2012 Golden Donut Short Story Finalists

The rules were simple…write a story about the photo we supplied, using exactly 200 words. No more, no less. The task…not so simple.

It’s pretty tough to pen a really good tale with so few words, especially a story complete with a beginning, middle, and ending. But, you guys met the challenge, which resulted in us receiving a mountain of wonderful entries from writers all over the country (more than the past years combined).

The stories were all sent to a first-reader who is not associated with the Writers’ Police Academy. The first reader is, however, a professional editor and author. All entries were blind entries, meaning that the stories were sent without the author’s names. The only identifying marker was a number randomly assigned to each entry.

The next step was to pick the top ten finalists, which the reader did, all while kicking and screaming, stating there were too many really good stories to narrow the field down to only ten. But, the top ten were finally selected and the list of ten numbers were returned to WPA officials. And, in no particular order, the 2012 Golden Donut finalists are…

Private Property -Melinda Loomis

Snakehouse -Rick McMahan

Turn Of The Key – Andrew Itlaia

Old Partners – David Swords

Alone – Bob Doerr

WWYD -Rick McMahan

Closure -Ann Kellett

The Best Deal -Linda Lindsey Davis

Kidnapped -Korey Hagans

Reminiscing – Cynthia Barwin

So, congratulations to the top ten finalists!

The step step in the process was to send the top ten picks to the official WPA contest judge, Kristen Weber. Many of you already know Kristen, especially if you’ve ever had a manuscript either accepted or rejected by her during her time as senior editor for Penguin’s New American Library (NAL) or Obsidian (imprint of NAL). Kristen was also in charge of NAL’s movie/television tie-in program and edited numerous original novels based on TV programs such as Burn Notice, The Unit, Criminal Minds, and Psych. She’s worked with well-known authors such as M. C. Beaton, Lindsey Davis, Margaret Maron, and Marcia Muller.

Kristen now runs an editorial service helping writers get their work in shape for today’s competitive marketplace.

Needless to say, our 2012 judge knows her stuff. And she has selected this year’s top story.

But you’ll have to wait until next week at the Saturday night banquet to learn the name of the winner. The Golden Donut Award will be presented to the winner at that time.

Again, congratulations, and good luck, to all the finalists.

And thanks to the dozens upon dozens of talented writers who entered the contest. Your support is greatly appreciated.

See you all in a few days. Get plenty of rest between now and then. You’ll need it!