For five days, starting March 14, readers may download a FREE Kindle copy of J. Calvin Pierce's The Door to Ambermere from Amazon. For those who haven't read the first in Pierce's trilogy, this is an opportunity to enjoy a light-hearted fantasy at no cost. If you read the original 20 years ago when this cult classic was first published, you have another chance to travel with Daniel, Hannah, and Marcia through the Door to Ambermere to meet such memorable characters as the bumbling magician, Rogan, and the insatiable King Asbrak the Fat. Oh yes, there is a demon and a beautiful lady involved.

Amazon prime members may borrow a copy of Door to Ambermere free. Amazon limits the number of books members can borrow to one per month.

Complete List of Contest Winners

The judgements have all been rendered and the roll will be called in Valhalla. As stated previously, the winner of the Valhalla Press Flash Fiction/Flash Memoir Writing Contest is Robert Robeson for his story of heroism in Vietnam "Doc Drevo's Disarming Decision". Second prize went to Orla McAlinden for her memoir of growing up in Northern Ireland entitled "Control Zone." Two honorable mention winners from the contest will also have their work appear in Ragnarok-the e-lit journal of Valhalla Press. Jo Haraf's flash fiction piece, "Cherry" tells the story of how an old car leads to a new relationship. Satya Khan's flash memoir, "The Absence", explores postpartum depression.

We had a double winner in the Valhalla Press Legal Professionals Writing Contest. Mark Levine took first prize for his work "Margaret Mead". His story, "The Pain Industry" garnered honorable mention as well. Dominic Carew's legal-dystopian vision (a new genre, perhaps?), "The Documents", took second prize. Joel Burcat won honorable mention kudos for his novel excerpt, "The Executioners". Congratulations to all of our winners.

Ragnarok's Spring 2013 issue will also feature three directly submitted fiction pieces. Joseph Peacock's "Old" looks into an aging man's attempt to redefine himself in his later years. Wendy Robert's "Ouroboros" is set in Belgium shortly after the Nazi's retreated. Finally, Benjamin R. Smith's "Two in the House of Happy Air" explores a future where the arts are illegal.

Flash Fiction and Flash Memoir Contest Winners

Robert Robeson has won First Place in the Flash Fiction and Flash Memoir Contest for his story "Doc Drevo's Disarming Decision," which will appear in the next issue of Ragnarok the e-lit Journal. He won $500 and a Kindle Paperwhite.

Second Place goes to Orla McAlinden for her story "Control Zone." Her story will appear in the next issue of Ragnarok the e-lit journal and will receive a Kindle Fire.

Honorable mentions will be selected in the next week or so. In addition, all entrants will receive feedback in the coming weeks.

And the Legal Writing Contest Winners Are:

Mr. Mark Levine won First Place for his story "Margaret Mead." He received $500 plus a Kindle Fire and publication in the next issue of Ragnarok the e-lit journal.

Mr. Dominic Carew won Second Place for his story "The Documents." He will receive a Kindle basic and publication in the next issue of Ragnarok the e-lit journal.

The other writers who entered the Legal Writing Contest will receive feedback on their work in the next few weeks and a few will also receive honorable mention and publication in Ragnarok. We expect to announce those honorable mentions next week so stay tuned for more announcements.

The winners of the Flash Fiction and Flash Memoir Contest will be announced later tonight.

Winner announcement coming very soon

For our readers in earlier time zones, we apologize for the delay. It is indeed March 1 here on the Eastern Seaboard and we will be making the winner announcement very soon. There is heated debate among the judges and we hope to break the deadlock after lunch and maybe a Scotch or Rum and Coke.

Contest Winners Will be Announced This Week

It's going to be a busy week in Valhalla. The judges are looking over the entries in the Valhalla Press Flash Fiction/Flash Memoir Contest and the Valhalla Press Legal Professionals Writing Contest. The winners will be announced March 1. Winners of those contests will have their work featured in the Spring issue of Ragnarok-the e-lit journal of Valhalla Press.

Also, we have begun formatting the works found on our website for the i-pad and other Apple devices. Just this week, we released John Pistelli's Ecstasy of Michaela for the iPad. Other works will be released soon.

Those who want to follow our contests can sign up for our contest e-mail list on our contest page.

Finally, this week's featured e-book is Albert Davenport's short non-fiction piece, In the Shadow of Midnight: Daedalus: A Tale of Savannah. Albert has provided some background details of the story in his blog postings that can be found on our Author Blogs page where you will also find blog postings by John Pistelli and Adrienne Terrell Washington. Adrienne's memoir The Original Party Girl and other (very) personal essays is our featured short non-fiction e-book this week.

Enjoy your week in Valhalla.

Ragnarok, the e-lit Journal of Valhalla Press is now listed on Every Writer's Resource's list of Literary Magazines. This has been quite a month for Ragnarok. Readers are discovering the fine work contained in the inaugural issue as evidenced by increased sales and posted reviews on Amazon, Goodreads.com and other sites. Ragnarok has moved its submission process to Submittable.com, the industry standard.

We stated at the outset that we sought to "showcase some of the best writing in English produced in the world today" and we believe we have done so in our inaugural issue. Currently, we are selecting works for the next Ragnarok issue. Winning entries from our recently concluded Flash Fiction/Flash Memoir Contest will appear as well as those from our Legal Professionals Writing Contest. Winners from both contests will be announced March 1. The Flash Fiction/Flash Memoir contest winners will provide all the short works we need, but we are still looking for quality longer works, from 2,000 to 5,000 words, for the next issue.

We do charge a $3 non-refundable reading fee, but all authors whose works are chosen for publication will be paid $25. Interested authors should go to the Ragnarok page and follow the submission instructions. We look forward to them.