'A' Happy Discovery

I see that it's been over a month since I've last posted, but it hasn't been uneventful. Rather, my 20th century brain has been struggling with the ins and outs of this 21st century blog. Finally, with the help of my friend, Jodi Ann Hanson (who, as she patiently guides my anxious self through the maze is becoming ever dearer) I am once more on track, and able to post.

First: An update on Baggage. 

LWWG's magazine, "Voices", is due to be launched the 16th of June, so watch for Baggage to appear here on the 17th.

Second: 'A' Rather Unusual Tale

One day, near the end of May, my ego and I were browsing through items listed under my name on Google. I confess, it's become a habit, a reliving of past achievements, which is their unifying factor - they are all in the past. By now I know them all virtually by heart, so I was surprised when I came across one from the Elora Writers' Festival, a competition that I'd entered in April. Curious, I clicked on it, and found that my story, 'A', had placed second in the top category (20+). My first reaction was to be suspicious because, although there is no collective protocol for literary competitions, in my experience it's unheard of not to be informed by the contest organizer before posting the results online. So I clicked on the email address under Contact Us and sent a query, and received this reply the following morning: 

Good morning, Chuck!

Yes, Google does not lie. You did win second place in our contest, congratulations!

The judge said this about your story:  "an unusual piece; very poetic".

So there you go. I mailed your prize $$ on Tuesday, so hopefully you'll get it soon and be able to celebrate.

Thanks for entering our contest, and please look us up next year - it's our tenth annual writing competition, and our twentieth festival.

Best wishes,

Jean

My cheque arrived in the mail within the hour.

Yes, all-in-all it was very unusual. Mind you, I'm not complaining.