Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Notable Stories

Two of my stories have been recognized as Notable Stories by the Million Writers Award - Harvest My Heart (published at Pindeldyboz) and Even Angels Fall (published at Eclectica).

I served as a preliminary judge for the award. Each judge was asked to select the ten best stories published online in 2006, with each judge's selections recognized as Notable Stories. We were not allowed to select our own stories, or any stories from any magazines or webzines that we edited. Not that I would have.

One story from Southern Gothic was chosen - Mark MacNamara's Vertically Divided, Blue-Red-White. Although I wasn't allowed to pick this story, I believe it is one of the best, if not the best story published online last year. I've submitted it to every award I can think of, including the Pushcart and O'Henry.

I would also like to point you to three stories that completely blew me away: The Virgin Butcher by Brenna Yovanoff Graham, Gladiator by Sigfredo R. Inigo, and Debtor by J. Michael Matuszewicz.

Neither of my Notable Stories are as good as the above four, which all deserve to make the Top Ten - the next round in the selection process. In a couple of weeks, the Top Ten will be chosen by storySouth editor Jason Sanford and readers will have two weeks to vote for the winner.

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