The Rossmoor Homeowners Association is launching its 5th annual Fiction Writing Contest, an event to bring together the community's writers and creative thinkers. The contest is open to any Rossmoor resident with a good imagination and a story to tell. This year they hope to make the contest more inclusive and allow all the writers an opportunity to meet each other.
Entries can be no longer than 1,000 words. The deadline is July 1.
Winners will be announced at a picnic hosted by the RHA at one of the Rossmoor parks. It will be open to all the contest participants, and more details about that event will be provided later in the contest.
You don't have to be a professional writer to enter. Some successful authors did not begin writing until they were well past the age of 40. Entries should have a Rossmoor theme of some type, either placed in Rossmoor or about characters who came from Rossmoor.
In the past entries there have been powerful stories about romance, humor of daily life in this community, loneliness of old age and the hostility that can grow between neighbors. This year's winning story might be about a crooked government official who schemes or about a youngster’s challenge of a big match on one of Rossmoor's tennis courts. Perhaps it will be about a soldier serving his country far from home who is dreaming back to his days in Rossmoor.
The winner of the contest will receive a $200 gift certificate from co-sponsor, The Original Fish Company. Their story will be published on the RHA website. For a change from last year, they will award three $50 gift certificates to contest participants in a random drawing. All you have to do is enter an original story that you wrote to qualify.
Send your stories by email to rossmoorfiction@aol.com or by regular mail to P.O. Box 5058, Rossmoor, CA 90721-5058. If you have questions about the contest, contact Ralph Vartabedian at ralphv9@aol.com.