Patrick O’Sullivan from the Florida Keys was honored at the 27
th Annual L. Ron Hubbard Achievement awards at the famed Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, in the very room the first Academy Awards were held.
The annual event celebrated the winners in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests (
www.writersofthefuture.com) before a packed hall and thousands more who were logged on to watch the event as it streamed live. The night’s keynote speaker was Dr. Pete Worden, Director of the NASA Ames Research Center, who spoke of the relationship between science fiction as the inspiration that leads to science fact. He closed by saying, “I said at the beginning that science fiction writing has helped inspire NASA. I also like to think that what we do at NASA has helped inspire you—that our new discoveries provide the tools to open your imagination.”
The event celebrated the annual winners in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests, where Patrick was one of the twelve writer winners with his story “Maddy Dune’s First and Only Spelling Bee,” making it further than some several thousand others who entered the international competition, and where he saw his winning story published in the bestselling Science Fiction anthology series –
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XXVII soon available in bookstores across the US.
Alongside Patrick were winners flown in from afar as Australia, South Africa, Canada and across the USA who were treated to week long workshops taught by contest judges
It didn’t take long for aliens to find Patrick O’Sullivan and spirit him away from his St. Louis birthplace for hours at a time. If not for Andre Norton and the crew of the
The Solar Queen, he might still be earthbound instead of in seat 5D, the elbow of his pencil-wielding left arm blocking the serving cart.
A software engineer and technology entrepreneur, Patrick is always on the move; one day on Arrakis, the next in Virginia, a few hours on Cyteen, then off to Dublin or Helm’s Deep or Saganami Island or the Florida Keys or someplace new he’s never been. He has written more than a roomful of technical documentation over the years. Patrick never throws anything away even if he doesn’t use it; the BS in engineering, the MA in Irish studies, they’re both under this stack of printouts somewhere.
If he ever grows up, he’d like to see one of his novels spirit others away to alien worlds of adventure. He’s been studying with the best, trying to discover the alchemical magic that will make it happen. Every moonlit signpost, every manuscript written in blood seems to hint at the same formula: one-part Writers of the Future, ‘
n’ parts elbow grease, just add readers and stand back. If ‘n’ is a number short of infinity and the flight attendants keep the aisle clear, he might just work that magic. Eventually.
Each writing and illustrating contest winner was presented their trophy by contest judges at the ceremony and combined cash prizes and royalties of over $30,000, and their story published in the
L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Volume XXVII.
About The Writers of the Future:
The Writers of the Future writing contest was initiated by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983 to provide a means for aspiring writers to get that much-needed break. Due to the success of the Writing Contest, the companion Illustrators of the Future Contest was created in 1988. This year marks the Centennial anniversary (1911-2011) for Mr. Hubbard who was hailed by Publishers Weekly as, “one of the greatest literary figures of the 20
th century.”
The intensive mentoring process has proven very successful. Past winners of the Writing Contest have published over 700 novels, 3,000 short stories and winners of the Illustrating Contest have had their art published in more than 500 books and magazines, with 4,500 illustrations, 350 comics and over 1.3 million art prints. For more information and to see the awards ceremony online, go to
www.writersofthefuture.com###
