The Winning Entry in the ‘Pieces of Everything’ Contest is…

…going to be forced to wait a few more days to find out just who won! I’m kidding. I’m also a bit delirious from the staggering amount of reading I’ve done over the last week. It’s been tough. Hell, it’s been unbelievably tough. This contest yielded our greatest number of submissions by an absolute landslide. To be honest, we’ve never fielded remotely near as much work. The writers got busy for this one, no doubt about it.

It may have required countless hours to really dig into each and every entry, but it’s done… finally. I’ve got to say, I’m very pleased with the stories to hit my inbox. There were more than a fair number of duds, make no mistake (normalcy, as we’re not all stellar storytellers just yet), but the amount of enjoyable stories proved quite surprising. The talent level seems to rise with each release and contest we put together, and that’s exactly what I want to see, as a fan of good fiction, and as a “critic” in the field. Evolution is extremely important, and so many of you have exhibited a clear willingness to patch holes, and invest the time and energies required to really take things to another level. I respect and applaud you.

I’m also taking important notes, you know, so I can avoid some pitfalls in the future.

Up to this point I’ve kept writers as close to the project and process as possible. I’ve tried to be as timely as possible with these events, and I’ve attempted to inform you guys of our intentions. I’ve repeatedly given you announcement dates. That ends now.

I’ve always wondered how it could possibly take a publisher anywhere from one to three years (not uncommon time frames) to sort through fiction submissions. Well, I get it now. I really get it. All contests from this point on will unravel without one specific detail: the announcement date for the winning story. I simply cannot afford to put my entire life on hold for a stretch of days to get through this and try to avoid disappointing the HNR crowd. It’s too much. I respect the hell out of you all, but announcements will come when they can realistically come, henceforth.

I do appreciate everyone’s patience. Thank you for understanding the workload that comes with running and completing a contest of this nature. Your professionalism is valued. Especially when I can’t meet my own damn deadlines, and subsequently look a bit unprofessional myself!

Anyhow, enough with my rambling.

Martin Rose is the winner of this contest.

Rose’s refined, insanely technical writing is one of the key elements that really distanced him from the rest of the pack (for the record, there were a handful of excellent stories that were in close contention with Rose. Sheldon Woodbury, Tim Meyer, Richard Farren Barber, Patrick MacAdoo and Wendy Potocki are a few that really, really shined). When you consider the entertainment value provided by Rose’s short, “Floating Hospital”, and the charming vintage vibe of the tale, as well as the intriguing and thought provoking spin on extraterrestrial terror, it felt quite proper awarding him the victory.

Congrats, Mr. Rose – compensation is around the corner!

Keep an eye out for details on the release of Pieces of Everything. We’re working on putting it together, but I’ve got a world of promotional work to make happen as well, so it’s going to take some time to get everything in order.

Signing off in an attempt to relocate my senses…

Matt