Before we get to the razzle-dazzle, a word or two about how the shortlists and results were produced. Each story was given to three readers from the pool of readers for this year's contest. Each reader gave the story a score between 1 and 5, and the scores were then added together. The shortlist in each category consists of the six highest-scoring stories, plus any other stories which scored the same as the sixth.

The readers pool, plus anyone from the newsgroup who wanted to vote, then nominated a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each category from the shortlist. Stories were given 3 points for each 1st place, 2 points for each 2nd place, and 1 point for each 2rd place. The total number of points for each story determined the winner, 2nd and 3rd place.

So here we go... Get ready to take all of this exactly as seriously as you want to.

As usual, the Adult category was very popular - there were 45 entries - and also incredibly closely-fought. Ten very different stories made the shortlist:

Control, by Peace Girl
The Long and the Short of It, by Rhosymedre
The Milkshake Maker, by Saw Much
Not Safe, by Jen
Pervertable Playsets, by sparkle
Served Cold, by Ridley
Shopping Trip, by Angie
Spaces in Your Togetherness?, by Rhosymedre
The Water Pump, by Rhosymedre
Wife Swap, by Alex Birch

And, despite lots of votes in this category, only a few points ended up separating the top stories.

Third place goes to Rhosymedre's fantastically evocative and poetic story of desire and yearning, The Long and the Short of It.

Second place - but only just - also goes to Rhosymedre, this time for Spaces in Your Togetherness?, a multi-layered story about balancing needs and desires with the rest of life.

The winner of the 'Adult' category is Ridley's dark and chilling tale of revenge, Served Cold, which made amazing use of a short form to tell a complete, complex story, and one that's not easily forgotten.

The Child category gathered 40 entries this year, and a shortlist of six:

After Delicious, by Koalabear
Breaking the rules, by Stewart Bell
Meeting of the Minds, by Grace Brackenridge
Spanked By Mr. Schneider, by Natty
Stopped, by Koalabear
That Day on the Beach, by Saw Much

Third, is After Delicious, Koalabear's sweet and dreamy portrayal of the love between a parent and a child.

Joint second - the voting was close enough that they couldn't be separated - are That Day on the Beach, Saw Much's story of an everyday visit to the beach that awakens something new, and Natty's Spanked By Mr. Schneider, that's meant to be a little disturbing and creepy, and manages effortlessly to achieve both of those.

This year's winner in the 'Child' category - by some distance - is Koalabear's Stopped. It's a heartbreaking story of remembrance and loss, told with a huge punch at the end.

The 'Edge' category always seems to produce some of the very best stories in the contest. Writing about kink ideas that are particularly difficult or personal pushes writers to the edge of what they can do. Any of the ten entries this year would have been a worthy winner.

The shortlist was:

Behind the Books, by Ouchigirl
The Collaborator, by Joe Whatever
Her Lover's Games, by HalfHisAge
Honesty, by Mija
The Price He Paid, by Jen
Stacey, by Haley Brimley

In third place is Joe Whatever's The Collaborator, a story which takes the old idea of writing from the perspective of an object, and gives it an original and dark twist. Well worth another read.

Second place goes to Mija's fearlessly brave and, well, honest, story Honesty. It's exactly the sort of thing that the 'Edge' category was meant for.

Winner of the 'Edge' category this year is Her Lover's Games, Tasha's almost nightmarish journey into unexpected violence. Go read it, if you haven't already.

I'm particularly fond of the 'First/last' category, mostly because it seems the category that writers have most fun with, and that's just what the SSC ought to be about.

I'm sure everyone spotted that the lines this year were taken from famous films:

"A boy's best friend is his mother." is from Psycho.

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." is, of course, from Gone with the Wind.

"Go ahead, make my day." is one of Clint's lines from Dirty Harry.

"I like to watch." is, famously, from Being There.

"I'll be back." is (among others), from The Terminator.

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." was mumbled by Marlon Brando in The Godfather.

"It was beauty killed the beast." is the last line of King Kong.

"Look, Dave, I can see you're really upset about this." was spoken by HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

"Madness! Madness!" is the last line of The Bridge on the River Kwai.

"Rosebud." is the key to the life of Citizen Kane.

From 22 stories, there was a shortlist of nine:

Battement Frappe, by Alex Birch
Charge-Off, by Mija
The Devil in the Camisole, by Rhosymedre
Larrup County Fair, by Rhosymedre
Look Dave, by sparkle
Overheard by a Park Bench, by sparkle
To My Family, by sparkle
Whispers, by HalfHisAge
Wordless, by sparkle

In third place are three stories by the same writer, sparkle. To My Family is a chilling story of tragedy brought about by social pressures and class structure; Look Dave takes the original line a long way from its origin, to a fun and funny, bright story of play on the beach; and Wordless is just plain hot.

