#WEP WINNERS : APRIL 2023 CHALLENGE - LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL - but our writers are beautifully talented, and boy, do your entries prove it! 

Thank you, everyone, for the amazing entries for Life is Beautiful. Sadly, our numbers were down by half again, but we see a drop off in blog activity across the blogosphere. We hope this is only temporary as the more who write to the WEP challenges, the better.

Hello, this is Renee with you, to sum up the April challenge results. But first a round-up of the entries via Jemi:

Yolanda Renee - Life is beautiful, family is everything

Olga Godim - Even after a tragedy, life could be beautiful

Nilanjana Bose - Colour it beautiful

Denise Covey - Life is beautiful, but death can be better

Jamie - Two girls in Nazi times, one Jewish and one not, are separated

Sonia Dogra - Pickle, Bicker, Smile!

Jemi Fraser - Even when sirens shatter the night

Hilary - Ugliness and cruelty are unnecessary

C. Lee McKenzie - The German Goose

Beth Camp - Regardless of how it may begin, life can be beautiful

J. Lenni Dorner - A father prepares his son to leave with him in hopes of surviving

Sally - That will be her mantra – do not interfere and then life will be beautiful for everybody.

Roland R. Clarke - Night Witches find family, new friends and allies

Kalpana - The Journey

Damyanti Biswas - In a halo of the senses

Shortlist

Such a bunch of awesome entries! It made the shortlisting super difficult this month even though the entries were down. Each of the team brings a slightly different perspective to the shortlisting process. Someone gives a tad more weight to the creative interpretation, another to the execution, yet another to reader engagement, but all of us are looking for the same final result - a thundering good story, well crafted and well told. We each shortlist and defend our choices passionately, there's a lot of back and forth that doesn't show up here before we pass them on to Nick, our judge. 

And Nick takes his time even though he also "felt all the stories were really on par in terms of quality and impact. It was hard to leave one out. Brilliant stuff. All the entries were so moving. This challenge was a great one!"

Here's the shortlist we sent on, but only three can win!

Beth Camp

Damyanti

J Lenni

Kalpana

Jamie

Sally

Commenting:

Thank you to all those who comment widely, especially those who read and comment even when they do not have an entry in the ring or are unwell. Our top supporter and commenter, Elephant's Child is having health issues and could not be present this challenge. We send our thoughts and prayers to you, Sue. Commenting is the lifeblood of WEP both as feedback towards the improvement of writing craft and as a communication channel for community building.

Sadly, this month as in months past we've had commenting issues. No one's quite sure what is going on, but it is not just a WordPress/Blogger issue. Please check the comments on the WEP post or the C-Box where we posted comments that wouldn't take on blogs. 

Please note that due to incessant spamming issues, we have had to keep comment moderation on. So your comment may not show up right away, but we will get to it soonest possible. We value your comments, please keep them coming. 

THE APRIL PRIZE

This month's prize is a first chapter critique from our IWSG liaison, friend, and ofttimes participant of WEP, multi-published author C Lee McKenzie.

Check our previous post for more information about C Lee McKenzie.

Three winners! Three Oscars!

AND NOW IT'S TIME TO CONGRATULATE THE WINNERS!

WE HOPE YOU AGREE THE BADGES ARE BEYOND AWESOME!

THANKS, OLGA GODIM!

THE WINNER OF THE APRIL 2023 CHALLENGE 

~ LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL ~ 

IS 

CONGRATULATIONS, Jamie! 

Jamie's story, Pearl and Sarah brought hate and prejudice to us through the eyes of innocent children. Masterfully done, Jamie!

Nick said, "Hatred and prejudice seen through the eyes of an uncomprehending child. If only that innocence could be preserved. Devastating, in a quiet way."

Jamie, if you will please post this badge on your blog and link it to your winning entry. Tweet it! Share the love! Use the critique prize or pass it on to the next winner if you can't avail yourself of it in the next few months.  Remember that this story will be considered for a place in the WEP anthology to be published next year. Details will follow.

THE RUNNER-UP OF THE APRIL 2023 CHALLENGE 

~ LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL ~

IS 

CONGRATULATIONS, Kalpana!

