I had forgotten all about it.  After all, I didn’t place in the “Show Us Your Shorts” writing competition by Writer’s Digest last fall, so I certainly wasn’t looking for the odd-shaped package that arrived in my mail last week.  But, after struggling to figure out how to open a corrugated cardboard pack that looked like it was a single layer of board, I ripped away, and there amongst the shreds was an approximate 100-page book of stories. Cool, very cool.

The “Show Us Your Shorts” competition invites authors to submit stories of up to 1500 words on just about any subject, with a deadline in November and winner notifications in February.  I knew I hadn’t won, but forgot that I’d purchased a copy of the stories.  Now, I’m happy I did, because I have a nice, quick read when I want, and inspiration to keep trying.  They have, after all, 25 authors (both new and prviously published I believe) with each contest.

This past weekend, I didn’t get to bed until after midnight on any night, and was up at my usual time of five-thirty, so I didn’t read much, but I have to say, the winning entry, The Callers, by Nicole Lesperance was well worth it.  As the second place winner has the last name of Longfellow, I feel like I’m in for a real treat.

Here are some other titles from amongst the winners, that look intriguing to me:

• Hell In Your Own Backyard – Roberta Anthes
• The Laundry Basket – Ruthanne Connell
• Just Looking – Megan Benton
• Temptation – Bernard Mendillo

If you want to purchase a nice collection of stories, head over to www.WritersDigest.com/competitions.

Enjoy your summer with a good read!  And please let me know if you have a good short story collection to recommend.