Many writers have shared their thoughts with the public:

"There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you." - Beatrix Potter

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Anaïs Nin

"Sharing your writing, being enlarged by others' writing, is what makes you feel famous." - Gretchen Bernabei

"Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth." - Edna Ferber

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Ben Franklin

"One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones to form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment." - Hart Crane

"There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are." - W. Somerset Maugham

The Best of Times Short Story Competition

Autumn 2010 results

Note: stories are available for reading only where the authors have given permission.

First Place ($250)

John Revington, NSW: "The Hole in the Doughnut"

Second Place ($70)

Janeen Samuel, VIC: "Aunt Clarissa's Legacy"

Third Place ($50)

Geoffrey Stevens (penname), SA: "Australian Love Rites"

Highly Commended

Deirdre Oliver, VIC: "Taffeta”

Judy Evans, WA: "Black Sunday"

Vicky Daddo, VIC: "Nieve La Blanca"

Jo Hamlet, WA: "Perspicacity"

Commended

Col Meyers, TAS: "The Innocent Mariner"

Barry Rosenberg, QLD: “So Beyond Ham, It's Almost Kosher”

Christine Tapper, WA: "Trials of a Trainee Godmother"

Deirdre Oliver, VIC: "Flat-Line”

P.S. Cottier, ACT: "The Foundation for Minor Ailments"


There were 98 short stories in the competition, from 78 entrants.