The Athlete’s Footnote Award asked authors to tell a story about an athlete in a new style of sport. He format was diary entry, blog or journal. The athlete didn’t need to be an elite player and this raised some […]
With the major comp just wrapping up (see the latest announcement for that here) there was the potential for the Less Than Noble Award to be swallowed up in the shadow of the bigger conterst. Fortunately that wasn’t the […]
Hello everyone, First up thanks for your patience with the Major Comp. For regular Needle competitors I understand it can be a bit frustrating when we normally move alot faster. The thing about the major comp is, well, it’s a […]
Thanks for waiting. We’re about to make the winner’s announcement, but first a series of clues. Number #1 was in the very first sentence. It’s similar to how our winner began their story. Let’s see how you go with the […]
Two returning authors, two very different stories. Who took first place?
The Deus Ex Lover Award featured a broad shortlist with a great mix of newcomers and returning authors. Let’s recap: New Faces Everlyn Parr joins the ranks of Needle in the Hay , and while it msy be her […]
Our first shortlist this year pits newcomer Nicola Messer against regular contributor Sophie L Macdonald. The brief asked for magical moments as an antidote to holiday consumerism. Much to our delight, both tales delivered. In The Party, Nicola Messer […]
A bit of a belated winner announcement this time around as we took a short break over the holiday period. But first up, let me say thank you to everyone, shortlisted or not, that entered the award. It was awesome […]
This week we’re doing two winner announcements, so strap yourself in as we announce winners for both the Spooky Jelly and Insufficient Credit Award
Content Warning: The Audition Retribution Award contains strong themes.
5 excellent stories this week, lets find out who took first place. But first, a recap.
Newcomer Chris Wheatley takes on NiTH heavyweight Nick Lachmund in this Patreon sponsored award. Let’s find out who took first place.
Michael by Lily Wilder I really enjoyed this tale by newcomer Lily Wilder. On debut the author has captured the serotonin depleted twilight antics of an ageing star. Opening with a wind whipped crack and ending with a beat, […]
Recap Before we find out who won this week’s award, let’s recap each of this week’s stories. Damn Phones by Robert Madden Written by occasional contributor Robert Madden, damn phones had our judges (and readers) split. A compelling intro: “Brian […]
After much deliberation from our excellent judges the winner is in. Let’s recap:
New writers abound in this excellent contest that asked authors to look at life in an enclosure for decidedly non-human characters. Let’s recap.
A NiTH veteran took on a newcomer in this week’s combo award.
A bigger shortlist this week, a combination of new and returning authors firing off some fantastic shorts. Let’s recap each story and see what the judges thought. The Pain | Robert Madden “Liked the mix between sexual tension and slight […]
Two new authors with fresh ideas and individual styles took to the shortlist this week. It’s always great to read new voices and this shortlist was no exception. Let’s see what the judges thought. Crossed Lines | Jason Hemens Our […]
Two authors took to the stage to show us tales of overcoming addiction. Let’s recap. Dwarven Addiction by C.R. Gardner Are you a full blooded and bearded dwarf? Perhaps not, but even if you have some dwarf blood in your […]
A triskele of terrific stories with three winner announcements this week. Read on to find out more.
Recap While they’ve both been around the traps for a while, Nick Lachmund and Lydia Trethewey are two authors who have very distinct differences in their approach to storytelling. Nick Lachmund’s talent is to present a world that is both […]
To start with, apologies for the double up in winner announcements. A brief holiday to Japan where I caught up with NiTH powerhouse Ash Warren followed by the sad passing of a relative left me a little behind schedule, but […]
It’s said that melancholy is the strongest emotion. In Cam Dang’s All The Dead Lovers we are taken on a journey back in memory, time and place. The narrator recounts the story of their uncle migrating across the ocean. Who […]
In between our new Patreon sponsored awards we’re keeping things alive with serial fiction awards. Let’s recap and find out who won first place. 1332 BC | Mhairi Campbell Mhairi Campbell lends her speedy pen and quick wit to ancient […]
Recap “His fingers crawled across the keys, spiders weaving webs. Following suit. It beat yesterday’s article on the most recent celebrity to get butt implants or the one after that about which couple is now in splitsville. He also wrote […]
Winner Announcement by Ash Warren And so we come to the last part of our each of our serial quartets for The Queen’s Cryptographer Award. The final installments of this award were the most closely contested from the judge’s point […]
One of the most important parts of any serial is the cliffhanger and each of our writers has been asked to make sure this element is present in the first three parts of their quartet for The Queen’s Cryptographer. The […]
The Queen’s Cryptographer Part 2 Winner Announcement By Ash Warren The craft of story writing is just that, a craft. A writer gets better at it by honing their writing skills in the development of certain key elements that are fundamental […]
Can you ever really tell if a specific moment in time is the end of something, or the start of something else? Is it ever that simple? In the same way, one story’s final sentence can quickly become the opening line […]