It's West VIrginia Writer's Week here at Raining Cats and Dogma, which only means one thing: the finals of TOP NOVELIST (and the last week before classes resume). Our remaining contestants are Perry, mystery writer extraordinaire; Lucy, the retired dentist-turned-erotic-provocatrix; and Suzanne, purveyor of trendy (and marketable) chick-lit.

The challenge was to rewrite a scene from Hamlet with panache and personal style, and the results are in. Readers: check out the results in the posts below, and make your comments on their execution. Our judges, semi-acclaimed fictional writer Norman Poulenc and all around unnamed conniver "Marge Schottenheimer" will reveal their picks, with audience input of course, in the next few days.

To re-cap the games thus far: You can find links to all of the challenges and their results in the sidebar. Two of our finalists have distinguished themselves with their death-grips on the leaderboard, with Perry and Lucy owning or sharing wins in rounds 2, 3 , 4, 5, 7 & 8. Can one of them continue their domination? Suzanne, who did not win a challenge, nonetheless came through unscathed, and her dashing Jarod Jeffries IV was a fan favorite. Like Jay McCarroll on the first season of Project Runway, Suzanne could find herself claiming only one winner's spot: the one that counts.

And what does that win count for? Not much actually. Maybe a nice bookmark, or some pencils. We're pretty cheap around here these days, 9-month salaries being what they are.

Enjoy!