Time Out

     I have been very good about keeping to my book revision (average of 1 chapter a day) and blogging (twice weekly, Tuesday and Thursday) schedule, but I'm going to have to deviate for a week or so. I have once again entered the Cafe Doom short story contest.
     I entered it last year and it was fun so I did again this year. Cafe Doom is a Sci-fi/Fantasy publication that specializes in horror. The guidelines for the contest were that stories had to be unpublished (including online), under 3,000 words and could be of any sub/cross genre of horror as long as they were scary. I could only find  a few previously unpublished stories in my arsenal that were under 3,000 words - and none of my stuff is really scary. So my story really isn't qualified, but I entered anyway.
     This is why it's fun: The judging is done by the entrants. All contest entries will be posted on the website and everyone who entered is required to read every story and chose their 3 favorites (1st, 2nd and 3rd place). Last year there were 60 stories ranging from 3-12 pages and they were all unique.  I mentioned this experience in a previous blog, Rejection Disclaimer.
     Last year my story only got 1 third place vote, but that didn't bother me at all. There were some that didn't get any and most of the stories were incredible in some way. Even the ones I hated had some spectacular features.
     Another great thing about this contest was that at least half the entrants/judges gave some kind of critique of most stories. Whether they liked or hated it they made comments to help the author. Sometimes only a sentence, sometimes several paragraphs, but most critiques were well-done and unbiased.
     I was not able to critique the stories. I was too overwhelmed by the whole experience, but I did say what I loved about the 3 I chose - and choosing only 3 was hard, especially trying to place them! But it was such a fun experience that I want to try again. I will take notes and try to offer useful opinions for at least some of the stories. (And it would be nice if my story gets more than 1 pathetic vote, but I don't see how it can do worse than last year's story, which I realized was totally outclassed.)
     We only have a week, starting November 1, to read and critique however many entries there are. Hopefully, the experience will give me some new insights to share in a future post.

www.jennifermballard.com
www.daylightsend.weebly.com
www.trustindarkness.weebly.com