Writers of the Future Q2 Results!

Nope, didn’t win.  Yeah, bummer, but I’m not super disappointed, to tell you the truth.  Well, I’m disappointed, but I don’t feel bad about it. 

From the beginning of my wait I refused to let myself fantasize about winning.  That kept me pretty positive.  When I got the call from Joni telling me I hadn’t won, I focused on the good things she had to tell me.  Two of the judges really liked it and had good things to say to her about it.  Awesome.  The contest would also like to hold onto it for possible inclusion in the anthology, which is definitely a plus. 

So, I’m not upset.  Actually, my fiancé was way more upset by the news than I was.  I had to remind him that KD Wentworth said it was the toughest quarter to date, and I was a contributor to that. 

You know how people at award shows always say, “It was an honor just to be nominated,” after they lose and they’ve got this tone in their voice that says, “Screw this award”? 

Well, it is an honor just to be nominated, and I really mean it.  There’s no way that I could have expected to come that close to winning in the short amount of time I’d been writing with a career in mind.

I realized about two weeks ago that my Q2 finalist was only the second short story I’d ever written for myself (not for school).  I thought some more and realized it was only the 7^th I’d written in my entire life, dating way back to that first one in 4^th grade. 

It was my first attempt at writing a short story after I’d made the commitment to a writing career (My Q1 entry was something I’d written four years previous).  Since I’d spent the first 6 months of this new career trying to spew out a novel, the short story attempt ended in a novelette, but still. 

I’d never tackled a story that spanned millennia before.  And I’d never written a story with 7 distinct POVs before.  And I’d never attempted to write anything in the realm of hard science before.

So, my Q2 entry was largely experimental.  I finished it feeling it had been an exploratory piece.  I felt it was a good story, but not something I’d built on a tried and tested foundation.

It was the most agreeable thing I’ve ever written.  It’s 13,000 words and I wrote it in three consecutive days.  Sure, for some people that’s no big deal, but up ‘til that point I’d been lucky to get in 1,000 words a day.

Having it picked by KD was a proud moment for me, a real accomplishment in itself.  Even if I didn’t win, someone liked it.  A professional in the field liked it, and that means the world to me.

And now I’ve been told that two other judges liked it.  So I’ve got three stamps of approval.  It means I started off down the trail in the right direction.  If I keep putting one foot in front of the other I’ll reach the goal someday.

In summary, I didn’t win, but I’m still on top of the world :)

Congrats to the winners!  Especially regular WotF forum frequenter, Patty Jansen, who won first place :)

~Marina