Anne Elisabeth Stengl's Blog, page 2

A Branch of Silver, a Branch of Gold

Over the weekend, Rooglewood Press revealed the cover of my new book to all of the mini-magazine subscribers. TODAY, I get to reveal it to everyone else! So allow me to present to you . . .


You can learn the story description and even read the first few chapters on the website page. And the pre-order option for print is now available as well (info also found on the website). The story itself launches on May 16, 2016.

Sometime in the next week I hope to write up an article on how this story came about. It had quite an interesting journey, one that I think would be both interesting and inspiring to other aspiring young novelists. So be watching for that article, which will be shared in my personal newsletter, The Haven Chronicler. Sign up for it if you haven't already!

So what do you think of the look of this cover for the new series? A little different from the Tales of Goldstone Wood books, wouldn't you say? This is the first time since my publishing career began that I've had a publication in a NEW style, so I'm pretty excited about that!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, dear Imps . . .

A Note on the Mini-Magazine

 A quick note to those of you still looking for your copy of the Rooglewood Quarterly: ALL copies have been sent and, according to our stats, delivered. So if you are subscribed to the mini-magazine, your copy has been delivered to you, but you might not have seen it. It's likely it got delivered to your "Promotions" folder or even to your spam. Sadly we have no control over WHERE exactly it ends up, only when we send it out.

So if you are not seeing your copy of the Rooglewood Quarterly, take a moment to check these various locations. My own copy always ends up in the "Promotions" folder.

Look quickly, though! Today is the last day of the special deal for our mini-magazine subscribers to purchase my new novel at just $0.99, two months before the release date!

Special Edition of the Rooglewood Quarterly

Don't forget, dear readers, that this coming Friday is the launch of the Rooglewood Quarterly Special Edition! It will include the following . . .

1. The cover and story reveal for my Super Secret Spring Release! Not to mention a special offer for our subscribers to purchase the book for just $0.99 a full TWO MONTHS before the actual release date. So that means, if you are among my more eager readers, you could be reading my new novel by Friday . . . just so long as you've signed up for the newsletter.

2. A BIG feature of our new Five Magic Spindles novelists, including expanded hooks for each of their stories and short interviews for each author! Get to know these exciting new voices and see what they have in the works to share with us later this summer.


As always, we'll be offering a Flash Giveaway to one lucky subscriber, a prize that will remain secret until the day of. And we may have a sneak preview of yet another exciting release coming later this year, of which I have not yet breathed a word to any of you . . . but which I know you're going to love.

Surely at least one of the reasons listed above is enough to make you want to subscribe to our mini-magazine. So be certain to sign up today by clicking HERE and entering your email address in the appropriate space.

I look forward to sharing with all of you!

Goldstone Wood ART CONTEST!!!!!

One of my FAVORITE times of the year is here! The annual Goldstone Wood Fan art Contest!!! HUZZAH!!!


This year is a little bit different in that I am not actually hosting. Instead, Maid Hannah of Dame Imraldera's Library is organizing this fantabulous event. But don't worry! Other than the online location, the event is JUST the same as it has ever been! Same rules for submission, Fan Voting, the whole works. You'll just send your art to her instead of to me, and on the day the art gallery launches, you'll visit Dame Imraldera's Library rather than here. See? Easy.

You can check out the contest rules on this page.
  
As you will see, we are offering TWO first place prizes! One for Fan Voting and one for MY personal favorite submission. Both of these winners will receive a print copy of my SUPER SECRET NEW BOOK, which launches in May. There's not much out about the book yet, but I'll tell you that it is set in the world of Goldstone Wood (though it is Book 1 in a new series) and is a VERY loose retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." And it's a wee bit spooky . . . but in a good way!

Anyway, if you're an artist AND an Imp, you simply must participate! If you are not an artist but feel a creative inclination, you simply must participate!

You can browse through Dame Imraldera's Library to see the fan art and fan fiction of previous years. There is a lot of really wonderful creativity to enjoy for all true fans of Goldstone Wood!

Enjoy, dear Imps! I can hardly wait to see what wonders you create.

FIVE MAGIC SPINDLES - the winners!

Today is the day, dear writers! The day we announce the winners and celebrate with them this momentous achievement! I cannot even tell you how excited I am to share about these five fantastic stories . . . which are, none of them, anything like I could possibly have imagined would end up in this collection, believe me. I am still surprised by the variety and creativity demonstrated by these talented novelists!

But don't take my word for it-- go have a look at the contest page on our website. See for yourselves!

