*Before you do anything else, push play on this video. You will want Victory music playing while you enjoy the inaugural ASF Short Story Contest results!*

Back in November, I got this hairbrained idea to put together a short story contest based off a book cover I’d randomly been designing just for kicks. I put some feelers out, and BAM! some people were like, “Heck yeah! I wanna do that.” SO here we are!

It was an absolute blast reading all the entries…well, all except the judging part. I would rather not do that part, but the stories are inspiring. It’s thrilling to see all the passion and talent.

Thank you to every person who submitted to the contest! The coolest part is that we’re going to put together an anthology of Adventurous Scifi & Fantasy stories. Once we’ve polished these babies up and made them shine, we’ll slap ’em into a BE-a-U-tiful book that everyone will want to read and pass around to their friends.

I CANNOT wait.

Now, without further Ado…

Your Adventure Scifi & Fantasy Contest Winners

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3rd Place goes to the talented Audrey Driscoll for “Blue Rose”

Woohoo! Congrats, Audrey!

3^rd place receives

1. An interview or author profile right here on this website w/social media shares on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram once a week for a month
2. Inclusion in the anthology w/special recognition
3. A Print copy of the Anthology (or ebook if outside the US)

Make sure to pop over to Audrey’s blog and congratulate her directly: AudreyDriscoll.wordpress.com

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But there’s not just one winner here! Oh no, sirree!

2nd Place goes to the extra talented Joy E. Rancatore for “Ealiverel Awakened”

Take a bow, Joy!

2^nd place receives

1. One custom ebook cover designed by Rachael
2. An interview or author profile this here website w/social media shares on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram twice a week for a month
3. Inclusion in the anthology w/special recognition
4. A Print Copy of the Anthology (or ebook if outside the US)

Here’s where you can go to find and congratulate Joy directly: JoyERanctore.com

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And last but not least, we gotta give some props to our first place winner…

First Place goes to the uber imaginative and talented R.J. Rodda for “Chosen for the Fox-dance”

Yeah, yeah, yeah!!! Woot woot! Congrats, Rebekah!

1^st place receives

1. One custom book cover designed by Rachael for both print and ebook
2. Winning story shared right here!
3. An interview or author profile w/social media shares on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram 2 times a week for 2 months
4. Winning story included first in the anthology w/super special recognition
5. 2 print copies of the Anthology (or ebook if outside the US)

And you’re in luck because RJ has a Wattpad account where you can read more of her inspiring work: RJ Rodda on Wattpad

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Holy WOW!

I’m so excited about these winning stories and more! Some of the numbers were very close, and these three were only separated by a point each! Wowza!

Congratulations to RJ Rodda, Joy E. Rancatore, Audrey Driscoll, Angie Thompson, Kylie Ludlow, E.E. Rawls, Roger Jacob, Victoria Lynn, Gary Jefferies, and Barb Taub for making it into the top ten! Congrats also go to Sha’Tara, Kristina P., Debbie Whittam, David Jesson, and V.P. Grey!!!! I cannot wait to work with you all more on this anthology!

The next few months are going to be focused on any editing and revising we can do so that the anthology book will be polished to a blinding sheen and show off the shining talent of all the authors included within the pages. I am beyond excited to share their talent with you! Their stories will take you on adventures and startle your senses. Totally cannot wait!

Congratulations!

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What do you think? Is this something you might want to join in another round? I’m always looking for ways to encourage and grow talent, passion, and drive!

And in case you missed how this whole thing worked, here’s a link to the contest info and rules: https://rachaelritchey.com/2018/02/26/short-story-contest/