Thank you for your story. I'm so surprised that these writers were all self-published (or self-published in their own pubication). I imagine the judges did put a lot of time and effort into reading the entries. It seems that as writers on Medium a big part of the rewards are in writing, re-writing, improving and creating new types of writing and getting to know other inspiring writers. I saw in your profile MWC Semi-finalist. Is that from a previous MWC? Thans for your story and honoring the winners by including their stories.