Literary Contest fiction submissions

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“Lay Down Your Weary Tune,” by W.B. Belcher

“Strange Appetites,” by Lale Davidson

“Freight Car and Other Stories,” by Jeff Kelly

“God Made Us Monsters,” by Bill Neary

“Leaves Torn Asunder,” by Glenn L. Pearsall

“Rooster,” by Edward Pontacoloni

“North of Here,” by Laurel Saville

“Bloodfire and the Legend of Paradox Pond,” by Rosemarie Sheperd

“The Hippie Hacker, the Happy Hooker and the Great Clone Orgy,” by Andrew Tisbert

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Editor/author Bibi Wein and I are again judges of the fiction entries in the Adirondack Center for Writing Literary Contest. The ACW promotes this contest as “a way to honor the writers and publishers who live and work in the North Country.”

Among this year’s titles are three short story collections, three traditional novels, two historical novels and one good-dog story. What follows is a brief summary of each of these works. The winner in this and all the genres will be announced at Heaven Hill Farm in Lake Placid on June 11. (Contact Adirondack Center for Writing for additional information: info@adirondackcenterforwriting.org).

Short Story Collections

Lale Davidson’s “Strange Appetites” includes nine elliptical, metaphorical and very lyrical short stories. They are brief, poetic and elusive.

Jeffrey Kelly’s “Freight Car & Other Stories” includes a play set in a railroad boxcar and a story of a boat crafted in the Adirondacks that the boatwright sails to the Caribbean. As in all of Kelly’s stories, his affection and respect for the forgotten characters among us is apparent.

“The Hippie Hacker, the Happy Hooker and the Great Clone Orgy,” by Andrew Tisbert, has 12 stories and introduces us to a character who works in pornographic movies and another who plants the parts of his VW in a garden after returning from his last Grateful Dead tour.

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Novels

“Lay Down Your Weary Tune,” by W. B. Belcher is a contemporary story of Eli Page, a famous blues singer who disappears – last seen walking near a river during a huge rainstorm.

Laurel Saville’s “North of Here” traces the story of Miranda Steward, who returns to the Adirondacks, where her family vacationed each summer, seeking peace and healthy relationships. She finds a guru, a commune, and troubled youths.

Rosemarie Sheperd’s heroine, Morgan Matthias , also looks to the mountains for refuge in “Bloodline and the Legend of Paradox Pond.” Struggling with the care of her difficult and declining mother, Morgan purchases a hilltop Victorian home, only to learn that it was the scene of murder and holds a family mystery.

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Historical Fiction

“God Made Us Monsters” by Bill Neary, takes us to Hawaii, where Damien DeVeuster ministered to those suffering from leprosy and quarantined on Molokai, and where commercial shipping crisscrossed the Pacific.

“Leaves Torn Asunder” by Glenn L. Pearsall begins in 1850 as the abolitionist movement gains strength in the Northeast, and then, partly via letters, describes the Civil War and its impact on Adirondackers.

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Animal Story

“Rooster,” by Edward Pontacoloni is a highly unusual story of a good-natured mongrel sporting dog and his field trials.

Each of these works by local writers reminds us that within the rugged beauty of the Adirondacks, writers are creating a different kind of beauty.