Of course I knew I would never win, having read the competing stories even before voting began. Congratulations to the winners, all fine stories. Of those, I confess that none of them was my actual favourite.

I was torn between "Frends Forever" and "The Waitress", both of which I thought embodied the purpose of the competition, i.e. Romance, in the best possible way.

That's my opinion, not meant to detract from the popularity of the four winning stories. The main thing was that every author produced something that the audience liked and there was a wide range of subject material to satisfy all tastes. It was fun and I suggest it should be an annual event.

As to the voting, my memory says that last year it was a kind of secret ballot and there was no way of knowing how a story was doing until voting was complete. Am I correct? While that wouldn't necessarily stop vote-stacking it would make it harder (although it's frustrating being in the dark).

Alternatively, why not just take the votes garnered by each story when it appears and have a cut-off date say one week after the posting. Most stories get voted on in the first few days after they appear anyway and with the forty day bar on voting a second time multiple voting could only be done through a second account, but the effect would be greatly reduced.

For instance, if the two top stories had, say, 100 votes and 90 votes there would have to be at least six irregularities (assuming they were done by authors) to change the result and they would have to be committed within the first week of publication.

Would that work or some derivative of it?

Finally I most gratefully thank those kind people who voted for my story. I ended up being in some very flattering company and I am well satisfied with that,
Joanne
No it's not. You silly cow.
Barbarella

Yeah. My favorites got an award. I'm most pleased. Yes yes. Most pleased. :)

Thanks very much for the stories.

Hugs for everyone

- Terry