Many writers and other artists have shared their thoughts with the public.

"Every story should have a beginning, a muddle and an end." - Anon

"The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." - Sylvia Plath

“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” - Elmore Leonard

"Writing comes more easily if you have something to say." - Sholem Asch

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Ben Franklin

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." - Jack London

"Too much of a good thing can be wonderful." - Mae West

"A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live that day." - Emily Dickinson

"There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are." - W. Somerset Maugham

"Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand - a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods - or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nohing to do with standardized values." - Willa Cather

"My way of joking is to tell the truth. It's the funniest joke in the world." - George Bernard Shaw

"Sharing your writing, being enlarged by others' writing is what makes you feel famous." - Gretchen Bernabei

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Anaïs Nin

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." - Anton Chekhov

Note: stories are available for reading only where the authors have given permission.

First Place ($200)

David Campbell: "The Case of the Cinnamon Canary"

Second Place ($70)

Peter Lingard: "The Love Letter"

Third Place ($50)

P.S. Cottier: "Bloogled"

Highly Commended

Doug Pender: “Bertram's Greatest Triumph”

Jack Davis: "Uncle Percy's Flying Houseboat"

Gary McHugh: "It's a Wrap"

Gayle Beveridge (penname): "Danhooden"

Commended

Margaret Hayes: "The Djinn"

Dean Briggs: “Preoccupational Self, and Hasty”

Vicky Daddo: "The Long and the Short of Life in the Future"

Maggie Veness: "Intoxicating Therapy”

Ken Pope: "The Taking of Steriod 123"


There were 80 short stories in the competition, from 62 entrants.