Hi, everyone... please read through everything, as the contest and its rules have changed!

The idea behind this contest is pretty simple. I love reading short fiction, and I think good writers deserve to be recognized. So I combined those two ideas and made a simple contest that accomplishes both! On the first of every month, you'll be provided with three prompts to choose from, as well as a genre. All you have to do is write a story that follows the featured genre and one of the prompts. After that, it's just a matter of posting your entry in the forum below, crossing your fingers, and hoping you walk away with one of the fabulous prizes!





1. Only one item from each entrant per round, so make it count!


2. Short fiction only, please. No poetry or nonfiction.


3. Stories must be newly created for this contest.


4. There's a 2,008 word limit. Please include a word count with your item.


5. Please post your story as a bitem link. For example:



6. Stories of any rating and (almost) any subject matter are accepted. XGC and even NPL items are fine as long as they're in good taste.


7. Stories may be of any genre, provided they prominently include conventions or themes from the featured genre. For example, if the featured genre is Science Fiction, you can to write sci-fi/horror, sci-fi/erotica, sci-fi/legal, or whatever. Don't feel like you have to limit yourself to writing a story that's only in the featured genre (although that's okay too).


8. You may edit your stories after posting them. However, your story may be rated at any time after the submission deadline, so changes made after that point are not guaranteed to be read or considered when determining the winner.


9. All entries will be rated and receive a qualifying review.


10. There is only one judge every week. That judge is solely responsible for awarding winners and determining eligibility of entries.


11. This contest will run for as long as there are entries and as long as I can afford to award prizes. Donations are greatly appreciated and help keep this contest going, so please don't be shy about showing your support! Donors are welcome to enter. Winning entries are determined solely by their own merits... so donations (or lack of donations) will not affect your chances of winning.


12. There must be at least 10 entries in a given round to award all three prizes, and at least 2 entries to award any prizes. Please note the following prize schedule:


The reason for this prize schedule is because I want to encourage good, competitive writing... where authors are awarded prizes for being the best... not for winning by default due to lack of entries. Sorry, but you have to earn your prizes!


13. Prompts will be posted no later than the first (1st) of every month, after the previous round's winners have been announced. The deadline to enter is the following twenty-first (21st) of the month, at 11:59PM WDC time.


14. Winners will be posted no later than the last day of the month, although entrants may receive their rating and qualifying review at any time during the judging period.






The prizes will never decrease in value; however, I reserve the right to increase the prizes in accordance with the amount of donations received for each round. The catch is... you won't know if this happens until the winners are announced! (Just a little something to keep it interesting...)




If you'd like to support this contest, your donations are greatly appreciated and can be sent directly to me. Any individual donation of 30,000GP or more will receive a merit badge of choice among any of the community or donation-related badges. Please include your requested merit badge with your donation, otherwise I'll happily make a selection on your behalf.





GeminiStar | mastery | Rachwrites82 | Charles the *C* | steel_quill | realsteve | Jenn - Hopeful for the Future | Coolhand - REPEAT DONOR | Lornda | TheWýtçhè - Away Indefinitely | Cubby | ritauble | stacylynn71 | Tyson thanks Anon | wildbill | Princess Megan Rose 10 Years | * Anonymous Donor * | katherine76 | butterfly388 | ~*~Damiana Renewed~*~ | dmerrysilver | Mara ♣ McBain | Adriana Noir | M. R. K | Ariana | Confused *MJ Quixote* | Frangipani | LadyBlue





For a collection of the winning entries from previous rounds, check out the 2008 Short Fiction Competition "Hall of Fame" !





There were two fantastic entries this round... so good, that I couldn't possibly choose between them! Therefore, I'm awarding 1st Place to BOTH stories! Congratulations Hyperiongate and Lauriemariepea !





















1. Write a story that centers around a big meal (or the preparation of a big meal).



2. Write a story that takes place in a professional kitchen or involves a professional chef.



3. Write a story that prominently features specific and meaningful food(s).