Orpheus Fiction Contest Winners!

The results are in, and we're happy to announce the winners of the first Orpheus GLBT Fiction Contest! And the winners are (drum roll please!)

Grand Prize

New Girl

by Joan Flood

"You gotta get your head around this stuff, Carly. Otherwise you'll be lost. Just lost.”

Carly knows Jane is right. She has to figures things out. And one of those things is how she feels about Jane.

Second Place -TIED!

Captured By the Fog

by Laura Hardgrave


Sam feels like a prisoner within her life until one foggy evening, when she is captured by beings from another world along with a group of strangers. Among these strangers is an eccentric father, David, separated from the rest of his family, and Kisana, a woman with a captivating smile and a timid secret.

Charlotte's Feathers

by Matthew Fish


A young man named Benjamin Strong has just lost everything after the death of his parents and girlfriend. After a failed suicide attempt, Benjamin wakes up to find an angelic version of his girlfriend, Charlotte, sitting by the edge of his bed. She tells him that he has seven days left to live- and that he has a very important decision to make: Die alone, or take all of humanity with him.

Third Place

Jazz

by Brynn Copeland

Jazz is a seventeen-year-old transgendered youth – female to male – who simply wants to live his life; not as Jaswinder, the beloved daughter of a respected Hindu family, but as a guy, as Jazz. Although he is accepted on the streets of downtown Toronto for who he is, back in the suburbs he must hide his identity from his family and school friends.

Honorable Mention

Woodsworth's Scoop

by Grace Nolen


“If you find your love is married, pray that she be poly!” This is the advice that GLBT clinic director Lexi Woodworth gives to the reader in Woodworth’s Scoop. Lexi has been around the block a few times and has gotten bruised along the way. She’s watched her friends develop successful, loving lesbian relationships, but she has been too busy with her career to put much effort into a romantic relationship of her own. All that changes, though, when the beautiful RN Jennifer Scoop walks into her office and offers to help with the overrun clinic.

Congratulations, all of you! We've had a fantastic time with our first contest, and want to thank all of our entrants and voters for making Orpheus such a terrific success.

Technical Difficulties

Sorry about the day, folks, but the final results of the Orpheus Fiction Contest should be posted within the next day or two. We've had a few unexpected delays, but nothing major. Once we have the vote tallies, we'll notify the finalists and then post it all here.

Stand by for more news as we have it!

And we're on to the finals!

Thanks to all of your votes in the past week, we have the names of our top five to go on to the finals! Woohoo!

Our first round winners are:

Captive By the Fog
Charlotte's Feathers
Jazz
New Girl
Woodsworth's Scoop

Congratulations, you five!

Our authors have all been notified, ans as soon as we have their complete manuscripts, our esteemed judges will get to start judging.

We'll be announcing the final results on April 24, so stay tuned!

The First Round is OPEN

We have some fantastic entries just waiting to be voted on for the Orpheus Fiction Contest, and the means it's YOUR chance to tell us what you want to read. Below are links to ten queries in several genres -- we have romance, scifi, contemporary, and YA for your picking pleasure -- so read through and then head on over to our voting booth (voting details below).

You'll notice that none of the entries have author names. Hey, we've got to have SOME secrets.

News flash: To speed things along, we've completely eliminated the second round. The winners of the first round will go straight to the finals!

Only five of these queries will go forward, where a panel of Musa's finest editors will get their grubby paws on the complete manuscripts. That means we'll be announcing our winners on April 24, a whole week early! Makes the wait worth it, doesn't it?

So how about those entries?

 #1 - Woodsworth's Scoop
 #2 - The Promise of Living
 #3 - My Aim is True
 #4 - New Girl
 #5 - Freaky
 #6 - The Fault List
 #7 - Charlotte's Feathers
 #8 - Captive by the Fog
 #9 - Jazz
#10 - 5, 6, 7

TO VOTE

Once you've checked out the fine entries above, head on over to our voting booth and make your decision. Feel free to nag your friends and followers to help your horse along, but be aware that any confirmed instances of ballot-stuffing will invalidate those votes, so even if you have log-ins for all the options, only use one. Seriously. We don't have a very good sense of humor when it comes to cheating.

