Last December I forced myself to finish a short story I’d started the previous June. It came out in a rush of inspiration that stalled after 2,000 words. Through the fall I picked at it here and there from time to time, then forced myself to focus and complete it in December.
I’m glad I did. This spring I submitted the story to my local Virginia Writers Club chapter, the Northern Virginia Writers Club. Today I learned I won the blue ribbon for my Golden Nib submission.
The Golden Nib, started in 2005, is The Virginia Writers Club (VWC) annual writing competition in three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry, with cash prizes for first, second, and third place finishers at the state level. The contest is run in two tiers: local Chapter (first tier) and State level (second tier). Each Chapter forwards its first-place winning entries for judging at the State VWC level.
Congratulations to fellow chapter writers Jeff Williams and Roger Hammond, whose stories were also recognized at the Chapter level.
Such was my joy at receiving the news that I shouted into the household, “I won!” At which my fifteen year old thought, “Oh, what free iPad scam has dad fallen for now?”
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Ben East Books 
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