WAWA Winning Stories on ‘Endings’

Meet Julia James Burns, who once lived on an exotic island in the Indian Ocean and VJ Bauer, a proud great-grandfather - winners of our last ‘Wild Atlantic Writing Awards’ (WAWA) competition on the theme of ‘endings.’

Here’s what they said about their lives, their writing and their favorite authors and books.

And don't forget to click on the images below for deadline news and hefty discounts on our upcoming retreats, especially our brand new literary adventure in the charming Northern Irish city of Belfast.

Julia James Burns

“I’m married and have two young adult sons who are both studying, one music and the other medicine and live at home with us along with my two cavoodle dogs,” said Julia, winner of our creative nonfiction category with her poignant story entitled, ‘The Scissors.’

Having earned an MBA from the University of Western Australia, Julia has worked in many places including the UK, Italy and South East Asia. Now she wears several hats - as executive director of a large tertiary education institution, chair of an Australian cyber security consortium and deputy chair of an international school. From Perth, she now lives in North Fremantle, Western Australia.

She described the origins of her WAWA winning entry, “I had prepared my grandmother for burial many years ago and during the process I felt like the two of us were having a conversation, but I was also reminded about how close we were and how hard it was going to be to sever that tie. The whole experience felt like she was there helping me to say goodbye.” 

Her most difficult challenge in writing her story?

“Keeping the reader believing that my grandmother was alive until the very end of the story.” 

As for selecting her all-important title?

“I had played with the idea of ‘threads’ throughout, both literally and figuratively, and thought about it as a possible title but ‘Scissors’ was always what I was going to call it. They were what broke the thread and the physical connection.”

Speaking about her strengths and weaknesses, Julia added, “I’ve been told I write well about complex emotions. My biggest weakness is writing sentences that are often too long.”

Surprisingly, Julia received the good news of her competition win lying in bed. “A friend texted me. I was elated. Winning a competition like this is so important, helping validate the efforts writers make to create stories readers enjoy, but also in promoting work to publishers.”

What made Julia’s win particularly enjoyable was that her grandparents are Irish and last year she drove along the beautiful ‘Wild Atlantic Way’ where ‘Ireland Writing Retreat’ is located, with her husband, Paolo. Winning this award made her decide to join us this autumn, for our week-long writing retreat in scenic Donegal. 

Julia is now working on a memoir based on the thirteen years she lived with her husband and boys on Rottnest Island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of western Australia. Its working title is ‘Island Above the Water.’

Speaking about books, Julia’s favorite literary genre is contemporary literary fiction especially with aspects of magical realism. Her favorite three books are ‘Master and Margherita’ by Mikhail Bugakov, ‘Piranesi’ by Susanna Clarke and ‘Lola in the Mirror’ by Trent Dalton.

The Scissors

by Julia James Burns

I started with her stockings carefully guiding them over her toes so that I didn’t pull a thread. 

‘Have I got the right colour?’ I ask.  

It’s a very special day for her and she had asked me to help her dress for it. The colour must be right because we had agreed on the cream linen suit. I look up at her briefly but she has closed her eyes. 

‘Just take your time, I’m here’, I tell her.

‘And I’m here with you.’ I hear her say.  I wonder how many times she has helped me dress, held my hand? But it’s my time to help her and it must be perfect.

I look at her for a moment and see her beauty, her curiosity and love of life, the fibres that bind the two of us together for we are so alike. 

‘You know I love you’, I tell her. But she rests her eyes and doesn’t answer. She knows I love her.

‘I think we’ve made the perfect choice with the linen,’ I say, looking at the suit on its hanger. Her slip is harder to manoeuvre. I don’t want to stretch her arms over her head any further than I need to. I manage one arm at a time and edge the slip’s satin over her hips. My eyes stop momentarily there and I am reminded that this is where the thread began, when I was an egg within my own mother, then within her womb.  She spun the fibres then to fasten us together. 

I ease one arm up through the sleeve of her shirt then turn her to bring the other into its sleeve. Then I find each small mother of pearl button and thread it as I look into her face. She is serene. 

‘How’s that?’ I ask her.

Then I gently turn her to get her jacket on and button it and take her string of pearls and latch them together around her neck, behind her thick auburn hair. I dust some powder over her cheeks and a light brush of her favourite lipstick, twist a thin thread of hair back in place at her temple. 

 She looks perfect and as I hear her agree, she winks at me. I know I didn’t imagine it.  As I stand in front of her and smile, I hear her quietly say, ‘Thank you.’ 

‘It’s my honour’, I whisper back. 

She’s ready and I know it’s finally time. I reach for the thin white ribbon on the table and thread it carefully around a lock of her hair, take the scissors, pause a moment and cut.   

‘You don’t mind, do you? I ask softly, but I know now that she won’t answer me.  The story goes on now without her. I hold this last, precious piece of her in my hand and stand breathing her in one last time and then allow her to be wheeled away on a thin silver bed.   

