The story of the week for December 22 to 26 is Labels by Barry O’Farrell.

It wasn’t one of the Christmas stories, but it was so well executed, and so insightful, that it demanded selection. A really strong piece.

The story of the week for December 15 to 19 is The Learner Voice by Arthur Brown.

We’re on a streak of funny weekly winners, and this entry is an excellent example of using the twist ending to full effect. The ending has an instant comic impact, and also demands a rereading to fully appreciate the writing. Great work, Arthur.

The story of the week for December 8 to 12 is Loyalty vs. Duty by Agata Ratajczak.

The last-sentence twist is a staple of 50-word story strategies, so much so that it’s been a long time since I was actually caught off-guard (in a good way) by a reveal. Bravo!

The story of the week for December 1 to 5 is Coffee Cups by Sarah Henry.

As a sort of parallel slice of life, the emotional image painted in this story is really great. Well done, Sarah!

The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month. The finalists for November were:

What Passes by Jennifer L Freed
Inspiration by Perry McDaid
Commuting by Anton Rose
The Useless Suspects by Joey To

The winner of the November 2014 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

Inspiration

Congratulations, Perry!

The story of the week for November 17 to 21 is Commuting by Anton Rose.

As someone who takes public transit to work every day, I appreciate the truth that underlies this story’s dark humour. On trains and buses, and in crowds in general, we get so buried in our bubbles of personal space. The fact that this story could essentially be true is what makes it effective. Congratulations Anton!

The story of the week for November 10 to 14 is Inspiration by Perry McDaid.

The concept of a spider inspiring a man to commit murder has a lot of darkly artistic potential, and the framing of the story as something casual and absentminded enhances that darkness by contrast. There haven’t been many wins lately for stories with Amusing tags, but Perry’s earned one!

The story of the week for November 3 to 7 is What Passes by Jennifer L. Freed.

Beautiful prose packed with emotion. I think we’ve all come to expect nothing less from Jennifer!

Ah, November, that wonderful time of year when the Christmas products and ads start popping up everywhere (already!), when winter is in the air, when men and boys let their facial hair grow to raise money and awareness to fight prostate cancer.

We’re going to have a contest themed on one of these things. Any guesses which one?

Yup: moustaches!

The Moustache Memoirs contest will be open to your entries from November 1, 2014, until November 22, 2014. All submitted stories must be related to the theme of “moustache” in some way. Take the theme whatever direction seems best to you!

The best 10 submitted stories will be posted to the site during the week of November 24 to 28, 2014, at the rate of two stories per day.

PRIZE

The best story from all of the entries, as judged by editor Tim Sevenhuysen, will be posted as the second story of the day on Friday, November 28, and will also be marked as the Story of the Week for that week. The author of this story will receive a $15 Amazon gift card!

The story that wins the contest will also be eligible for selection as Story of the Month. (That means your story could win you up to $25 in total!)

MORE RULES

• To be eligible for this contest, stories must be received between November 1, 2014, and November 22, 2014.
• Stories must be related to the theme of “moustache”. Stories not related to this theme will not be considered for a prize, but may be considered for later publication on the site.
• Any stories received for the contest but not published during the week of November 24 to 28, 2014, will still be held eligible for later publication on the site. Entry into the contest does not guarantee publication on the site.
• Submit your entry or entries to tim@fiftywordstories.com. (Limit two story submissions per writer. Please send each story in a separate email. The story should be pasted into the body of the email.)
• The subject line of your email must start with “MOUSTACHE MEMOIRS ENTRY” and include the title of the story.
• Stories must be exactly 50 words long, not counting title and author biography.
• All stories must follow all guidelines specified on the Submissions page. Please read this page before sending in your entry.

I look forward to receiving your entries. Spread the word around and get your author friends to enter, too!

The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month. The finalists for October were:

Creation by Pavarti K. Tyler
The Mapmaker’s Calligraphist Daughter by Bob Thurber
Snowbound by Ruby Ray
Footsteps by Barry O’Farrell
The First Time I Gazed Into My Wife’s Eyes by Bob Thurber

The winner of the October 2014 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

The Mapmaker’s Calligraphist Daughter

Congratulations, Bob!