three times a bridesmaid

Never a bride? Or is it like a midway game, where if you win three small prizes you can trade up to a larger, and up to a big plushie?
Which is to say that the 3-Day Novel Contest results are out, and this is the email I received this morning:

Hi Barbara,

Congratulations on making our Honourable Mention list once again! As always, the judges very much enjoyed your novel. Like last year, because you made it so far in our judging process we'll be offering you complimentary entry to the upcoming contest... so I hope you are ready for yet another round! We'll be sending out your certificate and entry coupon in the next week or so.

Best,
Melissa for 3DN

I honestly didn't expect to make the shortlist this year, since Archipelago, basically 'Barbara does a Jo Clayton pastiche' was classed in my mind with Trading in Ghosts, something that might work up to a full-scale fantasy novel with a bunch more plot and characters stirred in, but wasn't necessarily a tiny perfect object like Fold (Fold is an egg: to change it would require breaking it). So that was an exciting way to begin the day.

Here's the full notice, swiped from the 3-Day website, and can I just say that I would love, love, love to read the 2d runner up? Also, Gayleen Froese, a shortlister, is the author of Touch, a book given to me by my awesome apprentice (and fellow writer) Alis, and published by NeWest Press in Edmonton . Oh, and another shortlister, Paul Colley has put his novel, co-written with his 12 year old daughter, on Lulu, to be found and ordered here. Worth mentioning that Paul used the Wondermark Genre Fiction Generator to outline their plot (which like most outlines, was abandoned early on in the process, or at least mutated beyond recognition).
And because I guess I should plug it, my previous 3-Day entries have been collected into Threefold: a nine-day novel, on Lulu, which can be purchased here (or downloaded for free).

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

Jennifer K. Chung of Bellevue, Washington, for TERRORYAKI!

Jennifer K. Chung, photo by Gavin Jensen

About the Book
It’s three months until the wedding, and Samantha’s Taiwanese parents won’t warm up to her hopelessly white fiancé. Meanwhile, Sam’s food-obsessed sister, Daisy, is on the hunt for an otherworldly take-out truck whose dishes are to die for. Terroryaki! is a quirky tale of love, family, redemption and the best—if slightly cursed—dish of chicken teriyaki to be found in this realm of existence.

About the Author
Jennifer K. Chung is a Taiwanese-American writer, pianist and software engineer. She grew up in Southern California and studied computer science at MIT in Cambridge, MA. In her spare time, Jennifer plays keyboard in a goth metal band and studies the Japanese martial art of Naginata. She lives near Seattle.

SECOND PRIZE WINNER

Gwendolyn Bird of Kasilof, Alaska
For The Island of Broken Toys, the haunting tale of a community of mysterious children who seek out the truth behind their exile.

THIRD PRIZE WINNER

Tate Young of Toronto, Ontario
For The Ridgeback, a witty thriller about a bloody murder, a very large diamond and a dogwalker on the run.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

• Jon Billman of Stillwater, Oklahoma, for Bicycle Tramps
• Alan James Blair of Stillwater, Oklahoma, for The Mermaid’s Brother
• Jenni Bomford of Prince George, B.C., for Spiritual
• Keith Chittleborough of Glen Waverley, Australia, for Near Dreg Experience
• Paul Colley & Laura Colley of Pickering, Ontario, for Clockwork
• Logan Evans of Pullman, Washington, for The Boundary Nebula
• Gayleen Froese of Edmonton, Alberta, for What the Cat Dragged In
• B. Gordon of Victoria, B.C., for Archipelago
• Diana Holdsworth of Amherst, Massachusetts, for The Golden Tooth
• Jimmm Kelly of Vancouver, B.C., for The Little Man
• Ashok Mathur of Vancouver, B.C., for The First White Black Man
• Iulia Park of Toronto, Ontario, for Canadian Experience
• Rudy Thauberger of Vancouver, B.C., for Evil Beach Dance Party
• Jake Wallis Simons of Winchester, United Kingdom, for 24/3
• Jenny D. Williams of Brooklyn, New York, for The Widow and the Twin

We’d also like to give special mention to this year’s youngest entrants, three-time contest veterans Natasha Carr-Harris, Abby Adams and Sean Vipond, as well as our latest under-10 entrant, Albrightine Ngusurun Orsar.