I am back from a wonderful week in Austria to find my kids alive and no water in the cellar despite the torrential rains we had while I was gone. I also got home just in time to close the entry period for this month’s Monthly Wine Writing Challenge (#MWWC9). Officially, entries are closed at Midnight (New York City time), tonight (5/5), but as long as you notify me before I post the official ballot (say, 8:30 NYC time on Tuesday, May 6th), I will make sure you are included.

Thus far, we have twenty-five entries. I have searched blogs and Twitter, and I hope that I have all the entries thus far, but it is certainly possible that I have missed a few.

If you have written a post and it is not on this list, you need to email me at jeff(at)thedrunkencyclist(dot)com:

The Armchair Sommelier: MWWC#9: Wine, Women and [a little bit] Wrong *

The Barrel Thief: Haunted by the Ghosts of Wine Tastings Past

binNotes: #MWWC9:Fear

The Cabfanca Files: Mr. X’s—Open That Bottle Night

Celia Ladygarden’s Lifestyle for Ladies: Purple Tsunami & Marrow Rum

Chinon & Beaujolais: A Harvest In Burgundy–What’s So Scary About That?

Connoisaurus: #MWWC9: Paranoid, Phobic, and Terrified… Oh My!

Duff’s Wines: #MWWC9—Slowly Step Away From The Elderberries

Food Wine Click: Fear: Love Wine, Hate to Write

From Vinho Verde to Barolo with Love: The Other Side of Fear and Rain Shadows

GF Wine Country Living: Madman on the Loose, I Could Die Today

The Indian Paradox: Masala Vada, Mousetrap and Wine

Joy of Wine: The Four Letter F-word

My Custard Pie: Buying Booze in the UAE

Of Must and Mash: Previously, on OfMustAndMash… #MWWC9

Please Bring Me My Wine: #MWWC9: Fear

renenuter13: MWWC9: What would come out of the wardrobe for you?

Sips With Friends: The Fear of Misplaced Wine Kindness

The Sweet Sommelier: Fear—Or Why I Say, “Bring on the White Zin!”

Sweetempranillo: Life Threatening?

The Sybarite: Fear and Blogging in Salinas

Talk-a-Vino: Fears of the Oenophile

The Winegetter: Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #9: Fear

The Wine Raconteur: #MWWC9: Fear

Wine Ramblings: Fear and Loathing in wine tasting

Great entries, all, and we also tied the record for most number of entries with 25!

The rules

1. The Challenge is open to anybody and everybody. It helps if you have a blog, but that is certainly not a requirement (contact me if this is the case).
2. Write a post based on this month’s theme: “Fear”.
3. The post should be at least tangentially related to wine (after all, it is the name of the challenge!).
4. The post should be more or less around 1000 words (I routinely violate this rule, so it is just there as a “guide”).
5. Include the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge badge (above) that was designed by the very first winner, The Armchair Sommelier.
6. Once you post on your blog, link back to this post (or somehow notify me—email is best: jeff (at) thedrunkencyclist (dot) com), and I will be sure to include a link here as well as on all subsequent posts about this month’s challenge.
7. It would be great if you tweet a link using the hashtag #MWWC9.
8. Remember to vote!

The all important dates:

Deadline for submission:  Monday, May 5th, 2014

Voting Begins: Tuesday, May 6th, 2014

Voting Ends:  Monday, May 12th, 2014

Winner Announced:  Tuesday, May 13th, 2014