Second place goes to Alex Birch's deliciously pervy story of ballet school, Battement Frappe.

The winner of 'First/last' this year is Rhosymedre's The Devil in the Camisole, a tale of gentle, playful manipulation that grabs hold with steamy language, twists and turns, but doesn't let go.

The mini-saga might be the most challenging of all. To produce something that feels complete and substantial in just 50 words is almost impossible. It's always wonderful to see how writers approach this task.

From a very healthy and rich entry of 34 stories, the shortlist of six was:

Academic Incentive, by Crimson Kid
Five Mistakes, by Joe Whatever
Following ABC's, by Tami/Bill
A Little Tip..., by Rhosymedre
The Punishment Book, by HalfHisAge
What I want, by Kessily

In third place is Tami & Bill's skillful Following ABCs. It tries to do something that's incredibly hard to pull off, and makes it look easy. It's a delightful read, and a very original way to write a mini-saga.

Second place goes to What I Want, Kessily's simple yet deeply evocative expression of desire.

This year's 'Mini-saga' winner is Tasha's The Punishment Book, which tells a funny, complete story through the entries in a school punishment. It's a perfect little 50-word story, that doesn't need to be a single word longer.

'Missing scene' was a new category this year, but writers rose to the challenge, and produced a wonderfully diverse collection of stories. There were 14 entries, of which the following seven made the shortlist:

BTVS: All The Way, by Nathan Rysher
The Book, by HalfHisAge
Butterflies in Leather, by HalfHisAge
Cautionary tail, by SEM
Ground Forced, by Mija
Ruby Indeed, by Ouchigirl
When in Ramsdale, by Bird

Third place goes to Mija's wickedly funny and appropriately naughty addition to the BBC's gardening programme Ground Force, Ground Forced. Catch up with the BBC show if you can, because Mija's story will be all the funnier if you do.

Second place goes to When in Ramsdale, Bird's essential addition to 'Lolita'.

The winner of the first 'Missing scene' category, and by a mile, is SEM's seamless and dazzling Hilaire Belloc parody, Cautionary tail. It sets an amazing standard for any future missing-scene SSC stories.

Like the 'Edge' category, 'Not-my-kink' pushes writers to something difficult and new, and typically produces fabulous work.

Since there were only six entries this year, all were shortlisted - but would have deserved to be even if the entry was much larger:

Bigeikou's Machine, by HalfHisAge
Breathless, by HalfHisAge
That Caning Story, by Haley Brimley
Confessions, by Mija
The Prefects Common Room, by Alex Birch
Turnabout in Triplicate, by Crimson Kid

Third place goes to Haley's That Caning Story. It takes subject matter that's not the writer's kink, and makes one sure that it must be, the feel is captured so authentically. That's just what a not-my-kink story should be aiming for.

In second place is Tasha's Bigeikou's Machine, a story spun from a drawing of a spanking machine, and which would make anyone decide that maybe spanking machines are their kink after all.

This year's winner of the 'Not-my-kink' category is Mija, for Confessions, a story of being hypnotised by the accoutrements of someone else's kink, and a dark edge to friendship.

The 'Period' category is such a good chance to have fun with putting spanking in a completely fantastic, or historical context. The twelve entries this year entirely capture that sense of fun.

The shortlist of seven stories was:

Better Late than Never, by Alex Birch
Duty, by HalfHisAge
The Forgotten Princess, by Alex Birch
In the Pink, by Joe Whatever
A Revolutionary Fate, by Alex Birch
The Stain, by Joe Whatever
Staying the Course, by Crimson Kid

Third place goes to Joe Whatever's In the Pink, a Pirates of the Caribbean romp across the seven seas.

Second place also goes to Joe Whatever, for The Stain. It's an evilly prurient story of prurience, in an ambiguous time and place that evokes a chillingly male-dominated society.

The winner of this year's 'Period' category is Alex Birch's ingenious alternate (or is it?!) history, The Forgotten Princess. It takes an already fascinating historical event and pleasingly twists it even further.

Also new to this year's contest, the 'Picture' category was slow to begin, but finished with a fine collection of stories. Twenty-three were entered, of which the shortlisted six were:

Coaxing Her to the Pedestal, by Rhosymedre
Gift, by nataS
The Inheritance, by Rhosymedre
Patience, by Joe Whatever
Quite Contrary, by Ouchigirl
Relishing Her Power, by Joe Whatever

Third place goes to Rhosymedre's Coaxing Her to the Pedestal, a funny, neatly reflexive reflection of Alma-Tadama's 'A Sculptor's Model.'

