WINNING STORIES IN THE CONFESSIONS WRITING COMPETITION!!

I bet you thought they were never coming? Well I have heard before that in the in the publishing world sometimes things don’t run as smoothly as you want.

Sometimes there are delays that are no one’s fault. They just happen. They can be frustrating and push your timescales back a bit but when push comes to shove and the final result is in, it all comes good in the end.

You wanted it just perfect didn’t you?

Well this post is all about the four winners. Jo and I would like to thank absolutely everyone who entered. Jo thought it would be easy to pick a winner. It wasn’t. She thought the level of talent shown was immense and found it very difficult to eventually pick a winner so went for four, in different categories.

To all the people who entered but didn’t win – there’s always next year!

We have been putting this post off to try and get a special surprise sorted for the four winners and I am delighted to say we managed to pull it off. The results of this surprise are below for everyone to behold.

I have to give a massive thank you to the “voice of the books”, Chris Barnes, for his help with this surprise. Does that give you a clue?

I am listing the four stories in a sort of reverse order with the overall winner coming at the bottom of the post.

Again, a huge thank you to all who entered the competition and came along to the party. You all made it very memorable for me and Jo and we are already looking forward to next year!

WINNING STORY IN BEST NEW TALENT – AUTHOR’S SECTION

Purple

by

Kevin J Kennedy

My sight is just varying shades of purple now.

I know I'm a zombie, that I've turned. I can smell brains in the air and they smell like my favourite cheeseburger and I can only move at an annoyingly slow pace.

Oh and the other zombies don't try to eat me anymore. That's a bonus I suppose. I smell like dead raccoon balls and I ate parts of my wife and cat.

I can't clean the shit and piss from my trousers but the thing that annoys me most of all is: I fucking hate the colour purple.

WINNING STORY IN BEST NEW TALENT – NON AUTHOR’S SECTION

Torture

by

Scot Leedom

He opened his eyes. The room was dark. A musk filling his nostrils, putrid in its origins. "Please, let me go!!" Nev begged. "I won't whisper a word. I promise."

A question formed in her mind. "Answer me this, then you can go." Jo grinned.

"ANYTHING!!" he pleaded. "Just end the torture!!" He was bleeding from his forehead and could feel the ringing in his ears growing again.

"Name your favourite song and you can walk away free."

"FUCK THE WANKER!! JUSTIN BEIBER IS A NO TALENT HACK!!"

"Wrong answer."

The last thing he heard was the chainsaw start up.

WINNING STORY IN AUTHOR’S SECTION

Train

by

Jeffery X Martin

Example after example, and you still haven’t learned. Pay attention.

These finger stubs are too smooth. You’re looking for something jagged, rough looking. What kind of message does this send? Where’s your rage? Your power?

You were just toying with this one.

Any petty gang member can slash a throat. You haven’t even touched her torso. There’s not enough blood, no ferocity!

Remember how we looped the businessman’s intestines around his ankles? That was stylish. Creative. We’re going back to basics.

Go find a child for us to use. Your training starts again tomorrow.

OVERALL WINNING STORY

Wisdom

by

Jon Recluse

When he saw what was coming, he stayed silent, and made his arrangements, watching quietly as the virtual world exploded with activity before fading to black.

When he stepped out into the first dawn at the end of the human race, he strode forth to greet the inheritors of the Earth that ran on four legs or flew without fear, glad in his heart that he had the wisdom to realize what was coming….and the common sense to keep it to himself.

Well there you go. The winners. I hope you enjoyed reading and listening to the stories. I hope the extra surprise for the winners was worth the wait. Save those files and you will have something to keep for the rest of your lives!

Thanks again for visiting Confessions of a Reviewer!

Nev.