Hello everyone! It's time to showcase the winners to the Short Story Category. Congratulations to the winners! If you participated in this category but didn't place and would like your scores and reviews, please reach out to me SapphirianJ82
Now for our first place winner!
Author- Saphire_Skyes
Title: Tides and Treasure read and judged by KatherineJones92
Please reach out to me SapphirianJ82 with your email so I can send your winning sticker for download.
Title/Cover: 9-Classic looking cover that you can get on Cava. Less is more in my book.
Blurb- 9- Again, the blurb catches me and makes me want to read it.
Plot/Creativity- 18- This is too cute of a story. It’s the classic boy meets girl scenario with a pirate themed twist and I love it.
Character Development- 19 The chemistry building between the two of them is very well crafted.
Story Flow- 9- Great pacing. I found myself reading quickly to see what happened next and it was very well done flow to the story. Only critique is a couple of the chapter endings could have flowed out a little smoother.
Grammar- 8- Caught a couple of mistakes but it wasn’t bad at all.
Writing Style- 9- Very smooth style.
Overall Engagement-9-I want to finish this one for sure.
Total: 90
Review: I got hooked into this one. I want to see where it goes next. You have some awesome chemistry between your characters and a very charming setting. I can’t wait to see where the story takes us next.
Now for our second place winner!
Author- EmpressPenguin
Title: Enjoyed by the Fates read and judged by KatherineJones92
Please reach out to me SapphirianJ82 with your email so I can send your winning sticker for download.
Title/Cover: 9- Creative cover and name. The two fonts though don't work for me.
Blurb- 7- I like what it's saying but she keeps randomly uppercasing words and it's distracting.
Plot/Creativity-18- Very interesting concept. Keeps me guessing what will happen next.
Character Development-15- I think I am too early in the story to see full development but several of the characters had potential.
Pace-10- I liked the pace. It kept me wondering what would happen and wanting to go to the next page.
Grammar- 10- Didn't catch any mistakes and the wording wasn't awkward. A nice sign..
Writing Style- 10- I enjoyed the writing style. I usually don't like 3rd person but she makes it work well.
Overall Engagement- 9- Overall it was a nice read.
Total: 88
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed your story. It was creative and had a lot of potential for development. You had a lot of strong imagery that made it possible for me to ‘see’ the story you were trying to create. I am intrigued to see what happens next and that is always a good sign with a book.
And now for our third place winner!
Author- ArabelaTaylor
Title: If we don't meet upon Earth let's meet in heaven: Read and judged by KatherineJones92
Please reach out to me SapphirianJ82 with your email so I can send your winning sticker for download.
Title/Cover: 3- WAY too long of a title and very generic cover. I would rethink the title.
Blurb- 7- Decent opening line for the blurb but then it's confusing.
Plot/Creativity-18- Very creative plot. It got a little jumpy near the end but it worked for the most part.
Character Development-18- The female character has to be very self aware to go from dreaming within a dream and then waking up again. We see her character deal with various situations and the growth is there.
Pace-8- The ending is abrupt but the rest had decent pacing.
Grammar-6- the letter she wrote was full of grammar issues. I would go back and edit that. You also had a couple of parts that you restated the same line or paragraph.
Writing Style- 8- The writing style wasn't bad at all. I think it could use a little work for grammar/language fluidness but otherwise it was fine.
Overall Engagement- 8- I read the whole thing without having to skip around. A trait I do with my ADHD if the story isn't holding my attention.
Total: 76
Review: I really like the concept of this story. The idea that she realizes she’s dead fascinated me. Waiting for the long lost love but it feeling like a moment was also quite interesting. The love not getting over her and never moving truly on with his life was sad. The naming the kid after her was also a bit extreme. It made sense that it was a dream because I would hope that my significant other wouldn’t do me that dirty.
