#WEPff WINNERS' POST for CHANGE OF HEART August challenge. Come read all about it!

Hello everyone!

Here's what you've been waiting for! The winners of the inaugural WEP/IWSG collaboration for the CHANGE OF HEART August challenge! 

This is a long post as there's so much to say. I've used sub-headings so you can easily skip to the content you want!

WHAT WAS NEW ABOUT THIS CHALLENGE!

New people!! Welcome to 8 new entrants - Diane Burton, Tanya Miranda, Rebecca M Douglass, Jemima Pett,  Roland Clarke, Deniz Bevan, Operation Awesome and Elizabeth Otten. 

Welcome back Shannon Lawrence and Michelle Wallace who used to post intermittently or regularly in the past. We hope you're back to stay!

Some of you (5) missed the deadline and a couple of your emails broke my heart, but we hope you make it next time! The post date is clearly shown on the badge and the time zone clearly shown at the top of this website.

And of course, the rest of you are too many to mention. Thank you loyal WEPpers, some of whom came with me from RomanticFridayWriters when we became WEP in 2012, some later, but you all turn heaven and earth to turn up every second month. You make WEP the success it is. 

We hope you're all enthused about the challenges and return in October for another write-fest for the Halloween month.

CHANGE OF HEART resulted in some deep responses which, judging by the comments, garnered an emotional response in our readers. Many minds flew to heart transplants and that's no surprise, but how each one was so different, was. 

BLURBS FROM EACH ENTRY

Here's a round up of all the entries we got for the prompt - CHANGE OF HEART, except the hosts'. An amazingly diverse collection, with many innovative interpretations of the prompt. Mind. Blowing.

Sally - gave us a sweet heartfelt entry, a lovely combo of poetry and prose on the value of friendship in overcoming grief and despair.

Desk 49 -  spun one fun yarn of a man-snake tussle which ended with a rather unexpected 'strike.'

Pat G - gave us a story of courage to conquer inner demons, healing and a change of heart brought about by love.

Pat H - wrote an open letter to 'dear Good and Evil' - profound and thought provoking in his usual dark style..

Toi Thomas - paid tribute to Asimov and wrote a compelling story of self aware AI trying to create a better version of humanity.

Tanya Miranda - crafted a fascinating flash about the price of mortality. Deep and haunting.

Deborah Drucker - wrote a heartwarming story of an immigrant family's struggles in an new land and then ended it with a supernatural twist in the tail.

Laura C - gave us a fantasy flash where the hero switches sides but does not know if  he's made the right choice. 

L.G. Keltner - Sometimes a change of heart can lead to terrible, life long regrets. A moving flash about a romantic dilemma with devastating consequences.

Hilary - served up a super creepy take with an MC pondering stuffed heart recipes, not an ordinary dish we can tell you.

Roland Clarke - brought to life teenage angst over sexuality in an evocative flash set in Wales.

D.G.Hudson  - gave us a further intriguing chapter of her well crafted scifi novel, with the intruders on Outpost 6 finally tracked down. But does finding a child among them lead to a change of heart?

Jemima Pett - made us instantly relate to her feisty MC who has to find ways to outsmart her space navigator. 

Diane Burton - a  fun take on the prompt that combined travel, adventure, independence and self-discovery, with the bonus promise of a new relationship? or a bogus brother of absconding friend?

Christopher Scott - jumped in with an intriguing flash on the gamer world. Will the MC escape to freedom and family life?

Rebecca Douglass – wove a funny and lighthearted ghostbuster story with a clever use of the prompt.

Michelle Wallace - penned a poignant and compelling flash of one long lost son’s heart changing the life of another. A brilliant take on the prompt.

J Lenni Dorner - loss, courage and new beginnings come together in an intriguing, creative flash built on a mix  of the prompt and lyrics from a song. 

Elephant's Child - gave us a flash involving genetic manipulation in the search for perfection, thought provoking and shivery, too close for comfort.

Deniz Bevan - wrote up a happy combo of travel and romance, set in that most alluring of destinations -Turkey, irresistible!

Elizabeth Otten - penned a heartwarming, well crafted monologue for her first WEP entry with the cutest MC we have come across in several months.

Roland Yeomans - wrought his usual magic with a lilting, melancholic cadence and poetic diction.

Kalpanaa - gave us an extract from her current work, and another MC vying for the cutest spot with Elizabeth's.

Shannon Lawrence – crafted a super chilling tale of a burglar... or is it a woman out for revenge? and a child that pivots the outcome around after pushing us to the very brink.

After extensive reading, the team compiled a shortlist, longer than usual:

Elephant's Child 

Tanya Miranda

J Lenni Dorner

Shannon Lawrence

Michelle Wallace

Jemima Pett

Toi Thomas

Rebecca M Douglass

The shortlist was outsourced to writer and editor, Nick Wilford, who is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) admin. Nick kindly read each entry on the shortlist, and chose 3 winners. (Agreement on the winner was unanimous). 