Voting ends 11:59 PM on April 9, 2012. That's one week before we move on to the big time!

Ready? GO!

VOTE HERE

Orpheus Contest Entry #10 - 5,6,7

Title: 5,6,7
Genre: LGBT Contemporary Lit
Words: 100,000

Query:

i use this book to weave together stories of three males whose paths all directly and indirectly cross laida's, a transgender character who decides to give up a life of crime for the love of a woman. my pitch to the non-lgbt folks is as follows:

5,6,7 draws the reader into a whirlwind of three interconnected stories of pharmaceutical company executive David Evans, brilliant but twisted college student (Josh Grenier) who founded an online church, and shady pawnbroker Mike Mazzone, who earns his keep selling stolen goods. Throw in a tranny shoplifter, a nosy blogger, a crooked DEA agent, and an underground poker club run by bookies, and 5,6,7 is much more than just the story of David’s descent from upper-class suburbia to the underworld as he compromises his morality to keep a game-changing discovery a secret.

however, this plot-driven thriller (on the subject of a man attempting to profit from a brand new research chemical) was written as a safe way for straight men to read a story about a transgender woman written in an authentic voice, so that they would not only learn a bit about the incarnation, but also understand some of the influences that motivate lgbt individuals.

All Entries | Vote Now!

Orpheus Contest Entry #9 - Jazz

Title: Jazz
Genre: LGBT Fiction (Note: Although the protagonist is a teenager, this is not YA)
Words: 21,700

Query:

Jazz is a seventeen-year-old transgendered youth – female to male – who simply wants to live his life; not as Jaswinder, the beloved daughter of a respected Hindu family, but as a guy, as Jazz. Although he is accepted on the streets of downtown Toronto for who he is, back in the suburbs he must hide his identity from his family and school friends. When his brother, Sugith outs him to his father, he quarrels with his family, and storms out of the house, determined to make his way in the world on his own terms. He moves in temporarily with his cross dressing friend, Marque; whose sexual proclivities are only matched by his love of smoking dope. With no money, he seeks help from the a community association known for its support of glbt youth. There he meets the sharp-tongued Sister Mary Francis, a former nun who has been ousted from the church for daring to dialogue with witches and homosexuals. Initially, their partnership benefits Jazz. With her support, he gets a job in a local hair salon, moves into a bachelor apartment and begins to enjoy living openly as a male. However his life changes one hot summer evening. Out on the town with Marque, Jazz gets a little too high, and makes a pass at a young woman in a bar. When her boyfriend enters the scene, he and Jazz get into a fight, a fight that leaves Jazz badly beaten. His inability to fight ‘like a man’ leaves Jazz questioning his abilities to succeed in his chosen gender identity. He pushes to fast track the process of physical masculinization through the use of hormones and surgery, only to run up against the prejudices and cautious protocols of the medical bureaucracy. Angry at the system, he breaks off his relationship with Sister Mary Francis. Tired, broke and alone, he gives in to despair. It is in this dark night, that his own deepest strength emerges, with the help of a compassionate community, both queer and straight.

This story addresses the challenges faced by a transgendered youth, through a sensitive lense, underscored with humour.

All Entries | Vote Now!

Orpheus Contest Entry #8 - Captive by the Fog

Title: Captive by the Fog
Genre: LGBT Contemporary SciFi
Words: 66,000

Query:

Sam feels like a prisoner within her life until one foggy evening, when she is captured by beings from another world along with a group of strangers. Among these strangers is an eccentric father, David, separated from the rest of his family, and Kisana, a woman with a captivating smile and a timid secret.

As they are held within a San Francisco school gymnasium, Sam and her fellow captives are told they are merely under surveillance, and that in order to survive, they must trust these creatures who won't show themselves. The group has no choice but to do so, and believe in the hope of eventual freedom.

Trust disintegrates when Sam begins to experience violent, prophetic dreams about other citizens held captive across the city. The source of these dreams is not clear, but the message, and the sound of crumbling skyscrapers, is. The aliens are destroying the population.

