Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: March 2018

Hello everyone. Last month I received 23 entries from 15 authors. One story was disqualified for being sent a month too early. It also means it can’t be resent in April (it’s in the rules) but is then free to be sent elsewhere. Some were heavily influenced by the theme (superstitious), others less so but there was, as always, an entertaining and impressive mix of tales.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly).

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

A new recent feature… there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for April is ‘a children’s story’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Monday 30th April.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

*

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18): justin rulton with ‘Mini Winnie’

‘Eating unshapely food means your baby will be ugly,’ Steph said with a grin.
Rachel examined what was left of the punnet of strawberries she’d been guzzling for the last fifteen minutes, picking up pieces of the fruit and grimacing at their uneven contours. ’That’s just old superstitious rubbish,’ she replied, laughing it off.
Three months later she was blessed with a baby boy, a small pink thing that looked a great deal like Winston Churchill chewing a nettle.
‘Isn’t he adorable?’ she asked her friend.
Steph took a bite from the smoothest, roundest of apples, pretending not to hear.

*

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14): Barbara Young with ‘Animal Magic’

Steve glances at his cards. “Raise.”
He throws two bedraggled magpies onto the table.
Dave smiles. “And again.” A rabbit’s foot lands with a dull thud next to the birds.
“I’ll see you,” says Steve.
He tosses a scrawny black cat into the pot; it arches its back and hisses at the magpies.
I can no longer contain my outrage: “I represent the League Against Luck Games. You will be detained indefinitely. These innocent talismans will be rehabilitated and returned to their natural environments.”
I glance at the blood oozing from the rabbit’s foot.
I swallow. “Well, most of them.”

*

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):Amanda Hard with ‘Step on a Line, Instead’

It happened as they always said it would: his foot, his fault. While his mother recovers from surgery, he is especially careful with the salt, avoids all color of cats (just to be safe), doesn’t wish on stars or clovers, nor plucks petals from daisies — he already knows she loves him, despite the incident with the crack.
When she calls, he waits three rings before answering.
Her tired and lonely voice implores him to visit, but he makes the busy excuse.
He has no car, no bicycle, and there are too many cracks on the road to risk another trip.

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• D J Shine with ‘Lucky Blond’
• Andre N. Lepine with ‘Modern Bathory’
• Liz Smythe with ‘Mr Frigg’s Superstitions’
• Christina with ‘Paraskevidekatriaphobia’
• Jennie Gardner with ‘These Eaves’

*

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Angela Greenwood with ‘Step On A Crack’
• Ishika with ‘The Church of Luck’
• Jane Broughton with ‘When Good Luck Goes Bad’
• Sebastian with ‘Aunt Sadie’
• Valerie Griffin with ‘Shopping With Gran’

*

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

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Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: February 2018

Hello everyone. This month I received 30 entries from 18 authors. One was disqualified for being only 99 words but the author had sent more than one story (always advisable) so there was another to choose from. Another lost its way for only being 98 words (with a two-worded title so that making up the 100 words) and unfortunately the only that author made which is why I suggest entering the maximum of three stories. If one gets published here, you’d still have the other two to send elsewhere. A third story was disqualified for not sticking to the ‘the outskirts’ theme.

Two others were disqualified for only being 96 and 94 words and were sadly the only entries from an author but the same author was placed last month so hopefully that’s some compensation. The word count has to be 100 exactly, not a maximum, and Excluding the title. Sorry!

Another story lost a point for a spelling mistake (a numbered date – so the spell check didn’t chuck it out). It’s easily done but you should be so thorough that it doesn’t go out with any errors.

*

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly).

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum three) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

A new recent feature… there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for March is ‘superstitious’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Saturday 31st March.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

*

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Christina Burton with ‘Freeze-frame’

I can still taste the saltiness on the ocean breeze, snapping a polaroid unbeknownst to the boy licking ice cream from his cone on the promenade.

Oh how I love walking barefoot. Sandcastles; sediment squelching through fingertips and toes. The water inviting, it embraces, cooling cheeks from suns warm kiss.

Content I watched days dulcet haze creep towards dusk as shells were pocketed meandering home.

“Dad?”

Interrupted in thought, a whispered smile brushed his lips; capturing the still frame in sepia memory. It was that very moment the shutter called time; the image flickered and faded fizzling to the outskirts.

