Winners of the #WEP #AllYouNeedIsLove Challenge for February 2022!

Hi everyone, Jemi here!

Weren't those stories inspired by the first prompt of the Year of Music wonderful?! We at WEP thoroughly enjoyed the reading and seeing how many ways the prompt took you!

Thank you all for writing blurbs/taglines for the stories. Don't worry, if you forgot, we've always got your back. 

We had another fabulous collection of stories inspired by the prompt. We have so many strong writers contributing. Thank you all for sharing your words!

LG Keltner - Conversation Hearts - A poem inspired by candy hearts

Jemi Fraser - Grams - Lessons from the Beatles and Grams

Denise Covey - Learning How To Be You - There comes a time to stop running and embrace life 

Damyanti Biswas - Bar Girl - It is not, until it is

Bernadette Braganza - Love is Not All You Need - A party planner learns to plan for the inevitable party pooper

Nilanjana Bose - Dead Lake  Eyes - A family’s love in all its facets

Shannon Lawrence - All The Time In The World - Sometimes love requires creative measures

Olga Godim - A Quest for a Finder - The mother’s love can’t be denied

Pat Garcia - The Harlot and Her Scarlet Cord - One ounce of love is all you need

Jamie - All You Need is Love and Conflict - Love writing well

Michelle Wallace - Love The Second Time Round - They fell in love as teens, but their families tore them apart

Kalpana - All We Need Is Love - A poem exploring love for our planet

Anstice Brown - All You Need is (Self) Love - Is unconditional love for our children all we need to be a good parent?

NR Williams - Love, love, love! - When love comes around again

Debbie D - All You Need Is Love - The Beatles got it wrong. Or did they?

Carole Stolz - All You Need Is Love - Relationships trump over possessions or hobbies every time

Roland Clarke - Freyja’s Tears - Gold medals are gifted through divine skills and love

Shilpa Gupte - The Dilemma - Haven and hell 

Sonia Dogra - Wild Flowers In The Woods  - Of birthdays and expectations

J Lenni Dorner -Julie Ette - Shakespearean inspiration for love being all you need, with a viral twist

Sally Stackhouse - Walter and Sarah - An abiding love in times of trouble

Pennie Nichols - All You Need Is Love - Love restored

Jackie Begue -All You Need Is Love - Love is really the answer

Hilary Melton-Butcher - All You Need Is Love - These boots were made for walking…

Ornery Owl - An Underrated Quality - It's a poem addressing the fact that when people hear the word "love" they usually think of romantic love…What we need is empathy.

SHORTLIST

Our wonderful judge Nick Wilford has helped us whittle down the shortlist to 3. This month the whole WEP team chose virtually the same 3 or 4 entries.  As always, there were pieces we all loved that did not make the list, so do not despair if you don't see your entry listed here. Maybe next time.

COMMENTING

Thank you once again to all of you who continue to comment widely! Commenting is a major part of WEP's success. The feedback you give your fellow writers helps them improve their craft, and the words of encouragement help to motivate and inspire.

CRITIQUE PRIZE

The winner of each challenge gets the opportunity to receive a critique prize if they have a piece of writing ready, whether it be a full manuscript, a short story or an article. They also get the opportunity to write a guest post for WEP on a topic of their own choice. If a winner has no work for critique, please let us know so we can pass the opportunity on to the next on the list. We need you to contact the editor right away, then send your work in under three months at the most. Editors are busy people who need to plan, so please respect their time.

Our sidebar proudly displays everyone who is offering critique prizes for 2021. You are welcome to contact any of the editors with a request for work. 

The February Prize is a 10k critique by Lynda Dietz!!

Lynda is the editor from Easy Reader Editing Website 

NOW LET'S CONGRATULATE OUR WINNERS!

THE WINNER OF FEBRUARY 2022'S CHALLENGE

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE IS:

Congratulations, Sally, for your entry, 

Walter and Sarah

Nick wrote: "This really hits hard given the current situation in Ukraine. Beautiful and heartbreaking."

Sally, please post your badge on your blog and link the badge to your winning entry. Enjoy the critique prize or pass it on if you have no body of work ready. We eagerly await your Guest Post on a topic of your choice!

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THE RUNNER-UP OF FEBRUARY 2022'S CHALLENGE

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE  IS:

Congratulations, Michelle, for your entry, 

Love The Second Time Around

.

