Look what I won in the Carolina Woman magazine 2023 writing contest for a short story I submitted! Actually, these candles and perfumes are what I picked to redeem my $300 gift card.

I’m not making this up (although I find my winning a writing contest hard to believe myself.) Here’s part of the email I received notifying me that “Good Night, Irene’ was selected as the First Prize winner!

Disclaimer: There is a Grand Prize Winner, so I’m actually second place. However, there were almost 100 entries in this no-fee-to-submit contest, so I’m still plenty proud of myself.

Before you search for the story, let me tell you a little bit about it. No spoilers, but a couple of the characters were inspired by my parents.

The title itself is the name of a folk song recorded by a group called the Weavers. Their version of “Good Night, Irene” was a #1 hit in 1950 and no doubt the one I heard my daddy singing around the house when I was a little girl.

My parents courted in the late 1940s, early 50s, and the descriptions of a young Irene and her husband Henry are based on these pictures I have of a young Inez and Paul (my parents), taken around that time.

Like the character Henry in the story, my father died young, at age 56, from a heart attack. Like Irene, my mother never remarried and lived to a ripe old age. A question posed at the end of “Good Night, Irene” addresses this age-at-death difference.

Or does it? If you read the story, look for a clue that maybe the final scene takes place only in Irene’s mind. Who knows?

“Good Night, Irene” is not, however, and I repeat NOT, a depiction of my parents’ lives. For one thing, my mother wasn’t a smoker. And I hope my sisters and I aren’t like Irene’s self-centered daughters. I simply used my parents’ pictures and when each died as a starting point for the action of the story.

Okay, I hope you’re intrigued and want to click on this link to Carolina Woman magazine where “Good Night, Irene” appears: http://www.carolinawoman.com/writing_winners2023.php

You’ll have to scroll past a short description of the contest and that pesky Grand Prize Winner to find me 🙂

If you read the story, let me know what you think.