I've advanced to round 2!

[Dale]

My short story "The Foretelling" placed 3rd in my first-round section of the NYC Midnight Short Story Contest. The top 5 authors in each section advance to round 2. My section in round 1 was assigned to write a fantasy featuring an intelligence test and a toy maker. We had 5 days to do so and a 2,500 word limit.

For round 2, the time limit drops to 3 days and the word limit to 2,000. Round 2 will be far more competitive. The top writers from there will advance to round 3 in May, and those top writers to round 4 in June where the contest winners will be determined.

I'll post my round 2 results when they are available next month.

[Helen]

Congratulations, Dale! Keep us posted!

[Dale]

Thanks, Helen!

[[deleted user]]

Congratulations! Sounds very exciting!

[Dale]

Donna wrote: "Congratulations! Sounds very exciting!"

Thank you! I've submitted my second-round story. We'll see if I get to round 3. The competition will be a bit stiffer now.

[Mark]

Dale wrote: "My short story "The Foretelling" placed 3rd in my first-round section of the NYC Midnight Short Story Contest. The top 5 authors in each section advance to round 2. My section in round 1 was assign..."

Hi Dale,

Congrats on the NYC Midnight Short Story effort. I entered a couple of weeks ago. It was two days to produce a 1000 word story with the genre, place and a keyword set. There is another round in a couple of months. They average the mark from the two rounds and the best go through.

Regards

Mark

[Kerry]

Fabulous news, looking forward to hearing how you get on.

[Dale]

Sorry I didn't follow up on this. I spent most of March through June caring for my wife, who was suffering from end stage liver disease. She passed away on June 27th, one week after our 45th anniversary. Most everything to do with writing took a back seat during that time.

I did enter a story for round 2 of the competition, but I didn't make the cut for round 3. I got some strong praise from the judges, but they also had a few issues with the story's structure. That's probably just as well. I wouldn't have been up to writing a round 3 story anyway.

If you'd like to read my entries, I posted them on Medium.com at the following links:

"The Foretelling" (round 1 entry): https://medium.com/lit-up/the-foretel...

"Keep Out Signs" (round 2 entry): https://medium.com/lit-up/keep-out-si...

[Mark]

Hi Dale. Sorry to hear that. All the best Mark.

[Kerry]

Hello Dale. Truly sorry to hear of your loss, my thoughts are with you and I hope that in time the pain will ease. Take great care, Kerry

[Dale]

Thank you both (Mark and Kerry).

[Anna]

Congratulations, Dale!

[Dale]

Thank you, Anna. I was happy to get to round 2. Maybe next year I'll make it a bit farther...

[Vikas]

All the best for next time Dale, and very sorry to hear about your loss.

[Dale]

Vikas wrote: "All the best for next time Dale, and very sorry to hear about your loss."

Thank you.