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The judges have spoken.

Here are the winners and honorable mentions in the 2014 Erma Bombeck Writing Competition. Click here to read the winning essays.

Global - Humor

Winner: Tracy Beckerman for "Not By the Hair of My Chinny-Chin-Chin" (New Jersey)

Honorable Mention: Leigh Ann Northcutt for "Can We Talk Turkey?" (Kentucky) and Kristina Cerise for "The 'S' Word" (Washington)

Others in the Top 10 (random order): Becky Green Aaronson for "Smart Shoppers" (California); Krista Swan for "I'll Do It Myself" (Ohio); Wayne Scheer for "My Left Foot" (Georgia); Lorrie Goldin for "Family Life" (California); Jennifer D. Munroe for "Potential" (Washington); Dorothy Rosby for "Worry Works" (South Dakota); and Beth Bartlett for "Digital Dieting" (Arkansas)

Global - Human Interest

Winner: Kim Parsells for "Favorite Neighbor Brat" (Idaho)

Honorable Mention: Frances Peacock for "Blue Line Beauty" (Indiana) and Maia Aziz for "A Family Reunited" (Quebec, Canada)

Others in the Top 10 (random order): Donna Volkenannt for "Remembering Miss Tobin" (Missouri); Annie Stopyro for "Be the Worst" (Minnesota); Kim Miller for "Goodbye to My Mom" (Massachusetts); Gretchen Ayoub for "Forever Saxophone" (Massachusetts); Erica Brown for "Skills" (Massachusetts); Dortha Jackson for "There Goes Mom" (Texas); and Sarah Hunt for "Time Rules" (Ohio).

Local - Humor

Winner: Monica Schultz for "Mass Monitor"

Honorable Mention: Barbara Cleary for "Down the Bunny Trail"

Others in the Top 5 (random order): Daniel Crone for "Cash is Not Always King" and Tiziana Alings for "Icing on the Cake"

Local - Human Interest

Winner: Rosalie Bernard for "Every Woman Has a Norman In Her Life"

Honorable Mention: David Novick for "Rose, the Tarantula" and Sheila Hassell Hughes for "Assisted Living"

Others in the Top 5 (random order): Michelle Winters for "A Bag of Memories" and Christina Cahall for "Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien"

The 2014 Erma Bombeck Writing Competition attracted 853 entries from 48 states and 13 countries. The four winners receive $500, a free registration to the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop and publication of their pieces in the workshop's program.

The writing competition is hosted every two years by the University of Dayton and the Washington-Centerville Public Library in Centerville, Ohio, where Erma wrote the books and columns that launched her national fame.

Congratulations to the winners and to all who entered the competition. In the words of Erma Bombeck, "It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else."