*

Joint second place (each winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Jacqueline Carter with ‘Ghostly Sermons’

They’re reputed to be haunted, the outskirts. Not by one soul or two, but many if you asked nearly anyone at the pub on a biting winter’s night while ale warmed bellies and cheeks alike.

You have to pass them as you travel into the town proper; standing like little matchstick rows of burnt timber and shattered glass, weeds winding tall and poking through where chance will allow.

The old church laying half caved in, a cross still standing at its altar as if it waited for ghostly sermons to begin each night when the moon rose full and round.

*

Valerie Griffin with ‘This Is Not How It Was Supposed To Be’

Ethel rubs her reddened hands, the skin paper thin around her gnarled and swollen joints.

Each morning she’s wheeled into the day room, and each interminably long day she sits, away from the others, watching.

She’d rather stay in her room. In fact, she’d rather not be here at all.

The staff jolly along her fellow residents in raised voices, as if volume will permeate the dementia and bring on understanding.

Ethel envies them their receding grasp on reality into blissful oblivion.

To her, every day is a frustration, her still active and witty mind stuck in her decaying body.

*

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Justin Rulton with ‘Displaced’

We used to stay up all night listening to records, marvelling at the form, examining everything about them.

We’d talk, touch, breathe the same air, see the same view.

Now we are digitised, electronically remote, we can’t interact with the things we love because they don’t physically exist.

We communicate in silence, transfixed by gadgetry we love until we are told we need something better, something newer.

Streams have replaced grooves, LCD has supplanted paper and icons have become our emotions.

We are living on the outskirts of each other’s lives, at the border of everything we used to love.

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• Ashling Dennehy with ‘The Runaway’s Tattoo’
• Barbara Young with ‘A Deal In The Desert’
• Jennie Gardner with ‘Kurt in the Outskirts’
• Jane Broughton with ‘Castaway’

*

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Helen Somers with ‘Never Go Back’
• Laura Besley with ‘Mission: Recording Of Temperatures On The Outskirts Of Earth’s Atmosphere’
• Liz Smythe with ‘The Fringes of Society’
• Nancy Raynsford with ‘Living on the Outskirts’

*

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

 

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: January 2018

Hello everyone. This month I received 22 entries from 16 authors.

One was disqualified for only being 99 words and no obvious reason why it might have been 100. Another was 97 words (where the title of the piece was included but didn’t make sense as part of the story) and had no connection with the month’s theme of ‘sweater’. It’s a shame because it was well written. A third, amusing, story was only 95 words. It contained three standalone – hyphens, which are included in Word’s word count but when corrected to – dashes then don’t and are mentioned in the rules as not being words and therefore are not to be included. There was also a row of **** asterisks which are also included but shouldn’t be. Not sure where the other ‘missing’ word would have been. So, PLEASE check your word count carefully. Use your programme’s word count but also do it manually to make sure.

As I had expected (hoped), there were variations on the theme; most revolved around jumpers, others where a character was perspiring. Where there were stories of equal merit when it came to the quality of writing, some edged forward where the sweater was a feature of the story rather than an incidental mention. This is why I enjoy picking a theme; to see how it’s used.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly).

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum three) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

A new recent feature… there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for February is ‘the outskirts’ – again, used however you wish – and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Wednesday 28th February.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

*

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Lestie Mulholland name with ‘Personality Rules OK?’

Darling Sweatie,

You know your Baby really loves it when you buy her things? You’re already my sweatiest sweatie who would be sweater still if you’d buy me that swetter from Marks’n Sparks. You know, the pink one we saw with the white fluffy edging? Please Sweatie, please.

Ooh, I knew you wouldn’t say no (you haven’t have you?) No? Good. Now, I’ll be at Molly’s having my hare done, so maybe I can where my new scrumshus swetter when we go out to dinner tonight?

I smiled and sighed. I do love her so, even if she can’t spell.

*

Joint second place (each winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Ellora Sutton with ‘Comfort’

I want to wear you like a sweater. I don’t care that you’re a little threadbare. I want to see your knots and kinks, your unravelled bits.

I want to feel the warmth of you against the warmth of me. I want to feel every thread that makes the constellation of you.

