Illustrators of the Future Semi-finalists and Finalists Announced!

Dear All,


Here are the finalists and semi-finalists for the 2nd Quarter:


Semi-Finalists:

Mike Bregel of Minnesota
Julian Echols of Tennessee
Erik Hill of California
Ronald Komber Jr. of Pennsylvania
Stella Park of California
Nicolai Nickson of New York
Paul Roosa of South Carolina
Pete Ziegel of Illinois

Finalists:

Boris Strugackie Arkadiy of Russia
Vladimir Bagriy of Russia
Aaron Anderson of Utah
Avery Coleman of Arizona
Luke Eidenschink of Minnesota
Irena Giraud of Ukraine
Mark Payton of Colorado
Nate Shaw of Virginia
Andrew Smith of California
Joshua J. Stewart of Idaho

Congratulations to you all! We will know the 3 winners in about
a month.

Tomorrow, stay tuned for a special message from Writers of the Future
judge Dave Wolverton for a special message and and offer from him to you -- as
contest entrants. Best, Joni

Semi-Finalists and Finalists for the 2nd Quarter!

Dear All,

Drumroll please........................


Semi-finalists:

Sara Genge of Madrid Spain
Eilis O'Neal of Oklahoma
Charles Crawford-Ferguson of Australia
Michelle Muenzler of Texas
Lee Sentes of New Zealand
D.E. Dabbs of Texas
Brenta Blevins of Virginia
S.E. Ward of Oklahoma
Lisa Koosis of New York
Sara King of Alaska


FINALISTS:


Stephen Blount of California
Donald Mead of Illinois
Gra Linnaea of Oregon
Laurie Gailunas of Michigan
Benjamin Hardin of Utah
Bridget Coila of China
Harry Lang of Pennsylvania
Mike Wood of the United Kingdom


CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU!!!

The winners will be announced in a month

Last of the Honorable Mentions for the 2nd Quarter

Dear All,

Here are the last of the Honorable Mentions
for the 2nd Quarter.I will put up the semi-finalists
and finalist names in a few hours. (I want the last
of the Honorables to bask in the glory all by themselves
for at least 2 hours):

The last of the 2nd Quarter Honorable Mentions are:

Jacob A. Boyd of Illinois
Daniel Braum of New York
David Chalfin of Texas
Suzanne Church of Ontario, Canada
Bejamin Crowell of California
Douglas Davidson of Utah
Tim Fox of Oregon
R.M. Kehrli of Washington
John L. Scott of Georgia
Garth Upshaw of Oregon

Congratulations to you all!

Stay tuned, in 2 hours the semi-finalists
and finalists are announced. Best, Joni

More Honorable Mentions!

OK, here we go. This is the second to the last of
the Honorable Mention notices for this quarter.
Keep your cell phones on and lines free as I'll
be calling the semi-finalists and finalists this
weekend so that we can roll with the announcements
next week.

Honorable Mentions for the 2nd Quarter!

Laurel Amberdine of Illinois
Charles Albert Aston IV of Texas
Randall Blandin of Virginia
Louise Caroline Booth of the United Kindom
Ami Chopine of Utah
Geoffrey W. Cole of British Columbia, Canada
Russ Colson of Minnesota
Tina Connolly of Oregon
Simon Cooper of County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Tony Daley of Wisconsin
Linda Donahue of Texas
Ruthanna Emrys of Illinois
Warren Goodwin of New Jersey
Eric Penner Haury of Arizona
KJ Kabza of Massachusetts
Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon of Michigan
Michele Korri of Florida
Geir Lanesskog of Washington
Brian McClellan of Utah
Cheryl McCreary of South Carolina
Michael Merriam of Minnesota
Kevin Mickel of Massachusetts
Zachary Palmer of Michigan
Wendy Schukraft of Wisconsin
Ben Scott of the United Kingdom
Steven R. Southard of Maryland
Amy Treadwell of Oklahoma

Congratulations to all of you. We look
forward to your next entry! Best, Joni

More Honorable Mentions Posted Tonight!

Dear All,

I know many of you are waiting for this list.
I'm making a round of calls this afternoon, will have a
bunch of you on the blog tonight and then the last
on Monday. Then Tuesday the Semi-Finalists
and Wednesday the Finalists will be announced.
So stay tuned. -- Joni

Special Message from contest judge Larry Niven

Dear All,

A very short and sweet message from contest judge and literary legend, Larry Niven:

To all contest entrants:

"I wish all of you the best and good luck with your
careers. You are already showing your smarts by
entering this contest. It is an excellent way to
get discovered and it keeps you writing." - Larry Niven


P.S. The last of the Honorable Mentions soon.

Then the semi-finalists and finalists will be announced,
for both contests -- all within the next week.

More Honorable Mentions Next Week -- Today's good news is from former winner Kelly McCullough, Plus - A Very Special Message on Monday

News from Kelly McCullough:

I've got my third MMPB release, CodeSpell, coming out from Ace on May 27th. I was a winner in 2000/Vol XVII with the story "The Sharp End" written as Kelly David
McCullough--I've since dropped the David from publications for reasons
of simplicity. All the Best, Kelly

On Monday -- a special message to all of you from LARRY NIVEN!

