The Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic

Carrot Ranch is running a parade of fun challenges to take part in the Sue Vincent Rodeo. You can enter by writing a Flash Fiction entry, reblogging any of Sue’s beautiful posts or buying and reviewing her books. See the details below. I recently reviewed Sue’s beautiful guided journey of meditations in Petals of the Rose, you can read my review here.

 

Today, I’m also sharing a beautiful poem written by Sue. Please read how to join in the fun below the poem.

 

 

To leave no place for regret in a life
Save only mistakes from which to learn
Letting error serve good purpose
Redeeming remorse for hurt
Carelessly committed
Youthful folly wakes
To see itself
Mirrored eyes
Reflect
Pain
Joy
Growing
Unfolding
Other choices
From a deeper well
Embracing each moment
A gift of living presence
Harmony of body and soul
Accepting human imperfections
Part of the blueprint for the journey home

 

 

Here at the Carrot Ranch, we take the business of 99-word literary art seriously. Those who participate in the Ranch prompts or yearly Rodeo saddle up to TUFF (The Ultimate Flash Fiction) it out and train new Rough Riders as we go. Now, the Ranch is hosting a new event to sharpen minds, welcome new hands, and celebrate one of our own the best way we know how: our first ever Rodeo Classic.

In this Rodeo Classic, we’re here to celebrate a stalwart center of many blogging corners, Sue Vincent. Sue has variously contributed to the community here at the Carrot Ranch, through communication with many other bloggers, and run her own famous #writephoto weekly blog prompt. You can (and should!) follow her on her blogs, The Daily Echo and the shared blog France & Vincent. She has inspired us to become better writers and shown us the power of mystery and myth. We also suggest taking a perusal at her book corral and Amazon pages!

 

The Rodeo and Prizes

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic serves as a special challenge. Riders will have to condense the following photo into a story of 99 words (or, if you prefer, a poem of 99 syllables). Writing 99 words has never seemed TUFFer!

 

 

Each story needs to have a beginning, middle and end. Poems must have distinctive theme, movement, and rhythm; no rhyme scheme is necessary, but neither will rhyme be punished. Go where the prompt leads you – any genre is acceptable, but keep it family friendly and related to the photo. If you haven’t wrangled here at the Carrot Ranch before, you can find some prize-winning 99-word flash from the 2020 Rodeo or the 2019 Rodeo at these links. Don’t cheat with 98 or 100 words or syllables! We’ll only accept 99 word stories or 99 syllable poems written in English! (We’ll be using https://wordcounter.net/ to count words and https://syllablecounter.net/ to count syllables so everyone has the same standard). Only write 99 word stories. Do not write 99 word poems – we want 99 syllable poems.

For this rodeo, we’re offering a $100 grand prize. Five runners up will each receive one paperback from Sue Vincent’s collection of published books (those who live in a region where the paperback is unavailable may receive an e-book instead). No fee necessary to enter but this is a fundraiser so we kindly ask for a suggested donation of $5 per entry (no more than two entries allowed per writer). The contest will close at midnight on Friday, February 19th, 2021. Winning entries will be announced and read at CarrotRanch.com/blog on March 22, 2021. Top entries published at Carrot Ranch. We will not accept entries previously published (even if published on your own blog), so keep them tucked away for now.

Please continue reading at the Carrot Ranch for details on submissions.

 

Source: The Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic « Carrot Ranch Literary Community

 

©DGKaye2021