Until the judges and the members of the M-Comm are willing to step forward and reveal their names, it seems a supreme exercise in hypocrisy for them to demand full disclosure on the parts of the writers. From the get go M-Comm has been very vocal about their need for the "protection" of anonymity. Writers deserve that exact same protection.
Like Pam contemplated and Hazel actually did, I, too, had wanted to submit my story under a psuedonym. Despite the assurance that my name would be removed from my entry before given to the judges, I wanted that extra level of security to make sure that I indeed was truly anonymous. If I had known the names of the judges in advance and could have been assured that they carried no prior biases against me, I might not have felt such a need. True, I suppose I could have had faith that the judges would put aside any personal feelings. But as Cindy - aka Ann N - has pointed out, some people are petty, and how can I be sure that those aren't the same people behind the magic judging curtain? Call me paranoid. I don't mind when it comes to submitting something as close to me as my own writing, something I've put a lot of time and energy into and have strong feelings about.
I think that's the bed that M-Comm has made - if they expect blind trust on the part of the entrants on the word of an unknown group of people, they surely cannot be surprised or outraged when writers are a bit wary and take whatever precautions they feel are necessary. Trust must be earned before it can flow in both directions.
Lynn