3rd Set of Honorable Mentions for the 2nd Quarter

OK, here we go:

Mark Andreas of Colorado
Stephanie Basalyga of Oregon
Alison Chan of ACT Australia
M.C. DeMarco of Massachusetts
Charles Ebert of North Carolina
Lyndsay Ely of New York
gwen.evolution from Tennessee (yes that is the name submitted)
Randy Farran of Oklahoma
Shaun Farrell of California
Sharon Fisher of Washington
Michael Garner of Colorado
Erin Hartshorn of Pennsylvania
David H. Hendrickson of Massachusetts
David E. Hughes of Colorado
Karrin Jackson of Oregon
Patrick James of Ohio
Simon Johansson of Sweden
David Kernot of South Australia
John F. Loonam Jr. of North Carolina
Kate MacLeod of Minnesota
Sean Markey of Utah
Tomas L. Martin of Wales, United Kingdom
Alastair Mayer of Colorado
Adam Nakama from Massachusetts
Andrea Phillips of New York
John A. Pitts of Washington
Carissa Reid of Washington
Trey Ruff of Georgia
Alice Sabo of North Carolina
David Schibi of Missouri
Hank Shore of Minnesota
Jeff Soesbe of California
Andy Spackman of Utah
D.I. Telbat of Montana
Sarah L. Tolcser of Louisiana
Nicholas Bede Stenner of British Columbia Canada
John Walters of Greece

Congratulations to you all! Looking forward to your next story. -- Joni

2nd Set of Honorable Mentions - 2nd Quarter

Dear All,

Just to clarify for everyone how the quarters work -- the second quarter started on the 1st of January and ended on the 31st of March. That is because way back in 1984 the contest started on the 1st of October, therefore the rest of the quarters followed and its been that way ever since.

With that said, on to the Honorable Mentions. Please note that we still
have results coming in. This is NOT the last of the Honorables. The
semi-finalists and finalists and winners are still in the process of being determined.

Drumroll please......... (the names are in alphabetical order)

Karen Azinger of Oregon
Jon Batson of North Carolina
Bill Beauviche of California
Matthew Bey of Wisconsin
Michael Britton of Utah
Catherine Cheek of Arizona
John Chu of Massachusetts
Lisa Cohen of Massachusetts
Willis Couvillier of Nevada
John Derderian of California
Den Dotson of Illinois
Michael L. Fortuna of Florida
Derek J. Goodman of Wisconsin
Erica Hildebrand of Pennsylvania
Sara King of Alaska
Alethia Kontis off Tennessee
Kevin V. Kvas of Ontario Canada
Alex Lorry of Iowa
Alex Dally MacFarlane of West Sussex England
Muri McCage of Tennessee
Sandra O'Dell of Washington
Jason Palmer of Arizona
Camille Picott of California
Joseph C. Romano of Pennsylvania
John M. Shade III of Texas
Olivia Shannon of Missouri
Adrian Simmons of Oklahoma
J.M. Tanenbaum of California
Kevin Timko of Florida
J.R. Tomlin of Oregon
Robert E. Waters of Maryland
Michael Wawrzycki of Louisiana
Donna Glee Williams of North Carolina

Congratulations to you all!

Patrick and Jo and the New York Times!

Dear All,

Patrick and Jo are both still on the list. Jo is now
number 10 with A Lady's Secret and
Patrick is at 11 with The Name of the Wind.

(I'll post our next group of Honorable Mentions on Monday -
probably later in the day).


Paperback Mass-Market Fiction
Published: May 4, 2008

Buy These Books From:
This
Week Weeks
On List
1 SIMPLE GENIUS, by David Baldacci. (Grand Central, $9.99.) Two former Secret Service agents investigate a scientist’s murder while one battles her own demons. 3
2 THE WOODS, by Harlan Coben. (Signet, $9.99.) A prosecutor must confront family secrets when new evidence surfaces about a 20-year-old murder. 3
3 BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE, by Lee Child. (Dell, $7.99.) Jack Reacher must discover who is hunting members of a team of former military investigators. 4
4 CREATION IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb. (Berkley, $7.99.) Lt. Eve Dallas pursues the Groom, a killer who disappeared nine years earlier but has now returned; by Nora Roberts, writing pseudonymously. 3
5 BACK ON BLOSSOM STREET, by Debbie Macomber. (Mira, $7.99.) More stories of life and love from a Seattle knitting class. 3
6 * HOKUS POKUS, by Fern Michaels. (Kensington, $6.99.) The Sisterhood, in exile in Barcelona, are called back to help the chief justice of the Supreme Court. 4
7 THE UNQUIET, by John Connolly. (Pocket Star, $7.99.) A woman being stalked by an ex-con who thinks she can help him find his missing daughter seeks protection from the Maine P.I. Charlie Parker. 4
8 THE RIVER KNOWS, by Amanda Quick. (Jove, $7.99.) A reporter and a wealthy Londoner in Victorian England feign romance while investigating a murder suspect. 4
9 I HEARD THAT SONG BEFORE, by Mary Higgins Clark. (Pocket, $7.99.) A woman marries a childhood acquaintance suspected of several murders. 8
10 A LADY’S SECRET, by Jo Beverley. (Signet, $7.99.) A handsome earl accompanies a woman traveling in nun’s garb as she seeks out her father, an English lord unaware of her existence. 3
11 THE NAME OF THE WIND, by Patrick Rothfuss. (DAW, $7.99.) A notorious magician disguised as an innkeeper tells the story of his life, from orphan to legend.