Odenton woman wins novel-writing contest

Back in 1836, Charles Dickens had the literary world on a string with his serialized novel, "The Pickwick Papers."

The book's 56 chapters were published in 19 monthly installments in a London newspaper. By the time the last chapter was published, Dickens was established as a hot author.

The serial novel apparently hasn't died out.

It's still alive and well on TheNextBigWriter.com, a virtual bazaar teaming with writers, reviewers and proofreaders from the U.S. and 16 other countries. Recently, the site made a splash by offering $5,000 to the winner of a six-month-long competition among its 3,000 online members. The...