In second place is Gift, by nataS. It's a deep, honest, powerful telling of the bumps that love and desire put in our way.

The winner of the 'Picture' category this year is Ouchigirl's Quite Contrary, which effortlessly evokes a perfect mood, but then at its end adds a devastating extra depth.

There were twenty entries in the classic 'School' category this year, and a fascinating mix of the traditional and the original, the innocent and the kinky. From the twenty entries, these were the six shortlisted stories:

Convincing Enough, by Joe Whatever
The Great Scissors Heist, by Rhosymedre
The Headmaster's Blog, by HalfHisAge
She touched me lightly... deeply, by Nathan Rysher
Six Strokes Over Knickers!, by Alex Birch
A Stranger in the Mirror, by Haron

In third place is Haron's A Stranger in the Mirror, which takes an oblique but deeply affecting perspective on the situation of a new girl at a reform school.

In second place is Rhosymedre's The Great Scissors Heist. It takes the old idea of a deserved punishment delayed by many years, and gives it a fresh and convincing new telling.

The winner of the 'School' category this year is Alex Birch's Six Strokes Over Knickers!, which is just plain funny.

Because there are all sorts of ways in which stories can be great, the readers this year have also given out some special awards for quirkiness, weirdness, whateverness.

Crimson Kid's story Guess Who? gets a pair of fuzzy dice for Best New Game.

Y. Lee Coyote's A Visit from the Tooth Fairy gets the Tinkerbell "I Believe" award for Best Performance by a Supporting Fairy.

The Milkshake Maker, by Saw Much, gets the Julia Child award for Best Food Analogy.

Saw Much's The Lock Down Unit gets the Roald Dahl award for Best Story Ending Twist.

Natty's story, The Brave Girl, gets The Golden Safety Pin, awarded each year by the AADP (Association of Adherents of the Diaper Position).

Alex Birch's Six Strokes Over Knickers! wins the Marks and Spencer Order of Merit for Best Story Featuring Pants or Knickers.

Joe Whatever's The Watcher gets two dozen "pops" for mis-spelling "champagne".

Rhosymedre's The Long and the Short of It wins the Junior Woodchucks' Morse Merit Badge, awarded on this occasion by Huey, Dewey and Louie - freshly spanked by Uncle Donald Duck.

Y. Lee Coyote's The Mugger, the Witch and the Frog wins a dinner date with Kermit, who wishes to thank the author for including numerous frogs in the spanking community.

Don Croyle's Deep Cover Dilemma wins a Law & Order DVD, for Best Police Procedural.

Grace Brackenridge's Catholic Factory Girls wins the Forever Plaid award for Most Creative Use of Schoolgirls.

A Slender Candle is awarded to Ouchigirl's Behind the Books, For Exploring a Very Dark Place.

The June Cleaver Award goes to sparkle's Overheard by a Park Bench, for Kinkiest Portrayal of Suburbia.

The Hanging Chad Award goes to Tony Elka's Zeke Loves Becky Sue, for Best Combination of Spanking and Voting.

The NYT 100 Award goes to Bird's On the Trail of the Grail for Best Use of a Current Best Seller.

The 'My Eyes!' Award goes to Crimson Kid's A Spoonful of Spanking, For Imagining Naked Disney Characters.

And a Gold Boxing Glove is awarded to Koalabear's Stopped, for knocking the reader out cold with the last line.

And that's it for this year, except for lots of thanks.

Thanks to all of the readers who gave up so much time to make the contest work for another year: Janet, and Ivy, and Haley, and Eric, and Polara, and Alex, and Angie, and Hal, and Haron, and John B., and Joni, and Sarah, and Tami, and Trisha, and Chantymer.

Thanks too to Mary Catherine, who was reponsible for the ideas behind the 'Missing scene' and 'Picture' categories this year.

And, of course, thanks to all of the writers for making the contest such fun for everyone. I hope you'll all try again next year.

Finally, I'd like to be really presumptuous. This year's contest is the first since Michele, also known as Bookbabe, died. She was a good friend to the group, and to the SSC. It misses her.

If you've enjoyed the contest this year, I'd like to ask that you consider heading across to the web-site of the Canadian Cancer Society (www.cancer.ca), and making a small donation in Michele's memory.

Thanks, everyone.

Pablo