So, progress: I have made the final cut of a writing competition

No, not the Screenwriting Expo competition (speaking of the Expo, it is currently in progress this weekend) but the Golden Donut Short Story Contest, sponsored by the Writers' Police Academy.

These were the guidelines for the competition:

The Writers’ Police Academy is pleased to announce the opening of the Golden Donut short story contest. The rules are simple—write a story about the photograph above using exactly 200 words, including the title (each story must include an original title). The image in the photograph MUST be the main subject of the story. All stories are to be polished and complete, meaning they must have a beginning, middle, and a twisted surprise ending. Again, all stories must be exactly 200 words. Not 201 or 199! So read the word count rules carefully. 

And here are the finalists:

Her Self Worth – Travis Richardson
The Keening – John Turney
The Gardener – Nancy Sweetland
Prowler Call – Dave Swords
Tiny Dancer – Rick McMahan
The House Hunter – Joseph Massucco
If These Floors Had Talked – Melinda Loomis
Buried Secrets – Ellie Oberth
OMG – Elizabeth Bryant
Fixer-Upper – Elizabeth Bryant

The winner will be announced next Saturday at the banquet for the Writers' Police Academy.  Whatever the results, I'll post the story next Sunday.

I've mentioned in the past that I think writing competitions are getting a lot more imaginative and this one certainly fit that description.  It was a fun challenge, especially with the word limit, since I love to write long.

My original post about this contest is here.

Photo snicked from article linked above for purposes of pimping this writing competition and my fellow finalists.