Tell Me Your Ghost Story Contest Winners Revealed

It’s time to announce the winners of the Tell Me Your Ghost Story Contest! There were so many amazing entries, I don’t know how my editor managed to whittle it down to the final three.

Drumroll, please…

3rd Place Winner: Sabryna with “Playmate”

2nd Place Winner: Trisha with untitled work

Grand Prize Winner: Grace O’Rourke “Normalcy”

Here’s what my editor, Jessica Jernigan, had to say about our grand prize winner:

“Grace O’Rourke does an excellent job of telling an emotionally intense and chilling story with very few words. She even manages an awful little twist that I did not see coming.”

For those of you who haven’t read it, here’s Grace’s fabulous piece of flash fiction!

Normalcy

by Grace O’Rourke

I watch from the doorway as my husband tucks my daughter into bed. She asks for a story, and he obliges and sits down. Just like he always used to. My hands begin to shake. Even if you love someone, it’s still disturbing to see them up and about after they’ve died. I never believed in ghosts, but it turns out I was wrong. He tells her the same story he always used to tell, about a knight who slays a dragon.

“The end,” he finishes, standing up and turning towards the door. Towards me. Tears gather in my eyes. My daughter sits up.

“Tell it again, Daddy. And Mommy, come sit next to him.”

He agrees hurriedly and begins the tale once more, and I rush over and sit down. We’re both too afraid of her to disobey. I don’t know if she’s my daughter anymore – death changed her.

***

A huge congrats to each of our winners! You did terrific work.

Here’s a quick refresher on what they won:

3rd Prize: A critique from K.C. Tansley of the first ten pages of your short story or manuscript + a query letter critique + an ebook copy of The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts + author goodies. Total value: $50.

2nd Prize: A one hour Skype visit with K.C. Tansley for you, your book club, your school, or your community. You can ask me any writing questions you’d like or chat about books with me. It’s your hour to pick my brain on anything writerly. If you want to pass pages by me for review, I can give you instant feedback during that hour. You’ll also receive a signed copy of The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts + author goodies. Total value: $70

Grand Prize: A gorgeous limited edition sterling silver replica of the Radcliffe ruby necklace. There are only three in existence and they were hand crafted by Marina A. Raye. You will also receive a signed copy of The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts + author goodies. In addition, I will publish your winning story on my blog + sing your praises on social media. Total value: $150.

I will be in touch via email with each of the winners via email to make sure I get your mailing address to send out your prizes and we can coordinate dates/times for skyping and critiquing. 🙂

You can check out the second place and third place winners over in the original post’s comments.

https://kourtneyheintz.wordpress.com/2015/06/01/tell-me-your-ghost-story-contest/

Thank you to everyone who participated. It was so cool to read your great entries and to get to hear your ghost stories. Keep writing!