They had me at "Victorian." 

And then I found out the book I needed to vote on as payment had amorous ghosts and BDSM in it.

Run to this contest, do not walk, Sera! (As a contestant. I think I've already made it public that I won't be doing any judging until I've written my one commercial novella and worked on another that I specifically plan on entering into the 2025 ONC awards)

It was unclear whether only judges would be limited to entering just one book, or if ALL participants would need to limit their entries, so for now, I've only entered Ancilla (Romance and Best Prologue). 

UPDATE (12/27/24)

I found out I could enter more stuff, so I did. 

I put Excavations in Poetry, and Morsels: Tales of Love and Passion into Short Story. Ancilla does not appear to be entered into Best Prologue, just into Romance. 

Not sure how well Morsels and Ancilla are going to do, but Excavations came in dead last.

I have been advised that my poetry needs to have proper structure (meter, form, or something? not sure what the judge meant by form) and rhyme. Free verse is not poetry. 

Personally, I'd like to see a showdown between the two most radiant poets of Wattpad, namely, GoldenieTwilightie and RachWriters. No, I am not volunteering to judge. 

UPDATE (12/28/24)

Morsels came in second to last in a competition with five authors. I guess that's an improvement over dead last? Also, the judge took off a large number of points for grammar, so let it be known far and wide that never mind what Ravendipity says - my SPAG is terrible. 

Something tells me I'll need to chew a lot of ginger to read the Romance results. Why did I even enter this contest? Oh, right. I enter nearly every contest that winds up announced in my feed. Duh. 

UPDATE (1/2/2025)

Ancilla came in second to last in a competition with only five authors, The judge was "in love with" the plot but took massive points off for setting, grammar, style/diction, and character development. 

I can't completely complain about the results. lostlovefairy got second place. At least she did well. And I tagged her as part of contest entry, so she probably entered because of me.

TO SUM UP...

A trifecta of humiliation for Excavations, Morsels, and Ancilla. 

I have regrets. So many regrets.