Kisana's secret starts to unravel, and the two women find an escape within their passion. But passion isn't enough. Sam's dreams continue to haunt her. One final dream about David's family dying in an explosion pushes the prisoners to the edge of desperation.

David, grief-stricken, lashes out against the aliens. Sam finds herself fighting against him, now a friend, in order to protect everyone. A life is lost. Kisana retreats back into her past. Sam teeters off desperation's edge, and she must save herself--with a little help from the controller of her dreams.

All Entries | Vote Now!

Orpheus Contest Entry #7 - Charlotte's Feathers

Title: Charlotte's Feathers
Genre: LGBT YA
Words: 41,000

Query:

A young man named Benjamin Strong has just lost everything after the death of his parents and girlfriend. After a failed suicide attempt, Benjamin wakes up to find an angelic version of his girlfriend, Charlotte, sitting by the edge of his bed. She tells him that he has seven days left to live- and that he has a very important decision to make: Die alone, or take all of humanity with him.

While this seems like it would be an easy choice for anyone to make, for Benjamin it is very difficult-he has endured a lot of bullying in life and a lot of hardship. He spends his final days travelling and reflecting on the past, mostly recalling memories of his girlfriend Charlotte whom he has loved since they first met when he was tweleve.

I believe that "Charlotte's Feathers" will fit in well with your contest because it is written and presented in a way that I believe will challenge the reader, GLBTQ or not. Near the end of Benjamin's story it is revealed that Charlotte was transgendered and was drowned during a campus hazing incident. This revelation holds a lot of weight because I have written this novel from the first person, present point of view and never once refer to Charlotte as anything other than "her" or "she." It is ultimatlely only her attackers that refer to her as anything else.

All Entries | Vote Now!

Orpheus Contest Entry #6 - The Fault List

Title: The Fault List
Genre: LGBT YA
Words: 48,000

Query:

Ben Callihan just wants his junior year of high school to be normal. Already dealing with the struggle to stay in the closet, he now has to add epilepsy to his plate. Funny, he had always thought that being gay would be what made him an outcast to his classmates. Having no one to turn to, Ben prepares for the longest school year of his life. Then he meets Mitchell.

Mitchell is a senior in high school and has problems of his own: A father who drinks too much and is too free with his fists, depression, and still hurting from a past relationship that didn’t end well.

Ben’s parents are suffocating him. Ever since he started having seizures, they had been watching him like they expected him to have another episode at any moment. So he is thrilled when they let him tutor Mitchell in Math in exchange for guitar lessons. Anything to get him out of the house. And Mitchell is pretty cute, too.

What starts out as a friendship grows stronger until Mitchell finally takes a chance one afternoon, despite the pain from his past. Ben is different. Ben won’t hurt him.

They keep their new relationship a secret, but secrets don’t last forever and classmates are cruel. ’Keep your head down and ignore them’ is Ben’s motto. But Mitchell has a harder time of it. Seeing Ben get beat up on account of him is more than he can take…

All Entries | Vote Now!

Orpheus Contest Entry #5 - Freaky

Title: Freaky
Genre: LGBT YA
Words: 35,500

Query:

Russell Holmes is sixteen years old. He’s gay, and he’s in love. Or at least in deep appreciation for Paul Ryerson, a classmate with a handsome face and a kindly vibe. Despite Glee, the internet, and wishes sent to a genderless almighty, Russ has no idea how to get a date with another high school boy.

Enter Tina, his longtime friend and fast-food co-worker. Tina has romantic troubles of her own with her off-and-on boyfriend Randy. This does not stop her from having total faith in Russ and his chances for romance. She suggests running cross-country with Paul, who hopefully is… not straight. This way, the guys will have time alone. Russ agrees, to the shock of Sam.

