News
Announcing the Winners of the 35th Annual International 3-Day Novel Contest
Tuesday, February 26th, 2013Our 35th year has been a big one! The International 3-Day Novel Contest now has its first-ever two-time winner, and we’re also excited to announce a couple of big upcoming changes at 3DNC headquarters. Read on for all the details and for the list of this year’s top marathon novelists.
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
THORAZINE BEACH by Bradley Harris of Memphis, Tennessee
Bradley Harris
About the Author
Bradley Harris is a Canadian writer, editor, and teacher living and working in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the only writer to have won the 3-Day Novel Contest twice; his first novel, Ruby Ruby, won the 21st annual competition in 1998. His other works include prizewinning short stories and a dramatic play, Incoming, produced in Memphis and Los Angeles. Brad holds BA and JD degrees, plus an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Memphis. He is currently at work on his third novel in the Jack Minyard series, Six Flags Over Jesus
About the Book
Jack Minyard is a private dick down on his luck. He’s badly overweight and on the wrong side of sixty; he’s lost his marriage, and maybe a little of his mind. After narrowly escaping charges in a money laundering scandal, Jack must count on private contracts, the kindness of strangers and a pile of prescription drugs to get by. In a last-ditch play to resurrect his career, Jack takes on a case that puts him on the wrong side of the tracks and in the midst of some of the roughest trade going. Thorazine Beach is a palpable and enthralling tale that will be released by Anvil Press in August 2013.
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SECOND PRIZE WINNER
Winning $500
Embodying Geography by Manpreet Dhaliwal of Surrey, B.C.
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THIRD PRIZE WINNER
Winning $100
Drift, Disappear by Mallory McMahon of Brooklyn, New York
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Our Top 12 Runners-Up
- Suicide Season by Jay Bethke of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Fauvel by Kayt Burgess of Aurora, Ontario
- Recycled Virgins by Dorothyanne Brown of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
- Fall of Breath by Anne DeGrace of South Slocan, B.C.
- The Clothes We Wear by Vanessa Fernando of Montreal, Quebec
- Doorways by Barbara Gordon of Victoria, B.C.
- The Pledge by Annie Mahoney of Toronto, Ontario
- The Jewish Joke Factory by Kelsey Osgood of Brooklyn, New York
- Werewolves of Vegas by Teresa Perrin of Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Baselines by Anna Stewart of Bakersfield, California
- Go Bullet by Rudy Thauberger of Vancouver, B.C.
- Giant by Ben R. Williams of Basset, Virginia
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Thanks to all who took part, and congratulations to everyone who got a creative boost out of the 35th Annual 3DNC. You can connect with other 3-Dayers and share your experiences and tips via the Abebooks chatroom link to the right, through the Twitter hashtag #3DNC or on our Facebook page at facebook.com/3daynovel.
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Big Contest News!
We thank everyone for bearing with us during the extra weeks it took to finalize this year’s contest results. It’s been a busy time at 3DNC headquarters as we prepped ourselves for two exciting changes.
First, we are thrilled to announce a new partnership with Anvil Press, who will be publishing and distributing the contest winners from this point forward. Anvil Press ran the 3-Day Novel Contest from 1992 to 2003 and was the driving force behind its evolution from a Canadian west-coast anomaly to the notorious international experiment that it now is.
Our second announcement is that the Geist Foundation, an established literary publishing group in Vancouver, is taking over the management of the 3-Day Novel Contest. We are thrilled to have this organization become the contest’s new home: the people at the Geist Foundation are experienced and dedicated literary arts administrators who have had a long relationship with this wacky creative endeavour. As a Vancouver-based foundation, they will also be able to keep the contest in its original birthplace and hometown of 36 years. Stayed tuned to this site for more news and updates as they prepare to launch registration for the upcoming 36th Annual International 3-Day Novel Contest this spring.
Meanwhile, here at transitional 3DNC HQ, we — Barbara Zatyko and Melissa Edwards, your faithful contest administrators for the past nine years — thank all of our past entrants for participating in the 3-Day Novel Contest with us and for being a part of the amazing experience of managing this literary tradition. We hope you found as much fun and fulfillment in taking on this year’s challenge as we have had in running it. We and our volunteer reading panel members wish you all a happy, productive and creative 2013, and hope, as always, that you are able to continue the momentum of the contest through to the next Labour Day long weekend.
