Check it out: Indie Writer Death Match

You know when your fingers are too cold to type? When you have to enter your email password 6 times before you hit every key with enough force for it to come out correctly? When you put hand sanitizer on then think, "When did I get that paper cut?" but then realize it's just your cracked skin because it's too flippin' dry and cold in here?

Yeah, that's why next week I'll be taking a week off. I'm leaving the frozen tundra of northern Wisconsin to hit the Southeast (so get your ice storms out of the way now and make way for 70 degrees!). At approximately this time next Tuesday, I'll be somewhere in the air space above southern Wisconsin or northern Illinois, where I'll make a connection to make another connection to get to my vacation destination.

You may, of course, contact me via blog comment below, but I will not respond until March 18th, when I'm safely home again (and freezing) and back in Central Standard Time.

To while away the hours until then, check out this awesome new writing competition I found a few weeks back and have adored following. It's called the Indie Writer Death Match and is brought to you annually by Broken Pencil lit mag.

The Death Match is like a cross between the Hunger Games and your Sunday book group giving their hipster opinions on the newest Claire Messud novel. Tons of writers submit their best short stories, then the editors narrow the field down to the Death Match participants. From there, the voting is up to the people as stories go head to head in sets of 2 until they make it (or not) to the final round. While all of this is taking place, the comments section explodes with reader jabs, writer defenses, and moderator schemes.

Don't believe me? Here's a sample of the comments from the currently running final round, which takes place until March 9th. The two final stories are Eraser and Idiot Without a Coat On.

Cody Oschefski: "Eraser seems to be the clear winner here. Not sure how she fell behind."
Cat B: "Ummmm...I attribute it to the fact that Idiot Without A Coat On is the clearer winner."

So partake in the Death Match (and maybe write something for next year's Death Match? Huh? HUH?) until I return. There, words are the weapons, and literary slingers are abundant. Immerse yourselves, my friends, while I search for weather above 7 degrees.