I want to vanish inside of you, to hibernate in a place that echoes your shapes and smells and sounds. I want the hug of you, the love of you, the home of you.

I would wear you in the summer, the spring. Every season is your season.

*

Susi J Smith with ‘Comfort’

Alice tugged the thick woollen sweater off the back of the chair, wrapping it around herself.

“Do you understand what I said?” The doctor leaned closer, his fingers interlinked on the desk.

Alice inhaled the familiar scent of lavender and smiled. Her mother’s scent.

“Mrs Jarvis?” The doctor’s voice was louder now.

“I have cancer.” She brushed the soft threads, her fingers tracing the pattern. “I’ll be okay.”

“You’ve got a fight on your hands.” His voice trailed off, his lips continued moving.

Alice felt the warmth envelop her. Closing her eyes she saw her mother’s face. “I’ll be okay.”

*

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Christine Law with ‘Sweater Dress’

It was a confidence thing with Jenny; she had admired the blue sweater dress In the shop window for months. She had lost the weight and gained confidence, why not try it on. Looking at her reflection in the mirror from the front and behind it looked great.

A few months ago she would not have ventured into the store. The down side being that she had curvy hips and the light blue matched her eyes and showed off her blonde bob, her boobs looked like two tea bags. Quickly she removed the dress and walked away from the cubicle.

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• Justin Rulton with ‘Time Wasted’
• M W Brown with ‘A Message in a Sweater’
• Rachael Stanton with ‘After the Sun’

*

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Michael Job with ‘Payback’
• Laura Besley with ‘A Non-Hollywood Romance’
• N Sebastian with ‘Spring Cleaning’

*

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

 

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: December 2017

Hello everyone. This month I received 23 entries from 15 authors. One was disqualified for only being 46 words and two others for being 99 words (a ‘–’ dash doesn’t count as a word and the other just appeared to be a word short) which were a shame as they were great stories. There were a handful that didn’t appear to have anything to do with the theme (a sign of hope), which was a shame especially as one was particularly unusual.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). There were, unfortunately, a couple that I got to the end of (twice) and went “Huh?” As authors, we know what we mean by something but it can be difficult to convey it to the reader (especially if showing rather than telling). I’d recommend letting someone else look at your stories before you submit them to get their feedback – you don’t want a “Huh?” It’s a shame because they had such potential, and more importantly were the only submissions by those authors so they missed out on being placed when they could have submitted two more stories for consideration.

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum three) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

A new recent feature… there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for January is ‘sweater’ – to be interpreted however you wish – and you can submit your entries (and do send three for a better chance of one of them being successful) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Wednesday 31^st January.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

*

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18): Jennifer Riddalls with ‘Final Note’

Every day I stare at the little red Acer tree in our garden and whisper to nature, ‘Please don’t let it die’.

My children think me mad with grief. My brain, several times an hour, forgets the current situation.

My eyes go to a closed door and I fully expect to see him come bumbling through.

I’m constantly waiting for the final note in a melody that never sounds. How long before I stop looking?

So I look at the Acer instead, the last thing he planted. This morning, fresh scarlet leaves have unfurled and I remember how to smile.

*

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14): Lestie Mulholland with ‘Shh! Change is Good’

“It’s a sign of hope that we have decided to change the name of our town to ‘Sweetness’ don’t you think? It’s much nicer than Grimsbury, to be sure.”

“It’s going to cost a lot, much will have to be altered; memories manipulated, facts distorted, village births and deaths records amended, newspapers restricted. Oh dear, the more I think about it the more I worry. It’s all too onerous to bear. The FBI may start sniffing around.”

“Relax, Mayor, our secret is safe. We’re all complicit, we all know where the bodies are buried, and no-one is going to tell.”

*

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9): Mark Sadler with ‘The Oasis’

It was Robert’s mother who took delivery of the telegram. She came and told me the news. Just like that, our future together was wiped out.

A few days later, I received a letter from him. His final correspondence: He had stumbled through acres of grey mud and battlefield smoke, into a grove of trees miraculously untouched by the artillery; an Arcadian sanctuary of lush green grass and wild flowers.

‘It was a sign,’ he wrote. ‘We’ll have a garden like this one day.’

