I’ll blame it on the adrenaline, but those were the words Lisa quoted back at me, and do capture my excitement when I made the Hugh Howey Booktrack fan-fiction competition finalists, and even more so when I saw my name on his blog!
For the uninitiated, Booktrack is an application that lets you easily augment your writing with an appropriate soundtrack. I won’t claim any musical chops, but that’s why Booktrack provides a substantial library of music and ambient sounds, and a really slick interface to work with.
The competition involved writing a story based on Hugh’s Half Way Home and Booktracking it. My own effort, Coming of Age, was set over a decade after the events of Half Way Home, and you can read (and listen to) it on the finalists page.
There were some downright amazing entries, and I’m really honoured to make it through. A huge thank-you to Hugh Howey and Booktrack, and to all other entrants for making this a positive and supportive experience, and sharing some great stories.
The winner will be announced on September 8th, and I’m off to read/re-read the other finalists’ stories now – I was already blown away by Emily MacGowan’s entry, so I’m bracing myself for an envious half-hour!
Edit: I should add that if you haven’t checked out Hugh’s Wool saga yet, it’s among the best contemporary sci-fi out there. Authors will probably be familiar with Hugh’s advocacy work for indie writers all writers, but his Author Earnings initiative should be mandatory reading for those entering the industry. I found it invaluable when making the decision to self-publish, and a useful ongoing resource when gauging results and sale trends.
