This entire website exists thanks to my story “Under My Cypresses” placing 2nd in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest for the 4th quarter of the 2023 contest year (the 4th quarter of 2022). The story appears in L. Ron Hubbard Presents: Writers of the Future Volume 39, available direct from the publisher, Galaxy Press, or wherever fine books are sold (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible, etc.). With this win I finally felt like I could call myself a writer because someone outside my family had said, “Hey, you! You’re a writer!” Given that, and some pushing by my wife, I decided a website was in order to showcase some of my work.
After the Win, Before the Workshop
Below is the write-up I did about the contest after winning but before attending the week-long writers workshop in Los Angeles, CA in April of 2023. I’m currently creating a page that will showcase all the awesomeness that is the workshop, from the people who run it to the fantastic author and illustrator winners who attended. When it’s done I’ll either replace this page with it or link to it from here. Stay tuned!
The Win
To say that I was surprised by Joni Labaqui’s call to inform me that I was a Writers of the Future finalist is a vast understatement. In fact, I had assumed “Under My Cypresses” had been passed over because a couple of weeks after submitting it I received the normal WotF newsletter announcing the winners and my name wasn’t on any of the lists (winners, finalists, honorable mentions, etc.). What I didn’t realize until Joni called was that those were the 3rd quarter winners and I had entered the 4th quarter contest. Doh!
Anyway, the end result was a tense week while I waited to hear if I placed in the top three out of the eight finalists. Joni called back a few days later and ask, “Are you ready for this?” I said, “Yes.” She said, “You got second!”
I won’t lie. I was slightly disappointed not to get first, but only because you can only place in the top three of the contest once. If you get first, second or third that’s your win and you can’t enter it anymore. But everyone in the top three from all the quarters gets flown to Hollywood for a week-long writing workshop that ends in a fancy dinner and awards ceremony so who was I kidding? Second was fantastic!
For any of you writers out there who still qualify, I highly encourage you to enter the contest. I entered “Cypresses” on a whim after it was rejected by three major sci-fi/fantasy magazines. Having it win proves that a rejection doesn’t necessarily mean your story isn’t any good, it just means that that particular magazine/outlet wasn’t interested in it at the time. So don’t get discouraged! Keep writing, keep submitting, and keep your chin up. This is a tough hobby to have, but great things can come from it!