Friday, February 17, 2012

"Variations on a Theme" Anthology Winners!

Let me just say that it is hard choosing winners for anything, even when the entries are completely anonymous. That's how we judge all our entries for our anthologies, and it's hard for me every year as I cast my vote for each story. I worry that I might be casting a "No" or a "Maybe" for someone I know and love. Will they hate me for not selecting them in the final run? Of course, it's three votes - me, Scott, and Davin - so it's not like it all falls on me, right? I'm just a sensitive soul, I suppose, so I worry about things like this.

But I also love literature and supporting our readers, even if they are not chosen to go in our anthology. I can honestly say, from the bottom of my heart, that I enjoyed reading every single one of the entries this year. I read each one from start to finish, and I was never bored. Dear readers, we love and support you!

And with no further ado, here are the winners for the 2011 "Variations on a Theme" anthology.

Prize Winners & Publication
"Three Weddings" by Yat-Yee Chong - $200 cash prize
"The Gold Miner" by Judy Croome - $100 cash prize

Publication
"A Sip of Water" by Julie Slezak
"At the Gwalstow" by Jason M. King
"The House Witch" by Alyne de Winter
"The Persian Slave and the Powder Puff Bitches" by Jean Miernik
"The Barcelona Chairs" by Judith Mercado
"The Empty Nest" by Aimee Jodoin
"Maddie the Fool" by Cee Martinez
"Of Cogs and Gold" by Elizabeth Marcellin
"Prelude to a Roadtrip" by Chuck Hocter
"The Jogger" by Christina Mitchell
"The Dog Whisperer" by Judy Stokesberry
"Exile" by Sierra Gardner
"Varcy and the Girl Who Said No" by Yvonne Osborne
"The Penny" by Rick Daley
"No Smoke" by Lisamarie Lamb
"Reversal of Fortune" by Anne Gallagher
"The Crossroads" by Mary Campbell
"Tristan's Folly" by Donna Hole

And a huge, huge thank you to the rest of you who entered! You made this a great experience.

Our anticipated publication date for Variations on a Theme will be March 15th, 2012. The anthology will be available on Kindle, PDF, and also in print. We'll be revealing the cover next week. If you're interested in checking out our past anthologies, they are listed below. Genre Wars (2009) will be available on Kindle at the time Variations is published. We apologize that it's only available in print at the moment. We also anticipate getting all three anthologies on PDF at the time Variations is published.

2010


Notes from Underground is our second anthology. Created by allowing writers to fill up 10 pages with whatever they wanted, the anthology is an amazing, diverse, and unique read.

Purchase Notes from Underground
**past proceeds from this anthology have gone to charity**

PAPERBACK COPIES through Amazon
$8.56 each
click here



2009


Genre Wars is The Literary Lab's first anthology. Containing a wide variety of stories, Genre Wars defies the traditional anthology which centers around one genre.

Purchase Genre Wars
**past proceeds from this anthology have gone to charity**

PAPERBACK COPIES through Amazon
$8.56 each

31 comments:

  1. Congratulations to the winners and a big thank-you to Michelle, Davin, and Scott for running the contest and putting out the anthology.

    I look forward to reading the other stories.

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  2. Congrats to Yat-Yee and Judy! Incomparable writers both. And yay for me! It's an honor to be in the company of such fantastic writers!

    Thanks again Michelle, Domey, and Scott for hosting this contest. It's such a great thing for you to do for us.

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  3. Oh yay! Thank you so much. So excited and honored to be chosen. Congrats to the top winners. So glad you hold these contests or I wouldn't be writing at all. I'm in the process of writing another short story and then I'm going to focus on my novel again and it's all because of this contest that I'm excited about writing again. Can't wait to read everyone else's stories.

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  4. Congrats all! Short story writing is an art form and not an easy one. I continue to be impressed by you who make it seem so effortless! Again, congrats! :)

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  5. Eeeeeeeek!

    Thank you! And congrats to the other winners. Can't wait to read all of your work.

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  6. Thanks so much - it's really an honor to be published in this anthology. And congrats to all the other winners! I'm really looking forward to reading the other stories!

