Welcome to the RPLA Showcase
Each year at the Royal Palm Literary Award Banquet, authors experience the joy of earning accolades for all the hard work that is often done in the privacy of the home with little to no recognition. Our goal is to showcase the best of the best at the 2016 Royal Palm Literary Awards and provide First Place winners with a well-deserved spotlight. Not only are we recognizing extraordinary talent, but we’re giving readers an opportunity to sample excerpts from the winning stories.
2016 Published Humor/Satire (fiction)
The Cow in the Doorway by Gino Bardi
Gino Bardi won First Place in the Published Humor/Satire (fiction) category. In The Cow in the Doorway, Tony had a few simple goals for his freshman year at college: stay out of the draft, get high, find a girlfriend. But then his life happened.
Click the link to read a sample:
Excerpt from The Cow in the Doorway
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Q & A with Gino Bardi
Q: Where do you get your story ideas?
A: Almost all my ideas spring from an ‘inciting incident’ that actually happened to me; from there I make everything up as there very rarely is enough in that to support a strong story. Right now I’m working on a science fiction story, where I have to make up everything. It’s way harder!
Q: Anything in particular about your award-winning RPLA entry that you’d like to share?
A: The story The Cow in the Doorway began life as a short story about a college kid who fell crazy in love with a girl out of his league. But little by little, it grew, as I added themes and issues, one after the other, to add depth and gravitas to the story. Then I decided it was too dark, so I filled it with humor. I added characters, locations, issues and problems…I didn’t think I’d ever finish and I had no idea how, or when, it would end. When I got to about 120,000 words, I had to start thinking about it as a novel. I eventually got the book down to 100,000, and when I got to the last line, “This is as real as a date can get,” I called it quits. The story had ended itself without my involvement. I love when that happens. Very early in the writing, I decided to print out the whole MS in actual book format (justified, 12 point, correct indents, chapter heads, margins, etc.) I bound the book together. I was so impressed with myself I figured, hey, now I HAVE to finish it! Look! It’s a BOOK! I plan to do that again if I ever run out of steam.
Q: Who do you credit with inspiring your writing?
A: My mother thought I was funny (and I thought she was. Still do.) My college writing teacher, Jim McConkey, now Professor Emeritus at Cornell always encouraged me, and Dr. David Edmonds, leader of my writing group (Tarpon Springs Fiction Writers) pushed me to complete the book. Also, my uncle was a prolific screenwriter and TV producer in the 1960’s. He always told me I was the greatest twelve-year-old writer he knew. But he never optioned anything of mine.
Q: Any tips for new writers?
A: Yeah. But this has been said before. Write. No excuses. Put your butt in the chair (or stand up at your desk if you’re a health nut) and just WRITE. Don’t constantly rewrite and tinker, until you have the whole story told. Then go back and fix. And use a good editor to show you where you’re losing your way. Stop whining.
Thank you for sharing, Gino, and congratulations! Visit his website: www.ginobardi.com
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