Murder and Mayhem in the Gather.com Court TV Crime Writer Contest

Recently in the news, it was reported that one of the contestants in the Miss Puerto Rico pageant sprayed pepper spray on the gown of one of the other contestants, Ingrid Marie Rivera, and spiked her makeup. According to ABC News, someone also stole her bag of gowns, makeup and credit cards. There was even a bomb threat forcing the last day of competition to be postponed. Despite the underhanded tactics by the competitor, Miss Rivera won the contest and will go on to compete in the next Ms. World contest. This only proves, once more, that some people will do whatever they think it will take to win.

I suspect that, if the entrants in the Court TV Search For The Next Great Crime Writer Contest had proximity, something like this might transpire-after all, we are talking about crime writers and some of the entries are darn good. We should count our blessing that a modem stands between us. Who better to come up with the most incredible and deceptive ways to "knock off" the competition? There are about 13 days left in the first round of voting that ends December 9 and the pitch is becoming feverish, as contestants try to solicit votes and network to get other Gather members to visit their first chapter entries.

We can only imagine the accusations that are flying and the conspiracy theories that abound in the private conversations between contestants and non-contestants alike. Any "drive by hit men and women may be hard at work" using their "vote and run" tactics to lower scores. Those contestants with large circles of family and friends are putting that to work to their advantage. And why shouldn't these things occur? Hey, the more 10s you get the better your chances of making it to round two, where the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" will fly even more fast and furiously. (Thank you William Shakespeare for giving us Hamlet-and so many good one-liners.)