Last week, as winner of the last Monthly Wine Writing Challenge (#MWWC5) I selected the theme for this month’s challenge (#MWWC6): Mystery.

Last go around, there were eight submissions, which is great, but we would certainly like to see that grow. Several talented writers have remained on the sidelines for far too long and need to get back in the game. I thought about naming them in the hope of shaming them into writing, but that is not my style (actually, that is exactly my style but I will wait until next week to do so).

Here are the rules and relevant dates:

The rules

1. Write a post based on this month’s theme: “Mystery”. It can be fiction, non-fiction, wine reviews, diary entries, poems, heck it could even be a transcription of a “butt-call” that you received from your spouse as long as it has something to do with wine and incorporates the theme in some way.
2. The post should be at least tangentially related to wine (after all, it is the name of the challenge!).
3. The post should be more or less around 1000 words (I routinely violate this rule, so it is just there as a “guide”).
4. Include the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge badge that was designed by the very first winner, The Armchair Sommelier.
5. Once you post on your blog, link back to this post (or somehow notify me), and I will be sure to include a link here as well as on all subsequent posts about this month’s challenge.
6. It would be great if you tweet a link using the hashtag #MWWC6.
7. Remember to vote!

The all important dates:

Deadline for submission:  Monday, January 13th, 2014

Voting Begins: Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

Voting Ends:  Monday, January 20th, 2014

Winner Announced:  Tuesday, January 21st, 2014

If you need some inspiration, here is the exhaustive list (I think) of all the past challenges and submissions:

For the first challenge, hosted by yours truly, had “Transportation” as a theme and we had ten submissions:

The Armchair Sommelier (winner)

The Drunken Cyclist (host)

Duff’s Wines

The Food and Wine Hedonist

Food Wine Click

Oenophilogical

Talk-a-Vino

The Winegetter

The Wine Raconteur

Twelve Dollar Taste Buds

That first challenge was won by The Armchair Sommelier, who then hosted the next challenge with “Trouble” as the theme. There were 12 submissions:

Duff’s Wines

Food WIne Click

From Vinho Verde to Barolo with Love

My Custard Pie (winner)

Oenophilogical

SavorEncyclopedia

Spring of Autumn

Talk-a-Vino

The Armchair Sommelier (host)

The Drunken Cyclist

The Drunken Cyclist – part Deux

The Wine Raconteur

The Winegetter

Twelve Dollar Taste Buds

#MWWC3 was hosted by My Custard Pie in way off Dubai and she chose the theme “Possession” for which there were a whopping 15 submissions:

Possession – a short story by The Wine Kat (winner)

Possession: A Confession by Wine Swap

I’m not a hoarder, I’m a collector by The Armchair Sommelier

The Possession Obsession by Duff’s Wines

‘He Who Knows He Has Enough is Rich’ -Lao Tzu by From Vinho Verde to Barolo with Love

How possessive are the wine lovers? by Talk-a-vino

A wine for a dreadfully awkward meal in A.S. Byatt’s Possession by Jameson Fink

Possession or Are German winemakers merely possessors? by The Winegetter

Possession: It’s Mine!!! by Red Wine Diva

Rice wine at the mid-Autumn festival by Saucy Gander

Possession by The Wine Raconteur

Who owns a name? Celebrating Robert Mondavi’s centenary by My Custard Pie (host)

Possession:Entry Denied by Foodwineclick

Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #3: Possession by The Drunken Cyclist

Depossessed drink: Wine on loan by Wayward Wine

MWWC #3 – Wine and Sarah McLachlan by The Food and Wine Hedonist

#MWWC4 was hosted by Wine Kat and her chosen theme was “Oops” and there were  eight submissions (Full disclosure: I did not submit to this challenge. Not because I do not make mistakes, but rather I could not choose from the multitudes).

Desolé Beaujolais – by Confessions of a Wine Geek (winner)

Trick or Treat – by Wayward Wine

Oops – by BYWine

Wine’s Oops Moments – by Talk-a-vino

The Perfect Word for Winetasting – by MyCustardPie

Oops – by Wine Raconteur

Oops Moments – by Foodwineclick

Brush with the biodynamic – by The Armchair Sommelier

And Last month, the theme was “Feast” which was chosen by Confessions of a Wine Geek:

The Wine Kat (@thewinekat) Mac Datho’s Pig

BY Wine (@BYWineUk) Shoes or Wine?

Wayward Wine (@waywardwine) A foodless wine feast of Penfolds

binNotes (@binNotes) Feast

The Armchair Sommelier (@armchairsomm) Lutefisk The ghost of Christmas past

The Drunken Cyclist (@masi3v) Feast (winner)

Sybaricious (@sybaricious) Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road

Confessions of a Wine Geek (@winegeekconfess) The day Ave & Al tried to kill us (host)

[Image credits: Freepik, Wikipedia]