Congratulations to the top ten - all top quality, well-written stories! Well done to you!
I'd also like to offer congratulations and say well done to everyone who entered this one! I think it was a challenging theme to write, and there were obviously quite different translations of what debauchery was and how to interpret the competition theme. The variety and quality of entries demonstrated that admirably.
Of the few competitions I've entered, I think this would have been the hardest to call. I exchanged my own top ten with a friend, and it was interesting to see our different opinions. I totally understand that picking ten from such a strong field is incredibly difficult to do. I guess it is a shame in such a quality field that 'only' ten are short-listed for the judges consideration. But I realise that it would be a lot of reading if you had to judge 15 or 20 stories. Being a relative competition novice, I did find Nicola's explanation of how the judging works really helpful. In the interests of clarity, I wonder if it could be included on the competition page for contestants to read when they are looking at the comp theme and rules? Just a thought.
And having expressed that, I would very much like to thank Nicola and the judges for doing such a tough job. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - these competitions are quite a journey! I might have to take a break from entering. But I'm very aware that without Nicola Lush wouldn't exist, and without all the work of our moderators (and others) that I wouldn't be able to publish my stories on here and develop my writing, so a hearty thank you to all for your time and energy.
I'd also like to thank everyone that read and commented on my story. It's time consuming reading the work of others, but it is so rewarding when others leave a comment - I always really appreciate it. I also learn a lot from reading others' work.
Well done once again to the winners - Tamara, Jake and Mags. And a special shout out to Bonnie Bunny, Pete and Jack - it's really nice to see you in the top ten!
Oyster Catcher
