44th #SatSunTails Winners!

& so we have our #SatSunTails winner!

You can help by promoting next week’s #SatSunTails on your blogs, twitter, G+, facebook, tumblr etc, that would be great. Also, if you’re on twitter and you’d like an @reply every weekend in order to remind you that the competition is open then please leave a note regarding this along with your twitter handle in the comments of this post so I can set that up for you.

But for now, let’s get to the winners!

And our judge for this week’s #SatSunTails was the lovely Nicole Wolverton, author of The Trajectory Of Dreams which is this week’s prize.

The Written Prompt

miles to go before I sleep

Runner Up Mentions

@klingorengi –

I love Jeffrey’s scifi take on the prompt. It was really fresh, and I am completely intrigued by Project Doppelganger. I hope he expands this into a full story (hint, hint).

@DavidALudwig –

This piece has some fantastic language. Like Jeffrey’s piece, I’d love to see this expanded to something longer so I can find out what happens!

@USNessie –

AmyBeth is totally in my world here with her sleep study setting! I love the progression of this piece (plus, I learned something new–the origin of the word haggard).

Overall Winner

@blackinkpinkdesk –

There’s something about this piece that really grabbed my attention. It’s got a nice flow, thanks in large part to the language choices. Past what the reader is told here, I can imagine something really dark happening next, and I really like that.

If the overall winner could please contact me at the following email with your address so that I can pass your details onto @NicoleWolverton so you can receive your prize!

Winning Entry

No one can see it, the mélange of midnight horrors I inflict upon myself. It is without intention that I do so, but the dreams—night visions—wreak havoc on my soul. Daylight hours are spent cloistered at home and within the fragile shadows of a life I no longer care to inhabit. A life devoid of meaning.

I can’t evade my own face entirely during the gentler hours, knowing the despair reflected in my own visage is something I cannot completely veil. Regardless, during the hours when light bleeds across my side of the Earth, and the devastation begins to suffocate, I wear my thin mask. I have mastered the art of stoicism in the presence of others when necessary.

But at night, alone, when the blackness seeps in, I cannot escape so easily. The loss of my innocent child in such a horrific manner will forever consume me.

Critique Mentions

Now, as promised, there are critiques of those entries that didn’t make it. Sometimes it can literally come down to the smallest things.

Jenny –

Great description here. I could see everything so clearly!

@vixenfiction –

This is such a good vignette of an exorcism. Great progression.

FaycinACroud –

I like the rhythm of this piece very much–it has a lulling quality, which was great in juxtaposition to the subject matter.

So thank you to all of those who entered.  The criticism is never meant to harm. It is there to help you better your writing and someday win overall. I’m sure it will also benefit those who were not criticised. I hope this has helped you in your writing as well as encouraged you to join in again next week!

Click here to read the mentioned entries.

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