2026 NEST Unpublished Scene Contest Winners
NON-ROMANCE
First Place:
Four and Twenty Blackbirds by M.J. Schiller
Second Place:
Gene Donor by Claudia J. Severin
Third Place:
Victim's Voice by Henry James Kaye
Fourth Place:
Elixir of Time by J.L. Lawrence
Fifth Place:
Sins of the Mother by Lori L Robinett
ROMANCE
First Place:
Alias Helen Smith by Joan Esser
Second Place:
The Wolf Whisperer and the Warrior by Chelsey M. Ortega
Third Place: ( TIE)
His Brother's Keeper by Amber Adkins
Third Place: ( TIE)
Stolen Ashes by Krysta Scott
Fourth Place:
Love Called a Second Time by Christine Columbus
Fifth Place:
The Magic Christmas Trail by Lisa Valli
2025 NEST Unpublished Scene Contest Winners
NON-ROMANCE
First Place
The Sound of Silence by Brenda Clark Thomas
Second Place (tie)
A Lady in Pieces by Robert Herold
AND
Learning to Live Again by Linda Trout
Third Place (tie)
Embassy Row by Katherine McLellan
AND
The Tell-Tale Art: Prologue by Lawrence Rothstein
Fourth Place (tie)
Prequel to The Tell-Tale Art by Lawrence Rothstein
AND
Embargo! By Mark Reutlinger
Fifth Place
No Pain Wasted by Mark Jones
ROMANCE
First Place
The Courtesan's Christmas Redemption by Kathy L Wheeler
Second Place
The Selkie and the Viking by Joan Koster/Zara West
Third Place
Breaking the Heart's Walls by Annette Miller
Fourth Place
A Duke She Couldn't Refuse by Victoria Elliot
Fifth Place
Beautiful Mess by Mary Cope