Five Poisoned Apples: A Celebration

The results are in, folks!

So we're going to have a little party to celebrate, because this is the last fairy tale contest Rooglewood Press is going to hold, and it deserves to be commemorated.

The Winners

The Facebook party last Saturday was such fun! This year there were 27 finalists, 13 honorable mentions, and four special unicorns (stories that received perfect scores from the judges). From that lengthy list, the five winners were selected. So many amazing stories were celebrated, and I know there were many more that went unlisted but still possessed such creativity and imagination. I don't envy the judges' job at all!


I was hoping to share the announcement here before it was officially posted on the Rooglewood Press website, but alas, school was rude and didn't let me. So by now you've probably all seen the five winners' names on the cover already. In case you missed it . . .

Isn't it stunning? And look, look--I KNOW ONE OF THE WINNERS. It's our very own Skye Hoffert! And I couldn't be happier for her! You've probably seen Skye in the comments around here. She and I have been blogging buddies and writing pals for years. A few months ago, I had the pleasure of beta reading Falling Snow. Believe me, the grungy circus vibe of her story is the perfect way to open up this anthology.


Next up, Jenelle Hovde's historical fantasy Raven's Heir. It sounds like this one follows the original tale most closely. In Anne Elisabeth Stengl's words, this story carries "that perfect blend of poetry and grit," which sounds like a writing style I'll love.


Then we have Cortney Manning's The Fairest One, a tale with a Middle Eastern flavor and dwarven mythology. It sounds positively delicious! And apparently Cortney entered five stories in this year's contest, earning a place as a winner, a special unicorn, and a twice-over honorable mention.


Following on that tale's heels is Maddie Morrow's vampire spin called Red as Blood. That's one genre these anthologies haven't explored yet, so I'm excited to see what sort of dark and twisty road this story will take me on.


And wrapping it up is Rachael Wallen's Snowbird and the Red Slippers. Involving a scholarship to a prestigious New York dance school, this contemporary tale is peppered with magical realism. It sounds like a sweet and satisfying way to end the book!

The Special Unicorns

These four ladies impressed the judges with their impeccable story skills. To reward them, Anne Elisabeth Stengl created beautiful covers for their entries! I'm unsure if I'm allowed to share them here, but they were each gasp-worthy works of art. The four special unicorns are:

• Sarah Pennington with Blood in the Snow (I believe I've seen Sarah somewhere around the blogosphere, so I feel like I distantly "know" her.)
• Cortney Manning with Yellow Bright (As I mentioned, she's also one of this year's winners.)
• Elizabeth Brown with Heir (You may remember her as one of the Five Glass Slippers winners!)
• Esther Brooksmith with The Blood of Beauty (I've recently gotten to know Esther through the super fun countdown posts she shared on her blog leading up the announcement!)

The Finalists & Honorable Mentions

Rather than list alllll the finalists and honorable mentions, I'll simply direct you again to the list posted on Rooglewood's website HERE. But I do want to take a minute to give a shout-out to my friends and acquaintances who received recognition!


Several finalists' names were familiar to me, but these two in particular are people I've interacted with online more often:

• E.F. Buckles: Moonsilver (Loooove that title! I bump into EFB around here and Goodreads, both great places to chat about books.)
• Sophia White: The Colour of Life (It's a Ukrainian/Russian setting with nesting dolls! Sophia frequents my blog too.)

And I've also interacted with these honorable mentions:

• Meredith Burton: The Princess and the Invisible Apple Tree (I remember Meredith from back when the Tales of Goldstone Wood blog was active; she's very sweet!)
• Claire Banschbach: Threads of Yellow, Blue, and Red (I've just recently started to get to know this indie authoress!)

And . . . well, if you already peeked at the list, then you've stolen my thunder, but . . .

You guys, I am blown away.


Seeing The Brightest Thread among the top ten in the Spindles contest was incredible, but with the way this year's story was going, I did not expect to match that success. Of all four stories I entered in Rooglewood fairy tale contests, Mirrors Never Lie was the one in which I was LEAST confident.


When I submitted to Glass Slippers, I was the kind of writer who doesn't know what she doesn't know.


When I submitted to Enchanted Roses, I loved what I'd written but was missing a few key ingredients.


