Marcher Lord Select - And Then There Were 8

Yes, the polls are closed, the votes have been tallied, and I can let you know that...

drum roll, please...

I made it into Phase 3!

This was an extremely competitive round with very few votes separating the ranks. All the contestants deserve a big round of applause, regardless of the outcome.

Now it's time to move on to Phase 3. This time, you are able to read the first 30 pages of the remaining eight entries. Here's how you find them:

• Go to The Anomaly Forums (a free registration is required if you haven't been there before).
• Go to the Marcher Lord Select sub-topic.
• At the top you'll see six sub-boards. Click on Phase 3--Main Contest (3rd from the top)
• Chose the top thread, Download the First 30 Pages of the 8 Semifinalists
• The first post is from Jeff Gerke. About halfway down he says, "Download the file here."
• Click on the link and it will take you to the Marcher Lord Press site. Go to the bottom of the page and click on this link: Download the Phase 3 document.
• That will open a Word file. The entries are listed in random order, but Vinnie's Diner happened to land at the top, so you won't have any trouble finding it. 

The official date for the next round of voting hasn't been announced yet, but will probably be around two weeks from now. At that point, you can only vote for three entries: no more and no less. The field will then be cut down to the top three who will move on to the 4th and final phase. At that point, the first 60 pages of each book will be posted.

Jeff has started discussion threads on the forums for all eight of the Phase 3 semifinalists (in the Phase 3--Main Contest sub-board). If you have thoughts you'd like to share on Vinnie's Diner or any of the entries, please jump in and join the conversation. It's encouraging for all the authors when people discuss their stories, even if it's something you didn't like. It helps us fine-tune our work.

Thanks again, friends, for all your support. I wouldn't be here without you. Be blessed!

If all this is new to you, visit this previous blog post. It gives you all the contest details, plus a nifty book trailer of Vinnie's Diner.

Drum photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paperpariah/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0