On
19th October, we met for to hear the results of our final
competition of the year: Romantic Fiction. Judge, Hilary Mackelden,
first gave an account of her long and varied career as a writer of
stories, novels and plays before going on to define what she expected
from a short story in this particular genre, which remains her 'first
love' in her own writing. Her regency
romance,'The Bankrupt Viscount', written under the name of Caitlyn Callery, was shortlisted
for the 2015 Joan Hessayon Award. Unfortunately, many of our own
entries were discounted on the grounds of not really fitting within
the genre because they didn't focus on a developing relationship
between the hero and heroine, which – according to Hilary – is a
necessary component of romantic fiction. However, in general, she had
praise for our efforts, especially some of some of the more likeable
characters, the realistic dialogue and the interesting plots. The
winner, which was refreshing, original and a feast of the senses, was
Amanda Giles' 'Hector's Tale'. Maddie Blake was second with 'Top
Secret', which had all the elements of a love story and a sympathetic
heroine. Third was 'Out with the Geek' by Emma Boyde, praised for its
economy, detail and strong voice. Fourth was Marcus Towner's 'Indian
Summer, Later Spring' in which the feelings were beautifully
conveyed. Hilary also gave 'honourable mentions' to Sam Davey's
'Stupid QPID' and Godfrey Forder's 'Lost and Found'.
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