Nick wrote: "Very fun with a bouncy rhythm. Shades of Romeo and Juliet although I'm glad there's a happy ending!"

Michelle, please link the badge to your entry and post it on your blog. Congratulations!

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THE ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD WINNER FOR FEBRUARY 2022'S CHALLENGE

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE IS:

Congratulations, Anstice, for your stunning entry, 

All You Need is (Self) Love.

Nick wrote: "A reminder that self-love is important as well and a good message to pass on."

Anstice, please link the badge to your entry and post it on your blog.

~*~

Nick also commented: "Great stuff here. Looking forward to the next round!."

We agree - so many amazing stories and writers!

Read amazing entries from our WEP FEBRUARY 2021 ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE winners @DeniseCCovey @yolandarenee @LGKeltner @OlgaGodim @jemifraser #amwriting #flashfiction #wepwinners https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/02/winners-of-wep-allyouneedislove.html

#WEPFF ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE winners announced @DeniseCCovey @yolandarenee @LGKeltner @OlgaGodim @jemifraser https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/02/winners-of-wep-allyouneedislove.html #amwriting #flashfiction #wepwinners

Come congratulate our FEBRUARY winners!. #WEPFF ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE Challenge @DeniseCCovey @yolandarenee @OlgaGodim @LGKeltner @jemifraser #amwriting #flashfiction #wepwinners https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/02/winners-of-wep-allyouneedislove.html

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Join us in April for our next Year of Music challenge!

Jemi, for ...

#WEP 2022 Introduces the Year of Music Challenges with All You Need Is Love - Sign Up Here!

        

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Welcome to the February Challenge! Jemi here. This is the first post in our Year of Music and we can't wait to see the stories these songs  inspire!

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Please Note:

CRITIQUES

This is a most vital part of participation, but it has also proven to be why folks walk away from participation.

Please be courteous with your words!

For the WEP, a critique is:

Constructive feedback or positive reinforcement of the writer while helping reign in problems or giving helpful suggestions.

The point is to be helpful, not hurtful.

The WEP is a place where writers can confidently share their work without fear of harsh words or biting feedback. No matter what the choice is by the author of the type of critique.

Check the Menu Items Under The Critique for more information!

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Please remember to include a blurb/tagline with your story! 

Short and sweet. A tagline doesn't have to tell the story. It captures the theme. Go on, give it a try!!!! 

February's Prize:

The February Prize is a 10k critique by Lynda Dietz!!

Lynda is the editor from Easy Reader Editing. 

Lynda provides editing that covers many levels, from line edits & copyedits to partial manuscript evaluations and beta reading. She'll tidy up your blog posts, read through your website content, and check for errors in your query letter or newsletter, too.

Easy Reader Editing Website

You've got to be in it to win it!

THE APRIL CHALLENGE

From our CHALLENGES 2022 PAGE

A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall has been described as the ‘most idiosyncratic protest song ever written.’ Bob Dylan, the Nobel Laureate and another 60's icon, wrote, composed and sung it in 1962 when he was only 21. It’s been covered by many artistes including Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and has never really stopped being sung ever since. Dylan has sold  more than 125 million records/albums making him one of the most popular artistes of all time.  

This one is wide open to all kinds of interpretations. Because human suffering – it’s as wide, deep and long as life is, of a trillion takes potential.

Happy writing!

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WEP writing prompt All You Need is Love @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @LGKeltner @jemifraser https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/01/wep-2022-introduces-year-of-music.html Sign up February 16-18! #amwriting #flashfiction #WEPFF #poetry #nonfiction #amwriting #flashfiction #WEPFF #poetry 

Get your thinking caps on for All You Need Is Love @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @LGKeltner @jemifraser https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/01/wep-2022-introduces-year-of-music.html Sign up February 16-18! #WEPFF #amwriting #flashfiction #poetry #nonfiction

Join WEP @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @LGKeltner @jemifraser, for the next Challenge of 2022, February's All You Need Is Love. Sign up and Post February 16-18! https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/01/wep-2022-introduces-year-of-music.html #WEPFF #amwriting #flashfiction #poetry #nonfiction

Write with @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner @jemifraser, for the February challenge All You Need Is Love! Sign up and post on February 16-18! https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/01/wep-2022-introduces-year-of-music.html 

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We are looking forward to seeing where this month's prompt takes you! 

#WEP DECEMBER CHALLENGE #WINNER'S #GUESTPOST – ORNERY OWL (CIE) #AMWRITING

 Hello everyone! Denise here! 

