I went to the League of Utah Writers Fall Round-Up a couple of weekends ago, and while there, they had the awards ceremony for their annual writing contest. I'm happy to announce that I did receive an award.
I entered a themed short story that I was really quite proud of, especially since I struggle with short stories. I had high hopes for it. Unfortunately, it did not win anything. :(
But, I also entered the first chapter of my newest novel, Dazzling Demons. I received a 3rd Honorable Mention for it. Sadly, I was not as excited at the time as I should have been. I mistakenly thought that everyone got an "award," so since I was the 3rd H.M., it just meant I was at the bottom of all the entries. It wasn't until I received nothing for my story that I realized it actually meant something.
Of course, it is not as high an award as I would have liked, but it gives me a lot of hope for my writing and my story. I was competing against people who have been published, are professional writers, and have been writing for years. To receive any kind of award means there is a lot of potential hidden there. And this is only the second time I have entered this contest.
On a related side-note, there was a gentleman there who astounded me. His name is Chadd VanZanten, and he won TONS of awards. I think he won awards in nearly every category, and there were probably close to 15 categories. And it wasn't just one award; each category had between two and six winning entries.
What astounded me the most was that he had time to write that much.
He entered probably between 25 and 30 entries. He owns an editing company, so it is closely related to and part of his job, but still. I can't even get one novel finished being written in a year, and he can produce countless polished pieces. Where does he find the time?
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