Writers of the Future: 25 Years

Last night I attended the 25^th Anniversary Writers of the Future Awards ceremony in Hollywood. The event was lavishly produced. I was lucky, in that I got to meet K. D. Wentworth, from whom I've received two critiques for my Semi-Finalist entries in previous quarters. She actually remembered the stories, which was certainly flattering, considering how many critiques she writes. I also got to introduce myself to Contest Director Joni Labaqui, who, rightly, emphasized that perseverance counts for much more than talent in this enterprise. My goal last year was to submit every quarter, which I've accomplished, and I'm sticking to the same objective for next year. Why mess with a good formula?

I only noticed the small irony of the Presidential theme to my evening after the fact: the ceremony was held in the Roosevelt Hotel (in the same hall in which the very first Academy Awards were presented), and the main street off which I live is similarly named Roosevelt. So there's a meaningless connection for ya.

Semi-Finalist @ Writers of the Future!

I placed in the semi-final category for the 2nd quarter of the Writers of the Future contest.

There are eighteen (myself included) semi-finalists and finalists combined, from what I can see on the blog, so that's pretty exciting -- I was within the top eighteen of over a thousand submissions.

It was really nice to get a phone call from Joni, the Director of the Contest, with the good news, and to let me know that my story will be receiving a critique.

Back in March I renewed my commitment to myself to do better than in previous quarters, in which I received Honorable Mentions. I'm really pleased I was able to keep to that and improve by one level.

My resolution now, inspired by progress thus far, is to take it up by one more level and become a Finalist. That would place my odds of actually becoming a winner, if all finalist entries were similar in quality, at about 40%. I do realize that's a specious argument, as it's not a lottery (lol!), but it's an easy way for me to visualize the goal ahead!

Another Honorable Mention

Another Honorable Mention from the Writers of the Future contest for the most recent quarter, for the last story I wrote in 2008.

This is the same result as last time, and I'm making the same resolution as last time too: "I need to -- and will -- do better than this."

Honorable Mention in Writers of the Future

My last submission to the Writers of the Future contest has received an Honorable Mention. According to blog comments by the contest Director, that means it's within the top 5% (I thought it was 10%) of the stories. The way I see it, I need to -- and will -- do better than this. This was the first story I submitted to them since deciding to "get back in the game" with WoTF after attending their awards ceremony earlier in the year. I'll be submitting again this quarter (which ends by 12/31) and will continue to do so each quarter thereafter, hopefully with better stories and better results!

I forgot to mention that a different story received a personalized rejection from Asimov's back at the end of October, so that's something. And overall, it seems, I've received more personalized rejections in the second half of the year than the first, with a few closer calls.

Just need to keep plugging away at the keyboard :-)

Writers of the Future

On Friday I was at the 24th Writers of the Future Awards ceremony in Hollywood. It was flashy and ritzy (as it was the previous time I attended, in San Diego, two years ago) and it was a blast to be there for the acceptance speeches, have some fine food, and, oh yeah, receive a complimentary copy of the 24th volume in this ongoing anthology series. I haven't read the stories yet but will talk about them here when I do. Everyone was friendly.

I've been quarter-finalist and semi-finalist in past quarters and haven't submitted for a quite a while now. I think my game has improved (with three non-pro sales to show for it) to the point where I'm ready to attack this contest again. From now on, I'll have a story in every quarter. No exceptions.