Speculative fiction writer Nicole Haskell won the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest for her story “The Mystical Farrago,” which was published in the anthology L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 38.
The Writers of the Future Contest is in its 39th year and is the longest-running competition of its kind. Hubbard founded the contest in 1983, and though he is also the founder of Scientology, Haskell said the contest has no relation.
Hubbard created the contest to help writers and illustrators get a head start in their careers. There are 12 winners a year, which breaks down to three per quarter.
Haskell said she found out about the contest through a random Google search.
“I started entering 2 1/2 years ago,” Haskell said. “I didn’t really think I would win. I didn’t know what I was doing. I still don’t pretend to know, but I just wing it, and so far, it seems to be working out OK.”
Writers can enter pieces of their work in the contest each quarter and keep entering until they win. Once they win, they can no longer participate in the contest. Haskell said she entered every quarter available throughout the year and, in the past, has received an honorable mention and a silver honorable mention before her win.
“I only came back to writing about three years ago after I had an injury that put me off work for several months,” Haskell said. “I hadn’t finished a story in probably 30 years before that. So, it was a little unexpected.”
“The Mystical Farrago” became available via Kindle back in April but just hit bookstores on June 28.
“The Mystical Farrago” is about a character written in the first person with a nonbinary voice, Haskell said. The character is living with a secret, and their life gets overturned. They realize their secret has to come out, and they have to make peace with their identity after finding a creature that has been captured and tortured.
Haskell admits she didn’t think it was this piece of writing that would win her the contest.
“It’s very different. I really did not think this story would do well in the contest. That probably contributed to my confusion that this story won,” Haskell said. “I resigned myself it wouldn’t do anything. But it did because it was different.”
Aside from her published story, Haskell won a cash prize of $500, a handmade custom award, bragging rights, and the top winners are entered for a grand prize of $5,000.
“We all got together back in April for a big gala where we spent the week in kind of a boot camp type thing where all these authors, renowned judges, came and spoke about the business and craft,” Haskell said. “All the little details that I as kind of a newbie would never have considered, and they do everything to really kind of help you move forward in your writing career.”
After that, Haskell attended a formal gala in Hollywood to accept her award and give a speech that she said was “absolutely terrifying.”
Since then, she said there had been a push toward promoting and marketing the book.
“And then you just kind of try to resume your normal life,” Haskell said. “I work in health care; that’s my day job. And then you just keep writing and putting stuff out there.”
