Three days isn’t enough time for a typical graduate student to finish writing her thesis. But that was the amount of time Bellevue software engineer Jennifer K. Chung took to complete an award-winning novel.
Chung, an avid reader with some college journalism experience, was looking for a fun challenge when she entered the International 3-Day Novel Contest last September, which takes place Labor Day weekend each year. Out of the 675 or so entries (about 200 of which were not completed in the alloted time), her novel “Terroryaki!” won first place.
For her grand prize she’ll become a bona fide published author.
The winning novel is published by the administrator of the contest, 3-Day Books, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Second and third place receive cash prizes. Chung, who was notified that she won in late January, said her story will be published and available online and possibly in stores this summer.
While surprised that the judges selected her story, Chung said they may have liked the humor and wackiness of it. Set in Seattle, “Terroryaki!” depicts themes of interracial love, sisterhood and a haunted teriyaki truck run by a flying-dutchman character.
Ironically, the vegetarian was inspired by the prevalence of restaurants in Seattle and Bellevue offering teriyaki–”the new bacon,” as she referred to it.
“For example, I was just on Bell-Red Road looking around and I could see four [teriyaki restaurants],” Chung said.
It was enough of an inspiration to carry her to victory in the contest, which has attracted professional and amateur writers for more than 30 years. Although it’s run by a Canadian company, anyone worldwide can participate. The requirements are simply a $50 entrance fee, setting aside 72 hours and postage to send the final product to British Columbia for judging. When it comes to making sure entrants adhere to the three-day rule, the contest runs on the honor system.
For Chung, the deadline, while looming, was actually helpful. With her roommate gone over Labor Day weekend, she had the house to herself to focus and write.
That’s not to say it wasn’t an intense challenge.
“It felt a lot like college,” said Chung, who’s eager to keep writing and try short stories next. “Midnight was always coming up.”
For more information, go to www.3daynovel.com.