I put the letter in a box with some keepsakes. I haven’t looked at it since.

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• Gaynor Jones with ‘Feeling Lucky’
• Geoff Feasey with ‘Coma’
• Jennie Gardner with ‘Spring’
• Rowena Fishwick with ‘Love Letters’

*

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Ellora Sutton with ‘Christmas Card’
• Rachael Stanton with ‘The Second Gate’
• Tony Dawson with ‘Hopeless!’

*

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

 

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: November 2017

Hello everyone. This month I received 19 entries from 11 authors (probably because you were all doing NaNoWriMo… as I was!). This is the first month that no story was disqualified… yay. There was a fantastic mixture of feel good, feel sad and entertaining and just because there were fewer stories, it didn’t make the job much easier to pick the winners.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Some I read (more than once) and went “Huh?” That’s not a good sign… and the difference between you being the author and me being the reader. You know what you mean by something but if it’s not conveyed…

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum three) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

A new recent feature… there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for December is ‘a sign of hope’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 31st December.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Karen Rodgers with ‘To Hare Or Not To Hare’
The arctic hare skips across the snowy landscape, warm in the winter climate because of her hidden blubber.
“Slippers,” says Lyn, tucking into an orange cream – her favourite. “They’re advertising slippers!”
They both stare at the T.V advert, highlighting the amazing price of their rabbit totes.
“Warm cosy feet,” sighs Bridie, adjusting her hot water bottle onto her knees, to rest beneath the blanket.
“The hares have got the right idea. Warm in their habitat.”
“An extra layer of fat will do me just fine,” says Lyn, grabbing another chocolate.
They touch hands.
Generating warmth.
Cold radiators shield the room.

*

Joint second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14) – in alphabetical order:

Jennie Gardner with ‘Cold Hands, Warm Hearts’
It’s taken us a while to get here, more than the half an hour we’ve been walking, but finally it feels like we’re finding our way back.
First, it was me ranting, you trailing sheepishly behind. Slowly you caught up.
Eventually, we walked abreast.
The leaves budded, blossomed, fell as we learnt to skirt around thorny issues, to stroll and chat.
Holding hands we remember. Remember how to flirt, love, listen and laugh.
Today, there’s a glow to our cheeks, a faster beat to our hearts as we swing around and head for home – our hands cold, hearts warm.

*

M W Brown with ‘Humphrey’s Christmas’
Danger.
Humphrey opened his eyes. Something was wrong. He scurried out of the bedroom.
Danger below.
A waft of smoke filled his sensitive snout. His paws slipped on the wooden steps as he raced downstairs.
A blaze of flame crackled from the hearth rug. Tinsel melted, raining drops of fire from the ceiling.
Humphrey barked, his lungs burning from the strain and heat.
The Christmas tree flared and toppled over, sending shards of broken glass and smouldering branches onto Humphry.
He barked through the pain until footsteps thudded overhead.
His family was safe.
Humphrey’s eyes closed for the last time.

*

Joint third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

Joe Bailey (no relation!) with ‘Christmas’
Days are short.
A family sit in their warm home; pictures of children sit on the mantelpiece; a Christmas tree draped with tinsel stands proudly in the corner.
Not everyone is so lucky during the festive holidays.
Winnifred stands in the cold street, peering at the Christmas displays, remembering the warmth in her heart when she had a family.
Now cold and homeless, Winnifred looks through the window of her old home at Christmas past, with its hand-made paperchains and lovingly decorated Christmas tree, bringing back a feeling of warmth.
Now she sits on the street. No warmth at all.

*

Sarah Treadwell with ‘Winter Sorrow’
All it took was one night, just one night for my world, my life to come crashing down around me.
My husband always lavished me with love and the much-needed winter warmth during the bitter winter nights.
That night however was different. That night he pulled away from me.
The light of the fire danced across the beauty of his face, highlighting the dark circles beneath his eyes.
I watched his lips move through teary eyes, his grip on my hands providing no comfort.
My heart was breaking.
My world had ended the moment he uttered the words “It’s progressed”.

