Woops, I seem to have messed up the scheduling of this post (it was supposed to have appeared last Thursday) - better late than never I guess.
I got my Valerie Parv Award results back the other day. It was quite interesting really, because it demonstrated the variation in people's perspective. The two most consistent criticisms were to include a scene that occurs before the story starts and to have more of a secondary character. The thing is, in my rewrites for M&B these were the very two things they asked me to remove *grin*. Obviously, the advice I followed is M&B - after all, they are the ones I want to buy my books.
But it was these two points that were the basis for two of my judges scoring me down. I wonder what my scores would have been if they knew M&B's take on these issues?
I guess the thing to remember when entering competitions is just that, it's one person's perspective and not the be all and end all. I think when reading the feedback the best thing to do is to take what you like and toss the rest.
My third judge loved my entry, and provided my favourite comment:
A well written entry and I can't wait to find out the ending. After all, that's what you want, a story the reader can't put down because they want to know the ending :o)
I've finalled in the Valerie Parv Award. Happy dance time!! 
