Writing contest

Sadly, this contest is over (deadline Jan 31). There's always next year.

Freedom With Writing

Nelson Algren Literary Awards: $3,500 Short Story Prize (Submission Guidelines)

The Nelson Algren Literary Awards is an annual short story contest open to all residents of the United States. It is hosted by the Chicago Tribune.
Stories should be 8,000 words or less.
The grand prize is $3,500. Four finalists receive $1,000. Five runners-up will win $500. The total prizes are worth $10,000. Not bad!
Writers are allowed to submit a maximum of 2 entries. There is no submission fee.
The deadline for submission is January 31st, 2017.
The grand prize winning story will be considered for publication in the Chicago Tribune.
Nelson Algren was a novelist famous for books such as A walk the Wild Side, and The Man with the Golden Arm.  According to Wikipedia, Algren portrayed the world of “drunks, pimps, prostitutes, freaks, drug addicts, prize fighters, corrupt politicians, and hoodlums.”
To learn more, and to submit, read visit their Submittable page.

 

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We're dedicated to helping freelance writers succeed. We send you reviews of freelance writing companies, assignments, and articles to help build your writing career. You can view our privacy policy here, and our disclaimer. To get started, simply enter your email address in the form on this page.

The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry

The Fifth Petal is is a mystery and high-stakes thriller yet the author, Brunonia Barry, ingeniously combines this with the historical details of the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials.

Here's a historical detail that Barry drops that ties the past with a current suspect, Rose:

"With the exception of Sarah Good, who was thirty-nine, the women  executed on July 19, 1692, were much older, ranging in age from fifty-seven to seventy-one. Some were homeless or nuisances to the community: indebt, outspoken, or otherwise troublesome. It made him think of Rose."

Rose is homeless, deranged, and is now accused of a crime that he does not think she committed. No wonder Rafferty draws the parallel.

Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

Into the Wild, is the juvenile novel that kicks off the popular Warrior cats series by Erin Hunter.

This series has inspired a lot of fan content: name generators, youtube videos and fan art. 

Maybe its so popular because it involves a heroic journey. Rusty makes a journey into the unknown, the wild forest beyond his house. He is initially met with derision from the feral cats who live there. Then, Bluestar recognizes his talents and chooses him to join them.

Rusty is accepted as an apprentice but must prove his mettle if he is to become a warrior. Along the way, Rusty, renamed Firepaw, has several crises.

Firepaw wonders if its always right to follow the warrior code. Should he have mercy on a pitiful cat like Yellowfang who has gone rogue? Should he tell Bluestar the dreadful secret he learns from Ravenpaw?

The warrior code is in jeopary in other ways. The four cat clans that have co-existed peacefully for years. Recently, however, the Shadow clan has pushed the Wind clan off their territory. 

In the end, its up to a brave apprentice, Firepaw, and his companions to set things right. 

Brunonia Barry's The Lace Reader

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
Brunonia Barry, a screenwriter, tells this supernatural mystery in a series of powerful vignettes that move back and forth in time. Towner Whitney tells her own story even though she is an unreliable narrator with “gaps” in her memory.  Towner comes from an old Salem family known for a predilection toward quirkiness and an uncanny ability to “read” lace. Unfortunately, what Towner sees in the lace on her seventeenth birthday nearly causes her to lose her mind. Exactly what causes Towner’s mental breakdown is just one of the many mysteries in this multi-layered gem. Switching deftly between first and third person, Clark also introduces Detective Rafferty, a burned-out cop from New York City, who simultaneously investigates the strange death of Towner’s eccentric great Aunt and the bizarre disappearance of Angela Rickey. Towner and Rafferty, while tentatively exploring a relationship of their own, must also contend with two warring factions–the witches of Salem and the fervent Calvinists led by Cal Boynton.

Sabotage by Neal Bascomb

In a book that reads like a thriller, Neal Bascomb explains how Norwegian commandos effectively prevented Nazi Germany from getting their hands on an atomic bomb.

A small group of Norwegians, trained in Britian, returned to their homeland to sabotage Vemork, the plant that was supplying Germany with heavy water. Germans needed heavy water, or Deuterium, to construct an atomic bomb.

Intended for young adults, Bascomb makes this part of Norwegian history accessible to all. Though Bascomb conveys a lot of detailed information,  notes and an index give readers who want additional information the ability to learn more.

A friends of mine, who is European, swears the Norwegian commandos stories are widely known in Europe. Even if they are known, Bascomb makes their stories come to life.

If you liked Sabotage, you make like Winter Fortress by Neal Bascomb. Winter Fortress is the same story written more for adults than young adults.

Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel (continued)

This dark novel alternates between "then" and "now." The chapters called "then" deal with Laney's sixteenth summer. A New Yorker who recently lost her Mom, Laney instantly feels at home among the Roanokes. She thinks they are the family she always wanted.

The chapters that take place in the present hint at something dark and unnatural that occurs in the house. Cooper, Laney's on-again, off-again boyfriend often wonders what goes on in the Roanoke house.

Yates, the head of the Roanoke family, is possibly the most nefarious literary character ever invented. He preys upon the Roanoke girls' vulnerability. His charm and genuine love for them only make his actions worst.

Gran, though, is a close second. Her actions are almost incomprehensible.

Despite the fact that it is a thriller, the pace can be frustrating. Readers know pretty early on what is happening to Allegra, yet no one confronts Yates until near the end.

The clues are nicely placed. Allegra carves words into surfaces, a kind of diary for others to read.

In the end this is a gripping read but also extremely unsettling.

I requested a pre-publication copy of The Roanoke Girls from Netgalley and Crown Publishing. The novel's expected release date is March 7, 2017.

Continued from earlier post

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

"Roanoke girls never last long around here." She skipped along the hall, her voice growing fainter as she moved, like we were standing at opposite ends of a tunnel. "In the end, we either run or we die."

Allegra, The Roanoke Girls.

Disturbing and intriguing in equal measure, this novel has the power to haunt readers. Responding to a family crisis, Lane finds herself revisiting a dark corner of her adolescence, the summer she spent at her grandparents farm in Kansas.

continued

Astray by Emma Donoghue

The impressive short stories in Astray are based on actual historical events. Donoghue, who wrote The Room, is able to get into the minds of countless people from a wide variety of historical periods.

"Man and Boy," which portrays the loving relationship between an elephant and his keeper is based on Wild Animals in Captivity. The story closely follows the actual removal of Jumbo's London Zoo to a circus and the uproar it caused.

"The Widow's Cruse" is loosely based on a journal entry from the Weekly Journal dated May 26, 1735. A widow hoodwinks a man who means to take her fortune.

Some of Donoghue's stories are inspired by her trip to the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, Arizona e.g. "Last Supper at Brown's" and the "The Long Way Home."

The narrator's dramatic dialogues gives readers a keyhole glimpse to history. Its just a keyhole glimpse; We don't see, for instance, the whole of the 
Revolutionary War, just the experience of one fifteen-year-old Hessian in "The Hunt" who decides to act villainously.

We don't see the whole slave experience in Texas; we're given instead the story of one man who kills his master and runs away with his mistress ("Last Supper at Brown's"). We're told the lamentable story of a bored daughter whose games and lies lead to the selling of a honest slave-girl, Milly ("Vanitas")

Astray is a powerhouse of a short story collection that is divided into three parts: Departures, In-Transit, Arrivals and Aftermaths.