My goal this year was to submit at least one short story per month to open submission calls or contests. In January I submitted two, so I’m ahead of schedule. The first was for The Short Story Project, which was looking for fiction of any genre, word count limited to 2,500, and the rewards include various cash and other prizes for the top twenty writers. I should learn the results by the end of March. I published this story on my website because the SSP will allow for previously published stories. Often contests and open submissions will not take any work that has been published anywhere, even personal blogs. Check out my story, Baby Bird if you have not already. I think it’s sweet, relatable, and has a humorous twist at the end.
Last year I entered a contest called the New York Midnight Challenge: Flash Fiction. They provide you prompts and a short time to respond. It was fun, and one of my stories I wrote during that contest I later submitted and is now being published with the Maryland Writers Association. Very cool! I have recently entered the NYMC for Short Stories. My prompts were a romantic comedy for the genre, living with parents was the subject, and environmentalist was the character. I had 3,000 words to bring this together. I think I wrote a good story about a girl who lives at home, is unemployed, her friend talks her into online dating, and her first date happens to be the cable guy that fell off a pole earlier in the week. I added a lot of crude vagina jokes about the main characters lack of sex. It was funny to write; I hope others enjoy it. Here is a snippet of one of the funnier parts. I will post the full story once the contest is over. My heat is 32 people, and I need to be in the top 5 to move to round 2. We get results mid-March.
Megan shouts, “He’s perfect! Let’s message him and set up a date!” She feverishly types as I try to smack her hands away. “Done. You have a date this Saturday with Chris. Aren’t your parents visiting your grandmother this weekend? That’s perfect. The shaggin-shack is open for business.” She thrusts her hips up and down and makes moaning noises.
“Funny.” I try not to hyperventilate. I circle the room with my hand on my forehead wondering what to wear.
“Oh look, Chris already responded. He said he’ll pick you up at 6 pm. He’s an eager beaver! Speaking of beavers.” Megan points at my crotch. “He might get lost in the overgrowth if he goes downtown.”
“Shut up! I did some trimming.”
“Already? I guess Chris isn’t the only eager one.”
Photo by Ashley Jurius on Unsplash
Melisa Peterson Lewis 