They were an exceptional group of stories this quarter. It was hard to choose the winners.
Hollywood, CA (PRWEB) July 10, 2012
The 1st Quarter winners of the 29th year of the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest were announced today. The administrator of the contest, Joni Labaqui stated at the announcement, "We had finalists from Scotland and from New Zealand this quarter but Americans took home the prizes this time. It is unusual that two are from California, but not surprising. We get more entries from California then anywhere else in the world. This state is home to many creative people with a strong entertainment industry and high-tech base, so it makes sense that we would have more science fiction and fantasy writers here."
THE FIRST QUARTER WINNERS ARE
Tina Smith 1st Place - from California
Marina J. Lostetter 2nd Place - from Arkansas
Stephen Sottong 3rd Place - from California
They were chosen from a group of 8 finalists and are now awarded cash prizes, a week long intensive workshop, an awards ceremony and are also published in the annual L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future. Tina, Marina and Stephen will receive a cash prize for their win this quarter.
Tina retired from her job to write and raise her two children, Marina is also writing full time with her husband's support, and Stephen is a full time writer now, after retiring as an engineering librarian. Tina, as first place for the quarter, will now compete with the 1st place winners of the upcoming remaining three quarters for the Grand Prize of $5,000.00.
Contest judges include, Tim Powers, author of On Stranger Tides, Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert, Dune, Robert J. Sawyer Flash Forward, Robert Silverberg, Sailing to Byzantium, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, A Mote in God's Eye, and Orson Scott Card, The Abyss, to name a few.
Kevin J. Anderson, one of the judges this quarter said, "They were an exceptional group of stories this quarter. It was hard to choose the winners."
About The Writers of the Future
Literary legend L. Ron Hubbard started the contest in 1984 to help new writers get a leg up in a very competitive field. The contest has launched the careers of hundreds of authors and 11 New York Times bestsellers careers.
For more information about the contest, go to http://www.writersofthefuture.com.
On the home page click on “contest rules.”