(Above) Writers of the Future Contest judge Jerry Pournelle presents second-place award to Carla Montgomery. Illustrator winner Rob Hassan receives his award from judges Ron Lindahn and Vincent Di Fate. (Center) Judges Laura Brodian Kelly-Freas and Val Lakey Lindahn present award to Dionisios Fragias, an Illustrators of the Future Contest winner.

This year, the event returned to Hollywood where it all began fourteen years ago. Since that time, a companion competition, the Illustrators of the Future Contest, has become an integral part of the awards event.

With the spectacular renovations and expansion of the Hollywood premises of Author Services, Inc. (ASI), including the addition of a new all-purpose gallery-theater and the spacious L. Ron Hubbard Library, it became obvious that the awards ceremonies had found a home. Not only are the offices from which the contests are administered located at ASI but there is also the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Hall, a showplace for the accomplishments of its judges and winners and a photographic display of the highlights of past awards events.

The 1998 awards event took place in October. As in previous years, the writers, including quarterly winners and published finalists (entrants whose stories are chosen to appear in the annual anthology but who didn’t qualify for a first, second or third place), arrived at ASI to participate in the renowned Writers of the Future Workshop. Led by judges Algis Budrys and Dave Wolverton, this intensive six-day workshop is world famous for raising a new writer’s standards to a professional level.