I love winter. I do. I actually love every season. I prefer it, though, when they stay in their lanes. Watching the poor daffodils wilt under an onslaught of sleet put me distinctly out of sorts this morning. Honestly, though, I’m sure it would depress anyone. It would depress circus clowns and hyenas and the people who get paid to record laugh tracks. I’m sure it would even depress Curly, the obnoxiously cheerful protagonist from the play Oklahoma.

Here are my thumbnail sketches of the last stories to come in. Nothing random this time; these are the 15 stories I hadn't already reviewed!

Marriage Counseling

Hi everyone! I’m traveling, but managing— just! — to keep up with the great stories that keep coming in. Just a couple days left to get yours in, authors!

Here’s my next batch of fifteen thumbnail sketches. Great stories - have a read!

Countdown to Confidence

More great stories are coming in!

Here is my latest review of fifteen randomly selected Contest Stories:

Resolution Revelations

January is winding down, and we are now four weeks into our 2024 writing contest! If you’ve missed it — well, I don’t know how you’ve managed, but if you have — the rules are here. There are still over two weeks left to join the fun, so get those stories posted. :)

WOW! We've been getting some fantastic stories for the contest. And let me tell you, picking the best of the best is not going to be easy. You can rest assured that Jill and I will be careful, thoughtful, and diligent -- it's why we're getting the big bucks! Nonetheless, we recognize that every reader will have their own favorites.

I am so thrilled — there are still almost four hours of New Year’s Day where I am, and we already have thirteen wonderful entries in the contest!

It’s New Year’s Day somewhere (specifically, where Joanne lives), and the contest is now officially open for entries!

There’s an official tag for contest entries. The fourth drop-down menu under “Add a Story” is labeled “contests.” Scroll down and click on “2024-01 January - New Year’s Resolution Story Contest.”

Somehow, in a fit of enthusiasm punctuated by lots of exclamation points, I volunteered to be a judge for our 2024 New Year’s Writing Contest, even though this site alone is full of better and more accomplished writers. You know what they say about fools rushing in. Choirs of angels are undoubtedly waving cheerfully from their LazyBoy recliners and calling out, like Jamie Lee Curtis, “Make good choices!”

I've written a short story that has several scenes involving U.S. Army personnel, set during the war in Afghanistan, mostly at Bagram. I've done as much research as I can, but I'm reluctant to post it without a pre-read by someone who was in that conflict. If anyone would be willing to help, please shoot me a private message.

Warmest regards,

Emma

So, I'm trying something different. A couple things, I guess. I'm writing a Halloween story, and I haven't done one of those before. It's not done, but I've posted the first part today. I plan to post a chapter a day until the 31st, so the clock is now ticking. I have to figure out how it ends, write it, edit it, and get it posted, between now and Halloween. I haven't done that to myself before either. My problem, I think, is that I don't have enough stress in my life!

I hope you enjoy the story.

I must apologize to Erin and BC and all of the wonderful authors that have not only gifted us with their stories, but have allowed their stories to be published on Amazon and others and have donated all of their proceeds back to BC.

I am a daily reader on BC and try my best to post positive comments on the stories I read. I think most would agree, we have excellent writers on BC and their stories are very entertaining. Some of them elicit literally dozens of comments and are quite interactive.

However...