THE ENVELOPE PLEASE

Fiesta! ¡Olé! It's Cinco de Mayo and time to celebrate the ASK ME IN DECEMBER the unofficial challenge winners. The creators had fun and it was fun reading all their entries. From Ballads to the Blues and a Villanelle to a Haiku, I was honored by the forty-four entries.

While there were forty-four entries, thirty-five creators made me laugh, cry, sing, and sigh. Cheers to the creators! Grateful for each and everyone of them. Here is the list of fantastic writers in order of their entries: Colleen Millsteed, Denise E. Linquist, Mike Singleton, Chloe Giholy, Christy Munson, Raymond G. Taylor, Mariann Carroll, Gerard DiLeo, Andrea Corwin, Novel Allen, Alexandria Stanwyck, Shirley Beck, Melissa Ingoldsby, Cathy Holmes, Dana Crandell, Heather Hubler, C Rommial Butler, Rick Henry Christopher, Angela Hepworth, Paul Stewart, Katazyna Popiel, Frankie Martinelli, Kelli Sheckler-Amsden, Hannah Moore, DD Lee, The Spinstress, Lamar Wiggins, Sonia Heidi Unruh, Karun, Anna, Kendall Defoe, Sean Elliott, Penny Fuller, Catsidhe, and Tiffany Gordon.

In my opinion, every entry was a Top Story loving all of them. At the time of this writing, Vocal recognized eight of the entries as a Top Story. Woohoo!

Reading the entries was the fun part of the challenge celebrating my third vocal-anniversary. Honestly, judging the entries was extremely difficult, that's when I checked out Vocal's Resources.

Briefly, the how to breaks down the judging into the four following categories: creativity and originality; did it stick to the brief; writing and story telling skill; and emotional appeal. Each category is given one to four points. By the end of the first read, everyone had 16 points that makes sense. They were all winners. On the second read, everyone had 14 points.

Back to the drawing board, wondering, why can't someone just provide me with an envelope with the name of the winners? Yes! The envelope please!

But, the celebraion was mine, therefore, the reader and judge of my unofficial challenge.

After a third reading, two entries tied for first place and each will receive a $15 tip going to Christy Munson's Yours Forever and Alexandria Stanwyck's Is It Love? (Ask Me in December). Their poems/lyrics were inspirational and filled with gratitude, and LOVE.

Second place entries will receive a $10 tip going to Kelli Sheckler-Amsden's Stardust, Catsidhe's The End of the Year, and Lamar Wiggins' Nostalgic Blues. Kelli's poem grabbed my attention at the start of her poem. Catsidhe's poem closing was fabulous. Lamar's poem/lyrics triggered good memories with the mention of Como (definitely remember the Perry Como Show, that was very popular in the 50s).

Third place entries will receive a $5.00 tip going to the following: Tiffany Gordon's Daddy's Song (Fictional Poetry); Cathy Holmes' Let's Raise a Glass; C. Rommial Butler's Yggdrasil; Mike Singleton's Ask Me in December; and Sonia Heidi Unruh's, Ask Your Mama!. Their entries were impressive, creative, and moving.

Honorable Mentions will receive a two dollar tip. There were too many to list.

BTW, the $15 tip will be divided into a ten and a five. Tips will be paid on the 8th of May.

Was it fun?

Yes!

Will I post another unofficial challenge?

ASK ME IN DECEMBER.

Read all the entries and comments at

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you very much for reading, writing, and engaging!