Thousands around the world vote every year for their favorites in publishing through the Critters Readers’ Poll. I’m happy to announce in 2024 I was honored with six Best of the Year Awards: Best Author, Best Writers Workshop (Wulf Pack Writers), Best Magical Realism Short Story (“Pink Pickled Pixies”), Best All other Short Story (“Precious Treasure”). Best Nonfiction Article (“The Price of Victory”), and Best Writers Resource (Wulf Moon’s SUPER SECRETS). I believe THANK YOUs are in order!
First, my deepest thanks to the Wulf Pack Writers group, my greatest supporters. They embody Kipling’s words: “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” GO WULF PACK!!!
Next, I have to thank Critters Writers’ founder for hosting this award every year. Thank you for giving our readers a chance to have their voices heard. That is special in awards, and very much appreciated. Our readers are what matter. They are the ones that allow us to have writing careers. These awards reflect that.
Next is publisher Juli Rew of Third Flatiron Anthologies. She gave me my first break in my phoenix year of 2018 and she’s been publishing my stories ever since. Thank you, Juli, for publishing “Pink Pickled Pixies” in Offshoots: Humanity Twigged. You’re a great publisher and editor! You had NINE stories from ONE anthology in Tangent Online’s 2024 Recommended Reading List. That’s a phenomenal accomplishment!
Then we have “Precious Treasure” published in WINK by the wonderfully supportive publishers at Brigids Gate Press. I was commissioned to write a story for this by editor Henry L. Herz. Thank you for including me in an anthology with so many NYT bestselling and award-winning authors, Henry. I considered this a great honor, and I thank you for the invitation.
Danny Hankner! He’s the publisher and editor of Story Unlikely Magazine, wrote the most beautiful review after reading HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORY, and then hired me to write my Super Secrets of Writing articles for The Writer’s Gym in his magazine of 11,000 subscribers! Come work out with us! Brett Favre of NFL fame is in there! Really!
I’ve got to thank the wonderful people at Writers and Illustrators of the Future. They gave my career a turbo boost after I won their contest with “Super-Duper Moongirl and the Amazing Moon Dawdler.” Thank you, John Goodwin, for having me on your WotF Podcast and with Joe Montaldo’s Author’s Quill program on UPRNTalkRadio. Millions of listeners each episode can only help!
And I can’t forget Scot and Jane Noel at DreamForge Magazine of Science and Fantasy Fiction. They were first to publish my Super Secrets of Writing articles and did a lovely video to support their writers nominated in these awards.
I also have my Patreon backers to thank! That’s a new thing I developed in 2024, and they’re the ones that help fund the work I do to help writers level up for success. Thank you, Patrons!
And finally, there’s you! Yes, you! I asked my fans to weigh in after considering the nominees in each category, and you must have. This could not have happened without the support of my loyal fans. Thank you!
2024 was a GREAT year! May 2025 be even better for us all!
ALL THE BEAST!
