WOTY & iWOTY Guessing Game – Answers to All Your Burning Questions

Over the past few weeks, we’d provided five separate questions that our lovely WOTY & iWOTY finalists answered. Today is the day you learn all!

• Shannon Baker – A
• Colleen Oakes – B
• Robin Owens – C
• Bernadette Marie – D
• Stephanie Reisner – E
• Wendy Terrien – F

Ready? Here we go:

What is your favorite comfort food?

Doritos and Dr. Pepper – Stephanie Reisner

A perfectly made grilled cheese. I have spent a lot of time perfecting this creation and I can share it here: sourdough bread from the most expensive bakery in town, a combo of Tillamook Sharp Cheddar and Colby Jack, & Land o’ Lakes Unsalted Butter. Perfection, I tell you. – Colleen Oaks

Mac and cheese (but the bad kind, with Velveeta) – Shannon Baker

I can’t pick favorites. The comfort-food-of-the-moment depends on what part of me needs comforting, time of year, how hungry I am, how much I feel like making something versus just opening something, how accessible certain foods are…you get the gist. – Wendy Terrien

Favorite comfort food, depends, right now it is creme brulee. Chocolate is always good. I suppose I shouldn’t say bon bons because that smacks of [REDACTED] writer cliche, but, well, truffles. – Robin Owens

Chocolate! – Bernadette Marie

 

What was your oddest job?

Folding boxes for bulk packed tomatoes. (Dad owns a food warehouse) – Bernadette Marie

Either a busgirl at the Original Pancake House or a nanny at a house in NYC that was most definitely haunted.  – Colleen Oakes

Driving a fork lift.  – Shannon Baker

Must we? Trapeze artist. No, not kidding. – Robin Owens

Training and certifying people to drive buses. Especially because I hated driving those buses.  – Wendy Terrien

Guessing people’s age and weight at an amusement park. – Stephanie Reisner

 

What was your childhood nickname?

Stink (which is actually the nickname of the ghost my sister made up, but if I gave you my real nickname, you’d know who I am) – Shannon Baker

Beanie. It was not my favorite thing. – Colleen Oakes

Rob. My family still calls me Rob. – Robin Owens

Berni (boring). – Bernadette Marie

Never really had one. Maybe someone reading this post can think up something fun for me. 🙂 – Wendy Terrien

Steph  (Kind of gives it away) – Stephanie Reisner

 

What’s your favorite book?

Can I Get There by Candlelight by Jean Slaughter Doty – Stephanie Reisner

Hard to tell, like many in RMFW, I’ve written since I was a child. Greek Mythology, Fairy Tales, learned to read on The Cat and the Hat. Andre Norton, as a youngster. Hmm. I don’t know. – Robin Owens

Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins – Shannon Baker

This is like picking a favorite—seriously too hard for me. But I can tell you the majority of books I loved the most growing up were fantasy, so it seems there might be an influence… – Wendy Terrien

If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon – Bernadette Marie

The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix – Colleen Oakes

 

What’s the best writerly advice you have for those wanting to someday win a WOTY or iWOTY?

Outer validation is a wonderful drug that you can’t rely on to motivate you to write.  Inner validation is your strength:  You wrote the best book you could with the resources you had. – Robin Owens

It’s a great life if you don’t weaken. – Shannon Baker

If you think you can sit down and write an amazing book without spending years learning about craft you will most likely be wrong. – Colleen Oakes

Why not you? – Wendy Terrien

No matter how many times you fail, get up, dust yourself off, and try again – Stephanie Reisner

Puke out that story and don’t go back to edit until you have it all out. – Bernadette Marie

 

Thank you to all our lovely contestants and to those who played along at home! It looks like Patricia Stoltey is our winner. Pat, we will be in touch with your awesome prize!