Friends, I’m so honored to say that I’m the winner of the 2016 storySouth Million Writers Award.
My story “The Son of Summer and Eli” was nominated for the award by The Tishman Review, was then judged to be a 2016 Notable Story, then a Finalist, and was then named the winner by way of public vote. This is a big deal to me, and I’m so grateful to the ever-supportive and professional editors at The Tishman Review, the generous staff at storySouth, who give so much of their time and energy to facilitate this contest, and to everyone who voted for my work. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Lee
Lee L Krecklow Dot Com 
What was the inspiration behind “The Son of Summer and Eli”? I enjoyed it–and would like to know what inspired the characters. Also, do you think Reina is a tragic character…or a noble one?
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Thanks for reading! (And for leaving this comment that I’m finding now. :)) I wanted the piece to be about navigating adult circumstances as a child, and the characters really grew as a means to surround Tyson with confusing messages. Of course, all the characters then grew into their own people with their own real problems, but they were inspired only as satellites to Tyson. As for Reina, I always imagined her with very much control of her life, and that regardless of her decisions and their impact, would live on largely unscathed. In that way, because of her own confidence and independence, I’d never viewed her as tragic. Thank you again for your interest!
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