Writers of the Month - January

Jan 1, 201211 min read

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Published: Jan 1, 2012

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Celebrating the Deviants who make an outstanding contribution to our community.

Every month we proudly feature a member of our group who has helped support our writers. These valuable members are highly active in the community, reading and discussing other member's work.

January 2012's Writer of the Month is a special feature dedicated to several of the most outstanding contributors over the last 12 months!

We run a number of regular features at WritersInk, with the aim of both showcasing the talents of the community and rewarding the members who contribute most to it. To get the best of those features, we constantly try to balance keeping the features entertaining - because if no-one is going to read them, then what's the point? - and making sure that they benefit the right members.

The sad result of that is that not all the members who contribute get the rewards they deserve. We can only do so much, and sometimes members miss out on recognition simply due to bad timing. Other members who quietly crop up from time to time to give valuable feedback to other writers often miss out because there always seems to be a better candidate in any particular month.

To try and redress this balance a little, the first Writer of the Month of 2012 is a little different. We've split this feature between several members, as a thank you for their hard work. The following writers caught our attention last year, but for various reasons haven't been honoured yet.

We know there still are plenty of members out there deserving of better recognition. If you feel like you deserve more, then be patient: we'll have seen your efforts, and you may have a surprise coming soon. But each member of the group is important to the community: so for every piece of feedback you've given; for every feature you've read and each journal you've favourited; for each time you've voted in a poll or check out our home page: thank you. Each of you has contributed to making this community a special place - and long may it continue!

For a long time now, Magnius159 has been a busy reader of work in the gallery, taking time to leave thoughtful feedback. Her efforts really help to make the community such a good place for writers to submit their work. She tends to specialise in longer pieces herself: we've dug out one of our favourites for your pleasure.

The HospitallerRaffael squinted against the red setting sun which fractured and poured in as a figure stepped into the vacant infirmary. Almost vacant. His company for the entirety of the afternoon had been wrapped in on one of the beds, silently mocking him. Raffe met the Brother with a smile.
The broad man nodded a greeting and proceeded into the hall, his long robe rustling.
Raffe rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands. His fingers were stained black with ink and he wiped it with a cloth he produced from his coat pocket.
"Go home." Jari's voice echoed against the stone walls before footsteps disappeared into the far room. He re-emerged with a tray of tonics in vials, leaves and dressings. Amongst the long tapered leaves were small, black bulbs peppered with white flowers. The Lacewurt treatment.
"Brother Jari," he said pushing his palms against the table to stand. "I said I would care for the old man."
"I've watched you enough times to know what to do. Besides, there's nothing else you can do

The Hospitaller

A rich beginning to a longer story which achieves some wonderful world-building. Magnius159 paints a world and characters with history, geography - making them seem real. There's enough detail to draw the reader in, but not to drown them. Not everyone will enjoy the patient build up (which has yet to deliver a pay-off in this introductory section) - but it's a finely crafted work.

Back in June/July, LadySkylar was a very active member of the community - leaving lots of encouraging feedback for our members. She narrowly missed out on July's Writer of the Month, and has been quiet ever since. We never got the chance to thank her for her support - so here it is!

Change"I would like a Barbie for my birthday," said my young sister one day, in the words that would start a spiral of change.  I looked up from my task of packing a small bag and stared at her.  I took in the slight tremble of her chin, the watery gaze of her dark eyes, the way she tugged at a strand of her auburn hair.  She matched me in more ways than just looks.  She, like me, did not ask unnecessary questions.  We didn't rely on others for stuff, but rather put suggestions out there and hoped that they would be taken.
"Why?" I asked after a moment of staring across the cave, where her face was illuminated oddly by the flickering, dying bulb in the lamp.
"Old Man told me about them.   He says every girl had one once," she said.
Alarm.  It was a common emotion.  It was the sort that made my eyes widen and my voice grow sharp.
"How did Old Man tell you this?" I demanded.
"He doesn't

Change

This is a post-apocalyptic survival tale, with parallels to I Am Legend or Justin Cronin's The Passage. Audrey lives with her sister, surviving in the woods of a broken world. When her sister asks for a Barbie Doll, the process of change takes hold of Audrey's world. So begins a gripping and exciting read, with a great main character and good conjuration of atmosphere.

KwatzHeWrote hasn't been on deviantART very long, but he's definitely made himself known to the community. He leaves deeply thoughtful feedback to pieces which catch his eye, with a knack for thinking out-of-the-box. This thoughtfulness frequently manifests itself in his intelligent sci-fi stories.

Icarus' apologyPerhaps you were right,
I dared too much,
But a life spent without going beyond the limits
And common thought
Would have been my real labyrinth,
Father.

Icarus' Apology

Any of KwatzHeWrote's sci-fi stories are worth a read - but this feature is already top-heavy on long stories. As a change of pace, here's a short poem which neatly captures Icarus' motivations for his fabled flight.

neuroticmnemonic is the sort of deviant who has made regular but infrequent contributions to the community since joining us a few short months ago. We appreciate the feedback he leaves other members, as well as his support of the regular features. He also boasts one of the best screen names of all our members!

:thumb264948292:

Portrait of a Mouse Killer

A crafty piece of short prose which does a brilliant job of capturing the mindset of the protagonist. There's lots of dark themes in this story, but in the end our hero is just a misguided guy trying to do the right thing.

This feature will be back to normal in February. We're keeping a close eye on the activity in the gallery, and our admins will soon be deciding who has made the greatest contribution to the group. Do you think someone deserves the dedicated feature on our front page? Send monstroooo a note and let us know! Happy new year, everybody!