Sam and Russ have been high school buddies for years. They’ve always played on the volleyball team together. Russ hasn’t told Sam he’s gay, and doesn’t plan to, especially when he sees how angry Sam is when Russ quits to run. Russ is bewildered by Sam’s reaction until Sam loses his cool and kisses Russ. Russ does not return his feelings, and is too unnerved to stand by Sam when he comes out to the school in dramatic fashion. After Sam decides to prove to a bully that he’s not afraid – by blasting him in a fistfight – Russ gives up on his partner in crime. Distance is easy. Sam is suspended for two weeks.

Meanwhile, Paul and Russ have grown closer. Paul does not think of himself as gay, but likes Russ, and the two become secretly involved. The longer their relationship continues, the stronger their feelings are, and the more conflicted Paul becomes. Paul loathes the idea of offending anyone and can’t bear the thought of crossing anyone’s belief system. Russ is unencumbered by such worries. Their differences desperately frustrate Paul, who lashes out at Russ. Soon they are no longer speaking.

Feeling lost, Russ uses a report-card drop off as an excuse to see Sam. Their old chemistry is reignited, and Russ is grateful. Sam is passionate, funny, caring, and hotheaded, and Russ loves him for it. Paul tries to approach his former boyfriend, telling him Sam means complications for Russ. Russ knows this is true. Paul admits missing Russ. Russ misses Paul, but does not return to him. Russ does not know if he can handle Sam as a boyfriend in the long run. Still, he is sure of a few things.

Love only chooses imperfect partners. Russ will always be imperfect himself. But there is deep strength in love, a strength he did not know existed in himself, and those around him. Armed with this knowledge, he decides to face each day of his life with his own brand of ragged courage.

All Entries | Vote Now!

Orpheus Contest Entry #4 - New Girl

Title: New Girl
Genre: LGBT YA
Words: 39,000

Query:

"You gotta get your head around this stuff, Carly. Otherwise you'll be lost. Just lost.”

Carly knows Jane is right. She has to figures things out. And one of those things is how she feels about Jane.

Carly is almost 15 and is the new girl at school. Again. She desperately wants to fit in and have friends. The first day at school she meets Jane who is happy to include her in her social circle. She earns a place on the track team, and knows she can help win a place for the team in the county finals.

She didn’t count on falling for Jane. Nor on the fact that Jane hates jocks. Mostly, Jane seems to dislike most of things that interest Carly, especially the quiet, mysterious Tommy Mack.

Carly knows she’s in trouble when she deliberately loses a race and shuns Tommy Mack to impress Jane.

To make matters worse, she has to figure out where she stands on a whole host of issues, like drugs, alcohol, and a new and different kind of loneliness. Issues she has avoided so far because she has never had to stay in one place for too long.

All Entries | Vote Now!

Orpheus Contest Entry #3 - My Aim is True

Title: My Aim is True
Genre: LGBT YA
Words: 80,000

Query:

In My Aim Is True, gay teenager Guy Dimchek details the sudden crack-up of his semi-happy, semi-celebrity parents. In 1970’s California, an extremist crusade overwhelms his family’s private crisis. Through it all, Guy struggles with his first sexual experiences and eventually finds first love.

My Aim Is True is not really a “coming-out” novel because Guy has already come out by his Confirmation Day, at least to himself. He is, though, coming of age almost faster than his young, attractive, ambitious parents. Left largely alone when his parents split up, Guy hopes to find his own, true way amid the Me-Decade hustle.

Bemused but observant, Guy stands apart from San Francisco’s promiscuity, gay and straight. Adults’ obsessions--self-help charlatans and cults of radical faith--provoke Guy’s distaste for delusion. All around him, extreme politics forecast 1978’s perfect tsunami: the Jonestown massacre in Guyana, Anita Bryant’s homophobic campaign, and gay City Supervisor Harvey Milk’s assassination at City Hall.

When his father becomes an accidental candidate for state office, trading on his fading Gold-Medal Olympic fame, the novice candidacy suffers the first strike of American anti-gay, “family values” cultural warfare. Compounding the conflict is Guy’s new stepmother, who opposes openness on the gay issue. The Dimchek family’s true values face the supreme test when the opposition—modeled on the 1978 anti-gay Briggs Initiative-- launches a covert attack on Guy, threatening both dirty tricks and physical violence.

