James Jones First Novel Fellowship

I sent in mine today. These authors were winners or runners-up of the James Jones contest and later had their novels published.

The Frequency of Souls - Mary Kay Zuraleff

Born Confused - Tanuja Desai Hidier


One thing I found a bit odd - neither author mentioned the James Jones First Novel Fellowship in their acknowledgment pages.

I read both books. Born Confused was exquisite, a young adult novel about the American-born daughter of two Indian immigrants. I couldn't get past the first chapter of The Frequency of Souls, but it was well-reviewed by critics. The main library in my city also has an extra copy of the book put away into their non-circulating archives, and that's unusual for a work of fiction.

The choice of authors as contest winners was also interesting. Hidier was barely out of her teens, and her book was written for teenagers. Zuraleff was a little bit older, with an established career and grown kids when she wrote Frequency of Souls, which was about a middle-aged engineer and the quirky relationship he has with a co-worker. This leaves me with the impression that the contest judges have an open mind when it comes to their decisions.

Zuraleff has gone on to write several more novels, but the last information I could find on Hidier is that she's still working on her second book. Although she's a leader of a band, a filmmaker, and she's also turning Born Confused into a screenplay. So both are highly accomplished individuals, beyond their writing careers.

Message deleted. My lost package was found by the post office. Hopefully it will still be considered 'on-time' by the contest admins.

Did anyone else enter this contest, either this year or in prior years?

I just received my confirmation postcard letting me know that my submission was received. Fingers crossed on this one. Did anyone else enter the contest?

If anyone enters this contest in the future, you might want to send a postal money order instead of a check - mine still hasn't been cashed, although I did receive a postcard confirmation that my entry was received.

I entered. So that's two of us here.

They just cashed my check. Fingers crossed here too. In June, I'll be stalking the mailman.

JulieHowe said:

They just cashed my check. Fingers crossed here too. In June, I'll be stalking the mailman.

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Have you begun the stalking?

I was a finalist for this award last year -- I got an e-mail from them on June 10th.

Good luck to everyone who entered!

Yeah! I just tackled my mailman, demanding that he turn over my letter or else.


Seriously, though. I'm really disappointed because I know this is a top-level writing contest, and now, I'm figuring that maybe my work really does suck after all, and it's time to go stand in line for some government cheese while I look through the want-ads for a new profession, one that doesn't involve writing.

I'm too fat for pole-dancing and too old for prostitution, and I don't know how to do anything else except sell books (I work in a bookstore) and write them. Now that James Jones has kicked me to the curb with my bottle of Thunderbird in a paper sack, I guess it's time to pack up the typewriter and haul it off to the Salvation Army.

I like this contest, and I was really looking forward to taking part, even if I didn't make it to the final round of winners. I offer my genuine congratulations to any AWWC member who made it to the first round. You have every reason to be proud of your work, even if you don't end up being the grand-prize winner.

Anonymissy said:

I was a finalist for this award last year -- I got an e-mail from them on June 10th.

Good luck to everyone who entered!

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Another AWWC member contacted me earlier in the year, letting me know that she had also received her notification on June 10th, and offered to answer any questions I might have about the contest.

The generosity and willingness to help other people is one of the best things about the members of the AWWC writing community, and this is greatly appreciated. Thank you, Anonymissy.

alias octavia said:

Julie -

I agree. That is why I love the cooler.

I think each year is different for this contest, so don't lose heart if you don't hear something today. For the 2007 contest the semi-finalists were not notified until August sometime. Yikes!

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Thanks for the info. Good luck to everyone.

Hi Julie! That was me, in fact. And I think Octavia is on to something -- there really isn't a hard deadline for notifying people, so it's quite possible they haven't done that yet.

All the best to you!

I also entered the James Jones First Novel contest and am anxiously awaiting word about the final round. Does anyone know if they contact you via mail or e-mail?

I was thinking of waiting until the end of the month and then calling them to find out if the semi-finalists had been chosen yet. I hate to be "that person" but my sanity is in jeopardy. Besides, I could just say I'm asking for the sake of the cooler .

Good luck to everyone!!

harmonyleo said:

I also entered the James Jones First Novel contest and am anxiously awaiting word about the final round. Does anyone know if they contact you via mail or e-mail?

I was thinking of waiting until the end of the month and then calling them to find out if the semi-finalists had been chosen yet. I hate to be "that person" but my sanity is in jeopardy. Besides, I could just say I'm asking for the sake of the cooler .

Good luck to everyone!!

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One person here mentioned being contacted by email. After I read that, I started religiously (obsessively?) checking my e-mail spam and trash filters, just in case.


Good luck to you too.

harmonyleo said:

I also entered the James Jones First Novel contest and am anxiously awaiting word about the final round. Does anyone know if they contact you via mail or e-mail?

I was thinking of waiting until the end of the month and then calling them to find out if the semi-finalists had been chosen yet. I hate to be "that person" but my sanity is in jeopardy. Besides, I could just say I'm asking for the sake of the cooler .

Good luck to everyone!!

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Crossing fingers, etc. for you guys!

Nothing yet. The mailman is probably wondering why I'm stalking him and chasing down the street after the mail truck like some lovesick dog in heat.


Totally off topic:

Does anyone here do Twitter? I am by now completely fascinated and even obsessed with the potential of this new technology. I'm being Twittered by Iranian dissidents, reporters and others watching Iran disintegrate in front of their eyes. It's really interesting.

JulieHowe said:

Nothing yet. The mailman is probably wondering why I'm stalking him and chasing down the street after the mail truck like some lovesick dog in heat.

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hahahahaha....I loved the visual I got from this....lol

Nothing from my end either. I am still hopeful something will be announced this week.

The book I submitted to the contest bears very little resemblance to what I have now. I suppose that's a concern with such a long lead time.