Inge, maybe this is a time for a breakthrough! I write fiction mostly as well, but think of all the lessons you've learned from writing fiction. The journey you yourself have been on to be polished and joyful being able to express what's in your heart via the worlds of fiction. Were there never days when you felt writer's block and felt a little dead? When you began to catch the flow again, did that not feel like a re-entry? Your reaction was to decide you're out of the contest because it's non-fiction. Is that not another form of death? In the Kappas book of letters (Letters to a Young Poet,) sent to the great poet Rilke, he asks of Kappas, determine "if you would die" if you could not write. Think about it. If you could not write, would not that bring on a death deep down in your soul? We have until August 24. That's a generous space of time. Think of the spaces you've encountered to share your heart through your fiction. Think of all the spaces you visited to write your stories. You could not write fiction well, most likely, until you had and still read, a lot. I'm at 155 novels since Dec. 2016. I've travelled the world in fiction to places I likely will never visit. But each of those spaces occupies a space in my heart because I was there in a story. So please. I don't know a thing about you, but I love to write, and if you've done all you have in your fiction career, you do, too. The writing gods and muses are calling "all writers." That's you, me, and millions of others. To write long works of fiction requires the unveiling of what my writing master refers to as "Full-frontal nudity of the soul." A couple of years ago when Ottessa Moshfegh was promoting "My Year of Rest and Relaxation," I told her of my writing master's words, and asked her how that applied to her book. Without missing a beat, Ottessa said, "There's definitely some side-boob action going on there." When she signed my copy about 30 minutes later, she wished me luck in my fiction, and added, "Stay nude!" Just a thought.... Good luck, Inge and blessings to you. --Donald J. "Donny" Claxton