Of course I went back for Round 2 of Create50’s Twisted competition.

Who wouldn’t, after the having such an unexpectedly positive experience with Round 1 (Twisted50 Vol1 and Twisted’ Evil Little Sister)? Comradship, insightful feedback, and the many little horrors from other writers to read (preferably alone, in the dark, with the possibility of unnamed things sliding about in the attic) and comment on.

Where else can a writer find all this and a friendly entry fee as well?

Since submitting three stories to the first Twisted50 competition (and having the honor of two of them going into print) I’ve seen alerts for several other competitions, some of which sounded enticing.

But I always come home to Create50 — most recently, with “Mumma Says,” written late at night in a Bates-ish motel (in which I was the sole occupant). I patted “Mumma Says” on its moldy little head and sent it stumbling on its way to Create50 with high hopes it would be deemed worthy of the next Twisted50 anthology.

(It was. And again, I am honored to join 49 other writers in a Twisted50 anthology.)

Call me Pollyanna (not to my face), but the Create50 experience reinforces my belief there is good to be found in the least-expected places — including unpleasant sights we wish we hadn’t seen or dark thoughts we wish we didn’t have.

Now I’m off to reserve the next hotel room in the middle of another nowhere in hopes that my demons will deliver another wicked tale for the next round of Twisted50.

Want to get a little bit more Twisted? Here's some related posts...

Success lies at the crossroads between experience and opportunity ‘Meat’ by Neil Bebber, audiobook excerpt from Twisted50, read by William Kirby Impossible Deadlines Are My New Best Friend by Rose Banks Rejection and Redemption by Michael van Koetsveld Judge Dread…The nightmare of judging writing competitions by Emma Pullar