Sunday, June 25, 2006

And the winner is . . .

As promised, it's time to announce the winner of the First Annual blah blah blog Summer Fiction Writing Contest.

But, before I reveal the winner, don't you want to know about the three authors?

Here's some background: All three are male, and I have met two of them in person. Here's more info:


  • I've known the first author, Def Leppard, for over 26 years, and he currently resides in the Second City. Most notably, we have the same parents. He submitted his story using his clever psuedonym, but I ruined it for him because (a) I have a sitemeter and (b) I had read an earlier draft of the story. In his defense, he claims to have wanted the contest to be anonymous.
  • I really don't know much about the second author, Mad. He's got a day job which sent him to Hawaii this week. He occasionally reads this blog, and posts comments, which makes him pretty cool in my book. And, he's got a fantastic website where he reports on current events in haiku form.
  • The third author used the nom de plume Chester A. Arthur. He is someone I've known for years, since we went to law school. Together, we ran a brilliant law journal. And he's got a great wife and two lovely children. He, too, submitted his writing anonymously, and was quite surprised that I was able to figure out his identity. Now he thinks I work for the CIA. And, for those that read the blog comments, he ususally goes by the name Peter.

Now that you know the contestants, I can reveal the winner.

Drumroll please.





With 70% of the vote, the winner is Uncontrollable Sobbing, by Def Leppard. Congratulations.

Anyway, a new poll is now up. You can vote here, but note that this poll will likely be up for over a week, since I'm going to Chicago next Sunday to see Def Leppard and give him his prizes, which include copies of my two favorite Calvin and Hobbes comic strips, and this lovely mug from my desk:



7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to the winner. I can sob in my drink. On a beach. In Hawaii.

DSL said...

Perhaps we can do something a bit shorter, like a poem, to gain more entries and more voters. Just an idea.

dara said...

Mad: I am still jealous of Hawaii. Especially with the crappy DC weather.

Peter: D'oh! You just gave away your new alter ego. But don't worry, I'll still be able to use my spy training to figure out whatever alias you use next time.

Debby: As long as I'm still blogging, the second annual summer fiction writing contest will be the same. But I think, maybe, I'll give the writers more guidelines, like a word limit, to keep things short. And I'll definitely give more time, like 2 months.

Oh, and a poetry contest is not out of the question either, maybe a little later in the year. I might also have people submit essays on how they spent their summer vacations. On the other hand, I want this blog to be fun, not homework.

DSL said...

I didn't get a chance to read the entries, but it sounds like you had enough judges anyway to make a decision. It was just an idea, if you wanted to attract more participants. (It's not my contest.) And I do like the idea of short essays.

Anonymous said...

Dara: Hawaii weather right now is hot and muggy, except here you don't have to wear clothes.

dara said...

Mad: I'm used to hot and muggy, I lived in Florida for 12 years, and am starting my 6th DC summer. I'm even used to rain now.

I think I'm most jealous of being by an ocean, sipping on a tropical drink. And in my mind, the drink is served in a hollowed out coconut. Am I close?

Anonymous said...

I'm number one; everyone else is two or higher!