I just finished judging the eight finalist stories for the third quarter of the Writers of the Future Contest. I came home from my recent writing retreat in Breckenridge to find a stack of manuscripts waiting for me to read, and I worked my way through them, one or two per day.

I’ve been a judge in the Contest since 1996, and I usually read the finalist stories one or two quarters each year. I don’t know who the authors are, I don’t even know which of my fellow judges are reading those particular stories. I have to say that this is one of the best batches of Finalists I’ve ever judged (and, honestly, one of the stories is I believe the best piece I have ever seen in the Contest).  I felt that seven of the eight stories were definitely award-worthy, and even the eighth one was certainly good.

I want to express my congratulations to the three winners

1st Place: Leena Likitalo of Helsinki, Finland for the story “Giants at the End of the World”
2nd Place: Shauna O’Meara of Canberra, Australia for the story “Beneath the Surface of Two Kills”
3rd Place: Paul Eckheart of Bountiful, Utah for the story “Shifter”

I look forward to meeting you in person at the Writers of the Future workshop and Awards ceremony in Hollywood in April 2014.

For more information on the contest, go to WritersoftheFuture.com