It's here, finally, after ramping towards it all season long: we have our winner of the third annual Wild Onion Novella Contest. While you were out and about in your many mysterious layers this winter, we were rooted firmly in our chairs, peeling through this year's submission patch – double that of last year! Each was a pleasure to have re(a)d, which made picking a winner a tear-filled struggle; it was a sweet bunch to be sure, a solid stock that would make for a rich French soup, were we a restaurant and not a publishing house. There was even drama: a potential leak of the this announcement, but we managed to nip that in the bud.
So, without further ado we shall – ought – say it: we are pleased to announce Shannon McLeod's Whimsy as our finalist!
We would also like to extend our congratulations to our four runners-up:
Chase Griffin – What's on the Menu
Dave Drayton – The Poetranslator
Heather Martin – The Essential Nature of Water
Tyler Lacy – Carlsbad
Thank you to everyone who submitted, to Tim Kinsella over at featherproof books for being our guest judge (hi Tim), and to you for putting up with these awful onion puns (especially to everyone within earshot of us cackling to ourselves as we wrote this).
Keep your eyes wide open for more announcements! (You thought we were going to take a cheap shot and say "Keep your eyes peeled," didn't you?)