Congratulations to Gwen Angstrom, winner of the 500-word challenge with Through the Glass Darkly, an intriguing glimpse into the life of a shut-in.

Gwen wins a copy of The Writing Life by Annie Dillard.

“What’s this?” I hear you say. “Didn’t this round close mere hours ago?”

Yes, dear Waxers, in an unanticipated, blow-me-down development, our guest judge, Canberra writer, abstract painter and former journalist, Neil Lade, has delivered his decision in less than a day! Talk about setting the bar high for future judges…

Neil was given only the title and text of each entry, without author name, and agreed not to read the posted versions so was not aware of comments.

Here are his thoughts on the round:

On the very tricky subject of intrigue, Through the Glass Darkly got my vote, but it was a difficult decision. The story treated one of the meanings of intrigue in a refreshing sort of way as an unusual clandestine love affair emerged. It flowed well after a slightly awkward opening paragraph, and also had a good twist at the end that left you wanting more.

Thanks Neil and everyone who took the time to enter the ‘intrigue’ round.

The Next Challenge

In deference to our guest judge’s startling efficiency, the theme of the next 500-word challenge is ‘speed’.

Write up to 500 words around this theme and send them to waxings.blog@gmail.com by midnight, 1 May 2012 (AWST, GMT +8) for a chance to win The War of Art: Break Through The Block And Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield.

Get your skates on!