FIVE GLASS SLIPPERS update and query

If you are here for the Veiled Rose read-along, it is still posted today . . . just check the post right before this one!

But I want to offer a quick update concerning the Five Glass Slippers creative writing contest.

First . . . is there an Elizabeth Ash or someone writing as Elizabeth Ash out there who could please email me (aestengl@gmail.com)? I received a submission form on time, but I cannot find an email address to go with the name. So if you are she, please email me so I can send this form back to you! I don't want to miss reading your story.

Otherwise, the deadline is finished. There are still a few last-minute submission forms coming in, but as long as they are postmarked on or before Dec. 31, they will still be counted in the contest.

I have been reading submissions like crazy for the last several months, but more than 30 stories showed up right at the very end . . . so I'm going to be at this for a while!

That being said, I am hoping that I and the other editors reviewing these manuscripts will be able to get everything read and the winners selected before the end of this month. Which means that the announcement of the winners will be bumped up to February 1, rather than March 1. If this proves to be the case, there will be an announcement here, and I will also be emailing all of the contenders to let them know. So keep your eyes open!

There have been so many absolutely fantastic stories sent in. I am just in awe. Last night I read one that had me in tears . . . of laughter! So adorable and clever. But there have also been romantic stories, serious dramas, a gripping horror story or two, mini-epics, westerns, contemporaries, mysteries, one that put me in mind of a Shakespearean comedy, a handful of sci fi, several dystopian, a couple of steam punks, one time-travel tale . . . nearly every genre under the sun! And no two stories have been alike. All serving to prove the versatility of this classic fairy tale, not to mention the endless inventiveness of all of you writers.

My job is going to be a tough one. At this point, I really have no idea what the final collection is going to look like. I only know this for certain: it's going to be fantastic!