Well, my short story didn't make the cut.
But I learned a few things, such as 'take more time' and 'use more words'. I wrote it in like 4 days and final drafted it hours before it was due. And I used 5,2xx words of the 8,000 words allowed. My story needed that time to review and word count to flesh out better.
And I've spent the last three weeks or so kicking myself for how I could have made it better.
Anywho. I'll put it up on my blog tonight or tomorrow. (Easter Bunny's a coming tonight!)
As for Book 5. It's going great actually. Daughter is doing a bit better, and I've been able to get some writing in at night. I just hit 70k words, and I still have the final battle to do. Which is pretty flippin' cool. I realized I've done the 'big battle' thing for a bunch of my books. Which is okay, but they are always from the point of the guy in the fort/camp/town/whatever.
This time it's going to be from the lead character's point of view in a cavalry charge of Vikings riding triceratops. Blood, guts, and horns.
Cool!