Monday, March 22, 2010

In Which I Host A Contest!

100 followers! Can you believe it? I can't. It freaks me out a bit.

But you know what 100 followers means in the blogosphere? A contest!
Fun!
Suspense!
Romance?

We're going to shake things up around here and do a writing contest.

The prizes:

First Place:

Second Place:



Third Place:


The guidelines:

I'm not one for writing prompts. BUT, occasionally I need to write something (maybe for a contest) and have no idea what to write.

That's when I turn to the Writer's Book of Matches.

Every page has some sort of prompt that gets my fingers itching to write.

So, for this contest, you will need to write a story under 750 words using one of the below prompts taken from the book (feel free to go hog wild, but just make sure I can tell which prompt your story started with) (also, I tried to pick a wide range of prompts to attempt to appeal to as many people that want to enter as possible).

  • After 3 weeks, a lost dog returns home to its master carrying an unidentifiable bone in its mouth

  • After waking from a coma, a woman discovers she can smell fear

  • When a crackpot inventor is killed by one of his contraptions his brother - also an inventor - finds himself compelled to finish the work

  • A man discovers a large sum of money in his wallet and can't remember where it came from

  • Use the quote "I pray every day that it will stop, but it keeps getting worse."

  • After a violent thunderstorm a man discovers a rain-soaked diary among the debris in his yard


The Rules:

  • You must be a blog follower
  • The story must be under 750 words
  • The story must be written off one of the prompts
  • The story must be submitted no later than 5pm (CST) Friday, March 26th
  • The entry must be emailed to: sarah.ahiers@gmail.com

I will conduct a blind reading - which is to say, I will be printing off any stories received and reading them without knowing who wrote what. It's easier to stay objective that way. So please try and keep your names off the piece itself (but not your email...I'll need to find you if you win)

I will be looking for the stories that, first and foremost, I find the most entertaining.

The winners will be announced on Monday, March 29th. I will post each of the stories on my blog so everyone can enjoy them.

Good luck! And feel free to spread the word.

35 comments:

Anne Gallagher said...

Congratulations!!! Fabulous contest. I'm in!

Christine Danek said...

Congrats on 100 followers! Great contest! I'll see what I can come up with.

Anne Ahiers said...

Yay! I hope there's a lot of entries to enjoy

Unknown said...

Awesome contest!! I'm so in!

((hugs)) Nicole

Sarah Ahiers said...

Thanks everyone! I'm excited to read the entries!

Southpaw said...

I love how you include chocolate in the prize.

Joan Crawford said...

Yeah! I hope I win 3rd! Moleskin - lah-dee-dah!

Hannah said...

I will be writing something but I don't want Anne to read it!

hahahahahaha, kidding. She better read it. *shaking fist*

Sarah Ahiers said...

Southpaw - i wanted to throw something in there that's nummy.

Joan - LOL - it would be awesome if you submitted something

Palindrome - secretly, she reads a lot of yours and Teebore's work.

Austin Gorton said...

Have you setup a PayPal account so we can slip you bribes, er, look over there!

Unknown said...

Congratulations on reaching 100!

Anne Ahiers said...

@Teebore- Ha!!

@Palindrome- Too Late! I have psychically read everything you've ever written or WILL write!
That is how awesome i am

Summer Frey said...

Awww yeah! Great prompts! Weird, but great. Congrats on reaching 100! Will be working on this soon...

Sarah Ahiers said...

Teebore - yes...yes i have...

Elle - thanks!

Summer - yeah i'm a fan of quirky writing prompts

Unknown said...

*spazzes out* I am so excited. It's a little daunting, in the presence of all of these super amazing people. Ah! I should not have read this while at work. The images are already in my head...

Oh, when we e-mail them to you do you want it in the body of the e-mail or as a word attachment?

Sarah Ahiers said...

Aching - well i won't be able to tell yours apart from the others until i'm done picking winners.
Body or as attachment, whichever is easiest for you

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Under 750? No pressure now...

DL Hammons said...

A hardy CONGRATS for reaching 100 followers!!!

Sarah Ahiers said...

Alex - i almost said 1000, but 750 sounded so fun...

DL - thanks!

Kittie Howard said...

Congrats on 100 Followers! Your contest temps (because I like the festive mood you've set)...will see what I can come up with...

Sarah Ahiers said...

Kittie - thanks! I try to keep things festive and also throw some prizes around. Because who doesn't like prizes?

Rebecca T. said...

Congrats on 100 followers! And I am most definitely entering this contest.

Laurel Garver said...

this looks amazing, but I'm not sure I can manage the deadline. I'll happily give it a shout-out, though.

Shelley Sly said...

Awesome contest idea! This is a crazy busy week for me, but if I find the time, I will enter. :)

Sarah Ahiers said...

Sonshine - excellent! I'm so excited

Laurel - sorry, i'm impatient. And longer and i would have forgotten all about it

Shelley - busy weeks stink. I just got out of one myself.

Talli Roland said...

Congrats on the 100 followers! I've just become a new one - looking forward to reading more.

Great contest!

Sarah Ahiers said...

Talli - Thanks so much for stopping by!

Susan Fields said...

Congrats on 100 followers (110 now!) I became a follower, but I'm not sure I'll have time to write an entry since I'm just finding this contest on Thursday and the deadline is tomorrow. I'm sure gonna try though. Fun contest!

Sarah Ahiers said...

Susan - it certainly never hurts to try!

Courtney Barr - The Southern Princess said...

congrats on 100 followers!

I am in!


Visit My Kingdom Anytime

Sarah Ahiers said...

Courtney - awesome! I look forward to your entry!

Angie said...

Cool contest. I just linked over from Abby Annis's blog. Since the deadline is today, I probably won't get a story written for this one, but what a fun idea! Congrats on 100 followers.

Sarah Ahiers said...

Angie - thanks! And thanks for stopping by!

Matthew MacNish said...

First of all great work on the followers. It's only been a week since you posted this and you already have 18 more.

Too bad the contest is over, I had a great, pathetic idea about the guy with the extra money in his wallet. Oh well.

I found your blog from Justine Dell's so I thought I would stop by, read, comment and follow. Please fell free to visit mine and do the same.

I can't believe you're from WBL. I grew up in Gem Lake and went to HS in Saint Paul. My GF at the time went to Mahotmedi. Small world huh? Do you still live there?

Sarah Ahiers said...

Mathew - Crazy! i do still live here, though i grew up in Vadnais Heights. I drive through Gem Lake at least once a week on the way to my parents.
And don't worry about the contest, there will be plenty more in the future because i think they're fun

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