Back at Writing After a 7 year block ~ Wins a Writing Contest!

I was the recipient of an exciting email from a friend yesterday. This friend  and I share an interest in fiction writing. She recently dusted off a story, polished it (worked it over), and entered it in a few contests. Here’s the email:

Hello,

I am excited to announce that I am writing again, and also that one of my stories has won first place in the Short Fiction Writers Guild romance competition! You can see the winners announcement here:

http://shortfictionwritersguild.wordpress.com/

I don’t have a website or blog to post my story in, so I am attaching it to this email. Stories are meant to be read. It’d be nice to make money on my writing someday, but for now I am content to be writing again after a long time (seven years) in which God had other things for me to do.

I hope you enjoy “The Third Painting.” It is a work of fiction. My characters may remind you of people, but really they are fictional.

Sincerely,

Amy Krohn

               Writing is a very personal occupation. Yet, letting people read your work is one of the end goals of writing. There are different ways to meet this goal. My friend, Amy Krohn, recently won a romance writing contest held by Short Fiction Writers Guild. Her romantic short story “The Third Painting” tells the story of a young artist named Jenny who suddenly finds herself living with her parents, trying to figure out how to finish her triptych paintings, and also reigniting a relationship with Adam, a high school friend.

Amy is excited about winning the contest, but she is even more excited by the encouragement it gave her to keep writing. She attended a creative writing graduate program, but did not finish for various reasons. Since then, she married, gave birth to three children, and has been fulfilling the duties of a stay-at-home mom. Amy wanted to write, but was frustrated time and again. It seemed as if the right words weren’t inside her. She often found herself struggling through prayer to find out why she couldn’t write anymore. Now, seven years later, God gave her the signal to “go for it!” The life lived in those seven years of writer’s block has strengthened Amy’s trust in God, matured her insight of humanity, and given her more experiences to draw from. She is thrilled to be back in the writing world, and she hopes you enjoy reading her story. Request her prize-winning short story at amy.krohn@yahoo.com

Please comment if you’ve been encouraged by someone to get back to one of your gifts. Also, post any congrats for Amy!