Why flash?
In my experience there are two benefits in writing flash fiction:
1. The need to work to a trigger and a timeline provokes hidden creativity and convinces you that you can find a story almost anywhere. It can even take you into milieux you never thought you'd invent.
2. The short 1000 word format forces focus and tight writing.
3. You can get a flash first draft written in its entirety very quickly.
I imagine that many stories that start out as flash grow and, in their final form, are longer than 1000 words. I know most of mine do. Nevertheless, the discipline of 1000 words for the first draft is great for finding out if the concept and the main characters work.
Since the format is so tight it's easy to find yourself writing a story that wants to be 1500 words or more. That's often happened to me and I've thrown away two or three drafts before getting one that's tight enough for the format. But the story is better for that, I think, because it's tight and I'm clear in my mind what the story is, even if it grows in later revisions.
Triggers
========
First line has to be:
"It was around two-thirty when I heard the ansible ring in the kitchen."
Somewhere in the story, two men have to bust in with guns blazing.
To learn more about ansibles please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansible
Rules
=====
Flash fiction, 1000 words max.
Closing date for entries: 18.00 GMT Friday June 20th (about four weeks from now)
Closing date for crits and votes: 18:00 GMT Friday July 4th (about two weeks to read, crit and vote)
Usual Hatrack rules for content apply. Please, no fanfic, no use of copyright stuff--except "ansible" is okay because Le Guin released it.
Submission Guide
================
e-mail your story in .doc, .rtf or plain .txt format to me by 18.00 GMT on the closing date above.
Please do not put early drafts of your story through the regular F&F threads for first 13s, for that would destroy the annonymity of voting.
(If you use Word 2007 please save in .rtf or an earlier .doc format because we don't all have the format converters for earlier versions of Word.)
In the e-mail subject line please put "Hatrack Contest--Story name--author's Hatrack name" in order to get past my spam filters.
In the body of your email please put your Hatrack name and your e-mail address.
On the first page of the manuscript (and nowhere else) put your name and the word count.
Voting and Critting process
===========================
Voting and critting is anonymous.
I will delete names from manuscripts, assign them numbers, reformat them only to the extent necessary for ease of handling, combine them into one file and send it to all contestants. (If you can't read Word .doc files let me know.)
I'll create a fresh thread for first 13s and post them all there so we can vote on them.
Winner to be decided by vote. You vote for your top three first 13s and top three stories. I will tally the votes like this: three points for your first choice, two for your second, one for your third. You cannot vote for your own story.
I will not be submitting a story or voting myself. (I will write one anyhow, just for fun, and workshop it later after voting is complete.)
In case someone doesn't vote, please include at the end of your 'vote-and-crit' e-mail your votes for the other stories, but not crits.
You must crit your first three choices and send the three crits together with your vote to me by 18.00 GMT on the voting due date above. (Votes without crits don't count.) If you don't vote I'll delete your story and redistribute the votes.
Please use this vote and crit format in your e-mail to make my administrative life easier:
--------------------------
Your hatrack name
First 13 1 -- story number
First 13 2 -- story number
First 13 3 -- story number
Story 1 -- story number
Your crit of story 1
Story 2 -- story number
Your crit of story 2
Story 3 -- story number
Your crit of story 3
Story 4 -- story number
Story 5 -- story number
Etc
---------------------------
You are honour-bound to crit the other stories within a week or two of the close of voting. If there are more than eight stories submitted you only have to crit eight max--your top three and your choice of another five.
If any stories don't get at least three crits, I'll crit them and request the three winners to help me, so everyone should get at least three or four crits.
If for some reason you're unable to submit your story or vote on time, please let me know and we'll make due allowance.
If I don't hear from you by the due voting date I'll delete your story and redistribute the votes received appropriately.
===============
How's that? Any comments, questions? Dates okay?
If you're in, please confirm with a reply in this thread. I think from the previous thread we should have four or five takers so far.
As skadder said in the previous comp, this is just a bit of fun which hopefully will help everyone improve their writing. Although there will be winners, there will be no losers!
