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Karen Quinn says the intrigue and deception surrounding the voting in her Wife in the Fast Lane Contest will surely be incorporated into one of her novels.

Cheaters aside, the contest attracted more than 750 one-liners, essays, and videos about life in the fast lane. An extraordinary amount of talent, grit, grace, humor and compassion were displayed by all of the entrants, and the contest, like every one I’ve had the pleasure to be involved in creating, was a fantastic learning experience about the value of interactive media.

“In the end,” Quinn wrote today, “the forces of good prevailed over evil and we have winner, but can you frickin’ believe it!? Me neither.

Despite the negativity of the cheaters and spoilers, whose efforts were thwarted, I still think we had a fantastic contest and I want to thank everybody who participated, either by sending in entries, voting, judging, donating prizes, reading the entries, or commenting on them. I have been blown away by the quality of your writing and film making, the universality of the ideas and situations you’ve shared, and the compassion and support you have show each other. This has been an incredible experience for me, one I will never forget, and I hope for you too.”

The cheating kerfuffle involves not only Wikipedia, and plagiarism, but also hoaxes, mockery, bloggers, vote stuffing, cloaked email addresses, false identities, comedian Rita Rudner, and a lot of housewives.
Quinn was about to announce the winners when an email arrived, accusing the winner of plagiarizing comic Rita Rudner. As proof, it linked to a Wikipedia entry that contained the quote submitted by the contest entrant. Here’s a screen shot of the page, from which the quote has since been deleted by the dastardly cheaters. (And hey, we DO know who you slimeballs are are!) It’s the last quote on the screen shot, below.

With just a little amateur sleuthing, it was easy to learn that the quote was added two hours before the finger-pointing email was sent. Nonetheless, to be sure, Quinn contacted Rudner herself, who confirmed that the contest entry had not been stolen from her material.

And then – poof! – the Wikipedia quote disappeared. Without naming names, it is clear that it was all a not too clever plot by someone who’s clearly a loser to wrest the prize from its rightful owner. Enough about those losers, Drumroll … and now for our winners;

One Liners – I knew I was living in the fast lane when;

First Place (winner of a $2,000 gift Certificate to Canyon Ranch)
…I looked down at the dog bowl on the floor to see it full of my two-year-old son’s cereal, milk, and a spoon. I then looked at the breakfast table to see my son curiously tasting his “breakfast.”

Second Place

(winner of a jewelry ensemble from Intijewels.com)
…my sister compared me to Cinderella; I thought she meant I was beautiful until she said what she REALLY meant is that I’m too busy to clean my kitchen properly, which attracts mice and birds.

Third Place (winner of a $250 gift certificate to thegibsongirl.com)
…my husband asked me what my favorite sexual fantasy was and I told him, “you making love to me without waking me up.”

Essays

What’s One More (winner of gold and platinum earrings from Christiantse.com)

They Have Nothing On Me (winner of a jewelry ensemble from intijewels.com)

Related By Carriage (winner of a $250 gift certificate from thegibsongirl.com)

Videos

Fast Lane Mama (winner of a gold charm bracelet from Sonnysjewelry.com and Rembrandt Charms)

Desperate on Hysteria Lane (winner of a jewelry ensemble from intijewels.com)

She’s a Maniac (winner of a $250 gift certificate from thegibsongirl.com)

Thanks to everyone for your participation and congrats to the winners! It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Karen and all of the participants.