So for anyone who keeps up with this I owe an apology, I have been fairly busy, but not busy enough to excuse the lapse in updates. The short story for the contest has been submitted, and after results are in (think September) I will post it for everyone to see. I am also already starting on the next short, as the contest is quarterly, and there is no guarantee that this one will have success.
I am working on two to three other projects as well, and now that I feel that I am at least slightly better than complete amateur I will probably start querying shorts to some publications to see how the masses respond to my work. Though shorts seem like a good route, my passion is in writing an epic, and I plan to continue that in the background.