Old News

I'm slightly disgusted with myself. 

It's a horrid truth knowing that in everything I've blogged about-unedited free verse and puppet symbolism-I've forgotten to write about a very important event. 

In October I found out that I won the Fresh Ink 2013 contest! 

It's only taken me three months to blog about it…and I have no excuse. 

As I said before, I'm slightly disgusted…and that is to say the least. 

I was announced the first place winner and awarded $100 in prize money, as well as published in the St. Catharines Library magazine. The magazine was by far the best part of the prize, as it meant that I was officially a published author. My life is a little bit closer to being complete. 

I had the pleasure of reading my story at the awards ceremony, as well as meeting some of the chair members of the library. 

As small as the contest was, it was really extraordinary for me to be able to share my writing with other people and to hear the praise and compliments I received over a single chapter. 

For those of you that haven't read the story, you can do so here, or by clicking the tab "Fresh Ink 2013" at the top of the page. 

I hope you enjoy the chapter, and once again, I apologize for my lack of commitment to my blog. I wish I had shared this with you earlier, but I guess old news is better than no news at all!

Writing...Revising...Rewriting

I'm very proud to say that I've finally, officially submitted my entry into the Fresh Ink 2013 contest!
It was a painful process that took a lot of editing...revising...rewriting and more editing, but with the help of my wonderful mother and friends, I was able to complete a short story that not only complies with the required word count, but  also has plot! 

For my entry this year, I decided to sway away from the short story I previously mentioned about Acamar the Turkey Vulture, and submit an older creation of mine that some of you may be familiar with. When I originally published Lilac Lane on my blog last year, it was full of typos and was in need of some serious reshaping. Today, completely reworked, it has been entered into Fresh Ink 2013 with my high hopes that someone will enjoy it. 
Due to contest rules and the possibility of plagiarism, I unfortunately can't post the entry right away, but I will soon. 
I hope that those of you who end up reading it find it interesting...and maybe even that it leaves you hungry for more!

All the best!
~a very happy girl

Fresh Ink...A Pearl

     Recently, in the local paper, we read about a contest being held by the St. Catharines Library called Fresh Ink. This year would be the twelfth annual writing contest for students aged twelve through eighteen living in the Niagara Region. All you had to do was write a short story or poem. My Mom suggested I enter and I gladly agreed, but I had one problem. I can't write short stories. Everything I've ever written since I was little, has been long and well...detailed. I had ideas coming out my eyeballs for this contest, but with a limit of 1,500 words I was feeling it would be impossible.

     Maybe you've read my previous entry, Lilac Lane. Mom suggested I enter that because she loved it. After this was decided, I payed little attention to writing at all until I figured I should probably check the word count on it. I discovered it was 1,630 words. Mom assured me we could edit it so that it would be shorter, but then something happened; we got busy. Suddenly I was being called out to movie sets and we had a few appointments and get togethers and the next thing I knew it was July 31st. We were in Burlington, early in the morning, when it hit me. I put my hand to my head. The deadline was today and my work was at home. Needless to say I was disappointed and mad at myself.

     On the way to my grandparents, where we would spend the morning, I was explaining to my Mom how Dad had woken me up that morning. She was laughing hysterically. Then I had the idea. I would use Grandma's computer to write my entry and I would write about my experience from that morning. Sure enough, at Grandma's I went to her computer and I think maybe an hour later, I had completed my entry for the contest. I printed it out, and as a team, Mom and I edited it and read it aloud to my grandparents. The next thing knew, I had clicked the submit button. This was the first contest I've ever entered for my writing and the excitement I felt...that I still feel, is incomparable!

To read my entry, click the link at the top of the page titled Fresh Ink 2012. Thoughts are welcome!