The Story Behind the 1995 Fiction Contest

Down to the wire.  That describes this year’s intense competition for the Second Annual New Attitude Short Story Fiction Contest.  Thirty-nine students participated in the contest judged by a panel of three professional writers.  The judges gave individual attention to each story and took time to give encouraging comments and evaluation.

            The contest is becoming a showcase for up and coming young writers.  “I was blown away by some of the entries,” said judge Kip Burke.  “I was especially impressed by the scholarship, particularly in history, that the writers demonstrated.”

            But the overall talent of the writers made it extremely difficult to find a winner.  After the initial scoring, there was a five-way tie for first place.  Tessi Muskrat, Rachel Romero, Janelle Raths, Heidi Bents and Jennifer White all tied with scores of 55.  To break this unexpected tie, we sent the top five stories back to the judges to have them order them from 1^st place to 5^th.  When the judges answered with their decisions, we had a clear winner.  Tessi Muskrat, from Eldridge, Missouri, had won the second round with the lowest score of 5.  Rachel Romero and Jennifer White tied for second place, and Janelle Raths came in third.

            Tessi will receive a $100 savings bond for her prize.  Rachel Romero and Jennifer White in second place will both receive a $50 savings bond.  Janelle Raths in third place wins a copy of the New Attitude Audio Experience tape set.

            Tessi’s story was brought to life with pictures by Mark Ludy, a 22-year-old graphic artist and illustrator from Parma, Idaho.  “In drawing these pictures, I was trying to capture the essence of Tessi’s story,” says Mark.  “The character of Anna is a girl living in a period where being a Christian was not something to be desired; there was a cost involved.”

            The story entitled Guilty! is featured in this issue.  Tessi is an old friend of New Attitude.  She’s participated in Interaction, written letters to the editor and in last year’s Short Story Fiction Contest came in third out of 25 entries.  Congratulations, Tessi!  We know you have a bright future of writing ahead of you!