I just got my hardcopies of Volume 35 Number 2 of FreeFall (Fall 2025). I have two stories in this. ‘Still Me, Still You’, which shares third place in the prose contest, and ‘The Rainbow’, which won the Lynn C. Fraser Memorial Award.

I find it amazing and humbling to have my words in print. It’s odd. It’s moving. It’s affecting, and that feeling never goes away. It never becomes ordinary. Like, why did anyone pick anything I wrote to print? What the heck is wrong with people??? Or what the heck is wrong with me for writing the things I do???

A couple of things from the hardcopy. The Lynn C. Fraser Memorial Award is “awarded to a story or poem that captures the sense of whimsy, humour, or clever social commentary that Lynn embraced in life”. I’m now sad that I never got to meet Lynn C. Fraser. She sounds wonderful. The story that won this prize, ‘The Rainbow’ does do social commentary for sure (whether it’s clever or not is up for debate), it’s funny (at least I think so), and I believe that the label of ‘whimsy’ does apply. I like being whimsical. I don’t like being serious all the time, including in writing, although there are times when I’m very serious in writing. It’s all about balance. But it’s also about being unbalanced. I like the word ‘whimsy’ in the context. I take that as a badge of honour.

That story could also be considered a bit controversial, but I’ll let others judge that for themselves. I offer no reader warnings, however. I’ll let the surprise stand.

The other story (Still Me, Still You)… judge Sheri-D Wilson has words in general about writing that I find interesting in terms of what she’s looking for:

“The short stories that truly stood out – the winning entries – were those that transported me beyond the page. They took me somewhere else entirely, lifting me out of myself into new worlds, emotions, and perspectives. These stories didn’t just entertain; they compelled me to keep reading, pulled me forward with urgency, and lingered with me long after the final word. As always, it was the quirky ones that shone – filled with unexpected twists and surprising turns of phrase, moments of originality that sparked delight and kept me guessing. They reminded me of the power of storytelling – not just to describe life, but to transform it.”

I really appreciate Sheri-D’s take there. And I hope I’m quirky! I think the story that made the cut was unexpected in how it came together in my head, overlaid with my propensity for breaking rules where I can (like keep a short story in a limited timeframe, not years). This is a story about masculinity, but not of the toxic variety. It’s about love, of the deepest kind. It’s told from the perspective of a man and it’s told from the perspective of a woman, and I’m only one of those things, and that’s all I have to say about that!

My congratulations to the other prose winners and the poetry winners, looking forward to reading all your work shortly, in print!