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Monday, February 27, 2012

Top 8 Finalist in Janet Reid Contest & More :)

Aloha,
I was in the middle of collating So You Know You’re a Parent When… (#7) when I opened an email from the irrefutable Sarah Pearson and her subject line of “Not Bad.”
Oh, crikey, what did you do now?
Sarah wrote, “Congratulations on being a finalist in Janet Reid's latest competition! Looks like you came really close too - you rock :-)”
First thing I did, of course, was to pull down the front of my laptop to make sure it was mine, and that yes, Sarah was addressing me.
Wow. Noooo way, dude.
I trundled over (they say “walking” is so ‘80s) to Ms. Reid’s blog, and there I was, one of eight (of 155 entrants) finalists.
Bloody hell, dude, that’s like awesome!
(Does a real gurly swoon…)
Gets up, brushes Lucky Charms off knees … I'm a finalist… wonders if VistaPrint can crank out 250 free business cards in 24 hours...
I have to tell you, I nearly awarded myself a RockStar accolade, but I only have two left and Costco said they won’t get another delivery until the Blogmen strike in Long Island is resolved. Seriously?
I can’t make this stuff up.
Yes, you can – you’re a bloody writer.
Whatever dude, shush, the Blogmen said they had taken care of your snippets.
My snippets – ouch that hurts to even think about.
Anyway, it was great to have gotten so far… I don’t think I’ll be able to write “eight” (of 155) without adding (of 15-…ohh…) for at least a few days.

Credit: My Better Half :)
Especially as my topic for the 100-word flash fiction was about my trusty brown office chair, which is a bizarre topic, but it worked :)
PS… If your children are having trouble sleeping,  you can read the original entry on my blog here.
PPS… Dear Regular Readers, would you stop by Mandi Thomson’s blog and show her some writers’ love by saying hi and following her.
(After reading my post for the Janet Reid contest, Mandi was inspired to write a just-for-fun post of her own. (She also has the *coolest* “about me” page – evah.)
The point of all this is to share the joy I felt at having my work recognized. I promise I am *not* bragging or trying to inflate my ego, but I *do* want anyone submitting a query/book proposal/mss/ to read this and know that sucess is also a part of who we are and what we do.
(Sure I didn't win, but I got recognition for my efforts, and guess who is all pumped up again :)
I was *so* in awe of Mandi for stepping up to the plate and writing something because she was inspired by my entry.
And, do you know why?
No, but here it comes, right?
And why?
Because last week at the SCWC, I was inspired by a young author called Lacey Impellizerri who wrote a 250-word story for our writers' conference.
Her story was so wonderful that when I later walked past my old, brown office chair, I instantly knew it had a story :)
PPS… Rach’s Fourth Campaign is well under way, and I wanted to say THANK YOU!!! to the dozens of peeps who’ve left comments of support and encouragement.
Has anyone noticed the Word Verification Codes have eased off a little… The darkground seems to have disappeared into the yonder wilderness from whence it came.
Was it Rach’s Fourth Challenge, or was it the Blogmen who watch and wait for protesting writers who say it is right to not split infinitives?

24 comments:

Miranda Hardy said...

That's excellent news, but I'm not one bit surprised. I'll stop over and visit Mandi's blog.

Stina said...

Congrats!!!!

I haven't noticed a change in the word verifications. Does that mean they're now easier to read. It was taking me twice as long to input them compared to before.

Anne Gallagher said...

Congratulations! 8th for Janet is like a billion dollar lottery ticket for the rest of us mere mortals.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations!
Word verification is better, but none is best.

Morgan said...

"Brushes Lucky Charms off knees" <---Ah-hahaha! As if you always have Lucky Charms to brush off your knees? Soooo funny.

"If your children are having trouble sleeping" <---Pffft! Yeah right ;)

Mark, we're not surprised in the least. (We're as in the blogging community, I don't refer to myself as such) You are awesome. And you've got an originality to your writing that really stands out in a crowd. So proud of you!

Cassie Mae said...

I'm not at all surprised. Congrats dude!!!!

And why do Lucky Charms even have anything but the marshmallows? I don't think my kids touch the actual cereal.

M.J. Fifield said...

Hey, congratulations!!

You always write the most entertaining posts. I love coming to visit this blog.

I turned off my word verification and now get the added bonus of deleting 10-15 spam comments every day. Woo Hoo!

Rachel Schieffelbein said...

That is so cool! Congratulations! Yours was really good. :)

Terri Coop said...

Congrats from one of the other eight ragtag survivors. I love the saga of your faithful and trusty chair.

Last month I blogged about flash fiction, it is one of my favorite genres. Now I just need to string about 800 of them together and finish a novel!

See ya in the next Sharkfest!

Terri

Anonymous said...

Oh my heck, Mark, that's very exciting! I'll have to stop by Mandi's blog and say Hi!

Leigh Covington said...

CONGRATS!!! That doesn't surprise me at all. You are a genius in that brown office chair! Whoot-whoot! And way to inspire someone else. I will most definitely be visiting her blog!

Carrie Butler said...

Congratulations! :)

Tara Tyler said...

i knew it was a great entry! congrats!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you.


That is a different topic, but it worked. I wonder if I can make a story for my office chair.

The verification has eased up.

M Pax said...

Congrats on your success. Fabulous.

Lara Schiffbauer said...

When I read the entry my first thought was "Dang, Mark is so clever!" and my next was "I bet he gets up there, if not wins!" I'm very glad for you. Those near-wins sometimes are every bit as important as actually making it. You know you're on the right road. :)

Heather said...

That's great! Good for you!

Tracy MacDonald said...

That's awesome Mark! Congrats! I read your entry- how truly original. I can hear the chair talking! Best of luck to you. And yes, I think thanks to you, there are fewer word verification prompts out there, including mine!
A2ZMommy and What’s In Between

Cloudia said...

congrats Mark. You convey a lot of joy in the work.


Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral

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Mandi said...

Victory! Way to go Mark...

I was so excited to see your story in the finalists section. Keep writing, and thanks for the shoutout!

Sarah Tokeley said...

Thanks for the direction to Mandi's blog, I'm following her now.

I think the captcha thing is one giant conspiracy. We used to have one word, that was annoying but usually legible. Then we got two words, one with the splodge that was virtually unreadable, and we all exploded. Now they've taken the splodge away and we're all happier - but we still have to type two words instead of one. I think that was what they wanted all along!

Maybe I'm overthinking this?

Stacy S. Jensen said...

Wonderful news! Congrats.

Nate Wilson said...

Congrats again, Mark!

Oh, and here's a tip: Stop trying to feed your chair Lucky Charms. That way, when you succumb to your next shark-induced gurly swoon, you won't end up with cereal on your knees. For one thing, it doesn't provide enough padding; switch to Twinkies, instead.

Rek Sesh said...

Congrats on this...it is cool to be in the reckoning...if nothing else an instant morale booster.

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