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Past Winners of the Writing Contest
| Winners of 2005 Contest 3
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1st Place: Dawn DelVecchio
Click here to read this entry
"The story was inspired by my departure from my land and my marriage in Northern New Mexico. I am incredibly thrilled to have won this contest!"
Dawn resides on the island of Phuket in Thailand, where she is the Associate Editor for Asia-Pacific Tropical Homes magazine.
 | As a freelance writer she has had many pieces published, including articles on Southeast Asian travel, culture and history, spa reviews and other topics. She likes to read, do yoga, dance, and learn about sailing. |
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Dawn DelVecchio
Thailand
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2nd Place: Matthew Hostetler
Click here to read this entry
"The inspiration for this story was my own devious
mind. The entire story is pure projection on my part,
and hopefully on the readers' parts as well."
Matthew lives in Ohio, where he helps run a video store. He enjoys rock climbing in his spare time.
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Matthew Hostetler
Ohio, USA
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3rd Place: Liz Herrin
Click here to read this entry
"I quite literally couldn't sleep one night--hence the title. Instead of just lying in bed until dawn, I got up and started writing this story. From there, I let my creative instinct take over.This is one of the few contests I've entered, and I'm so pleased to have gotten recognition."
Liz is currently a sophomore at the University of Washington. Writing has always been her passion, and she hopes to write novels and poetry for a living.
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Liz Herrin
Seattle, Washington USA
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| Winners of 2005 Contest 2
We received over 1,400 entries in this contest. The topic was "Letters to God". There were hundreds of excellent pieces submitted, and the judging was very difficult. While there were many entries worthy of consideration, we feel these three particularly embodied this contest theme...
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1st Place: Joli Williston
Click here to read this entry
"The letter I wrote was inspired by an actual experience. I have always enjoyed writing and have been encouraged to pursue it. However, this is the
first time I have ever entered a contest. I really was not expecting to win
first place! I was very excited when I heard that I had won."
Joli works as a teacher assistant at an elementary school and enjoys reading and writing in her spare time. She loves books and believes that writing is a great way to express feelings and emotions.
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Joli Williston
New Bandon, New Brunswick (Canada)
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2nd Place: Louise Borg
Click here to read this entry
"It was great to learn that my entry has been chosen as a second prize winner. Several things happened this summer, both to me personally, as well as world events that inspired me to write the story."
Louise has had some articles published in a local newspaper and one in a scholarly journal. She is currently teaching, and following a masters course in Interpreting in which she is learning to interpret from Italian, French and English into her native language Maltese.
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Louise Borg
Iklin, Malta
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3rd Place: Samantha Baker
Click here to read this entry
"The inspiration for my story I credit to a common weather occurrence in Australia - drought. Rain is an important thing here. People's livelihoods are destroyed by drought. Combine that with the title, "Letters to God", and I had a story about a rather skeptical man who asks the questions we all want to ask, but are often too afraid to. The space between the paragraphs reflects the way that we often think - disjointed thoughts only connected by the thinnest of threads. I also included humour because I think that sometimes religion takes itself a little too seriously - if you can't joke about what you believe in, then your conviction that it is the truth can't be that strong."
Samantha was a winner of the Billabong Valley short story writing contest. She is a full-time student, currently studying Year 12. In her spare time she likes reading, playing/listening to music, playing squash and watching movies.
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Samantha Baker
South Grafton, Australia
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| Winners of 2005 Contest 1
We received over 1,100 entries in this contest, which was the first contest for WritingCash.com. We left the topic open for the author to choose, and we were treated to some amazing stories from dozens of countries around the globe. It's fitting that our winners ended up being from three different continents!
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1st Place: Andrew Lewis
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"The inspiration for the story came from an article I read in a local newspaper, regarding planned redevelopment work for the seafront. Holidays to places like Blackpool, Bournemouth, Brighton, were the staple for British families until recently. Access to Europe and cheaper prices has meant the decline of these British holiday bastions and some of them are facing up to the reality of extinction unless they develop with the times..."
Andrew recently quit his job to pursue his passion for writing, and is currently working on a novel set in his hometown of Cardiff. When not writing, he stays busy with rugby, soccer, tennis and golf.
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Andrew Lewis
Cardiff, Wales (UK)
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2nd Place: Amanda Burchell
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"My motivation in writing the story 'Rage' was initially drawn from (another writing contest), using the word belligerence. However, my initial 300 words or less entry was not completed in time. As I'd only half written the story, I decided to enlarge on the concept and drew on my own personal experience in a nursing home, albeit fictionalized, to complete the story."
A nurse by occupation, Amanda writes for the love of it, and has experienced some local publishing success. She also enjoys taking frequent trips to see her son perform at the N.I.D.A. in Sydney, where he is studying acting.
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Amanda Burchell
Frankston, Victoria (Australia)Photo by Peter Hall
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3rd Place: Josh Barrett
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"I don't believe I was inspired by anything to write this story. I wrote it originally for a school assignment and re-wrote it for this contest...."
Josh is a full time college student who enjoys swimming and participating in sports.
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Josh Barrett
Pickens, South Carolina (USA)
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