Good morning. I want to thank everyone for your patience with my silence. In the last few months, I've lost several people, I've been sick, and my father has not been doing well. It is hard to stay fully focused on being responsible when your mind is pulled to its breaking point. I want to publicly thank gillianleeza and Sherzahd for everything they do. They are amazing. I don't know what either I or the site would do without y'all.

As for my announcement, I thought a fun little summer flash was in order: https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/writing-competitions-and-calls-for-submissions/summer-love-competition

Summer Love

Summer is the time for vacations, exploring new places, and meeting new people. The chances are pretty high that most of us have had a summer love. Was it something sweet and innocent, or passionate, both fleeting and never meant to last? Did you meet the love of your life?  

It doesn't have to be a true story, but summer love is what we are looking for. Is it that first taste of love as a teenager, or are you escaping the tediousness of your day-to-day and finding someone that ignites life back into you? 

Please keep in mind we are open to those 16 and above, and we will not accept erotic stories.

As always, all categories are open except for micro, musings, play, poetry, and song. That means you can make it a horror, Sci-fi, comedy, fantasy, etc. It doesn't have to go into romance.

Quick Rules:

This doesn’t have to be a true story.

The maximum word count is 1000.

You cannot submit already published work.

All Stories Space rules and guidelines apply.  https://www.storiesspace.com/legal/acceptable-use-policy

The ending date is August 1, 2025 

The winners will be announced on August 8, 2025

Prizes:

1st Place $100 (USD)

2nd Place $50 (USD)

3rd Place $25 (USD)

Have fun!

.

Quote by WriterGirl
I’m holding out hope a prolific writer badge appears after I publish my thriller.

I'm looking forward to you getting this!

Quote by Mendalla

Molly is actually kind of lucky as forum admins go. A lot of us ARE the tech support. 🙄😉

It's a mixed bag. A little bit of a yay and boo not being able to fix things myself.

Even though it may not always appear like it, we(mods) are staying on top of things and we do try to keep the site flowing smoothly. With any luck the issue should be fixed shortly. That way we can get the next comp going.

I cannot wait to see Sinners with Michael B. Jordan and I heard they are making Nobody 2. If you've never seen Nobody and you like action movies you'll love it because it's just fun.

Sinners(2025)

~

Nobody (2021)

Good morning/afternoon... https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/writing-competitions-and-calls-for-submissions/announcing-the-winners-of-the-writers-block-competition

In honor of Mardi Gras yesterday here are Beignets while you read.

That was short and sweet, but so much fun. The creativity on this site never ceases to amaze us. Without further ado here are your winners!

1st Place: The Deadline Pact by expressomarkie $50 (USD)

2nd Place: The Dandy Lion & The Whiter Box by KatarinaTechgoddess $25 (USD)

3rd Place: Purring Pussycats, Bird Poop, And The Voodoo Princess by WriterGirl $15 (USD)

Rounding out the top 10...

4th Ghost Writer by Ping

5th Dash by Mendalla

6th A Chip Off the Writer’s Block by JamesPBear

7th A Fresh Perspective by TomEccleston

8th Madame Thorne's Final Fortune by AnnaBanana

9th How To Procrastinate And Get Away With It. by CuriousAnnie

10th Inspired by Meagananne1986

All the stories submitted were wonderful and you should all be proud of yourselves. If you haven't read them, please do.

Lola by AAnna

Do Not Skip This by OpheliaTusk

The Coffee Shop by AnnaMayZing

To the top three, I will be in touch about your prizes!

Thank you everyone for all that you do for SS. All of the promoting, supporting, and showing up. It does not go unnoticed. You are appreciated.

Adding to this list on my phone while at work is hard! We have 13 and a few hours to go...

The Deadline Pact by expressomarkie

Purring Pussycats, Bird Poop, And The Voodoo Princess by WriterGirl

Lola by AAnna

A Chip Off the Writer’s Block by JamesPBear

Inspired by Meagananne1986

Do Not Skip This by OpheliaTusk

Ghost Writer by Ping

Dash by Mendalla

The Dandy Lion & The Whiter Box by KatarinaTechgoddess

The Coffee Shop by AnnaMayZing

How To Procrastinate And Get Away With It. by CuriousAnnie

A Fresh Perspective by TomEccleston

Madame Thorne's Final Fortune by AnnaBanana

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our 10!

The Deadline Pact by expressomarkie

Purring Pussycats, Bird Poop, And The Voodoo Princess by WriterGirl

Lola by AAnna

A Chip Off the Writer’s Block by JamesPBear

Inspired by Meagananne1986

Do Not Skip This by OpheliaTusk

Ghost Writer by Ping

Dash by Mendalla

The Dandy Lion & The Whiter Box by KatarinaTechgoddess

The Coffee Shop by AnnaMayZing

We've got nine, can we get 10 by the deadline?

The Deadline Pact by expressomarkie

Purring Pussycats, Bird Poop, And The Voodoo Princess by WriterGirl

Lola by AAnna

A Chip Off the Writer’s Block by JamesPBear

Inspired by Meagananne1986

Do Not Skip This by OpheliaTusk

Ghost Writer by Ping

Dash by Mendalla

The Dandy Lion & The Whiter Box by KatarinaTechgoddess

We now have an even eighth. I wonder how many more we can get.

