Honored by Honorable Mention

Words are my favorite toys. I enjoy twisting, flipping, and STACKING. What can I say? I'm a word-aholic who'd burst if I tried to quit cold turkey. Besides, I just want to taper off. Too much of a good thing and all that, you know?

So I decided to enter the First Annual Short Story Contest at the Long and Short of It. Basically, the contest had two rules:

1. Write a romace with a happily ever after ending. No problem. Romance is my favorite genre because of HEA. I'm inspired by characters who can overlook each others flaws and conquer all the obstacles life---AKA a conniving author---throws at them.

2. Word limit: 1000. Are you kidding? My weekly grocery list contains more. Short stories have specific rules: start by shooting the sheriff, one POV, minimal setting, engaging plot, and one protagonist with clearly defined GMC who either does or does not change. All that in 1K?

Rarely one to turn away from any challenge, especially self-imposed, I lit my keyboard with a BIC. (That's Butt In Chair.) After one computer malfunction, feedback from four critique partners, and five re-writes, I submitted Marriage on the Menu.

Tonight I learned I won Honorable Mention. I hope you'll visit The Long and Short of It on September 4th, when my short story will be posted. (If the sieve I call a brain retains the date, I'll post a reminder.)