So (((drum roll)))...here we go...

THE WINNER OF THE

2018 WEP AUGUST CHALLENGE CHANGE OF HEART

is TANYA MIRANDA

 Nick said: "Tanya's flash made the biggest impact on me and posed a profound question that makes us all ponder as humans."

Congratulations Tanya!

Please link the badge to your story and post it on your blog!

An Amazon Gift Card of $10 will be winging your way shortly.

***

THE RUNNER UP OF THE

2018 WEP AUGUST CHALLENGE CHANGE OF HEART

is MICHELLE WALLACE!

Nick said: "A circular tale with an interesting question - would a heart transplant change who we are as a person? Made me want to know more about what happens to Gary." Yes, please continue this story, Michelle (the team)

Congratulations Michelle!

Please link the badge to your story and post it on your blog!

***

THE ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD FOR THE

2018 WEP AUGUST CHALLENGE CHANGE OF HEART

goes to TOI THOMAS!

Nick said: "Thought-provoking look at a possible future. Took me off somewhere completely. The narrator seems to have two changes of heart - an interesting twist."

Congratulations Toi!

Please link the badge to your story and post it on your blog!

***

COMMENTING

All prospective winners are vetted to ensure they've commented on several posts before they are awarded a prize as this is one of the guidelines on every submission sign up.

For very strong commenters, we have a special award. 

Past winners are Desk49 and Elephant's Child. This month I'd like to acknowledge Desk (Ellis) for his support to new participant, Roland Clarke. And Roland, we honor your effort in struggling to read every entry when you had so much going on.

The CHANGE OF HEART challenge demonstrates a change of heart regarding comments. The message has gotten through with MOST of you commenting on all/very nearly all, of the posts. Isn't it lovely to see SO MANY comments on each post? It delighted the team. 

I set myself the task of tallying comments and stopped tallying on 24th August so apologies if you've since finished commenting. I'm taking volunteers for the role of Comment Police in October! Don't all rush me at once! You'll see by my messy page below that of those not in the running for the award, most made an excellent effort to get around!

Some of you contacted me to say you'd finished reading all the posts. I think that's a good idea. YOU NOMINATE YOURSELF for the Comments Champion award and we'll do a cursory check.

I want to thank the following for their awesome effort at commenting. We had fourteen!! I used the online random name picker and left it to chance! 

Here's the result. As all 14 names weren't shown on one page, I had to snip it twice.

So, the Comments Champion award goes to all 14 of you, but we can only send one badge. 

The random pick winner is -- Diane Burton! Diane, please accept the badge on behalf of all the great commenters and display on your blog!

As always, I thank my awesome WEP team members. I couldn't do this job without you: 

* Olga, for the creative badges. Wow, CHANGE OF HEART and DEJA VU or VOODOO are magnificent

* Nila, who wrote those alluring blurbs on each entry

* Yolanda, who read for us and helped with the DLs and shortlist

* LG Keltner who offered to help monitor the C-Box and to be an extra pair of eyes on the entries

And from the IWSG:

* Pat Hatt for creating/adding tweets to the posts
* Nick Wilford for reading the shortlist and for final judging

BUT MOSTLY, THANK YOU PARTICIPANTS!

August was a blast!

A MESSAGE TO LATE POSTERS!

If you've subscribed to the email list on the blog, you will receive a notice on posting day. If you haven't signed up and would like to, send your email address to Denise and she will sign you up. 

I've just sent out a bulk email. Mine went to SPAM until I told Gmail it wasn't spam. If you are subscribed to the WEP mail list and didn't receive an email, go to your spam folder and click 'This is not spam.' Or 'add us to your address book.' Then you'll be up to date on WEP news!

Remember to post your entry on or before the challenge date according to the clock on the website and choose your method to let us know you've posted! The linky will tell you how many hours to closing time. 

Relative to comments: try to set up your comment system so it's easy to comment! No Google+ please. Leave a message on our CBox or in comments if you cannot post comments on someone's site.

We're excited to see you all again, plus spread the word for the October Challenge -- DEJA VU or VOODOO! 

On the Challenges Page you’ll find the prompt schedule for the year and further inspiration for the above prompt.

Be sure to return to read the winner’s guest post in a couple of weeks!

We'd love if you'd Tweet this post or share to Facebook or your favorite social media site.

#WEPFF Change of Heart Winners announced. @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @theIWSG https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2018/08/wepff-winners-post-for-change-of-heart.html #amwriting #flashfiction

Come congratulate Tanya Miranda, first place winner #WEPFF Change of Heart Challenge @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @theIWSG https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2018/08/wepff-winners-post-for-change-of-heart.html #amwriting #flashfiction

The #WEPFF writers are all winners! @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @theIWSG https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2018/08/wepff-winners-post-for-change-of-heart.html #amwriting #flashfiction

When you take the challenge for a spin you too could win! @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @theIWSG https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2018/08/wepff-winners-post-for-change-of-heart.html #amwriting #flashfiction