SUMMARY:
(AH) The Civil War ravaged lives, pitting brother against brother: countryman against countryman. Cousins and best friends, Eric Northman and William Compton are on different sides of history, and their situation is only complicated further—by a Southern Belle named Sookie Stackhouse. (This story was originally written for American Android’s Historical Fiction contest, and I am proud to report that it won the contest! Thanks to all who voted for it!)
Check out the other entries in the contest by clicking below!
DISCLAIMER:
All publicly recognized characters are the sole property of their creators. No copyright infringement is intended. Historical figures and situations have been included in this fiction; however, the truth has been supplemented and shifted at times—in order to accommodate the fiction. Such is life—right? One quoted line—from Robert E. Lee—has been indicated in bold.
HISTORICAL ERA:
The American Civil War era
RATING:
MA–for depictions of battle
Thanks to:
My trusty beta, Kleannhouse (for helping me eliminate my overlooked errors and for making suggestions that make my work stronger)
My amazing creative consultant, Sephrenia (for helping me visualize certain images and moments)
For winning the contest, I was awarded this lovely banner, made by the contest’s host American Android.
Many thanks to her!
2016
(Best All-Human Story–Nominee)
The Marks Within .pdf Above is the completed .pdf for this story. I hope that--if you read the story using this .pdf--you will return here later to let me know what you think. I love getting feedback! Best,
California Kat's Stories 
Congrats on your win. you deserve it in every way. I really enjoyed the story.<3
18 thoughts on “Results: American Android’s Historical Fiction Contest”
COMMENTS COPIED FROM ORIGINAL BLOG POST SO THAT I DON’T LOSE THEM
Natsgirl says:
May 16, 2015 at 3:49 pm
Congratulations! Well deserved. Great story!
Reply
californiakat1564 says:
May 16, 2015 at 3:51 pm
And to you too! Your story was wonderful. Since it was first up, I knew that the contest was going to be strong! I loved your retelling of the Eric meeting Niall story. And you left it so that you could write more….just sayin’.
askarsgirl says:
May 16, 2015 at 4:04 pm
You totally deserved the win. It was sooo well written! Congratulations!
Reply
californiakat1564 says:
May 16, 2015 at 4:15 pm
Thanks so much! I appreciate your support!
mistressjessica1028 says:
May 16, 2015 at 4:08 pm
Congrats on a truly wonderful story! I love that you put a different spin on an era that is traditionally associated with Bill. I loved it!
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californiakat1564 says:
May 16, 2015 at 4:15 pm
Thank you so much! Actually, appropriating Bill’s era was one reason I decided to write this story. About a week before the deadline I was think–What could I do that would incorporate a bit of the books/show, but write an all-human. I had done a Viking story for one of Seph’s contests, so I decided to “claim” Bill’s era for Eric. LOL. But then I decided not to make Bill (William) the villain here. After all, war is villain enough. And I kind of wanted to keep that as my focus. Anyway, so glad you liked it!
CKat
Next time–I wanna see you in the contest though! 🙂
Reply
mistressjessica1028 says:
May 17, 2015 at 4:32 am
I had the same thought as Kleannhouse; one month wasn’t enough time for me given the era I wanted to write about. I need lots of time to research. 🙂
Kittyinaz says:
May 16, 2015 at 4:57 pm
Reblogged this on Kittyinaz’s Reblog Page.
kleannhouse says:
May 16, 2015 at 6:20 pm
it was an awesome story and a well deserved win …. congratulations my friend. KY
Reply
californiakat1564 says:
May 16, 2015 at 7:52 pm
🙂
lostinspace33 says:
May 16, 2015 at 6:20 pm
Congratulations on your win…well-deserved, as usual! And I’d say it’s even more impressive given the high quality of all of the entries. It isn’t often that I like all entries in a fic contest, but this one managed it.
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californiakat1564 says:
May 16, 2015 at 7:53 pm
Thanks so much!!!
American Android says:
May 16, 2015 at 10:06 pm
congrats. Your story took my breath away and I generally am not too much into AH but I was captivated the whole time I was reading it! You wrote it in a week? wow! that is incredible… it’s 10k plus words if I remember correctly! I hope you plan on entering the next contest which will be announced on jul 1st. Authors will be given 2 months to write next round! Thank you CaliforniaKat for writing this awesome story!
Perfecta999 says:
May 17, 2015 at 1:03 am
Congratulations! Great story!
Reply
californiakat1564 says:
May 17, 2015 at 4:59 am
Thanks!
redjane12 says:
May 17, 2015 at 5:40 am
Congratulations! I really enjoyed the story which is a testimony to your great story telling as, I mentioned this at the time, between DoucheBill’s association with the period and memories of ‘north & south’ tv melodramas, it’s not normally a period I’d look at but you made it come alive so masterfully with two well rounded interesting Eric & Sookie, that it was a very satisfying read for me. Well done once again!!
Reply
californiakat1564 says:
May 17, 2015 at 6:15 am
Thanks! I’m so glad that you liked it despite your misgivings. When I was a kid, watching North and South actually inspired me to learn more about the history of that period, so we obviously had different reactions to it. LOL. Of course, the older I got, the more I recognized that N & S was melodramatic, but those “soapy” mini-series of the 80s are still guilty pleasures of mine. I remember watching things like N & S with my mom. Ah…memories!
Anyway, glad you enjoyed the story!
Best,
Kat
Karen says:
May 17, 2015 at 11:14 am
Congratulations! I knew that was you, because it was my first choice!