Novel Writing Contest - Winners Announced
Oct 26, 2009 - The Smith Mountain Arts Council (SMAC) and its Lake Writers group have announced the winners of the 2009 SMAC Novel Contest. Thirteen area writers entered the contest by submitting the first 50 pages of their novels. From these thirteen submissions, the judge selected three finalists. The finalists were then asked to submit their complete novels for final judging.
First Place
The first place winner is Betsy Ashton for her novel Unintended Consequences. Ashton lives in Moneta, writes for the Laker Weekly, is a budding novelist, and is a member of Lake Writers and Valley Writers in Roanoke.
Unintended Consequences features Mad Max Davies, a reluctant boomer grandmother, who finds herself taking care of her grown daughter and two grandchildren after her daughter is badly injured in an accident. She and her grandchildren become involved with solving a murder and exposing why the killer kills.
Second Place
The second place winner is Becky Mushko for her novel Stuck. Mushko lives in Penhook, is a retired teacher, blogger, and former columnist. She writes children’s literature. Ferradiddledumday, her new spin on the Rumpelstiltskin tale, will be published in January. Her work also appears in A Cup of Comfort for Writers and It Was A Dark and Stormy Night. She has self-published five books.
In Stuck, eleven-year-old Jacie—stuck in grief over her mother's death, stuck at camp with her worst enemy, and finally stuck on a Franklin County farm with her father's new fiancée—helps a ghost who is stuck on earth until she learns what happened to her young daughter.
Third Place
The third place winner is Jennifer Merritt for her novel Archer’s Storm. Merritt, originally from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, lives at Spring Lake Farm in Moneta with her husband, children, and father-in-law. She is a free-lance writer who makes time to write while chasing after her three young sons.
Archer’s Storm, Merritt’s first novel, features Archer Brookwood. Nothing extraordinary ever happens to Archer. He dreams of traveling to distant worlds, but one summer he realizes this world is larger than he ever imagined. Magic is as close as his own back yard.
Presentation of Awards
SMAC President Judy Reap presented Ashton with a check for $1,000 at the SMAC Annual Meeting on October 27. Mushko and Merritt have received checks of $400 and $200, respectively. The winners may use their cash awards to help them in seeking to have their work published or for any other purpose they choose.
The contest was coordinated by Fran Nielsen, a member of the Lake Writers, who found the judge and handled the coordination of the contest.
The Judge
The judge was Sandra Clayton-Emmerson. Currently the archivist of Manhattan College (New York), she teaches college-level composition and information literacy. A graduate of Walla Walla College and the University of Maryland, Clayton-Emmerson has more than twenty-five years experience as a researcher, writer, college and high school teacher, editor, and archivist. She is the editor and publisher of three collegiate magazines and the author of several annotated bibliographies.
Clayton-Emmerson, who critiqued each of the thirteen initial 50-page entries, gave each author feedback, chose the three finalists, and then selected the first, second, and third place winners from the three complete novels, commented at the conclusion of the contest, "This was a lot of fun! I just wish I could read all the novels now!"
2009 Novel Contest Information
Have You Written the
Next Great American Novel?
Next Great American Novel?
Is it hidden away in a drawer somewhere? If so, opportunity is knocking. Enter the Lake Writers Novel Contest sponsored by the Smith Mountain Arts Council (SMAC). The contest is designed to encourage writing and showcase the talent of writers living in the general area around Smith Mountain Lake.
Eligibility
To be eligible, a writer must be a member of the Lake Writers, a group that meets under the auspices of SMAC, or live in Bedford, Franklin or Pittsylvania Counties or cities therein.
A writer may submit only one entry. It must be original work by the writer, representing a completed, novel. The novel must be unpublished and not yet represented by an agent.
How to Enter
To enter, a writer must submit the first fifty pages—no more, no less—of a completed novel, along with a detachable cover sheet, to the contest coordinator no later than July 4, 2009. (Submission of the complete novel at this stage will result in disqualification.) Only one copy need be submitted. Submissions must be mailed and postmarked before July 4 and sent to:125 Low Country Drive
Penhook, VA 24137
Judging
An independent contest judge will then select a minimum of three finalists, and the contest coordinator will contact the finalists to have them submit their complete novels on or before August 31, 2009, for final judging.
Manuscript Format
Manuscripts must adhere to specific formatting rules. Entries must be typed or prepared on a word processer; handwritten entries will not be accepted. The manuscript must use 12-point Times New Roman font, be double spaced, be on white, 8.5 x 11-inch paper, and have one inch margins. Submissions must have a detachable cover sheet with the title of the novel, the author’s name, mailing address, e-mail address (if available) and phone number. The author’s name must not appear on any other page of the novel. Each page of the manuscript must display the title of the novel in the upper left-hand corner and sequential page numbers in the upper right-hand corner. There is no page limit for the novels, and novels may represent any genre. These instructions can also be found at www.LakeWriters.webs.com.
Entry Fees
Writers who meet the above eligibility requirements fall into one of two categories. Writers who are SMAC members in good standing may enter for free. Non-SMAC members must either pay a fee of $25 to enter or join SMAC and pay annual dues before entering the contest. Entrants must include SMAC status on the cover sheet.
Cash Prizes
The contest coordinator will personally notify only the finalists and winners of the judging results. SMAC will issue appropriate press releases. Manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Cash prizes are $1,000 for first place, $400 for second place, and $200 for third place. Members of the Lake Writers hope that the cash prizes will help the three winners offset some of the costs of pursuing an agent and publication of their work.