Announcing Our Fiction Contest Winners

Though the word creativity often conjures images of great visual art, writing, music, or theater, it also ripples through our day-to-day lives. We use our creativity to solve problems at home as we figure out what to prepare for dinner, how to organize a small space, or how to stretch our budget. We practice creativity at work when we look for solutions to problems by means of brainstorming or troubleshooting.

We exercise our creativity in so many different ways. And the entries in our first flash fiction contest were a testament to that fact.

Readers were invited to submit a short work of fiction on the theme of creativity, interpreting that theme in whichever way they wanted. The story had to be short—no more than 500 words—with a plot and characters, all packaged into a small space.

There were stories of different genres, including sci-fi, fantasy, and romance. Many were about artists, writers, musicians, or the act of creating, but many were also about everyday life. Some were lighthearted and fun; others left us much to ponder. The contest was truly a celebration of creativity in all its forms, and we are so grateful to everyone who entered. You all left us truly inspired, and we’re honored that you took the time to share your own creativity with us.

To select the winning stories, we called in an expert. We were delighted to welcome Katherine Reay as our guest judge. Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels, including A Shadow in Moscow and her recent release, The Berlin Letters, Cold War spy novel, inspired by the Berlin Wall and the women who served in the CIA’s Venona Project, which was recently picked as a NPR “Must Read.” When not writing, Katherine hosts the What the Dickens Book Club on Facebook and weekly chats with authors and booksellers at The 10 Minute Book Talk on Instagram. But if she’s really lucky, you’ll find her fly fishing and hiking in Montana. 

You can meet Katherine at katherinereay.com or on Facebook: KatherineReayBooks, Twitter: @katherine_reay and Instagram: @katherinereay

Of judging the contest, Reay had this to say:

Reading fiction is a truly subjective experience—one that is determined as much by the words on the page as it is by the reader’s busyness or breakfast. In one of the most frenetic summers of my life, engaging in these stories and entering into these worlds was an absolute delight and a much-needed escape. I am so thankful to have been part of this experience and thank the authors for the beauty embedded within each story.

Writing a well-crafted and compelling flash fiction story is not an easy task. In few words, one must draw the reader into a complete moment then bring the character experiencing that singular “flash” to a compelling conclusion. Each of these entries did just that. I was captivated by the strong and original use of imagery, the focus upon that one moment, and the twist each author brought to the story that either defied expectations or left me traveling the narrative’s path long after the last line.

Judging this contest was not an easy task. I read each entry several times over a series of days—so no particular morning’s breakfast unduly influenced my perspective—and discovered something new at every pass. Each author created layers and wove threads beneath the surface. An impressive feat within such a short format, and a vital one too, as I believe it is within that realm—the story between the lines—the power in fiction lies.

Thank you, again, for letting me be a part of this experience and I hope you all enjoy each story. Congratulations to all the authors, and I wish you the best!

The winning stories will be published in our upcoming Creativity issue this fall. (Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss this and our other upcoming issues!)

Finally, it’s important to note that the contest was judged blind, with no restrictions on entry. We were pleasantly surprised when we learned the age of the winner. To us, this speaks to the wide-ranging reach of our community—and it also bodes well for our next big project, Verily Teen, which we’re in the early stages of developing.

And now, without further ado, we’re pleased to announce the winners!

First Place

"The Flower Lady of Hooverville" by Mary G. Lane

Mary G. Lane is a 12-year-old writer from Front Royal, Virginia, who has had work published through Substack, Stone Soup Magazine, and Magic Dragon Magazine.

Comments from Katherine Reay: “This story made wonderful use of an unexpected time and place as well as beautiful imagery, and created a strong message that was nevertheless subtle and layered. The child narrator was also an insightful choice. One hallmark of flash fiction is to surprise the reader—in this instance the “surprise” is not the twist as much as it is the questions that linger long after the story’s last word. We ask—Who did this child become? And can we too see beauty in the simple? I thoroughly enjoyed it and pondered those questions. Well done and congratulations.”

Runners Up

"Color and Sound" by Annie Schuler

Annie Schuler is a young woman with a passion for storytelling. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, she graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2017. She now lives in Lockport, New York, with her husband and newborn son. Her debut non-fiction work, Women of All Seasons, can be found on Amazon.

Comments from Katherine Reay: “This is a wonderful representation of the fairy tale genre in its use of magic, a twist, and a subtle but clear moral message. The pacing of the story felt pitch-perfect as well.”

"Portals" by Rebekah Balick

Rebekah Balick is a published writer and artist based in Alexandria, Virginia. Her short stories and artwork have appeared in literary magazines and contests since 2021, and in 2023 she received a Columbia Scholastic Press Gold Circle Award for Illustration. She works full-time in international business while frequently completing commission artwork and working on a novel.

Comments from Katherine Reay: “The strong imagery in this story immediately draws in the reader. It creates a tense opening moment and a satisfying twist. The use of time-elapse—two generations—makes the ironic ending all the more impactful. Well done!”

"They Say to Write What You Know" by Faith Molino

Faith Molino is a writer and fairytale enthusiast who studies English Literature at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Her passion is crafting stories and poetry that uplift her readers and highlight the simple sacredness of everyday moments. In her spare time, she enjoys taking long walks in the woods, sharing good conversations over cups of chamomile tea, and being the resident Tolkien nerd.

Comments from Katherine Reay: “This story made wonderful use of action imagery and original constructions, as well as employing a metered cadence that slowed the busyness and let the reader enter that liminal moment. The use of ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’ made the mother’s vulnerability and the poignant ending all the more dramatic.”

What else is in the Creativity issue?

You won’t want to miss these stories, nor the other rich content that will fill the pages of the Creativity issue. Our small team of women crafts each issue with great care, and our hope is that when you come away from Verily, you feel refreshed, sure of yourself, and inspired. We’re doing something different from other women’s media.

In a study of print media, researchers at Wesleyan University found that on average, across 58 different magazines, 51.8 percent of advertisements that featured women portrayed them as sex objects.

The truth is, the kind of media that has traditionally been available to women has been failing us. Verily wants to facilitate vital conversations around the struggles and joys of womanhood, addressing our needs and desires with authenticity and sensitivity.

We’re fostering a movement that doesn’t embrace an “ideal” body type, image, or status—and that doesn’t tell a woman how she’s supposed to be, but instead empowers her to be who she is.

You won’t find sex tips, diet hacks, or celebrity gossip. You won’t find images of unattainable bodies, because we don’t Photoshop the women who appear in our pages.

So what will you find? Here’s a glimpse of just some of the content in our upcoming issue:

• Tips on self-portrait photography from Ashlee Gadd, founder of Coffee + Crumbs and author of Create Anyway
• Insight on the art of visible mending from Molly Rooke, the founder of Darn Good Studio
• An article on Rescue Her, a Texas organization that empowers survivors of sex trafficking
• A photoshoot featuring the bright colors and creativity of British fashion
• An interview with a zero-waste entrepreneur
• A reflection on motherhood and creativity

If that sounds appealing to you, subscribe to our quarterly print magazine today. If you’d rather not pay all at once, you can use our $5/month option.

Finally, if you’d like to be a bigger part of furthering our mission as a nonprofit, consider making a donation—or spreading the word to anyone you know who is looking for a mission like ours to support.