Betsy Ashton's novel wins writing contest

Courtesy of SMAC

At the SMAC annual meeting on Oct. 27 were (from left): Betsy Ashton, SMAC Novel Contest winner and recipient of a $1,000 check; Judy Reap, SMAC president; Becky Mushko, second place and $400 recipient; and Jennifer Merritt, who took third place and a check for $200.

Betsy Ashton's novel "Unintended Consequences" took first place in the Smith Mountain Arts Council (SMAC) and its Lake Writers' 2009 SMAC Novel Contest. Ashton lives in Moneta, writes for Laker Weekly and is a member of Lake Writers and Valley Writers in Roanoke.

"Unintended Consequences" features Mad Max Davies, a reluctant boomer grandmother, who finds herself taking care of her grown daughter and two grandchildren after her daughter is badly injured in an accident. She and her grandchildren become involved with solving a murder and exposing why the killer kills.

Second place went to Becky Mushko of Penhook for her novel "Stuck." Mushko, who lives in Penhook, is a retired teacher, blogger and former columnist. She writes children's literature and has self-published five books.

In "Stuck," 11-year-old Jacie -- stuck in grief over her mother's death, stuck at camp with her worst enemy and stuck on a Franklin County farm with her father's new fiancee -- helps a ghost who is stuck on Earth until she learns what happened to her young daughter.

The third-place winner was Jennifer Merritt for "Archer's Storm," her first novel.

Merritt, a freelance writer, lives at Spring Lake Farm in Moneta with her husband, children and father-in-law. Her novel features Archer Brookwood, who dreams of traveling to distant worlds, but one summer he realizes this world is larger than he ever imagined. Magic is as close as his own back yard.

Judge Sandra Clayton-Emmerson selected three finalists from the 13 area writers who submitted the first 50 pages of their novels. The finalists were then asked to submit their complete novels for final judging.

Clayton-Emmerson is the archivist of Manhattan College in New York. She teaches college-level composition and information literacy. She has more than 25 years experience as a researcher, writer, college and high school teacher, editor and archivist. She is the editor and publisher of three collegiate magazines and the author of several annotated bibliographies.

The contest was coordinated by Fran Nielsen, a member of Lake Writers.