Ready, set, write! The results!

Ok, the results are in! It’s customary with this kind of contest to begin by emphasising how difficult it was to elevate one entry above the rest, but on this particular occasion that’s almost painfully true. I managed to get it down from 11 to five on the second reading, from five to three on the fourth, and since then…well, that was six hours ago and since then I’ve been pretty much stuck!

It’s a lovely problem to have, of course – testament to the high quality of the writing on show – and I’m happy to say I genuinely enjoyed re-reading all 11 entries, which rarely happens; there was something to admire in each of them, from small, deliciously sexy moments through to their wider, tangible sense of storytelling and eroticism.

The three finalists had both of those qualities in spades, and took them to the next level with creative, exciting interpretations of the prompt – as well as a real freshness and originality. It’s all subjective, I realise, but in each of them I saw something different; something I kept coming back to as I read through them.

Picking two from those three has been a real headache (so thanks guys, thanks for that), but sadly that’s what I had to do. With special, honourable mention to Scandarella for her fab (and properly sex-positive) story The Viennese Whirl, the prize-winners are:

WINNER: On the Cake, by Luda Jones

I got hooked on so many lovely little flourishes as I went through Luda’s story that I didn’t really appreciate it as a whole piece until about the third reading. Take this passage, for example:

I breathed out, shuddery in arousal and frustration. I was worried I’d mist the surface of the cake. I could smell it, gently sweet – it even smelt calm. Which was more than could be said of me.

My face loomed wavering and blue in the flawless surface. Like I was under the sea.

Or this:

In my experience [a dildo] of that size would tend to be Very Serious jet black, or the boring shade of beige that people call Flesh. But this one was dawn on a distant planet, dreamy pastel swirls of green, blue, pink, violet. It looked like something she’d confect. Her sex toys were like her cakes, exquisite, expensive and bad for the health.

All those hot, vivid images come together to form a tight, filthy little story, which uses its cake theme in a way that really works. Add that to the quality of the writing, and it feels to me like a very worthy winner.

Luda wins a £20 voucher for Sh!, London’s best sex shop, as well as a Mary Berry/Paul Hollywood book of her choice (from a list I’ll send her!)

RUNNER-UP: Plait, by @19syllables

The first thing that struck me about this entry was the ambition – the second was how well it had been realised. Fitting three different perspectives into one 1500-word story – and making each of them feel distinctive and well-rounded – isn’t easy, but at no point does it feel like the author has used it as a gimmick or sacrificed content for style. The scenario is really hot, it obviously fits the prompt, and I really enjoyed reading it.

@19syllables wins a copy of Best Women’s Erotica of the Year, vol. 1, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel.

Huge thanks to everyone who entered – you’re all brilliant – and to the wonderful people at Sh! for donating a great prize!

Cheers 🙂