Dead of Winter Contests

Looking for a way to stay warm in the dead of winter? How about heating up the keyboard and entering a writing contest or two?

My friend Amy Harke-Moore from The Write Helper has not one, but two, contests going on right now that you might want to check out.

Amy is an award-winning writer and an editor who has won over sixty awards to date. Her work has appeared in The Writer, Chicago Quarterly Review, The MacGuffin, Permafrost, Grit, Writers’ Journal, Spring Hill Review, Echoes of the Ozarks, Cuivre River Anthology, and Bellowing Ark.

Not only is Amy an acclaimed writer and editor, her contests are a bit differnt from most others. How?

Feedback: Amy offers a free critique if entrants request it.

Money--and fame: The winning entry is posted and the winner profiled on Amy's website.

For the Winter Flash Fiction Contest, she is accepting entries of: Short fiction, open theme (no porn or gore) 500 words or fewer. Free critique upon request. Enter online or by mail. Fee: $7 per entry or 3 for $20 (limit 3 entries). Prizes: First - $100, second - $50, and third - $25. Winning entry posted, winner profiled on website. Deadline: postmarked Feb. 10.

For the Dead of Winter Nonfiction Contest, Amy wants memoirs, essays, articles, prose. Must be nonfiction of 2,500 words or fewer. Free critique upon request. Enter online or by mail. Fee: $10 per entry, limit 3 entries. Prizes: First - $150, second - $75, and third - $50. Winning entry posted, winner profiled on website. Deadline: postmarked Feb. 10.

For complete deadlines, check out The Write Helper website.

I have it on good authority that Amy hasn't received a lot of submissions for either contest, so your chance to win could be improved! Hmm. I might enter one myself.

But act fast, the deadline for both contests is Feb 10. Don't be left out in the cold!

Amazing Short Fiction Contest from The Write Helper

My friend Amy Harke-Moore over at the Write Helper has an Amazing Short Fiction Contest going on until the end of July. For a $5 fee (per story, up to three) entrants have a chance to win $100, $50, or $25. Entries also receive a free critique, if requested. Optional line edits are also available for a small fee. Amazing!

In addition to all the extras Amy offers in her contest, what, you may ask, is an amazing story? According to the Write Helper website, an amazing story grabs at the throat, tugs at the heart strings, uses beautiful words with a lyrical quality, and is told by a master storyteller.

Word limit is 4,000. The contest deadline is July 31.

For complete details, visit the Write Helper website.

Full disclosure: Amy and I have been friends for over a dozen years, since we met at a critique group called Liars Ink in St. Peters, MO. We now belong to different critique groups, but we are founding members (along with Margo Dill, Lou Turner and David Lee Kirkland) of Saturday Writers. Amy is an award-winning and a multi-published writer whose work has appeared in The Writer, The MacGuffin, Chicago Quarterly Review, Grit, Permafrost, and others.

So, if you have an amazing story or can write one by July 31, here's your chance. Good luck!

Burning the Midnight Oil Poetry Contest

Today in St. Peters, MO: A 90% chance of thunderstorms, high 69 degrees. It's already storming outside.

A stormy day like today is a good time to stay inside and clean house--no wait--that's no fun. How about walking on the treadmill? Nah. Writing a poem? Much better! Just in time for Halloween here's a contest with a spooky title: Burning the Midnight Oil Poetry Contest. Amy Harke-Moore at The Write Helper has been sponsoring this contest for a few years now.

Amy is an award-winning poet and writer as well as an editor. She is also a long-time writing friend and one of the five founders of the Saturday Writers chapter of the Missouri Writers' Guild. Entry fee if $5; visit The Write Helper website for complete details.

The Burning the Midnight Oil Poetry Contest deadline is appropriately on Halloween, October 31. Moo Haa Haa Haa.