holiday special writing challenge winners
Thank you to everyone who participated in this challenge, and congratulations to everyone who placed!
We received almost 700 submissions (whoa!) and had the best time diving into the worlds you created for us.
Everyone who submitted a story will be receiving feedback, regardless of whether or not the story placed.
And now for the winners!
Drumroll please . . .
first PLACE
The Faerie Thieves of Mabon by Nicole Marcotte
A thief with an enchanted fiddle brings chaos to a small tavern on Mabon.
second PLACE
Curiosities' Timepiece by Savannah Laux
A Shopkeeper who creates magical timepieces to bring people back in time has to help a mysterious Stranger fix his pocketwatch in time to get home for Christmas.
third PLACE
The Coal Conjurer by Lala Celaya
Nikolai is the granter of Winter Solstice wishes, leaving small blessings for the brightest homes on the darkest night of the year. For those who fail to keep a fire burning, however, he grants only a gift of coal in their winter stockings. But when a lack of holiday cheer leaves his coal conjurer with an empty hearth on the night of the Solstice, Nikolai resolves to teach her the true reason for the season.
fourth place
Stolen Seconds by Emily Kemerer
The end of the world is nigh, but the All-Mother’s Holiday festival is being held nonetheless. Although gifts are plentiful, one gift is needed urgently: the gift of more time.
Fifth PLACE
Now, Or In A Moment by S. Baran
A young apothecary grapples with the disbandment of her adventuring party after their quest is complete.
Trigger Warnings: Mild Blood
sixth PLACE
Only Fog and the Ocean by Ell Cooper
A fisherman is alone on a boat, lost on the ocean on Solstice with no memory of how she got there. There is only fog to be seen in every direction, and something circles in the dark water below.
Trigger Warning: drowning (mild), thalassophobia (moderate), memory loss (moderate), death of a loved one (moderate), shipwreck (moderate)
seventh PLACE
The Shadowseer by Lea Hughes
It’s Samhain, All Hallows’ Eve, and it is the role of the Shadowseer to ring the clocktower bell when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest; only then will the townspeople begin their rituals to reconnect with loved ones lost. After her grandmother’s passing, Sera has taken on her legacy as the new Shadowseer — but as the moment approaches, she wrestles with a secret that could unravel both the ritual and her place within it.
Trigger Warnings: Death and Grief (Mild)
eighth PLACE
That Was Easy by Felicia Kloewer
Every year at Julefest, Ingrid paints the signs while her longtime friend Erik works behind the bar of his family’s pub. Their friendship has always been easy, steady, and safe. But when Ingrid realizes she wants to be more than friends, she must confront whether “easy” is enough or if some things are worth the risk.
ninth PLACE
Winters to See by Kali Ann
Tilla’Merle dreams of joining the pixies’ migration each Mid-Winter, which lights up the sky in a stream of color. No one knows where the migration leads, but being quietly afflicted by grief, Tilla’Merle grows old and is in danger of losing her chance to discover what is beyond her world of Winter. With the encouragement of a neighbor, a robin, and her late brother’s memory, she bravely chooses to live her dream while she still has a tomorrow.
tenth PLACE
A Change in Key by Joelle Cayer
On Christmas Eve, the Luthier works like it is any other day. His violin repair shop has a magical twist, one he is usually prepared for, one that will change this Christmas and his life as he knows it.