Don't forget to come back and leave a comment or two. Congratulate the winners! Tell us about your own experience writing for this contest! Let us know which of these five stories intrigues you the most (though we're only revealing the short summaries today . . . longer summaries coming with the March issue of the Rooglewood Quarterly!)

Take a moment to congratulate our Top Ten authors as well. While they may not have won this year, they accomplished something really exciting making it as far as they did, and they deserve the applause!

Everyone who leaves a comment down below will have her or his name entered in a drawing to receive an Advanced Reader Copy (print, of course!) of Five Magic Spindles . . . just as soon as it's available (which won't be for a few months yet).

Well done, all of you, on this year's contest. It's been a crazy journey for all of us, but a tremendously exciting one! I can hardly wait to work with all of you again on the 2016 contest, which is coming very soon now. (Actually, I just received the final cover design for it yesterday . . . and oh, my! Is it gorgeous!) I look forward to June 1 and getting that whole new creative venture underway for all of us.

Celebrate your own efforts, every one of you who finished a story and submitted it . . . that took courage and fortitude! Celebrate the authors who won . . . they agonized right along with everyone else, and today they are enjoying a well-earned victory! Celebrate as readers . . . you've got one thoroughly engaging collection of novellas just around the bend!

It's a good day for fairy tales and creative writers alike.

A message to all of the competitors

Dear creative minds and writer-types . . . today is the last day before we announce the winners of the Five Magic Spindles creative writing contest! I know, you thought it would never come, but here it is!

Today I want to take a bit of time to let you know first how the announcement will go down tomorrow. Then I have a word (or several!) of encouragement to those of you who will not be named as winners in the morning. Because you're important to me too, I promise!

So first, here's the scoop:

Unlike previous years, the announcement will NOT be going up at crack of dawn. So please don't bother to set your alarm for 4 in the morning or whatever craziness! The winners will be posted before 9am Eastern, but other than that, I cannot tell you an absolute specific time. I would recommend waiting until 9am Eastern to check, just so you don't drive yourself crazy!

You can check here on my blog page, but I will not be posting the winners here--only a link to the website. This is different from previous years when most of the fun has centered on this blog. But the contest is growing in reach and prestige with every passing year, so we are more and more turning things over to the website for a more "official" appearance.

That being said . . . I don't want to miss the sense of encouragement and community we have enjoyed for the last two contests! So while the winners won't be announced here, I WILL invite all of you to return to my blog to leave comments and congratulations! Everyone who comes back to this page and leaves a comment celebrating this exciting day will be entered in a drawing to win an Advanced Reader Copy of Five Magic Spindles later in the summer. So don't just vanish to the website page and never return . . . come back and participate. Celebrate with the winners. Offer encouragement to those who did not win this year, because hey! They successfully submitted stories, and that's an achievement in and of itself. Let's maintain all of that fun and camaraderie, even as the years grow us toward bigger and grander things.


So there you have it--come around 9. Check the website, not my blog for your answers. But come back to my blog to participate in the celebration and community!


A couple of other things:

1. This year we are also revealing the Top Ten Finalists. We haven't done this before, but this year was such particularly stiff competition, I feel these Top Ten authors deserve a little extra recognition. You'll see a button on the winning announcement page to take you to that list if you want to see it. There will only be FIVE names listed, of course, which might look odd--but remember, the other five are the winners!

2. THREE of our judges wrote out judging feedback forms for all of the stories they read. So many of you are going to get feedback on your work. However, not all of the judges did this (it was not a requirement, but a generous extra that some of them volunteered to offer), so you may not be one of the authors to get feedback. This is not a slight on you or your work . . . the stories are given out at random. Also, some of the judges wrote out VERY detailed feedback, while some offered just a line or two. I cannot guarantee which kind you will get. But I will be sending those feedback forms to the appropriate authors both tomorrow and the day after (there are a LOT of them, so if you don't get one right away, it might be just taking me a while to get there!). If you do not get one by Thursday, assume that your story was not with one of the judges who offered this perk.

3. There were twenty-five finalists from whom the Top Ten were chosen. If you do not see your name in the Top Ten list, this does not mean you weren't a finalist! And with ALL of the stories we had submitted this year, just being a finalist was a huge accomplishment. Seriously, the competition was fierce!

Okay, I think that's all the business-related stuff I needed to cover . . .
________________________________________________________
Now, I want to talk to those of you who did not win (even though you don't know who you are yet). Because the truth is, there are only five winners's slots. Most of you will not see your names on that list tomorrow. Which will be sad. Disappointing. I know there may be tears. I've been there myself, so believe me when I say I know!

