I have been participating in NYCmidnight contests since 2016. In fact, I entered their Flash Fiction contest on a whim at a time I was reinventing myself and it was what got me started on this whole writing journey in the first place.

It’s probably fair to say that NYCmidnight is one of the largest and well-known venues in the writing contest sphere. It draws competitors from all over the globe, ranging from brand new writers and hobbyists, to published authors, MFA and creative writing professors, mastheads for literary magazines, and professional editors.

Short Story consists of four single elimination rounds where participants are assigned prompts and asked to write a word-limited story in a restricted amount of time. Each round the amount of words allowed and the time limit shrinks, making each challenge just a wee bit harder than the one before.

I’m beyond honored to find out, that in a field of over 6,100 contestants, I managed to place second for the Short Story competition this year. The prompts were to include a character who was a “power walker” and a subject/theme of “fake it ’til you make it.” Genre was left up to the individual writer.

My story–She, I, You, We; Every Woman–was a bit of contemporary fiction with a healthy dose of social commentary. If you’ve been following along, my new collection that releases at the end of the month, Bruised, Resilient, is a book filled with stories about women, so obviously that theme was on the mind. She, I, You, We; Every Woman is a tale with a shifting POV that talks about how women discover their worth over time. I loved writing it and it is close to my heart, so I am delighted it resonated with the judges.

I’m also pretty chuffed that my good friend Charlie Rogers also landed in the top ten. You should definitely go check out his work. His recent novella, Butcher the Doll, is one of my favorite reads of 2024!