![](https://images-cdn.reedsy.com/auth/avatar/2406977/9d140900216bbe13149833dafd263c47a6488424.jpg)
Mary Bendickson
Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2023
Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2023
Submitted to Contest #190
Submitted to Contest #189
Submitted to Contest #188
Submitted to Contest #187
Submitted to Contest #186
Submitted to Contest #185
I am not like so many of you who have yearned to write their whole lives. I have always loved to read but seldom had time when I was raising kids and running a business. When I retired I started to read. I cleared out my Mom's house and found hundreds of romance novellas. Some great, some leaving much to be desired. I wondered if I could do better so spent 2022 writing a book with my laptop perched on my belly. It came out as a historical fiction with a little romance. I haven't tried getting it out there yet. I didn't study rules let alone follow any so now I am educating myself in how it is supposed to be done. Yoo-Hoo! Late July, 2023. Just found out I am a finalist in a major contest (Killer Nashville The Claymore Award)where I submitted my first 50 pages of my novel. Even if I don't win it is so nice to receive validation that someone liked my work. That would be 'Trampled Dreams' and 'Trampled Dreams Part Two' and 'Justice Scream' listed here. 8/21/23 Back from Nashville with the medal for winning my genre at the Killer Nashville Awards!!!:)Woo-Hoo!