Ornery Owl (Cie), the winner of the December Challenge Narcissus, won with her:

Cheeky History With Ornery Owl: Sympathy for Narcissus.

Her tagline: Greetings, Class. Fasten your seat belts! Professor Ornery Owl has a history lesson and a proposal for you. 

 

As our judge, Nick Wilford said: "A bit of everything here. Poetry, a history lesson and great satire. Really fun read."

Today Cie is talking about learning to live with ADHD and so much more. So take it away, Cie!

WORKING WITH MY UNCONVENTIONAL BRAIN

Source

 I will be 57 years old on February 15 of this year and I am still learning how to work with my unconventional brain. I only realized a few years ago that I have ADHD, a condition that is still misunderstood these days and was certainly misunderstood when I was a child if it was acknowledged at all.

 I’ve heard all my life how I do everything wrong. I’ve heard that I’m lazy, flaky, spacy, selfish. I was branded borderline retarded when I was in the sixth grade because of my difficulty performing a pattern recognition I.Q. test. Through all these things the one thing I believed was that I had a modicum of talent as a writer, but that too came into question when I heard time and again how if I couldn’t write a cohesive novel, I wasn’t a real writer.

 The problem is my mind loves to form subplots. Try as I might, I couldn’t stop it from doing so. Writing was no longer enjoyable when I couldn’t let the subplots fly. I realized that I would either need to stop writing or allow myself to write the way I wanted to, regardless of whether anyone else liked it or not.

 In the introduction to my still-unpublished novel, The Wizard’s Key, I stated that the book could either be read as a novel or as a series of interrelated stories. I recently learned that the term for such a book is a fix-up novel. Thus, I write fix-up novels rather than novels with a laser-focused plot. It’s similar to what the Tenth Doctor said about time. Rather than being linear, it’s more like a bunch of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.

 In David Bowie’s video for the song Lazarus, David is sitting at a desk attempting to write his thoughts on a long scroll of paper. He realizes that he will never be able to get them all written down before it is time for him to depart the world and he finds this distressing. I feel similarly about all the stories in my head and the new ones forming every day. If I lived for a thousand years, I’d probably never get them all written.

 One of the things I started doing this year to become more organized when it comes to creating stories for submission to anthologies or other publications is to create a comprehensive quarterly list. I find publications seeking stories at Literarium.com and arrange them in order of the deadline date. If you’d like to download a copy of my first quarter list it is available in PDF format from this link.

 https://odysee.com/@naughtynetherworldpress:d/Publications-Seeking-Submissions-1st-Quarter-2022:7

 Keep in mind that I only listed publications that I felt would be a good fit for me. You’ll want to visit Literarium.com yourself.

 For years I felt like I wasn’t a good writer because I couldn't stick to word count guidelines like “you have to write at least 2000 words a day.” I generally average 500-1000 words a day on any story I’m focusing on. One thing I’ve learned is that someone else’s guidelines may not work for me and that’s fine.

 My advice is don’t try to be someone else. I’ve spent a lifetime learning that I can only be who I am and trying to accept myself as a weird rhomboid peg that can never fit into a round hole no matter how hard I try.

 

Ornery Owl

 

Visit Ornery Owl at her blog, 

http://poetryofthenetherworld.blogspot.com/

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Thank you so much for your guest post, Cie. How about you, readers? How do you feel about your writing challenges? It has been said that readers can tell when you are not honest in your writing. Do you consider yourself honest, open, free?

We'd love for you to tweet this post or share it to Facebook or your favorite social media site.

#WEP NARCISSUS #WEPwinner #guestpost #FINDING YOUR WRITING STYLE.  https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/01/wep-december-challenge-winners.html@DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim @jemifraser #amwriting #writingchalleng

#WEP NARCISSUS #WEPwinner #CHEEKYHISTORYLESSON…. #guestpost https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/01/wep-december-challenge-winners.html @DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim @jemifraser #amwriting #writingchallenge

#WEP NARCISSUS #WEPwinner  #guestpost #unconventionalbrain https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2022/01/wep-december-challenge-winners.html @DeniseCCovey, @YolandaRenee, @LGKeltner, @OlgaGodim @jemifraser #amwriting #writingchallenge

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Our next challenge will be here before we know it! We hope many of you will consider joining us for our February challenge, All You Need is Love! The first of our Year of Music challenges.