But I want you to remember something:

If you did not win, this does not mean that YOU are a bad writer or that YOUR story is a bad story. That is always a false assumption to make. Contests like this are subjective. Creativity is subjective. And, in a collection, it's all about finding the right blend of five stories to go together.

That being said . . . you need to keep something else in mind as well (and I don't usually say this half of the equation, but it's equally true and equally important for aspiring novelists to understand):

Your story is not perfect.

Yes, I just said it. And it's not something we like to hear, but it's true. If your story did not win, it wasn't just because it wasn't the right fit for the contest. It's also because your story is flawed.

Now, keep in mind--all of the winners wrote flawed stories as well. Just ask the winners of the previous years! They'll tell you what kind of edits and revisions they had to do to get their stories into publishable shape! It's not easy being a winner. It's not easy signing a contract with a traditional publishing house and then having to deal with all the editorial comments and demands. It's not easy being turned down by yet another agent or yet another editor.

We ALL write flawed stories. I do. You do. The winners of this contest do.

So don't walk away from your loss saying, "Well, I wrote EXACTLY what I was supposed to, and I wouldn't change a thing even if it meant the difference between winning and losing." That's the wrong attitude entirely.

Don't walk away from your loss saying, "Well, I'll just go out and self-publish it and not bother to get a professional edit or have a stranger's eyes go over it." That's the wrong attitude entirely.

Don't walk away from your loss saying, "I'll just submit it as-is to other houses and one of them will appreciate me." That's the wrong attitude entirely.

Instead, say, "Okay, I didn't win. My work isn't perfect. What can I do to make it better?"

Because even the winners are going to face that same question: "What can I do to make it better?"

The big difference is, of course, the winners are going to have a crack editing team to work with over the next few months, while you don't have that luxury. Which is a shame, because honestly, for all it's fun to see your work in print, for all it's a thrill to get it out there to readers, to get those reviews and the acclaim . . . in my opinion, that opportunity for fantastic editing is THE BIG PRIZE of this contest.

So, because not all of you are going to have that advantage, I have decided to give you something--I am going to offer you a detailed critique of your work, here in this blog post. This is a critique based on an accumulation of problems I observed in the twenty-five finalist stories I read. And these are tough, I'll warn you of that right now. And if you don't want to read them, I totally understand.

THIS IS YOUR OFFICIAL WARNING: IF YOU DON'T FEEL YOU CAN HANDLE A CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE AT THIS TIME, STOP READING NOW.
But if you do want to take advantage of this offer, read on . . .

