Before announcing the winners I just want to say a few words. When I started this contest I thought it'd be a piece of cake. You guys would submit your stories, more than half of them would be clichéd garbage and the good ones would stand out like a shining light.

That wasn't the case.

First off the plots you guys have come up with...wow! Everything from raising sheep to child assassins! It's like comparing apples and oranges! That being said, a majority of the stories were really good. A few still need a lot of work, but I was able to see the potential within them and in the authors writing them.

So how did I choose the winners? There was no science behind it. I honestly picked them for various reasons. One story was chosen because the writing was pristine even though the plot wasn't something that interested me personally; I could still see the talent there. Another story was chosen even though there were plenty of mistakes. That didn't matter to me. The author had me interested and that was enough.

So if you weren't one of the lucky ones who won or placed as a runner up, don't fret. Honestly a lot of these stories were really good and I do hope you come back and reenter the contest again-- either with the same piece or a new one.

I also wanted to give a great big thank you to those of you who were appreciative of my critique and took the time to write and thank me. Although I promise I didn't show any favoritism...good manners go a long way. To those of you who were...ahem...less than open to my suggestions and sometimes outright rude... I'd like to remind you that you joined this contest and invited me to read your story, not the other way around. You need to learn to prepare yourself to deal with critiques so that they don't  wound your ego in any way. Because trust me, I'm much nicer than some on here ;)

Heads up! a new writing contest is being held. Rules can be found in the chapter after the winners are announced. It's going to be more difficult this time and there's a twist. So if you're up for a challenge...

And now on with the results....