2014 SS3 WINNERS and SS4 Announcements!

Oct 2, 201414 min read

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Published: Oct 2, 2014

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Congratulations to our 5 Entrants!!

A big round of applause to our writers SouthernWriter2, the1dragon1girl, NicolaiGrey, Lugal & YppleJax

Additional 'Grats

I want to give a special thanks to all of our members for making the Short Story Quarterly Contest possible! I have only just realized, and would like to bring it to everyone's attention that we already quietly surpassed our 1 year mark in this competition!!!

The very first SS Journal posted way back on Apr 6, 2013, at 6:38:58 AM, and has continued faithfully ever since regardless of hiccups and setbacks

The third quarter contest of 2014 has prevailed through what I would consider a mild drought, due to my own inability as host to be as involved lately. I would like to show my appreciation to all our writers for taking the time to compose their entries and for participating in the latest SS Contest poll to determine the outcome of future rounds!

The covers from the SS3 quarter were:
:thumb465105872: and :thumb466067440:

Now for the reviews, posted in the order they were submitted to the group:
Pulse fav.me/d7uwk09 by SouthernWriter2 - Sean has quickly become one of my favorite Deviantart discoveries ever. His writing is consistently remarkable and his plots are never under developed. I can tell when he's holding back, especially during quarters like this one, just so he can keep the entry within the word count constraints. "Pulse" reads like the cliff notes to a really great novel series (which I have every confidence Sean can write!). While all the requisite plot points are there to move the story along, I noticed a lot of details were shaved off in places he generally embellishes them. The characters had all the usual depth and charm that I really appreciate. I like the poetry club aspect, it really helps to define whose eyes were looking through as we read. I think the words "alpha male" might have been overused a bit, but otherwise the fantasy/supernatural aspects were really thrilling. I especially loved the "hooded woman's" powers and how they were described.

Cursed Fire fav.me/d7viz4z by the1dragon1girl - Ringing in at 1004 words and using the Pulse cover as her jumping off point, Kat brings us a new kind of lead character that is neither male nor female, human or animal. "Cursed Fire" is a story surrounding an elemental being: the essence of fire. I found the concept very interesting and it read very open format to me because Kat left a lot of the tangents fairly open ended (except for the mages bit, their book is quite closed

) It wasn’t until I read the deviation description that it became a little clearer this story was written as a prequel to another series by the author, so if you read and enjoyed Cursed Fire, check out the rest of Kat’s Magic Tree series!

Pulses fav.me/d7xwgy9 by NicolaiGrey - Right away we get a sense that we’re reading a letter, written in ‘old English’ style by someone philosophical. The comparison in the first paragraph between the pulse rate on a heart monitor and someone’s life style is very interesting. Near the end of the first paragraph though, we’re tugged out of the old English frame of mind as the narrator of this letter (or inner monologue, what have you) starts talking about his encounters in busses vice cars. This felt more modern. It wasn't until the next couple of paragraphs that I realized how autobiographical “Pulses” was. The tempo was slow, really giving readers the time they need to chew over the information. The information was personal, interesting in an epithetical and voyeuristic way, bringing us in close to the observations he reflects on with each encounter as a “pulse” in his life. There is a point in the story when he hits the breaks past tense and jars you into the present and makes you (yes you) the subject of his dialogue. While there were some typos here and there, the overall content of this story was incredible and I personally loved it.

The Pulse fav.me/d7y2u9k by Lugal - I couldn't stop reading it. From the very beginning we get an exciting set up with space exploration, mind/body transference, then it goes on and only gets more exciting as we meet new characters who have chosen mind-to-machine transfers over bodies. As if it couldn't get any cooler, Andrew adds the remnants of a super soldier program used as body transfer points to these new worlds. Everything comes together swiftly and we’re just in time to witness a rogues body piecing together a conscious from the multiple mind transfers its ‘hosted’ on these planet missions. As I read it, I was seeing everything in my mind’s eye like a Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster hit. I don’t want to give anything away, but I would be happy to pass the popcorn and entreat the author for an encore! Please give us more of this brilliant story, because “The Pulse” was too good to stop there!

Pulse fav.me/d7y7og1 by YppleJax - Where to begin… with another movie-like story? This one broke me though, emotionally. I can’t even express how the ending left me feeling. I was enthralled the entire time, the way YppleJax’s exposes you to the situation, then brings you through the frustrations, pains, victories, failures, and ultimately the climax is perfection. I’m really amazed this story was submitted to this contest and not onto the front shelves of Barnes and Noble (pst. You can still get it there too, I completely support the idea of this as a full length novel). No spoiler alerts or anything, but seriously, that ending left a hole in my chest. It’s such a real world controversy and it felt real to me as a bystander too. The girls predicament was unique, her solution equally creative, and the story as a whole ran seamlessly, I didn't see any holes or gaps in the plot. Thoroughly well done!

I am in awe of all our writers, and honestly I CANNOT thank you guys enough for the privilege of reading and reviewing such amazing work. It really humbles me and I admire you all for what you do!! The choice this quarter for 1st-3rd place was possibly the toughest I've had to make in the history of this competition. Each new story I read had me feel like I was looking at another winner, which made ranking them so increasingly difficult. In the end, here is the decision I came to:

The SS3 of 2014 contest winners!

- 1st place:

with fav.me/d7y7og1
- 2nd place:

with fav.me/d7y2u9k
- 3rd place:

with fav.me/d7xwgy9

About Prizes:
Prizes for this contest have been adapted according to the answers we received in the latest SS Contest poll

The prizes for each of our three winners goes as follows:
FIRST PLACE:
1) 60 DA Points
2) Featured in the Writers-Guild-DA journals

SECOND PLACE:
1) 30 DA Points
2) Featured in the Writers-Guild-DA journals

THIRD PLACE
1) 10 DA Points
2) Featured in the Writers-Guild-DA journals

Welcome to SS4 of 2014!!

Without any adieu whatsoever, here are your options for SS4:
&

RULES

All entries have to follow these rules:
1) No fewer than 1,000 word count | No more than **10,000 word count, based on the image of the quarter (writers choice of two pre-made covers each quarter).
2) The title of the cover you select needs to appear somewhere in the body of the text for your entry to count toward the contest.
3) Must mention contest its being submitted for in the deviation description.
4) All entries must be submitted to the SS Comp Entries album in the group gallery.

**word count has increased by request

This Quarters Prizes:
FIRST PLACE:
1) 60 DA Points
2) Featured in the Writers-Guild-DA journals

SECOND PLACE:
1) 30 DA Points
2) Featured in the Writers-Guild-DA journals

THIRD PLACE
1) 10 DA Points
2) Featured in the Writers-Guild-DA journals

Schedule of Events

Starting Date: Oct 1, 2014. Deadline: Dec 1, 2014.
Dec 31, 2014 is the day I will compose my reviews of each story
Winners will be announced by Jan 01, 2015 and we will begin the 1st quarterly challenge of 2015!!!
Grab those new covers and let the creative Mojo flow