One of the nicest things about the Christmas Short Story Contest is telephoning the winners. I feel like the Publishers Clearing House guy.

"Hi, this is Jessie Moniz from The Royal Gazette. You just won the Christmas Short Story Contest."

Response: "Is this is a joke?"

"Er, no, is this Claudette?"

"I did, I won? I can't believe it."

When I asked to speak of one of the adult Honourable Mentions I was told that she was sick in bed.

"Well, that's a shame because she just won something in the Christmas story contest," I said.

"She did?" said her husband. "Well, I guess I should go wake her up then."

After a moment, a very creaky voice said: "Hello?"

And at MyKaelah Smith's house we were slightly taken aback when a little voice named Myka answered.

There was a panicked silence from me, as I thought, could 'MyKaelah' be pronounced 'Myka'? And what if there were two children with similar names and we gave the prize to the wrong sibling? These are the scenarios that keep contest judges up at night.

After a moment, I asked if mummy or daddy was home. Daddy was indisposed.

In desperation I said, "Er, is there someone there who spells her name, M-Y-K-A-E-L-A-H?"

"Yes, my sister," said the little voice. Then there was a great clatter, the sound of buttons being pushed and then the phone went dead. Eventually though, we made contact.

Did I mention that this is a volunteer position?

As a kid I entered the competition twice. One year I had a story printed, although it didn't win anything. It didn't matter really. Just seeing my story in print meant so much to me. As far as my family was concerned I might as well have won. And it was tremendous encouragement for me. At the Christmas Short Story presentation one of the nicest things was seeing the children with that same sense of validation. You could see it on their faces: "I am a writer. I am not just wasting paper, after all."

The down side is that this year we had many great entries and couldn't give prizes to them all. Some people didn't win because their stories needed some polish. Stories with multiple spelling or grammatical mistakes quickly went to the bottom of the pile. Tip: there is no faster way to not win than to use the word "pacific" instead of "specific".

Therefore, I encourage people who did not win this year, who believe that I have made a horrible mistake in my selections, to go eat another piece of cassava pie, have another glass of eggnog and relax! Try again next year. (Ed. note: Also see the article on this page with more tips for writing success.)

One of our contestants, Patricia Barboza, has been entering the competition since 1966. Some years she has won and other years she hasn't. Unfortunately, this was a year when she didn't. But well-done Patricia, anyway. That's the spirit. Keep trying.

Lastly, a special thank you to Wanda Brown, the advertising co-ordinator for the Short Story Greetings supplement, who this year helped read many of the stories.