The Deadline Pact by expressomarkie

Purring Pussycats, Bird Poop, And The Voodoo Princess by WriterGirl

Lola by AAnna

A Chip Off the Writer’s Block by JamesPBear

Inspired by Meagananne1986

Do Not Skip This by OpheliaTusk

Ghost Writer by Ping

Dash by Mendalla

I got home from work and six and seven were waiting in the queue!

The Deadline Pact by expressomarkie

Purring Pussycats, Bird Poop, And The Voodoo Princess by WriterGirl

Lola by AAnna

A Chip Off the Writer’s Block by JamesPBear

Inspired by Meagananne1986

Do Not Skip This by OpheliaTusk

Ghost Writer by Ping

We have five!

The Deadline Pact by expressomarkie

Purring Pussycats, Bird Poop, And The Voodoo Princess by WriterGirl

Lola by AAnna

A Chip Off the Writer’s Block by JamesPBear

Inspired by Meagananne1986

Not to put pressure on the other writers out there, but it's been two days and we now have four fantastic stories. 😇

The Deadline Pact by expressomarkie

Purring Pussycats, Bird Poop, And The Voodoo Princess by WriterGirl

Lola by AAnna

A Chip Off the Writer’s Block by JamesPBear

Story number three is in!

The Deadline Pact expressomarkie

Purring Pussycats, Bird Poop, And The Voodoo Princess WriterGirl

Lola AAnna

And then there were two!

The Deadline Pact expressomarkie

Purring Pussycats, Bird Poop, And The Voodoo Princess WriterGirl

Looks like someone wasn't suffering from writer's block. We have our first entry!

The Deadline Pact expressomarkie

Good morning. https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/writing-competitions-and-calls-for-submissions/writers-block-competition

Oh and here are some cookies while you read.

We thought we would do something a little different this time. You could say, putting the pressure on you, while having a little fun. Here's the premise:

You're a writer and the demands of others are weighing on you. You've got a deadline looming over your head but you've been struck with a terrible case of writer's block. We're all writers, we've all been there. We want you to get creative and find a way to break free from that writer's block. Perhaps it's something small, like taking a jog to see the beauty of nature. Or maybe it's a bit more extreme, such as giving a sacrifice to the Gods of old... Do whatever you have to do to meet that deadline. As added pressure, this contest will only run for two weeks and you only have one thousand words. Good luck!

Quick little add-on here, when we say "do whatever", that whatever still has to fall within StoriesSpace guidelines.

Per usual, all categories are open except poetry, songs, musings, and plays.

Quick Rules:

You have two weeks (14 days).

The maximum word count is 1000.

You cannot submit already published work.

All Stories Space rules and guidelines apply. https://www.storiesspace.com/legal/acceptable-use-policy

The ending date is February 26, 2025

The winners will be announced on March 5, 2025

Prizes:

1st Place $50 (USD)

2nd Place $25 (USD)

3rd Place $15 (USD)

Have fun and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Quote by expressomarkie

Congratulations to the runners up and the 2nd and 3rd places.. I have to ask, when does the winner 🏆 get announced?

Hiya. There was a glitch with the main competition page. It was all announced here. Sorry for any confusion! https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/site-announcements-and-members-feedback/announcing-the-winners-of-the-sound-of-silence-competition

Good morning/afternoon! Competition announcement day: https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/site-announcements-and-members-feedback/announcing-the-winners-of-the-sound-of-silence-competition?page=1&post=211733

And in honor of that, here are an assortment of bakery goodies.

When we first started this competition I didn't realize how deep into the emotions many of you would go. You got me and I am not ashamed to admit there may have been a few tears involved. You all never cease to amaze us and let me tell you, the one thing the judges all had in common, they struggled with this. Please know that mere points separated the majority of you so if you do not see your name up there, it's not because it wasn't great, because it was. Thank you all and without further ado, here are your top ten!

1st Place: Sixteen Minutes by verbal

2nd Place: Alone by TheShyThespian

3rd Place: Be careful What You Wish For! by AnnaMayZing

4th Place Akycha by  Courgette

5th Place: Flurries of Angel Tears. by  CuriousAnnie

6th Place: Damaged Goods by  Ping

7th Place: The Most Wonderful Gift Of All by  WriterGirl

8th Place: Like Icicles In Her Heart by  OpheliaTusk

9th Place: The Only Living Boy on Bleaker Street by  tinhatcat

10th Place: Absentia by  TomEccleston

~

Thank you again to everyone who participated, or helped in any way. Y'all are amazing and I appreciate you. If you haven't read them all I suggest you do.

I look forward to the next competition!

To the top three, I'll be in touch shortly concerning your prizes!

EDIT TO ADD:

There was a tiny glitch with the leaderboard on the main Competition page. It does not show Verbal as 1st Place and it does not show Courgette as 4th Place. It is blank for both. We are working to get that sorted as soon as possible. This page is correct. Thanks.

It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that I found out earlier that Elliot passed away a couple of months ago, aged just 42.

He was such a wonderful person and friend to so many of us.

If you've never read anything of his, you really should, Elliot's poetry is just beautiful and a testament to who he was as a person. This is a huge loss and he will be missed.

https://www.storiesspace.com/profile/Elliotlacey31