Scribes Valley Notes

Scribes Valley Publishing is pleased to announce the winners of their 2011 Short Story Writing Contest . They are listed below in no particular order: Mary Smith – The Rainbow Tree J.E. Moore – Number One Munching Lane Ronna L. Edelstein – The Visit Michelle Wotowiec – The Breathing Kind Simone Hanson – Lionel Portwood Vanessa Orlando – The Ghost of Earl Warren Joseph L. Rose – Marbles Dan Sullivan – The Blazer With Two Right Sleeves Kathleen Ratcliffe – For Chris, I’m Sorry This is Late Donald Macnow – Fire-Fight on the Road to Tal-Afar

Due to requests, we've decided to extend the deadline of our 9th Annual Short Story Writing Contest . You now have until August 31, 2011 to get your entry in for contest consideration! We publish the top 10-15 stories from the contest in an annual anthology (try saying that five time fast) and the top 2-3 stories receive a monetary reward on top of that! Most of our contest winners are new, unknown authors seeking a little publicity and exposure. So, grab that story that you've worked on, and worked on, and worked on and submit it for the contest. We give every story every consideration. We'd love to see what you've been working on!

Hurry! Hurry! There is less than a month to enter the 9 th Annual Scribes Valley Publishing Short Story Writing Contest ! Come on, enter that story you’ve been polishing for the last year and a half! Enter the story you wrote ten years ago and forgot all about! Enter the story that is even now swimming around in your brain looking for a way to get out! Scribes Valley publishes an annual writing contest anthology of the top 10 or 15 stories from the contest, so you’ve got a real good chance of being one of the finalists! Enter! Enter! Enter!

Dear Elise’s Dad: Sorry I didn’t get your name at the crowded hibachi restaurant Sunday. You seemed awfully busy talking to your wife and I didn’t want to bother you. It was certainly easy to discover Elise’s name, though, the way you kept calling her back to your table almost every time she wandered off. Your daughter’s got that ignoring good-old-dad routine down to a science, doesn’t she? I love the way you indulge her by not following up on your “threats” to put her in her seat if she doesn’t listen. It’s good for her to test her boundaries and think for herself. It builds character. And what a little angel she is! Cute as could be in her white dress with the pink ribbon around the waist and pink shoes to match. The white patterned tights completed her outfit beautifully. My compliments, also, on the yellow barrettes just above each ear in her long, blond hair. They looked almost like little halos. The pictures I took with my cell phone don’t do her justice. How do you photogra

Today, the world lost the strongest, most loving woman I have ever known: my mother-in-law, Shirley Trantham. The epitome of the Southern Lady. After a short but ferocious battle with a disease that knows no mercy, she has moved on to her just reward. I will never forget her spirit and determination. She taught me so many things: how to truly look at life and see what most do not see, to appreciate what I have now because it can all be taken away in the flash of a moment, to see myself as someone with worth and value who has much to contribute, to love so deeply it hurts, to laugh with complete abandon. In her life, and the lives of her husband and youngest daughter, who were waiting on the other side to welcome her, I found the true meaning of unconditional love as they accepted me, a knight in not-so-shining armor sweeping in to carry off the eldest daughter, as if I had always been a member of the family. I was accepted not for who I could be or who they wanted me to be, but s

Our newest short story contest anthology will be released on March 10, 2011. VISITING ELSEWHERE is the fifth anthology in our “Elsewhere” series. It is clear to see why the authors and stories in Visiting Elsewhere are contest winners. Each story is a gem and well worth the read. We’re always fascinated when we read contest entries, never knowing where the stories will take us. The hardest part is deciding on and choosing the winners! To see a list of the Visiting Elsewhere authors, and find out more about this new anthology, click HERE .

I am not a pervert. I am not a child molester. I am not a kidnapper. I am not a psycho with a penchant for young people. Now that I have your attention…and have told you things that I am not…let me mention something that I am: flabbergasted. Flabbergasted that in this day and time, parents do not watch their children in public places. In two separate and recent incidences happening on the same day, I observed five sets of parents with callous disregard for their children’s whereabouts or safety. And, again based on my own observations, it seems to be a growing trend. I list below the two most recent incidences, but way too many others have occurred lately. SCENARIO NO. 1: THE PLACE : a local and very busy department store. THE PARENTS : two sets, involved in seemingly lighthearted conversation just inside the front doors of the store. THE KIDS : about six of them, all appearing to be under five years of age, laughing and running around, pulling items off nearby shelves, impedin