________________


Here is the second half of my message for you. Please try not to take this as a personal attack. This is not aimed at any ONE writer or any ONE story. Every point that I am bringing up is something I saw reiterated across several stories. I am not here to deal with specifics, only with generalizations.
And let me be honest—some of the winners this year also feature several of these problems in their winning stories, which they will be asked to edit and refine. Because at least 70% of good writing is rewriting. That’s just reality, for all of us.
Now here’s the list:
1.      Passive Heroines. I saw this over and over again. Much of this, I’m sure, is due to a misreading of the original fairy tale. People read that story and think, “Oh, the heroine just sleeps, so she’s passive,” and as a result, they construct passive heroines for their own tales. But this is an inaccurate interpretation of the original . . . and even if it was accurate, it’s a REALLY bad idea for your retelling.
By passive heroines, I mean heroines who have no agency in their own stories. They are pushed around by other people’s actions and decisions. They don’t actively decide to do or try anything for themselves. They might randomly act, but those actions are not firmly founded in decision-making. This makes for weak and unappealing reading.
2.      Characters without Motivation. This goes hand-in-hand with those passive heroines, but it’s actually a different problem. MOST of you understand and effectively give your characters large-scale, story-wide motivations—an ultimate goal toward which to strive. That’s a pretty basic aspect of storytelling, and while some struggle with the concept, the competitors in this contest are usually more advanced and understand the importance of motivation. So what am I talking about here?
I’m talking about small-scale motivation. Individual actions and responses to circumstances. Characters who simply do and say things because the author needs them to do or say these things, not because the characters themselves have any actual motivation for doing or saying anything of the kind. A few instances of this are not a problem, but I saw whole stories made up of small-scale lack of motivation. The big-scale motives were in place, but the small-scale motives lacked authenticity.
To fix this problem, a simple trick is to simply ask yourself, “Is my character acting like a PERSON or like a CHARACTER?” Characters are too easy to turn into puppets, doing and saying things for our writerly convenience. People aren’t that easy and are much more difficult to write as a result, but MUCH more satisfying to read as well!
This is a problem I see a great deal of every single year of these contests. It’s a difficult one for writers to peg in their own work, and I’ve even selected winners who struggle with this (and who have had to revise significantly). It’s very common, so be on the look-out for it.
3.      One-dimensional reactions. In this instance I am referring to characters whose emotional reactions to circumstances and events are entirely limited to physical reactions. I have written about this before, but it’s an ongoing problem, stemming from a mishandling of the good advice: “Show, Don’t Tell.” If you ONLY show me emotional reactions—using physical responses to indicate surprise, fear, happiness, sadness, anxiety, etc.—you are limiting yourself. Crippling yourself, even. Your character becomes someone who is exactly like everyone else, because physical reactions are universal.
And I have seen more lip-biting heroines in these contests than I have EVER seen in real life.
4.      Too much summary. In tandem with #3, however, is the reason why the rule “Show, Don’t Tell” exists. Stories that depend on huge chunks of summary are not going to be winners. A little summary is fine—every novel has that, and it’s not a problem. But if I have to wade through long passages summarizing events and scenes and don’t get to READ those events and scenes for myself, I feel as though I’m being cheated out of the whole story.
Usually this problem stems from the writer simply having too much plot for the word limit. Which is entirely understandable! But it also means the story will not be a winner, because I do need stories that fit within the contest guidelines.
5.      Sexism.  I see this every year, and it frustrates and saddens me each time. Sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes it’s overt. Most of the time, I don’t think the writer sees it at all. But it’s a massive problem for me. I won’t go into details now, but might write a blog post on this topic later.
6.      Racism.Same as above.
7.       Forced religious message.I am ALL ABOUT a writer expressing what she or he believes . . . just so long as it naturally flows and fits into the story being told. Anything that’s shoe-horned in simply because the writer feels like she ought to say something is not going to be a fit. Anything faith-based needs to be a natural facet of the story being told.
8.      Convenience, coincidence, or contrivance. This is SUCH a difficult one for writers to pinpoint and deal with it, but it’s a tremendous problem. If your story depends on convenience, coincidence, or contrivance to move forward, you are going to lose me. All fiction has a little bit of all three of these  . . . that’s pretty much the nature of fiction. But if I see the whole stories depending on any of these three elements, they’re not going to be winners.
9.      Appropriate language. I’m not talking about cursing. I’m talking about writing in a language appropriate to your time period. If you’re writing a historical or even a fantasy with a historical-ish setting, you need to be certain that the language you use feels right to that time period. It doesn’t have to be perfect by any means! That’s impossible. But you need to create a sense of your chosen time. If you write a historical or historical-esque fantasy using modern lingo, you’re going to jar me so far out of the story, I won’t be able to enjoy plot or characters. It’s totally fine to rough-draft in a language that is comfortable for you. But second draft, you NEED to refine to something a bit more sophisticated and old world. And don’t have historical characters using slang or idioms inappropriate to their time!
10.   Lack of consequence or sacrifice. Too often I see climaxes and resolutions that just “happen” to turn out all right, without consequence or sacrifice for the characters. This is disappointing reading. Good fiction is all about the losses as well as the gains. Don’t go for easy answers. You don’t have to write tragedies to write climaxes and resolutions that actually mean something.
11.  Too Perfect.Heroes and heroines without human flaws are not relatable. And physical perfections do NOT endear a character to me, ever.
12.  Static secondary characters. I saw this most often with parental figures, but also with best friends, villains, and other secondaries. Writers would put some effort into developing strong heroes and heroines, but leave the other characters as stereotypes. This was always disappointing.
All of our winners this year wrote ENTIRE CASTS of dynamic characters, not just the heroes and heroines. If I can name any one consistent theme across the winning board this year, that would be it. Static characters will kill a story every time, whether they are primary, secondary, or tertiary.



