I’m thrilled to announce that my short story, “Rise, River, Rise,” has won the 95th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. And a second story, “The Ghostbird,” earned fifth place in the competition.

Both of these stories come out of a novel manuscript I’ve been working on for several years, which is set in and around Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp.  Writer’s Digest doesn’t publish the winning stories, but I look forward to sharing more of this story universe with you in the near future.

Until then, here’s a 3.5-inch tooth taken in 1931 from the largest recorded alligator ever to come out of the Swamp: 14′ 8″! One of my mom’s good friends had this tooth on display at his lodge for several years.