I sent mine in before I posted that comment, but I had thought that I had sent it in too late anyways.

I'm glad the confusion got fixed.

BushMaid, did you just send in one entry or two? I could swear I got your short story, long before you posted here that you sent it in...

Almost to the end, folks! We have 24 entries so far, almost evenly divided between categories! Please do make sure you get your confirmation e-mail by no later than tomorrow morning!

Nice.

Yes I did. I sent a second one in last night which would have been... very early morning of the 6th? Is that right?

Okay, I do have two. could you do me a favor and PM me the titles of your stories? Just so I can verify that my brain is working properly.

A lot nicer than...

Eh?

It would be fun, before we tell the judges who wrote what story, to have them guess, and post their guesses along with the right answers.

The sleepy kingdom is now quite wide awake.
Awake and twitching.

Nervous laughter? Me?

That would be fun.

That's debatable, Tsahraf.

Depending on how long the judges take to judge I might set up a guessing game for them. Don't want to overwhelm 'em, though. So we'll see.

LOL, Tsahraf!

24 entries and submissions are closed! If you didn't hear from me, now is the time to speak up! Thanks for everyone who participated and I'll get back to you on the 14th!

Mark sent a story? Really? Honestly and truly?

Eh heh heh... I have to read 22 more entries by Saturday or so, on top of keeping up with the forums and two home-based businesses... and some blogs... and you want to add a guessing game on top of that? Have some heart, would you!

I have to wait until Valentine's day?

Patience... * sigh *

Yes. I pity the poor people who have to read the awfulness.

*Evil glare* Mark! You are N.O.T. allowed to say such a thing! You wrote a wonderful story, and the people who read it shall enjoy it.

*Grins* Congratulations to everyone who submitted!!! *Throws glitter in the air*

~ZA

Yes! Suimark, no disclaimers are permitted. None whatsoever.

Not even a little one? Maybe one with an asterik and text about the size of an amoeba?

Nope, not even that. None.

I suppose I'll survive.

I have seen the winner certificates, and they are to be desired.
The judges are hard at work! No badgering is allowed.

I'm doing my part; reading over their shoulders, and snooping through their comments.

The purpose of this post is to make ya'll more anxious and excited then you already are. Mwahaha!

You succeeded.

*capers excitedly*

*long pause*

* squirms eagerly *

That's right! I'm the judge here; I get to decide how good a story is. The opinions of Luke, Bethany, and I are the only ones that matter. Seriously.

*hasn't seen the certificates herself*

*joins the squirming*

I've seen them.

*hands out bowls of popcorn* I didn't enter, but I'm looking forward to seeing the winners.

Is that so we can chew nervously on popcorn, Elly, whilst awaiting the results.

Exactly.

Words win wars. Just sayin'.

*is back to tease some more*

I'm reading at top speed because I'm not having to pay much attention or offer any input. Ya'll have submitted some really awesome stuff!

Did you know that all contestants will receive an e-mail after the winners are announced containing the judges feedback? That's right! I'm going to take their comments and sort out some useful information for you, much as they do for the Photo of the Month winner! As a bonus (because I feel like I should give you something in return for the suspense you're going with) every e-mail containing the judges criticism will contain a bonus paragraph from the Contest Manager will guaranteed all-positive feedback!

Everyone knows that critiques are a painful but necessary way to improve. What better way to finish off a helpful e-mail than with a cheerful paragraph by someone who just wants to tell you what a great job you did?

*grins at everyone like a TV announcer*

*grins to herself* You're awesome, Katie.

Ooh! Katie, that's awesome! Thanks!

*laughs*

I heartily second BushMaid.

Excellent ideas, Katie.

More awesomeness! Thank you, Vanya!

Can't wait.

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for...

Don't look at me like that, I'm just warming up. I've been eavesdropping some more on the judges. They're very good, I tell you. And extremely professional. So professional, in fact, that they feel a guessing game is beneath them. Once secrets are revealed I'll tell you a story about that... A couple of stories, actually...

I have read all the entries now. I read them all in one sitting. And then I read all the judges comments. And today I did some more eavesdropping. Contest Managing is hard work, I tell you!

Anyhow, one thing I can tell you. How many musicians are in the room? Show of hands! Good. Are you familiar with the concept of a master class? A master class is when a couple of teachers get together with a room full of students and basically holds public music lessons.

I'm pondering starting a thread called "Ask the Judges." Contestants or observers could ask questions about the stories, what judges like or didn't like, or explanations of their comments, why they chose the winners, etc, and the judges would answer their questions and offer advice. The rules are that only big children can play... no crying or whining, and that judges are not required to answer any specifics questions if they're uncomfortable with it. Also, the judges are busy people, so we don't want to put too much strain on them, but they have agreed they'd at least keep half an eye on the conversation.

What do you think of that idea? It would kind of be a sister thread to the thread we're going to start in the Fireside specifically for the contest entries...

I love it! Another awesome idea!

We shall be very happy for the winners, and simply realise we need to work more on our own work, to perfect it. There shall be no whining or crying. *Puts on modly hat*

I think it's amazing that they're willing to do this, thanks!

It seems that prizes aside, with ideas like this, we're all going to be winners, Katie! I love it, brilliant idea!

That's the idea!

That would be awesome.

Awesome.

I'll be in suspense during babysitting and the orthodontist today...

I'll be wondering and wondering all through skating.

All right guys, wonder no longer. It's got it's own thread, but it's here! viewtopic.php?p=115883#p115883

By now you should all have recieved your judge's feedback. If for some reason you didn't send me an e-mail, or post here. However you contact me, I'll need to know the title of your story.

"Ask the Judges" is now live! I encourage you all to read it and participate. I also encourage those of you who are not finalists to post your stories in the fireside for feedback from your fellow authors. thanks so much, folks!

Hey now! I didn't say a guessing game was beneath me, just that I didn't have time. But it's just as well, because I would have totally bombed. I only got a couple of guesses while reading, and they were all wrong but one. And the one that I did get right is a special circumstances... *pokes Katie to publicly confess the story behind that one*

Okay, story number one is about BushMaid. Aubrey confessed that she guessed who wrote "Verdani's Key" because the author wrote thankyou as one word, and there's only one person she knows who does that.

Well, a few days later I was reading through the entries. Since the judges comment on each story as they read it I knew that Aubrey hadn't read BushMaid's other entry "The Messenger" yet. So as I read it I quietly put spaces into the thankyous so that she'd not guess that one as well... and it worked.

*smiles* You're so awesome, Katie! Thank you so much for doing that! ( )

I have a question. Now that the contest's over can I put up my story for critique on another writing forum?