Shortlist Mum Life Stories Micro Fiction Writing Competition

Shortlist: Micro Fiction Writing Competition S2, Round 2

Jo Caddy

Infancy

So in typical #mumlife fashion, life happened and I’m now ‘un’-fashionably late with this shortlist announcement. How fitting though that a competition about the busy and fulfilling lives we lead as mothers, is often running behind schedule because the organiser is overcome by mum life?

Because I’m always trying to find new words to express myself, I’m going to say that I believe it is a felicitous concept to have mothers running and judging such a competition, for who else can relate to the beautiful chaotic mess that provides inspiration for our mum life stories? But, I understand that it is most uncomfortable to be kept waiting for competition results when your heart and soul are invested, or when you’re eager to read some insightful, inspirational new stories by gifted writers. So without further blithering…okay maybe just a little more blithering, I will reveal the shortlist for round 2 of this series, of the Mum Life Stories Micro Fiction Writing Competition.

Writers were asked to write a story of 500 words or less around the theme ‘Infancy’. It could be interpreted any way they saw fit as long as it was in narrative form. I’m happy to say that 99% of submissions stuck to these guidelines and made reading for us judges, a pleasurable experience.

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Saturday Afternoon: A Micro Fiction Story

Saturday Afternoon: A Micro Fiction Story

Jo Caddy

I’d like to thank Alea Giordano from the USA for her flash fiction submission “Saturday Afternoon”. Inspired by true events, it’s a relatable and raw ode to mums everywhere.

Alea is a working mom of two boys, ages 2 and 4 with one husband, two dogs, and three cats. This story was inspired by the pressure to be all things, a tidy housekeeper, a perfectly groomed woman and on top of that, a perfect mother. Alea hopes the subtle humour comes through!

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Micro Fiction Writing Competition S2 Round 2: Deadline extended!

Micro Fiction Writing Competition S2 Round 2: Deadline extended!

Jo Caddy

Hey awesome peeps. So um obviously I did not adequately promote this round of the competition. So far we have received a grand total of 6 entries, not even enough to fill a shortlist let alone provide fair competition. So once again I am extending the submission deadline for another 14 days, and promoting like mad, in the hopes of receiving many more entries. The new deadline will be November the 21st at Midnight AEST. It would be amazing if you could please, please, please spread the word and get more writers involved. It would really help to get this competition through to completion and offer the writers the healthy competition they deserve.

I understand that the $2 entry fee may put people off and whilst I’d love to keep the entry FREE, I’m not sure my bank account will thank me for it. The entry fee helps pay for the prize money, but what’s left has to come from my own pocket, which I’m more than willing to do as it’s a pleasure to hear such excitement from writers when their stories are chosen for a prize and publication. Your very helpful contribution, of a small entry fee, will help me to keep these competitions running and if we get enough from these ongoing competitions, we can eventually make them FREE.

See the original post for details on how to enter HERE

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Micro Fiction Writing Competition S2 Round 2: Cash Prizes

Micro Fiction Writing Competition S2 Round 2: Cash Prizes

Jo Caddy

Ok, finally time to get round 2 of our micro fiction writing competition underway. It’s taken a little longer to get things organised around here this series, and as a result the expected publication time for the second anthology will most likely be more toward mid/end of 2022. This month has seen a lot of changes in my life and in an attempt to be as authentic as possible I will admit that I haven’t been coping as well as I would have liked. Life has been busy to say the least, I’ve gone from one casual job to two casual jobs, 50% custody of my little ones to 85% custody of my little ones and consequently have had a whole lot less time for blogging, study and relaxation. Never the less, I am committed to these competitions and to seeing the second Mum Life Stories Micro Fiction Anthology come about.

So let’s get cracking, all the details of how to enter and what you could win, are below.

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competition winners

Micro Fiction Writing Competition Winners: S2 Round 1

Jo Caddy

It’s finally that time you’ve all been waiting for. My apologies for how long it has taken to get this post out, I know you’ve all been waiting eagerly to find out who the winners of our 1st round of the second series of micro fiction writing competitions are. Life has been, for lack of a better word “stressful” of late and in the worst timing. It has been difficult but I revel in the knowledge that it will all become part of the grand Mum Life Story that I might just tell one day.

Thank you to everyone who entered our 1st round of series 2, of the Micro Fiction Writing Competition. As always, the entries were all amazing. Picking just 3 winners was an agonising task to say the least. I’d love to make everyone a winner but alas, it wouldn’t be a competition then, would it? Congratulations once again to all our shortlisted stories this month. If you missed the previous post containing the shortlist, you can find it HERE or just see the list below.

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Shortlist Mum Life Stories Micro Fiction Writing Competition

Shortlist: Micro Fiction Writing Competition S2, Round 1

Jo Caddy

Can you believe we’ve already gotten through one round of the second series of micro fiction writing competitions? I can’t. Christmas is also approaching rapidly and a million things are racing through my mind in regards to kids, Christmas holidays and the blog. The busy season starts now but I really want to get through at least 2 more rounds before the year finishes, so next comp needs to have a tonne of entries in the first two weeks so we can avoid the extensions. So make sure you keep spreading the word when the next round starts so we can make this happen and get that second anthology out.

This round was extended but we got a great bunch of stories to go through and choose for our shortlist. Very proud of everyone who entered, it’s a shame we couldn’t pick you all for the anthology but there’s always next time. Congratulations to all our shortlisted stories, they will all appear in the anthology and all receive a free digital copy of the anthology when it is published.

Mum Life Stories Micro Fiction, Volume One

Round 1 Shortlist

Here are our 10 shortlisted stories in alphabetical order (please note the order has no bearing on placement):

  1. Earth Mother, ELIZABETH SMITH, Great Britain
  2. I Cannot, KRISTINA ANDERSON, Australia
  3. Listening In, LAURA TAPPER, Great Britain
  4. Suffer Little Children, GRACE G MORAN, Ireland
  5. The Alter, AUTUMN BETTINGER, United States
  6. The Hollow, DETTRA ROSE, Australia
  7. The Miracle, RHETT SMITH, Australia
  8. The Way Home, JULIE MEIER, Canada
  9. Undisclosed Desires, BROOKE DEBONO, Australia
  10. Where Things Grow, KRISTINA ANDERSON, Australia

Winners will be contacted shortly so keep an eye on your inbox if your name appears on our shortlist, and these winners will be announced within the next few days so stay tuned.

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Next Micro Fiction Round

The second round will commence within the next week or so, so don’t forget to check back or sign up to our email subscription below to be notified when the next round has begun. You’ll also receive all the latest stories, news and competitions (including writing comps and giveaways), plus a FREE eBook!

Alternatively, visit our competitions page for more information on the latest comps.

Feature Photo by Freddy Castro on Unsplash