Kalpana, The Journey broke our hearts as we read this horrific truth, but love and hope survive all.

Nick said, "This is beautiful because it shows how those who survive horror can still find meaning and beauty in life. Love has to win."

Kalpana, please post this badge on your blog and link it to your entry. Promo any way you wish! This flash also will be considered for a place in next year's WEP anthology. Details will follow.

THE ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD FOR THE APRIL 2023 CHALLENGE 

~ LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL ~

GOES TO

CONGRATULATIONS, Beth!

Beth's Poem, Life is Beautiful highlighted the journey from despair to happiness.

Nick said, "Short but very effective. Shows resilience and how we can make the best out of life no matter where we come from."

Beth, please post this badge on your blog and link it to your Flash. Promo any way you choose! You also will be considered for a place for this story in WEP's anthology scheduled for next year. Details will follow.

Thank you to all our participants for each of their captivating entries! 

We had such a varied and creative bunch of flashes this month. Each one a gem!

Please share this across your social media sites.

We announce our WEP APRIL‘23 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL #winners @DeniseCCovey @yolandarenee @jemifraser @SoniaDogra16 #amwriting #writingcontest #flashfiction #wepwinners https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/05/wep-winners-april-2023-challenge-life.html

#WEPFF APRIL ’23 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL #winners announced @DeniseCCovey @SoniaDogra16 @yolandarenee @jemifraser https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/05/wep-winners-april-2023-challenge-life.html #amwriting #flashfiction #wepwinners #writingcontest

Come congratulate our APRIL ’23 LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL #winners! #WEPFF Challenge @DeniseCCovey @yolandarenee @SoniaDogra16 @jemifraser #amwriting #flashfiction #wepwinners #writingcontest  https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/05/wep-winners-april-2023-challenge-life.html

PLEASE JOIN US IN JUNE FOR THE NEXT CHALLENGE 

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

OF THE THIRD KIND

Your hosts will be Nilanjana and Jemi!

WIN  A CRITIQUE PRIZE! 

BE INVITED TO SUBMIT TO OUR ANTHOLOGY!

Look up the detailed Challenge blurb here.

There are a gazillion ways to interpret this sci-fi classic - use the genre as a base to write your own sci-fi flash. Or riff off the idea of first contact. Celebrate cross-cultural communication between groups without a common language/reference points like the film. Use kidnapping, a failing marriage, a paranormal event turning life upside down - any or all to build your flash around. Maybe use three characters' experiences of an event. The basic human hankering for exploration, connection, for finding a place in a community, even up to a galactical community. Maybe take up the story from where it ends - what happens after first contact. How the alien lifeforms and humanity build a relationship and navigate it in the future.

Post - June 21st to 23rd 2023

Please join us for another fun prompt in June

See you then!

Renee, signing off for now but see you in JUNE!

#WEPff #WINNER of the October Challenge GRAVE MISTAKE! Rebecca Douglass' guest post Writing Through My Grief

DON'T MISS THE ANNOUNCEMENT RE UNMASKED AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!!!

Hi, Renée here:

 October's winner for the WEP challenge, GRAVE MISTAKE, Rebecca Douglass, guests for us today. Her winning entry was humorous and fun. Just what we needed after such a crazy year.

 Congratulations Rebecca. Thank you for writing such an inspiring guest post.

Photo by Jarl Schmidt on Unsplash

Writing Through My Grief

 It may be a little strange that someone who mostly writes humorous stories, and is being honored for a story that made people laugh, is here to write about grief, but here I am, trying to explain the inexplicable.

 Many of you know that my husband of 26 years was killed in a cycling accident in May. That the accident profoundly changed every aspect of my life is an understatement. It affected my writing in ways large and small, putting a complete halt to it at times, while at others writing has been an anchor to help me through this horrible time.

 Everything from washing the dishes to raking the leaves felt changed by the accident, so why should writing be any different? A hole in one’s chest does make it harder to write. Because what I mostly write is humor, it felt like an extra burden sometimes. Was it right, or even possible, to keep writing goofy stories between grief bursts? And yet I knew I couldn’t stop writing, and writing light feels a great deal safer right now than writing dark.

