Fiction Marathon 2022: First round results

We were amazed by the high quality of writing in the first round of this year’s marathon. This definitely counts as the best first round ever in the history of the marathon.

Just to recap: once the first writing round closed, all stories were sent to the judges – anonymized – and the public voting round opened.

During the public voting round, feedback was left on the stories, which you can find at the bottom of the first round voting post. May dedicated a post to share her feedback on the 30 entries.

A tip on reading the feedback on your sentence: not all feedback will be good, and you might feel negative emotions when you read it. Don’t. It’s been given to help you, to give you tips to improve your writing. It’s up to you whether you do anything with the feedback, or just ignore it, but never feel discouraged when you read it. Turn it into something positive, and ace your next assignment!

Let’s get on to the official part of the 2022 first round results.

The authors

  1. Feeding Time – Marsha Adams
  2. Dangerous DrivewayChristopher Robin
  3. Hiding place? – Alex Irvine
  4. Not alonePeter Plancius
  5. Soul death – David Mei
  6. The Afterlife – Lyndsey Ellis-Holloway
  7. Broken Silence – Steeled Snake Charmer
  8. The Corridor – The Barefoot Sub
  9. Hunted – Hardison Parker
  10. Deep CutBob Merckel
  11. Daddy’s Rapture – Jessica Wilcox
  12. Groaking Feast – Julius Evans
  13. Old Church – Jacques Gerard
  14. God’s BathroomMarcello Spektor
  15. Dreaming – Kristen Haveman
  16. Something Approaches – August Wright
  17. Blood Kiss – Gerad Carrier
  18. Remnants – Caitlin Mazur
  19. Until Proven – Michael Williams
  20. Fear Valerie Kittell
  21. Unpleasant SurpriseMy Naughty Ideas
  22. Stung – Kelly Cathy
  23. Kissing Surprise – Rose Shavelle
  24. Running Scared – Alexander Gibbons
  25. Baby Doll – Stephanie Scissom
  26. Innocence PunishedJ. Sharland Day
  27. Copied CatKate Pasithea
  28. Death WishEric J Stover
  29. Raptor – Elk Vilianni
  30. Jarring EmptinessJosh Balerite Acol

Public vote

We kept track of all votes during the public voting round, and in total 73 legitimate votes have been received. We are amazed and grateful for your support!

Winner of the public vote (a tie):

  • Daddy’s Rapture by Jessica Wilcox
  • The Afterlife by Lyndsey Ellis-Holloway

The result of the voting can be found below.


This is the full result of the public vote:


Jury vote

Each jury member sends in their votes individually. The lowest score is removed, and the the average of the three remaining scores is the jury result.

Winner of the jury vote (a 3-way tie):

  • Remnants by Caitlin Mazur
  • Fear by Valerie Kittell
  • Deep Cut by Bob Merckel

The jury’s votes are as follows:

First Round Results 2022 Jury Vote

Overall results + rankings after first round 2022

The public votes and that of the jury are added up to get to the end result for the round. For this round, this is also the result of the rankings, but for the next round that will change as writers accumulate results from the first to the fourth rounds.

The overall winner of the first round 2022 (a tie):

  • Daddy’s Rapture by Jessica Wilcox
  • Deep Cut by Bob Merckel

The overall result for the first round 2022 and the rankings after round one are as follows:

Knocked out

All writers go through to the next round, as is stated in the marathon rules.

At the end of round 2 there will be no knockouts either, as round 3 has 30 writers. This means all the writers of this round will stay with us until round 3, and have enough time to try and secure a spot in round 4, in the race to the final.

Also remember, the accumulating of points only happens until round 4. In round 5 the slates are wiped clean, and all writers that remain in the competition, will be on equal footing.

Next round

Thank you to everyone who has written for this round and thank you to all the voters who have taken the time to read the entries, to vote and for those who have given feedback. A special thanks to the jury members for their hard work!

The writers will be sent the second assignment later today and have until midnight London time on 20 May 2022 to send in their stories. The next public voting round opens on 23 May 2022.

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