The challenge is to write a transgender story 2000 words or more about an Island Getaway before the end of May, winners to be announced in June. The story doesn't have to be set in summer despite the name of the challenge, but it should be on an island!
What kind of plot can you fit into a story about an island? See The Love Boat and/or Fantasy Island for some suggestions. :) Or Gilligan's Island! :) Entries can be complete standalone stories, fan fiction, or first chapters of longer works. Please no XXX-rated storylines.
There will be prizes: 1, 2 or 3 DopplerPress ebooks of your choice, depending on how many prizes we end up handing out. We'll have a Patreon poll to pick the winners, with free and paid members voting.
To enter the challenge, post a story on BC with the 2026 Summer Island Getaway Challenge contest tag before the end of the last day in May, midnight PDT.
Comments and suggestions on this post are welcome.
Hugs,
Joyce and Melanie E.
(originally posted 2 April 2026; boosted 15 April 2026)
Comments
Calling Tiffany Quinn!
Tiff found the perfect island for this story! Finding My Muse! Turns out there’s an island where all the muses are hiding out!
— Emma
I have no intention to enter
I read the post yesterday and felt no compunction to enter however, my muse may have other ideas.
It seems a deeply closeted cross-dresser has been plagued with the memory of a summer at Friday Harbor Washington. I don't know if anything will come of it, but my muse has been stirred up over the idea.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin ein femininer Mann
Your challenge inspires a book series
Thanks so much for this challenge! It sparked an idea with me for a day after tomorrow sci-fi novel series that I've begun writing. I have an outline for the entire book to protect against Writer's Block and complete it. (So many books running around in my head so little time.) I'm having fun with subverting many tropes usually present with premise elements as the challenge introduces.
The trouble with my book is the first chapter hook is about some excitement in the protagonist's life that motivates them to go to the island resort. It has nothing to do with the island experience which comes later in the book. While the book is well within the scope of the challenge, the first chapter is not. The length prescribed for the challenge entries is perfect for ease of reading and this challenge.
I really appreciate the affirming environment on Big Closet Top Shelf where I try to become a good writer when I grow up. I appreciate all the readers who give my efforts a chance and maybe even like them. I'm sure that this new book that I'm writing will appear for free on BCTS before I have the bravery to publish it. This is my community and I am so glad for all who are a part of it and for those who work so very hard to keep this space a friendly one to write and read transgender fiction.
Exploring the impossibilities,
Jo Dora Webster on YouTube
Just DopplerPress
Is it strictly DopplerPress books or can we pick books from other imprints?
Any of our imprints
DopplerPress or Janglewood are our main brands, the others are just kind of different sortings. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.