 For several weeks after the accident, I didn’t write anything but the most personal of journal entries and kept looking at the heap of my current manuscript as though it was a creature from outer space—beyond comprehension and a little scary. I wasn’t even sure if I could, or should laugh. A friend straightened me out about that, reminding me that this loss doesn’t change who I am, and who I am is a person who sees the absurdity of life all around me, even at inopportune moments.

 The call for entries for the IWSG anthology gave me a reason to start to write fiction again. Over the course of the next couple of months, I wrote my story, one sentence at a time. On a good day, I got two sentences. I had no idea if that would lead to a story that was worth submitting (I still don’t, though I submitted the story), but that wasn’t the point. The point was to prove to myself that, broken though I was, I was still a writer. The point was to hear the voices in my head again, the ones that were wholly fiction.

 Eventually, I was able to write whole paragraphs at a time, and the story was completed. The true miracle, though, was that when the story was finished, I picked up my novel and began to edit again. To my amazement, it felt good. And I was able to write the funny bits, find the humor in the situations I dumped the main character into, and make progress, albeit slowly. Again, I made the commitment to work for at least a minute or two every day.

 Yes, you read that right: a minute or two. For me, that has been the key: writing or editing every day, giving myself purpose, but limiting my expectations. Writing under some difficult circumstances (by headlamp in a campsite cold enough to need a down jacket and gloves!) seems to have helped all the more. I’ve lost my anchor in the biggest sense, but writing has managed to endure. I am deeply grateful for the gift that is creativity, and for the community of writers who have helped me hang onto it.

I’m not who I was in April, but I am still a writer.

~~~***~~~

Thanks so much for your inspiring post, Rebecca. And congratulations again on your win for GRAVE MISTAKE.

The 4th book in Rebbeca's Pismawallops PTA Mystery Series: 

Death by Library

 You can find anything at your local library… even a corpse?

When things turn deadly in the library stacks, JJ needs some answers fast, before she loses her job—or her life. She’s determined to learn everything about the victim, and for once the library doesn’t hold all the answers. JJ and Kitty may have to face the ultimate peril: a visit to Mrs. Halsey, the oldest—and crankiest—person on the island.

Amazon

Smashwords (all ebook formats)

Barnes & Noble

Apple Books

Kobo

After a lifetime of reading, and a decade or more of slinging books at the library and herding cats with the PTA, Rebecca began to turn her experiences into books of her own, publishing her first in 2012. That failed to quiet the voices in her head, but seemed to entertain a number of readers, so she wrote some more, which generated still more voices. Despite the unlimited distractions provided by raising sons to the point of leaving home (and preparing to move without forwarding address if necessary to retain that empty nest), not to mention the mountains that keep calling (very hard to resist the urging of something the size of the Sierra Nevada), she has managed to pen a total of 9 books plus a novella (which we suppose makes 10).

***ANNOUNCEMENT***:

There's been a lot of disappointment at the cancellation of the December Challenge so, if you still wish to post for the 

Challenge, UNMASKED – please do.

Then let us know in the Comments of the December 1st post with a link so we can visit. POST ANY TIME IN DECEMBER. This is an unstructured challenge - no sign up, no winners, but the usual lot of fun leading up to the end of 2020 and our anticipation for a much better 2021.

Renée for the team:

Please Share the Love! 

@RebeccaDouglass #WEPGRAVEMISTAKE  #WEPwinner #guestpost https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2020/11/wepff-winner-of-october-challenge-grave.html @DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim #amwriting #writingchallenge

@RebeccaDouglas #WEPGRAVEMISTAKE  #WEPwinner  Writing Through My Grief #guestpost https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2020/11/wepff-winner-of-october-challenge-grave.html @DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim #amwriting #writingchallenge 

@RebeccaDouglas #WEPGRAVEMISTAKE #WEPwinner  Writing Through My Grief #guestpost https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2020/11/wepff-winner-of-october-challenge-grave.html @DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim #amwriting #writingchallenge