When I submitted to Magic Spindles, I knew this was one of my strongest works yet. Yet everyone deals with doubt, so making it to the top ten list was a huge boost of confidence.

However, when I submitted to Poisoned Apples, my writing life was in a dry spell and I seriously doubted that novella would make it anywhere. What a thrilling surprise to be proven wrong! And I am deeply grateful for the feedback I received from judges. It nearly made me cry.

Now what are my plans for this story? As you probably know, revising The Brightest Thread is my top writing priority right now. That's what I plan to work on all summer long (and I really, really can't wait!). But that doesn't mean that Mirrors Never Lie is getting shelved forever! In fact, I specifically wrote it in the same world as TBT, years earlier in a different land. Soooo . . . there's the possibility of expanding MNL into a novel sometime. Maybe this will grow into a whole series of standalone fairy tale retellings connected by the same world? But I'm getting way ahead of myself! For now, rest assured that MNL is a story I plan to return to eventually.

Everyone Else

Okay, here's where I brush the confetti off the table and bring out a box of tissues and give hugs to all of the precious writers who submitted to this contest . . . but didn't see their names anywhere. All of us received feedback, so in that sense you're walking away with something! (Along with a completed story that you were brave enough to send out into the world!) But some of that feedback likely stings. In the wake of disappointment, it's easy to fixate on the critiques we received and the insecurities that come clawing back. This story is garbage. I'm not a good writer. Who am I fooling? Will I ever make it? I'm terrible at ____. Thoughts like this--and worse--threaten to black out the truth. So imagine we're sitting across from each other right now, and I'm looking you in the eye and telling you:


It's okay to hurt. When you're hoping against hope that you might get at least an honorable mention, your heart falls as name after name scrolls by, and none of them are yours. I get that. I've been there. Like I mentioned in a recent post about these contests, I've lost more competitions than I've won. And I've received feedback that shredded fragile parts of me and left me sobbing, others that left me sulking under a dark raincloud for days. So allow yourself to lick your wounds. But please, please don't stay there.


One contest does not a writer make. The results do not define you. They are not a measure of your worth as a person or as a writer. Don't let it touch your identity! As my pal Katie Hanna mentioned on a Facebook post, you've fallen off the horse, but get back on. Try again! Keep writing! If writing is something you love, if it's a thing you feel called to do, you owe it to yourself to pursue it.


Use this as a springboard. Let that feedback sheet rest for a while. Put the story away for a bit. But then when you feel up to it, go back and look at it again. All those critiques mentioned? All those areas that received low scores? Those are opportunities. Those are things you can actually learn. Did you get a low score in dialogue? Then pay careful attention to the way characters in your favorite books chat back and forth. Was your plot a mess? Go find some excellent books and blogs that teach story structure. Critiques can hurt, but they have been my best teachers.


And one more thought to help keep your spirits up as you tackle these problem areas: Whichever judge read your story has your best interests in mind. Look for the positives she highlighted and build on them. Also look for the things she didn't mention at all! A doctor may tell you your heart is having issues, but if they don't mention your lungs, I'd guess you're breathing just fine! Meaning the elements that don't get critiqued are probably at a functioning level. All is not lost, my friend.

Some Links

To wrap this party up, I'm sharing links to a few places where fellow writers have shared wonderful posts regarding Five Poisoned Apples!


Skye Hoffert @ Ink Castles // In this post, Skye shares her reaction to winning, as well as pictures of a completely magical party she threw with a friend! Go show her some love, you guys!!!


Esther Brooksmith @ The Pen of a Ready Writer // I'm just giving you a general link to her blog, because she's been posting thoughtful questions to spark discussion in the weeks and months leading up to the announcement. So go take a stroll through her archives, and while you're there, congratulate her on her Special Unicorn status!


Allison Tebo @ Allison's Well // Alli shares about the poison of playing the comparison game and how each of us are on our own journeys. She dug up some amazing, thought-provoking reflections! (This is a post you should all read whether you won, lost, or didn't even enter at all. Go on, shoo.)

Well, folks, these contests have been an adventure! Thanks for putting up with my sentimental self. ;) I send my warmest congrats to the winners, unicorns, finalists, and honorable mentions! Can't wait to read the collection when it releases December 2018!