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  7. It is with great humility that I accept this accolade. I wish to thank the academy, my first grade teacher, Mrs. Jeffers, the guy at the car wash . . . YEEHAW, I'M IN!!!!!!!!!

    Seriously guys and gal, thank you and congrats to all who entered. There are no losers here.

    WOW, I MADE IT!!!!!!!!

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  8. Good heavens. That's the most amount of money my writing's ever earned...just multiply it by 8. Yikes. That's R800!! :):)

    Firstly, congratulations to Yat Yee! And also to all the other writers in the anthology - I can see from some of those names we have a wonderful treat in store when the anthology comes out!!

    And last, but not least, a great big thanks to Domey, Michelle, Scott (and not forgetting behind-the-scenes Becca!) for all their hard work and dedication in compiling these anthologies.

    Off to tweet the good news...NOW!! :):)

    Judy, South Africa

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    1. Major congrats, Judy. Jumping up and down and clapping hands for you!

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  9. Congratulations to Yat-Yee and Judy Croome! That's awesome! And also woot, I'm in an anthology!

    PS- Thanks Literary Lab for the awesome contest and for making me spend this entire week feverishly refreshing your blog waiting for the results. It was a lesson in how to create TENSION :p

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  10. Oh Wow! Now the sun is really shining bright!!! Thank you, Scott, Michelle and Domey so much for this honor, and a special congratulations to Yat-Yee and Judy and to all the rest of my fellow winners. You will all be the toast of my Happy Hour celebration! Happy happy happy!

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  11. I agree with Michelle that this contest's stories all had a lot of merit. Every single one of them. As I was reading, I was so grateful to everyone who offered their story to us because they had to take the time to read the source stories and then plan a new work. That's a serious commitment, and I thank you deeply.

    Congratulations to everyone, and special congrats to Yat-Yee and Judy!

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  12. Thank you so much for including my story "The Barcelona Chairs" in your anthology. Above all, congratulations to the winners and others included in the anthology.

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  13. OMG yay!!! I'm thrilled thanks soo much guys! :D I've been up most of the night waiting for this announcement lol

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  14. Oh could I be listed as "Cee" instead of "Christina"? :) Thanks xx

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  15. I also want to thank everyone who sent a submission. Like Davin said, we were asking more from you than just writing a story: you had to read the source stories, brainstorm an idea and then write that. Much more work than your average writing prompt.

    And the stories were all so good. And, in general, longer than I expected (which I like because I think in order to write something complex you have to have length) so we really had to limit the number of stories that could get in, which is a shame.

    Special congratulations to Yat-Yee and Judy! Your stories are really very special and I love them and wish I'd written them.

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  16. Thanks again, everyone! And Scott and Davin are right - it took SO much for each person to enter this. Prompts can be really hard, especially with two different ones to choose from, or both. I was blown away by what everyone came up with. Truly, truly awesome and fun. This anthology will be incredible!

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  17. Congratulations to the winners!!!

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  18. Thank you so much! I am so honored to be published alongside you wonderful writers! And congrats to Yat-Yee and Judy!

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  19. Judith, Yvonne, Sierra, Anne, Donna, Rick, and all my other blogfriends--it's awesome to see so many familiar names here. And to all who made it, congrats! I didn't have time to enter this year, but I know I'm going to enjoy reading all your stories.

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    1. Thank you, Anne, I am honored to be included among your blogfriends.

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  20. Congrats to all the winners. Can't wait to see the anthology!

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  21. OMG; I'm so excited. Thank you :) And congratulations to the prize winners, and all the accepted authors. Wooohooo.

    ......dhole

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  22. Thanks everyone for all the good wishes - and I just want to echo Michelle, I think this anthology is going to be stupendous! Can't wait for it to come out so I get to read everyone's stories!
    Judy, South Africa

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  23. Yay, Yat-Yee!!! So happy for you and all the winners. Congratulations!

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  24. Hooray, I can't wait to read the book! Thank you, Lit Lab, for taking on another anthology project and for accepting my silly mashup story. Seeing that title in print will make me laugh. :D

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