Another year as a non-winner. I entered the Dirt Rag Literature contest again this year. My story was a satire about NORBA. It was about their tendency to try to sanction any mountain bike formats that seem to be picking up steam. The current example being the endurance race series. My story was relevant to current stuff going on and expressed an opinion. Those are both attributes that have always been valued by Dirt Rag. Part of me thinks that maybe they (the judges) just didn't get it. There is also a high possibility that my story just wasn't well executed. I am not a published writer and do it primarily for my own enjoyment. I do like to know, however, where my writing stands. Last year, the then-editor Michael published the winners and semifinalists online well before the stories were published. Last year I was 4th place. This year I have been waiting and checking online all the time to see when Karen (Brooks, the new editor) published the results, but nothing. Then this weekend, I got my new issue of Dirt Rag and on the cover is announced that the literature contest winning story is enclosed. Somewhat anti-climatic for me.

Maybe I will ask her to publish that information, or maybe she will do it on her own. My interest is in seeing how aligned my judgment is to theirs. I thought my story this year was pretty stellar, but evidently not. If I didn't even get into the semi-finalist list, then maybe i need to retire from my efforts... or maybe find a different venue.