Meet our Finalists for the WEP Spectacular Settings August challenge - #wepff

Hello dear readers!

From poems to flash fiction, from photographs to original artwork, from creative fiction to travel essays and a playscript, WEP entries in the Spectacular Settings challenge were an inspiration to all. Your entries transported us to other lands, to other times, which of course was the underlying motivation for a settings theme. 

Part A - share a Spectacular Setting which stopped your heart.

The shared settings were breathtaking. From favorite poems, book extracts to fantastic photos, WEP participants took us on a creative journey. Many famous authors and poets were often acknowledged by commenters as their own favourites, while others were happy to be introduced to a new writer or artist they intend to check out.

Here are some examples....

Pat Garcia of Thinking it Over:The Sunlight Dialogues by John Gardner

Patrick Colohan of Finding Environs: Donald E. Westlake's God Save the Mark

Linda Katmarian of Scheherazade's Journal Hilary Mantel's Bringing Up the Bodies

Madilyn Quinn at She Reads And Drinks Waterhship Down by Richard Adams

Tom Benson at Tom Benson Creative Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

Toi Thomas of The ToiBox of Words endorsed Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Debbie of the Dogladys Den of gave us the poem Greece by Oscar Wilde

Angelika Schwarz of write 2 Camp Euro  brought us Janet Fitch;s The White Oleander

D.G. Hudson of Rainforest Writing took us to the streets of Montmartre in Paris.

Part B - share your own setting piece

We had entries penned especially for the challenge or the perfect excerpt taken from a WIP. Through these shared, original pieces which highlighted setting, we were left open mouthed at the sheer talent indicated by the quality of the entries in prose or images. 

We had Damyanti at Daily [W]rite sharing an extract from her WIP, currently titled Underneath the Skin. Michael E Dellert from Adventures in Indie Publishing shared a scene from his WIP, The Hills of the Cailech. Who will forget  '...a child's burnt stocking lying in the mud.' Guilie Castillo at Quiet Laughter shared a short passage from her published novel, The Miracle of Small Things set in her adopted island home of Curacao. Debbie from The Doglady' Den shared her love story of Greece with fantastic photographs, beautifully presented. Nilanjana Bose at Madly-in-Verse's contribution, Roadblock, transported us to the Himalayas. Kiran Acharya of The sea and me gave us The Ruins of Doddakudla enchanting us! Rasma Raisters at Nothing but Poetry captured our imagination with her photograph and poem Golden Birches. Deborah Drucker of Notes Tied On The Sagebrush gave us The Journal is discovered a time travel and shape shifting fantasy full of promise. Sally Stackhouse of Sally's Scribbles introduced us to Molly and her young son, in a poignant flash called The Beach.

And that's just a small sample. If you haven't had a mention it's not because we didn't love your entry, it's just the sheer number prevents us from doing a complete wrap up of all posts. 

If you haven't read any/all of these entries, please treat yourself! That's why we have Direct Links. Reading/commenting on others' work is a core belief of WEP and can and will be taken into account in the final judging if a decision can't be reached any other way.  

Now, I'm sure you'll understand the torture we piled upon torture when we tried to whittle down 44 entries to just 3 winners! Yolanda and I struggled with this, and turned over 7 entries to our guest judge for this challenge, Donna Hole. Donna was a previous co-host and knows what to look for--entries that encapsulate the challenge, in this case, setting, entries that are error-free (or very nearly so), entries that have followed the guidelines (mostly), but at the end of the day, the entry must make our hearts sing. 

So, we will start with our overall winner, who was unanimously chosen by all 3 of us. I will tell you that the top 3 were moved around in position several times until this order was settled upon:

(((Drumroll)))

The Winner of WEP Spectacular Settings August 2015 challenge who takes home an Amazon Gift Card to the value of $10 is: ELEPHANT'S CHILD!

Elephants's Child's entry consisted of amazing photographs accompanied by a poem, Memories. Magic. Mystery. The animate mood and imagery of the poem were captured at a dancing horse show in Australia. The movement and pace of the poem matched the picture, both evocative.

So, congratulations EC! Please take the badge below and share it on your blog, linking to your excellent entry. Your Amazon Gift card will wing its way to you shortly!

Next, we chose LG Keltner of Writing off the Edge for her extract from her untitled WIP.

Her awesome descriptions and vivid sense of both history and the present earned her second place on the winner's podium.

So, many congratulations LG, please accept this Runner-Up badge from WEP and display it on your blog, linking to your entry.

Then, for the Encouragement Award, we chose Samantha Redstreake Geary who shared a beautiful, magical place in her entry, Weight of Wonder. Awesome descriptions, and using the trees as Dryads gave personality to the setting.

So, many congratulations Writerly Sam, please accept this Runner-Up badge from WEP and display it on your blog, linking to your entry.

Honourable mentions go to those who were moved up and down the line as we chose the final 3. They are Robyn Campbell: what a beautiful poet. Vivid imagery in such a concise piece. Then Kate McManus: awesome travel article. we certainly wanted to visit, even in the rain. Michael DiGesu: yes, certainly a favorite. Loved the poetic imagery and who can forget that photo taken by Michael of the pink flamingos! And finally Michelle Wallace, with her edgy experimental flash on the South African beachfront.

Now! Another fun part! Each WEP challenge we will have a lucky door prize! With the help of random.org, the August winner is: Laura Clipson! Congrats Laura! You have won a $5 Amazon Gift card which will wing its way to you shortly!

Now we want to hear about your WEP experience. Please take the time to comment and congratulate the winners and tell us about your experience. There is a poll in the right-hand sidebar. We would love for you to fill it out so we can make the WEP experience better next time! We have had a debrief and have come up with ways to make it more user friendly in October.

We hope you're already thinking about your Halloween post! There will only be one part to this post--so go scare us!!

Please visit us next week when we'll be guest posting the winner, Elephant's Child.

Don't forget to Spread the Word

We'd love if you'd Tweet one of these:

The #WEPFF has announced the winners of the WEP Spectacular Settings Challenge. @YolandaRenee & @DeniseCCovey http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2015/09/meet-our-finalists-for-wep-spectacular.html

Congratulate the winners of the #WEPFF Spectacular Settings Challenge. @YolandaRenee & @DeniseCCovey http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2015/09/meet-our-finalists-for-wep-spectacular.html

Spread the word & celebrate with the winners of #WEPFF Spectacular Settings Challenge. @YolandaRenee & @DeniseCCovey http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2015/09/meet-our-finalists-for-wep-spectacular.html