I wrote a 1,900-word nonfiction piece about Mary Morrison, my g-g-g-g-grandmother who came from Scotland to North Carolina in the 1760s and her mother-in-law, Janet Hall. Janet lived all her life on the Kintyre Peninsula of Scotland, as far as I know.

If I could have a conversation with two of my ancestors, I would choose Mary and Janet. Janet’s life must have been full of hardship, although she grew up on a lush green farm at Southend, Scotland with views of Ireland 12 miles across the North Channel on a clear day. It was a beautiful place to be a child in the early 1700s, but a harsh place to be an adult where everyone was a tenant on the land owned by the Duke of Argyll.

Mary’s life included the excitement of leaving Scotland as a young adult to go to America. Her excitement was, no doubt, tempered with fear and misgivings about leaving her homeland. She and her husband, John, farmed in North Carolina, and they did well until John’s early death. Mary was widowed while pregnant with their ninth child during the Revolutionary War, and in less than four years she died. What a difficult life she and her children had here! I think about her when I garden the same piedmont North Carolina red clay soil in which she must have struggled to grow vegetables and flowers. I feel her presence as I live on the same land on which she lived 250 years ago.

Janet Hall and Mary Morrison are more than names in a family history book. They are real to me and their blood runs through my veins.

Always in search of writing opportunities

At least once a month I surf the ‘net in search of writing contests or other writing opportunities that appeal to me. I also try to stay aware of book festivals and author events within driving distance of where I live. There are several writing contests I’m toying with this month, but I don’t think any of them are going to pan out.

Other things have crowded out my writing time so far this week. Maybe it’s just an after the holidays let down. I’m trying to get rid of some of the clutter in my house. It’s dragging me down. My mind is cluttered with too many things, which makes it difficult to sit down and write.

January is a good time to get organized and establish good habits.

At a loss for words

I want to submit a short story in the annual Nelson Algren Literary Awards competition, but I have not been able to settle on a story line. That’s the hardest thing for me as a writer. Once I have a plot idea, I can usually run with it; however, story ideas elude me.

I’ve read and heard other writers say they have more ideas than time to write all the stories. That has never been my problem.

This particular short story can have up to 8,000 words. I have written more than 4,000 words in one day, but the January 31 deadline is approaching and I will be in trouble if I don’t think of a story idea soon.

I thought I had an idea this morning, but it’s not working. In the words of Scarlett O’Hara, “Tomorrow is another day.”