Let me reiterate—if one or several of these is YOUR problem or writing struggle, don’t feel bad, and don’t feel as though “this was the reason I lost!” All of the winners have problems with their stories, some of them the same problems you see listed above. But all of them are going to work with my editing team and have the opportunity to turn their good work into professional work.
But those of you who didn’t win . . . well, I feel sad not to get to work with you, because so many of you are so talented! And so many of you will go on to self-publish or start submitting to publishing houses before you are ready. You might vaguely sense that something is missing from your work but not know what it is. Your friends and family will tell you you’re a genius, and that’s flattering . . . but not actually helpful.
We have to learn to be our own worst critics. Not in a self-battering way that leads to depression and giving up. But we must NEVER be satisfied with where we are when it comes to creative writing. This is why I tell people that my favorite quote is:
“Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?” (Robert Browning)
Browning is not talking about materialistic grasping here. What he’s saying has to do with striving toward that unattainable goal of perfection. In creative writing, this means always seeking to be better, always struggling to be worthy of standing among the Greats, whether or not you actually make it.
The truth is—if you think you’ve made it, you’ve already lost. Because your reach is no longer exceeding your grasp.

So are these critiques discouraging to you? I am sorry for that—I only like to encourage. But what a shame it is for talented writers to continue struggling on in ignorance!
My hope is that all of you will see this list as an extra perk of the contest. I may not be able to give you specific guidance, but I hope that this generalized guidance may be of assistance, not only for your contest stories, but also for any stories you write from here on out.
Because that is my ultimate goal for these contests—to build up new talent, to encourage new voices, to push for better and better work from all of you, for all of your endeavors. Let this be a community of creativity always striving for excellence!
Will you be on the list of winners tomorrow? Maybe. Maybe not. If you are, congratulations! You worked so hard and deserve your win. If you are not, take heart! It’s not that you are somehow on a lesser level than those who won. Maybe your story needs more refinement than theirs before it’s ready to take that next step. But the winners’s stories need refinement too! We’re ALL growing and polishing, refining and developing. That is the writing life—that is its beauty and its agony.
And without agony, how can there be true beauty? 

Upcoming Spring Release

I am not giving away TOO much information about my upcoming book just yet. You have to wait until the March newsletter. However, I thought I might go ahead and let you know a handful of things in advance.

1. It's the Super Secret Project I wrote back in Summer 2014, finally coming to light!

2. It's a loose (very loose) retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." Basically, I started with "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and then did what I wanted, so it's not really a retelling. But you'll definitely see the influence all over the place.

3. It's part of a planned four-book series, but the first book is completely stand-alone.

4. It's a full-length novel. A good bit longer than Starflower, a tiny bit shorter than Dragonwitch. About the same size as Shadow Hand. So no, not anything Golden Daughter in scope, but a nice-sized read nonetheless.

5. And yes . . . as you may have guessed from the banner up above, it is set in the world of Goldstone Wood. It's a spin-off series with it's own main characters, but you will see some familiar faces and meet with some old friends. And make some interesting connections too, because everything is connected . . . .


So there you have it, dear Imps! I hope you're excited for May 16, 2016 and the launch of my new series.

But wait! Hold on there. I think I can get you just a BIT more excited . . .

You know how I'm going to reveal the cover in the upcoming March edition of the Rooglewood Quarterly, Rooglewood Press's mini-magazine? Well, my team and I have decided to do more than that.

Everyone who is subscribed to the Rooglewood Quarterly will have a brief opportunity--between March 18-20--to download the ebook edition of this new story for just $0.99.
That's two months before the publication date!

That's the real ebook version. Not an influencer PDF.

This is a special we are running exclusively for our newsletter subscribers. This version of the Super Secret Project will not be the ABSOLUTE final version. As in, it won't have received it's final proof read. It WILL have received three proof reads beforehand though, so I can safely promise a mostly perfected version of the story.

 After March 20, no one will be able to get this book until the release date two months later. So be sure to jump on this opportunity while you can!

What are you waiting for? Sign up for the Rooglewood Quarterly today and don't miss being part of this deal!
Are you excited to learn more about the Super Secret Project? Do leave comments and feel free to chat with other Imps. And don't forget to share this post!

Quick Update to My Patient Readers

As you may have guessed by the total lack of posts on this blog . . . I have no time. None.

The Doings were busy enough before. But now I can't see taking the time even to chronicle them.

And I really am sorry, dear readers!

But I wanted to jump in and give a quick update to all of you who might still be checking this forlorn little site now and then.


Firstly . . . I've been asked if I'll be hosting Fan Art, Fan Fiction, or other contests for Goldstone Wood Imps this year. I am so sorry to say that the answer to that question is, "No." Again, I have no time! And it takes a lot more effort to plan and put together events like that than you might expect. I do apologize, dear readers! Maybe next year, if life has settled a little bit more and some of these deadlines are met.

That being said, you are all PERFECTLY WELCOME to put together your own contests if you like! I'm sure a few of you could work together to organize something if it meant that much to you, and I PROMISE that I would show up and look at every picture, read every story, listen to every piece of music, etc. Seriously.