VJ Bauer

Winner in the flash fiction category with his story ‘Matt Sheldon’s Last Bestseller,’ VJ was born in Jersey City before moving to upstate New York.

Married to Bonnie Jean for 37 years, he is a proud great-grandfather at 72, retired after many years at the AT&T family of companies. “Think Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey and I was there, testing the infancy of remote office technologies and the beginnings of the web,” he said.

Upon receiving news of his competition win, VJ said he “got all teary-eyed,” explaining, “One of my dearly departed grandmothers grew up in Cork so winning the competition on the shores of my ancestry made me feel as if I’d come home.”

VJ learned about our WAWA competition from a friend in the Canary Islands who informed him about it mere hours before the deadline. “I’m not a fan of the pressure of a ticking clock, so I said to myself, ‘What the heck. I’ll give it a try.’ 

His win reflects the importance of patience and perseverance. “I’d tried cooking up a version for a regional flash fiction competition some time ago but failed. It made me rethink the whole thing. The rewrite then stewed in my imagination before I served it up anew to you.” 

VJ's view of writing is quirky and humorous. “Characters don’t like being told what to do. If it were up to them, they’d do the writing. Flash fiction doesn’t allow for that. They have to do things my way, and eventually, they do - but never without a fight.”

Originally he had entitled his story simply, ‘The End,’ but with the competition’s criteria forbidding use of the word ‘endings’ or variations thereof, he had a re-think. “I pondered a title that spoke more about the content and hinted at endings without spelling it out.”

Asked what his strengths and weaknesses in writing are, his light-hearted nature shone through again. “I’ve a vivid imagination which I’ve honed over time, becoming what I’d term ‘an executive daydreamer.’ On the flip side, unfortunately, I'm a troublesome procrastinator. Bummer.”

As for his favorite literary genre and books. “Speculative Thrillers. I love a good mystery with a dash of intrigue and suspense. But I’m also drawn to stories that venture into the margins of imaginative what-ifs.”

His three most favorite books? 

Dean Koontz’s ‘Fear Nothing.’

Stephen R. Donaldson’s ‘Lord Foul’s Bane.”

Diana J. Gabaldon’s ‘Outlander.’ 

Matt Sheldon’s Last Bestseller

by VJ Bauer

    Drawing her gun, Officer Sara Mitchell entered the home of mystery writer Matt Sheldon after receiving an anonymous tip of an armed man inside. Stealthy moving through the dimly lit house, approaching a closed door, she heard two men arguing amidst crumpling paper, faint bell rings, and repetitive clicks.

     "Quit stalling," a man with a wheeze said. He sounded old. Tired. Angry about something. "Just get on with it.” 

     "You won't get away with this!" said another. 

     Matt Sheldon, Sara thought, whispering into her shoulder microphone for backup then leaning against the door. She'd heard him on podcasts talking about writing. Sara had an interest. She imagined herself a best-selling author, like Sheldon, someday if she could find the time to write. She'd read all his books. She knew his writing style. His voice. This one was different. This Matt Sheldon feared for his life.

     "Need I remind you?" the wheezing man said. "I'm in charge here. I'm the one with the gun!”

     With a forceful push, Sara burst into the room shouting, “Freeze!"

     Matt Sheldon stopped clicking typewriter keys with his left hand while holding a gun to his head with his right.

     "Wha...what's going on?" She said.

     The room was empty except for Sheldon, who sat behind an old wooden desk and an antique typewriter. A gooseneck lamp dimly lit the workspace. A side trash basket was overflowing, and crumpled balls of paper littered the floor.

     He looked weary. Disheveled. He was barefoot, wearing a soiled t-shirt and well-worn jeans. 

     "Don't shoot!" He said, quickly standing, lowering his gun to his desk, and stepping back. "It's not what you think. I'm, I'm not crazy. I just needed inspiration," he said, raising trembling hands. "Something fresh. Something out of the ordinary. A twist. A surprise to tie everything together. After several best sellers, I'd run out of ideas. So, I called in the anonymous tip and threw myself into character. Perhaps too literally," he giggled, wheezing like the old man, before resuming his Sheldon persona. "But it worked! You're here! And you've brought precisely what I needed!”

     "Save it for the Shrinks," she said as her backup arrived.

     "No!" He said, struggling as they cuffed him. "My story! My readers! You can't leave them hanging. Let me write! Let me write!" He pleaded, but she jerked her head towards the door, signaling the officers to take him away.

     Before turning off the light and following, she stooped over the typewriter, read where he'd left off, looked up to make sure she was alone, and then began typing narrative details of her entrance just moments ago. Embellishing the dialog with sentences of suspense and added tension, mimicking Sheldon's cadence and style, she typed the dramatic reveal of the character's split personality, his confession, and the climatic struggle while being handcuffed and taken away.

     "There," she'd said, removing the last page and placing it atop his written manuscript. "Matt Sheldon’s last bestseller."