I'm excited to share that the opening chapters of two of my unpublished novels, The House on Highland Avenue and I Sharted!, have officially been entered in the 2026 Storytrade First Look Prize.

The competition evaluates the opening chapters of unpublished manuscripts and works in progress, making this an exciting opportunity to put two very different pieces of my fiction before readers and judges.

The House on Highland Avenue is a Southern Gothic mystery centered on family secrets, complicated grief, and a house that seems determined to reveal what its former owner worked so hard to conceal.

I Sharted! takes an entirely different direction—a commercial comedy about humiliation, reinvention, and what happens when one spectacularly unfortunate moment refuses to remain private.

Although these novels could hardly be more different in tone, that's precisely what makes entering them together exciting for me. One leans into atmosphere, mystery, and psychological tension; the other embraces absurdity, comedy, and complete social catastrophe.

Both represent different sides of me as a storyteller.

Results for the 2026 First Look Prize are expected October 1, 2026.

Until then, the manuscripts are officially in the judges' hands.

— John Erik Dunnam