And STILL I Revise...Welcome to the homepage of Chris Owens...

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I'm an aspiring writer of speculative fiction, that is, imaginative tales that ask the great What If?

For me, 2007 was the year of almosts. In the words of Maxwell Smart, "Missed it by that much."

* In November 2007, The Azazel Tree, a fantasy novelette, made it to the finals, the Top 8, in the Writers of the Future contest. From what I understand, the story was sent to Larry Niven, Tim Powers, Kevin J. Anderson and Nina Kikiri Hoffman for final judging. But, alas, though I got futher than hundreds, perhaps thousands of others, I didn't win. Recently, I sent The Azazel Tree to Realms of Fantasy and I recieved my second Yellow Form of Promise. The assisant editor, Doug Cohen, liked the concept and the pacing.

* Earlier, in April 2007, Foregleamer, a SF&F novelette, made it to the semifinals in the Writers of the Future contest. I recieved a critique from Kathy Wentworth, a pro author as well as the coordinating judge. Later on, I sent Foregleamer to Realms of Fantasy, and though the assisant editor rejected it, they gave me my first Yellow Form of Promise, along with handwritten notes. Another close, but...

* In August 2007, my one-and-only mainstream short made it to the final rounds of Style Weekly's Fifth Annual Fiction Contest. It didn't win. Of course, even if I had won first place, I'm not sure if that would've been that big of deal. It's a local paper and the publication would not be a SFWA approved pro sale.

Maybe in 2008...