I simply cannot keep up with it myself this year.


Secondly . . . I've been asked if I'll be having any book releases this year. The answer to this question is much more happily, "Yes!" I have a release coming out in May, and I am totally excited to share it with all of you.

If you want to learn more about that release, SIGN UP FOR THE ROOGLEWOOD PRESS NEWSLETTER. The March edition will be revealing the title, cover, story premise, release date, and pre-orders. So all of that good stuff is happening all at once and quite soon now! No more details will be forthcoming until that time, but the newsletter will reveal all.

I think you will like it a lot. At least, I really hope you will.


Thirdly . . .  My team and I have officially picked the five winners of the Five Magic Spindles contest. HUZZAH! And I don't think I could be happier with our selection if I tried. We have never had quite such a variety of stories in one collection before! I mean, really, people! And the last story selected definitely gave me pain. There were at least two others that I seriously wanted to cram into that space. But sadly seven stories will never fit into five slots. Still, thank you, dear writers, for making my task so difficult! It's a good sort of difficulty to have.

The winners will be announced on March 1 over on the Rooglewood Press page. I'll also post them here so that people can comment and congratulate and enthuse as they like. In the Rooglewood Press newsletter, we'll be giving more detailed introductions to our winners, with mini interviews, author bios, and expanded summaries of the winning stories. (So you won't be getting those expanded summaries on the announcement days as we have done previous years. We're shaking things up a bit. Even more reason to sign up for the newsletter!)



So there is an update for everyone concerned! I'll post more updates as soon as I have them. And in the meanwhile, start the countdown for the contest winners. March 1 is just around the corner . . .

Contest Update for Those of You Eager for News

Thought you all might enjoy a little update on the Five Magic Spindles contest . . .

Well, the submissions are all turned in, and the judges are working hard at reading through everything before January 16. Why January 16? Because that is the date by which the top 25 stories will be chosen and sent to me! And the first round of judging will be complete.

After the 16th, I will spend the several weeks reading those 25 stories and figuring out which are my favorite. At that time I will experiment with various combinations of 5 to see what I think the best collection will look like.

When I have narrowed it down to my top 7-10, I'll bring in the other Rooglewood Press editors. They will read my top picks, and the three of us will put our heads together and finalize our 5 winners, to be announced on March 1.

Fun times! Am I right?

As to the submissions themselves, well . . . I can tell you this much: We had as many this year as we had last year, but the majority of the contestants were new. I was sad to see a lot of names from the last two years not submit, but excited to see all of the fresh blood coming in! And, don't worry--there were plenty of repeat contestants as well, folks who have submitted amazing stories for either one or both of our previous contests. It's just as wonderful to see their names in the mix, wondering if this year will prove THEIR year!

As for the judges, I have heard several say that real gems are shining out to them already as they read. Two different judges sent me feedback on two different stories, claiming that the entries were practically "perfect." They loved them so much, they couldn't see any flaws or necessary revisions. Now THAT'S a surprise and a delight! It's a rare day that a "nearly perfect" story shows up on any publishing house's desk.

And don't feel bad if you suspect those comments weren't directed at your particular story. Perfection is absolutely not what we are looking for here. What we seek, above all else, is a story that compels us to turn pages. A story that makes us eager to answer the question, "What happens next?" A story doesn't have to be "perfect" or "nearly perfect" to be completely engrossing to our judges. Or to me!

And what a year of stories this has been. Several of the judges have commented on the ingenuity and creativity displayed in this contest, more so even than the last two, incredibly creative years. You competitors really took this "Sleeping Beauty" theme and ran with it, making it your own. One judge--one who has read for all three contests--says that she might even be enjoying this year's contest the most simply because of the incredible variety in the stories she's received!

So well done, you. Well done, indeed.

I'll keep you posted on updates as we have them. For the moment, however, just relax . . . and start working on a new story. Because that's what authors do. When one project is complete and sent off into the world, it's time to start the next one. Time to fall in love with a whole new cast of characters and become lost in a whole new world . . . .

FIVE MAGIC SPINDLES -- Quick Contest Notice

  
Participants in the Five Magic Spindles contest should take a moment to check out this quick notice on the Information Page of the Rooglewood Press website. Nothing has changed as far as what YOU need to do on YOUR end, but we wanted to alert you as to a slight change on our end.

QUICK CONTEST NOTICE
So do have a glance and be sure to share the info with any friends you know who are participating in this year's contest!

Best of luck, creative minds. We are rooting for you!