All Entries | Vote Now!

Orpheus Contest Entry #2 - The Promise of Living

Title: The Promise of Living
Genre: LGBT YA
Words: 60,000

Query:

THE PROMISE OF LIVING (a Young Adult novel complete at 60,000 words) is a heartbreaking coming of age novel of sixteen-year-old Ryan Colton and his quest for his own authenticity. Ryan works on the Hemer’s farm with his best friend Dave where, in a small, stifling New Hampshire town set in 1976, everyone knows everyone else’s business. Now Ryan does too when he has a series of premonitions that reveal the darker secrets of the townspeople. His gift becomes out of control when he foresees a murky murder and can't prevent its occurrence. The murder is followed by another tragedy over a gay teen and Ryan seeks the help of a gay male psychic to solve the mystery. With the older man's support, Ryan finally begins to accept his own personal feelings for Dave and his own power of being different in this world.

All Entries | Vote Now!

Orpheus Contest Entry #1 - Woodsworth’s Scoop

Title: Woodsworth's Scoop
Genre: LGBT Contemporary Romance
Words: 50,000

Query:

“If you find your love is married, pray that she be poly!” This is the advice that GLBT clinic director Lexi Woodworth gives to the reader in Woodworth’s Scoop. Lexi has been around the block a few times and has gotten bruised along the way. She’s watched her friends develop successful, loving lesbian relationships, but she has been too busy with her career to put much effort into a romantic relationship of her own. All that changes, though, when the beautiful RN Jennifer Scoop walks into her office and offers to help with the overrun clinic.

Lexi is instantly attracted to Jennifer. She feels a connection to her that she’s never felt with anyone else before, and she senses that Jennifer feels the same way. There’s only one problem. Jennifer is married to Trey. Lexi is devastated by the news until Jennifer explains that her marriage is not a typical one. Jennifer and Trey practice polyamory. Trey has his girlfriends, and she has hers, as long as they keep their relationship with each other the primary focus of their romantic lives. Lexi is uneasy about the relationship at first, but she agrees to the arrangement because she believes that what she feels for Jennifer is worth the risks, and there are plenty.

Not only is Jennifer married, but she also has three children, one of whom is a teenager who does not agree with the lifestyle that her parents have chosen. Lexi must learn how to build relationships with each of the children without encroaching too far into the family circle. She must also contend with the occasional jealousy and possessiveness of Jennifer’s husband. And all this while running a clinic! Still, Lexi finds a way to make it all work because she loves Jennifer. In fact, she loves Jennifer so much that she wants to marry her and be with her forever.

Of course, they can’t have a traditional wedding ceremony, but Lexi is a pagan, and she’s not interested in one of those. She just wants a simple ceremony where she and Jennifer can publicly declare their undying love for each other. As the wedding approaches, Trey becomes more and more protective of Jennifer. The teenage daughter’s embarrassment and disapproval also increases. Add to that the intrusion of Lexi’s parents into the wedding plans and the Unitarian minister, who may not be as supportive of the union as she seems, and you’ve got a recipe for action that will keep the reader on the edge of his/her seat.

In the end, the wedding does take place, and Lexi’s parents and Jennifer’s whole family are all involved. Even Trey, who said at first that he would definitely not be there, joins in the festivities to show his wife that he loves her more than he loves himself. It’s a “happily ever after” situation for all parties involved, as they put aside their differences to celebrate love in all its forms. And Lexi learns that love really does conquer all—except maybe pre-wedding jitters.

All Entries | Vote Now!

Orpheus is closed for entries!

It's April first, which means the extended entry period for the Orpheus Fiction Contest is officially over (also, I'm seriously fighting the urge to make a tired joke about this not being a joke). We're really excited about the entries we've received, and can't wait to show them off to all of you!

We'll begin the public voting round on Monday, so start getting your voting armies ready. I have a feeling there will be some tough decisions made in the coming week. You'll see exactly what I mean when the queries go up in twelve hours!

See you in the voting trenches...