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• Carol Shea with ‘Frozen Out’
• Jeannie Abbott with ‘Winter Bloomers’
• Veronica Whittaker with ‘Taking a Stand’

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Carol Pryke with ‘Home Again’
• Charles Osborne with ‘Lucy’s Lucky Day’
• Lestie Mulholland with ‘Out of Touch’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

 

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: October 2017

Hello everyone. This month I received 38 entries from 19 authors. One was disqualified for only being 87 words, another for being 101 but fortunately both authors had sent in other stories so still had a chance of being picked.

Every story entered this month was written to the theme (of being a ghost story). Yay.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly).

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum three) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

As well as the top three and Highly Commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for November is ‘winter warmth’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Thursday 30th November.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

*

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

J Simon Oliver with ‘An Invitation’

She gathered her skirt as she knelt down low to see between the bricks. A small hole through which the light shone seemed to shimmer and pulsate.

She dipped her head to peer into the beam, feeling its intense luminance sting her pupil. She raised a finger to the opening which invited her.

Passers-by didn’t seem to notice as her whole hand and then arm reached inside, shafts of light darting alongside.

Soon her whole being had passed through, her warm smile aglow always. Once her trailing foot was out of sight, the light drew black, and the hole faded.

*

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Mark Sadler with ‘The Rest in Pieces’

When we moved in, the previous occupants warned us we would be entertaining a ghost. They advised us to buy a few jigsaw puzzles.

“You can pick them up cheaply in the charity shop,” said Mr May.

“Take one puzzle piece from each box and leave them by the fireplace. They’ll all disappear. Every so often, do one of the jigsaws and leave it overnight. The following morning the final piece will have been added.”

I once crawled into a remote corner of the attic and saw all the missing pieces suspended in thick cobweb. I did not disturb them.

*

Joint third place (each winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Joshua Crafford with ‘Slow Roast’

The family sat around the table, colourful paper crowns adorning their heads, laughing as they passed around plates laden with potatoes, vegetables and Yorkshire puddings.

From his seat, the father carved liberally at the leg of meat before him, distributing thick slices around with festive glee.

At the centre of the table, the rest of the meat lay in all its slow roasted glory. From her vantage above them the girl observed the scene, ethereal head poking through the high ceiling.

He had been right though, thought the ghost begrudgingly; she did look good with an apple in her mouth.

*

Laura Besley with ‘Till Death Us Do Part’

The first signs of trouble came on a chilly Saturday morning in October when an estate agent turned up to see Kenneth.

Selling? Over my dead body, I thought. 

Every viewing he had, I made sure I was present. I moved things, created chilly corners, loud bangs, squeaks and creaks. Everyone took the hint. Even Kenneth. After a month of trying, he took the sign down. 

‘You win again, Agatha dearest,’ he said, with a sigh.

Don’t feel sorry for him, dear reader. He should’ve thought of all this before he bumped me off and buried me in the cellar.

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• ados123 with ‘The Road to The Bay’
• Gaynor Jones with ‘Never Mess With a Gardener’
• Justin Rulton with ‘Not Really Gone’
• Karen Rodgers with ‘Fun and Games’
• Paul Isaac with ‘Bed of Bones’
• Rowena Fishwick with ‘Under the Ice’

*

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Carol Shea with ‘Chat Up’
• Lyndon Loweth with ‘Enough!’

*

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

 

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: September 2017

Hello everyone. This month I received 30 entries from 19 authors. NB. You could all have submitted three stories for a better chance of getting through to the shortlist. Just saying’. 🙂 Every month there are disqualifications and September was no different…

One was disqualified for having a word (‘to’) missing which would have taken it over the 100 words. Another was disqualified for not being written to the theme.

Another story was withdrawn by the author because he’d submitted a variation elsewhere and it had been successful. Please don’t do this. It just wastes time I don’t have as I don’t wait until the end of the month to read and score them. I don’t mind having stories you’ve previously submitted elsewhere and have not been successful, and if you’ve not been successful in my competition, you’re welcome to then use them elsewhere but please wait until the results have been announced before you duplicate. It’s not long to wait (six weeks at the most).

Some stories missed out on top marks because they were dark but not strictly to the theme. One had been written in an unusual – and very clever – format but sadly the ending let it down. Do remember this is all subjective – just my judgement.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly).

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum three) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

A new recent feature… there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for October is ‘a ghost story’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three so you have a better chance of reaching the shortlist) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Tuesday 31st October.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month…