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The 36th Annual International 3-Day Novel Contest will take place August 31 to September 2, 2013. Send an email to join the mailing list and receive notice when registration opens this spring.
Free Book Club Questions for Heidegger Stairwell
Tuesday, February 12th, 2013
Heidegger Stairwell is an excellent addition to any book club reading list, with a unique format and a complex set of themes that covers everything from sexuality to the complexities of creative collectives. Visit the Heidegger Stairwell book page to download a free list of book club questions for the winner of the 34th annual International 3-Day Novel Contest. And don’t forget to pick up your copy of this amazing novel, either through this site or at your favourite bookseller.
Update for the New Year
Friday, January 11th, 2013We’re well into the new year, and we know our entrants are starting to get restless as they wait for the judges’ decision on the winners and runners-up for our 35th annual event. But we have to ask you for your patience for just a little bit longer! We normally announce the winners near the very end of January, and while we are trying to meet that traditional date, it may take just a little bit longer this year. So please bear with us and check in again in a couple of weeks for another update on our progress. Until then, we at 3DNC headquarters send you our best wishes for 2013.
3DNC News for November 2012
Monday, November 5th, 2012
3-Day News
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Updates from 3DNC, sent every two months or so.
To subscribe, contact us and tell us to sign you up. If you’ve subscribed and didn’t receive it, check your spam box and add 3_Day_Novel_Contest@mail.vresp.com to your safe list.
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Entrant Statistics for 2012
We’ve got you figured
We’d like to offer a big thanks to everyone who took part in the 35th Annual International 3-Day Novel Contest, whether you were furiously scribbling a manuscript or cheering on someone who was. While our fabulous volunteer judging panel is deep in the work of reading this year’s submissions, we’ve been busy crunching the numbers from our 2012 event.
NUMBER OF ENTRANTS: 485
10-YEAR AVERAGE: 506
SHARE WHO SUBMITTED NOVELS: 71% (up from 67% in 2011)
AVERAGE WORD COUNT: 24,212 (up slightly from 2011)
MEDIAN WORD COUNT: 23,530 (down considerably from 2011)
COUNTRIES PARTICIPATING: 14, including Canada (54%), U.S.A. (41%), Australia, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, and U.K.
TOP REGIONS: Ontario, British Columbia, New York, Alberta, Washington, California
Our team will spend the rest of 2012 reading, re-reading, and deliberating over your submitted masterworks; by late January we hope to announce their decisions, send out a fancy certificate to each successful entrant, and begin the exciting work of polishing and publishing another fine, fast 3-Day Book.
Save the date! The 36th Annual International 3-Day Novel Contest will take place August 31 to September 2, 2013. Registration will open in spring 2013.
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3-Day Books
Heidegger Stairwell: Recent news and reviews
Heidegger Stairwell
“I loved Heidegger Stairwell… And it doesn’t really matter how long it took her to do it; [Kayt Burgess has] created a novel that’s outside of ordinary.”
—Kerry Clare, Pickle Me This book blog
“It’s a fast read and an entertaining one, at that. Recommended for anyone with a healthy love for schadenfreude.”
—Sebastian Buzzalino, Beatroute magazine
“It just sort of came out from the contest, and the caffeine and the sleep deprivation.”
—Kayt Burgess as interviewed by Jeffrey Ougler, Sault Star
And…cake! Visit our Flickr photo pool to see the magnificent Heidegger Stairwell-themed book launch cake provided by Hamilton’s Cake Bits.
Get your copy of Heidegger Stairwell
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Friends and Relations
Good luck to this year’s NaNoWriMo scribblers
With National Novel Writing Month kicking off, we’ve been thinking a lot about some of our fellow organizations that are bringing the manic joy of creating under pressure to other seasons and other forms.
We’d like to offer a hat tip to any 3DNC survivors that are continuing their momentum into these other challenges, be it more fiction with NaNoWriMo, screenwriting with Script Frenzy, filmmaking with our fellow Vancouverites at Crazy8s, speedy doodling with 24-Hour Comic, or with any of the other culture builders in the community of fast-forged art.
