If you were convinced your touching tale about your pet was going to win you that stately home in Ocala -- dream on. The Ocala Mansion Essay Contest, which SSS! detailed several months ago, has been canceled "due to response from the general public," said sponsor Clementina Marie Giovannetti on her Web site.

Giovannetti, a self-published author whose latest book was based on life with her golden retriever, had said she would "give" her $1.25 million home to the person who submitted the best pet-lover story. But there were a few strings attached.

For starters, you needed to send $200 along with each submission. Giovannetti had the right to cancel the contest if she didn't receive enough entries; she said she needed 6,250 to make it work. If the plug was pulled, she promised to return entrants' $200 -- but got to keep a $20 per entry "processing fee."

State regulators noted that the essay contest sounded more like a creative way to sell an expensive house in a bad housing market than a contest, but agreed that it was legal as structured. They also agreed Giovannetti had her work cut out for her; similar house contests in the past haven't worked out because the owners could not get enough entries.

But if your heart was set on the Ocala Mansion -- it's back on the market for $1.25 mill.

Click here to read the original SSS! post on the contest.

So: Did any of you enter? And if so, did you get your $200 back?