February Winners of MAC Contest

Rebecca Barrett is our Grand Prize winner for the month of February. Rebecca is one of the founders of the Deep South Writers Salon, a lively group of authors who critique each other's work and, I believe, they have all been published. Rebecca writes on her barrettonbooks blog: "The arrival of the bookmobile in the small community where I grew up was the beginning of a lifelong passion for reading. The discovery of The Bobbsey Twins and Little Lord Fauntleroy rescued me from the boredom of long summer days on the farm." Her flash fiction piece shows an active imagination and a dry sense of humor no doubt honed on the thousands of books she has read and critiqued.

Eco Friendly
Roger stared at the burrito and sighed. His heart wasn’t really in it and he didn’t much like Mexican food. But given his current circumstances this was the logical lunch choice. Not only because this was the daily special at La Hacienda but he was a good twenty-four miles from the office and his Leaf, fully charged, only traveled twenty-two miles.

Mary Palmer is new to the contest and her sense of fun comes through in the piece. Mary is an avid traveler: "I love to travel and have been fortunate enough to visit all 50 of the United States and every continent except Antarctica--a little cold for a southern gal." You can see more of her adventures on maryspalmer.com and read about her numerous publications with more to come in the Spring of 2012.

A Hearty Burrito
Sitting beside Don in the swing on the front porch of my mission-style home, I looked at the heart-shaped box of Valentine's candy he'd given me and blinked back tears. Candy wasn't what I'd expected. I'd bought this house six months ago hoping to share it as his wife.
"I brought dinner." He handed me a burrito. "Made it myself."
As I unwrapped it, I forced a "Thanks," from the corner of my mouth.
"Wait!" he yelled. "Check the special cheese I put on it."
When I looked inside, it wasn't cheesy at all. A diamond ring was right in the center on top of a blob of sour cream.

Our other second place winner for February is Mary Ivey, a three-time winner in the MAC contests. Mary is an artist and writes sci-fi most of the time, but she had some fun with the words heart and burrito and wrote something along the same lines as Mary Palmer, which I find amazing. What are the odds of this happening?

I am deeply in love with a beautiful Spanish girl who has laughing brown eyes and a smile that touches my heart. For days, I have been trying to visualize the perfect place to propose. It finally came to me. I took her to the most romantic Latin restaurant in town and by candlelight, we dined on luscious steak burritos and Chiles Rellenos. For dessert I ordered Sopapillas dripping with clover honey. When she broke hers open there was a diamond ring inside. This time her smile threatened to make my heart explode. “Yes!” she said, “sticky ring and all!”

Congratulations to you all! It's rewarding to see the humor and the romance in your work, and Rebecca brought in the "green" aspect this month.

Mahala

Contests: MAC & cj

The winners for the February MAC contest, which required the use of the words heart and burrito, include Mary Ivey, Mary Palmer, and Rebecca Barrett. The two Marys apparently both have a romantic interest in engagement rings floating in melted cheese and sour cream and tied for second place. Each will receive a 20% coupon to use for future editing or writing projects from Written Word (aka as Mahala Church). Mary Ivey is a consistent winner on this site, and I'm convinced she is working on having a free project from me.

Rebecca Barrett is the grand prizewinner this month and since she owns over 3,000 books, she will have a new one to add to her collection, Writing from the Heart by Nancy Slonim Aronie, plus a coupon from WW.

Congratulations to all of you! I will post their pieces shortly.


A big shout out to cj whose poetry has been published online at www.deadmule.com/poetry. The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature says, "We are — arguably— the last true bastion of individuality left in the US. The Dead Mule Southern Legitimacy Statement is about describing those things which are uniquely southern, wherever you are." Rebecca Barrett is the grand prizewinner this month and since she owns over 3,000 books, she will have a new one to add to her collection, Writing from the Heart by Nancy Slonim Aronie, plus a coupon from WW.

Congratulations to all of you! I will post their pieces shortly.


A big shout out to cj whose poetry has been published online at www.deadmule.com/poetry.

The Dead Mule Society says, "We are — arguably— the last true bastion of individuality left in the US. The Dead Mule Southern Legitimacy Statement is about describing those things which are uniquely southern, wherever you are." cj's poems are "Day Dreams" and "Land's End," and for this poetry novice, they are understandable which is a requirement to get me to read poetry. Much past Dr. Seuss and I'm lost, but not in cj's work. Like Martin Luther, who translated the Bible into German so the everyday people could read it, cj translates poetry into an inspiring read that every person can relate to. Oh, by the way, do not look for cj; these poems are under one of her non-de plumes - em a Olsen. I'm making a list of her alter egos so I can keep track of her and all her accomplishments. Well done, writing buddy.


cj's poems are "Day Dreams" and "Land's End," and for this poetry novice, they are understandable which is a requirement to get me to read poetry. Much past Dr. Seuss and I'm lost, but not in cj's work. Like Martin Luther, who translated the Bible into German so everyday people could read it, cj translates poetry into an inspiring read that every person can relate to. Oh, by the way, do not look for cj; these poems are under one of her non-de plumes - em a Olsen. I'm making a list of her alter egos so I can keep track of her and all her accomplishments. Well done, writing buddy.

Mahala