If you’re jonesing for the 3-Day rush in between Labour Days, find links to these and other similar organizations on our Writing Resources section.
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Last Week for Registrations
Wednesday, August 29th, 2012The 35th Annual International 3-Day Novel Contest is almost here! Registrations can be sent in up until midnight this Friday. Then, as of 12:01, all entrants can finally open up those word processors and start hammering out those novels.
We are sending out confirmation emails soon after registrations are received by mail and online. But keep in mind that some mail-in registrations may not make it to us before the contest. If you get your registration form in the mail before end of day this Friday, rest assured that you are entered in the contest and you should proceed according to all the rules on the rules page. If you have questions before or during the contest, feel free to email us. (Though often the answer is: Just Write!)
We will be sending pre-registered entrants an email this week with instructions for submitting manuscripts. You will receive this email next week if we haven’t yet received your registration – or email us for them if you haven’t heard from us by the submission deadline.
To all registered and not-yet-registered entrants: We wish you fun and excitement in these last days before the marathon as you dream up plots and ideas for your novels! Good luck and best wishes to all.
3DNC News for August 2012
Wednesday, August 8th, 20123-Day News
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Updates from 3DNC, sent every two months or so.
To subscribe, contact us and tell us to sign you up. If you’ve subscribed and didn’t receive it, check your spam box and add 3_Day_Novel_Contest@mail.vresp.com to your safe list.
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OUR 35th ANNIVERSARY
Last Week for Early-Bird Registration
Want to make 2012 the year you finally kick that novel out of your head and into the world? Register today and commit yourself to this exhilarating, limit-blasting, one-of-a-kind creative event. Do it fast, because there’s only one week left to take advantage of our early-bird registration discount.
Early-Bird Registration Deadline: August 15
Final Registration Deadline: August 31
3-Day Novel Event Dates: Labour Day Weekend, September 1-3
Sign up today for our 35th annual marathon! Put your early-bird savings toward a tin of coffee to keep you up and writing through this notorious literary event.
Already signed up, or planning to? Connect with your fellow entrants at our Facebook event page or at the #3DNC Twitter hashtag.
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EVENT
Party and Book Launch in Toronto
Come join us in Toronto for a double celebration of our upcoming 35th Anniversary and the launch of Heidegger Stairwell, the gender- and genre-bending 2011 3DNC winner by Aurora author Kayt Burgess.
Heidegger Stairwell by Kayt Burgess
Details
Wednesday, August 29
7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The Victory Cafe, Toronto
581 Markham Street, Upstairs
(Near Bathurst Station/Honest Ed’s. Map)
3DNC administrators and veterans will be on hand to offer advice and guidance for surviving and thriving during the contest, and Kayt Burgess will read a passage from her hot-off-the-press novel about music, identity, feuds, friendship and very, very complicated love. Everyone is welcome to this free event!
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ENTRANT NEWS
More 3DNC success stories
Have you found a home for a manuscript that was born during the 3-Day Novel Contest? Tell us about it!
The Dominion, by Gayleen Froese of Edmonton, placed during the 2007 3DNC and won 1st Prize during that year’s 3-Day Novel Contest reality TV series. This excellent fantasy novel has been picked up for publication by Candlemark & Gleam. Find out more here.
Alice Hearts Welsh Zombies has finally been released by The Workhorsery. The book, by Victoria Dunn of Ottawa, is a nutty undead military romp that won (in its first-draft form) 3rd Place in the 2009 3DNC. See a video preview at the Workhorsery website!
The rise of e-publishing has helped many 3-Day veterans release their novels as ebooks, too. Check out a few here: Rebels of the 512 by Laura Roberts (2011 participant), The Package: Nove’s Curse by Lisa Naraine (2008), Melissa’s Daughters
by Terry Leeder (2011), Dream Her Back by Brady Russell (2003), and Depth of Deception: A Titanic Murder Mystery by Alexander Gallant (2006).
Congratulations to all! Find more success stories in our past newsletters.
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