Cheers,
Pat
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited May 25, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited May 25, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited May 25, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited May 25, 2008).]
Don't worry about your sanity. It sounds to me as if writing that particular flash with that particular start was the sanest thing you could possibly have done.
And if it qualifies as science fiction or fantasy, there are plenty of markets you can send it to.
quote:
And if it qualifies as science fiction or fantasy, there are plenty of markets you can send it to.
And Unwritten, even if it doesn't qualify as such, there are still plenty of markets for mainstream/literary/genre of your choice stories out there!
Kind regards,
Paul
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited May 26, 2008).]
"The first line of the flash fiction contest," said the Voice from Afar, "could alternatively be, 'The old man trudged slowly up the road.' "
Well, thought I. Let's see. We don't have all that many takers so far. Maybe they're on vacation and didn't read the invitation yet. Maybe they couldn't get past TS's long-winded instructions. Maybe everyone's too busy writing.
But maybe, maybe, the ansible puts people off, either because it practically mandates an SF story, or because it's derived from a Le Guin idea--and been used by several writers.
"Do you think we should have two alternative opening lines, the original with the ansible and this one with the old man?" I asked.
"Perhaps," said the Voice from Afar. "Would Unwritten like to enter it still in the competition, and allow others to use the old man trudging up the road as a first line?"
"Dunno," I said, "I'll ask. It might open the comp to more contestants, and that can only be good, right?"
"Yeah--but what about the guns?" asked the Voice from Afar.
"What about the guns? You don't like guns?"
"If Hatrackers want to write fantasy, they might want two men to bust in brandishing swords."
"So," said I, "The comp would offer two alternative opening lines, one with the ansible and one with the old man trudging, and somewhere two men would have to bust in either with guns blazing or swords a-brandishing?"
"Yes," said the Voice from Afar. "But why are you asking me? I'm just your inner editor nagging you via the ansible of your imagination. Why not ask Hatrackers?"
So, what do you think, people? Leave the contest as it is or open it up with Unwritten's first line as an alternative--and, would that be okay, Unwritten? I'll quite understand if you'd like to keep the idea for yourself.
Cheers,
Pat
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited May 26, 2008).]
Also I would recommend setting a target number of participants, e.g. 12. If you get less then the competition doesn't go ahead--you'll always get a few drop-outs. People then know if they commit it will be to a competition that is significant or alternatively will not happen. I would hate to commit to a competition of this nature and find myself one of three.
Also advertise it on the main discussion board.
It's what I did, seemed to work.
[This message has been edited by skadder (edited May 26, 2008).]
I think that makes 3?
quote:
...really had my 13-line rule fingers itching.
Shane? Shane?
And once I finish doing that, I'll sign up for this contest.
I'm okay with the opening line as is. Haven't read any LeGuin (tho' she's a favourite of my girlfriend's, and on my "to read" list...), but I really like the idea of an intergalactic telephone. Opens up many otherwise impossible possibilities.
quote:
...my 13-line rule fingers...
Kathleen, you have 13 fingers and they have ruled lines on them? Weird.
Skadder, who is shane? lol
quote:
Would Unwritten like to enter it still in the competition, and allow others to use the old man trudging up the road as a first line?
It was such a great line that I was considering having it trademarked, but since you asked so nicely, I suppose I'll share.
Alas, my story has no guns, crossbows, daggers or swords. I'm not really sure WHOSE FF rules I read before I got on that plane, but maybe I can work them in.
"It was around two-thirty when I heard the ansible ring in the kitchen." (Or some other long-distance communications device--a crystal ball that rings, maybe?)
Or
"The old man trudged slowly up the road." (Or woman, or alien, or beaten track, or path, as long the character is old and trudging.)
And somewhere in the story, two characters (men, women, alients, evil robot monkeys) have to bust in with weapons.
Contest only runs if we get 12 entries, and everyone's guaranteed at least three or four crits.
Sorry about the 13 lines, Kathleen, I got carried away by the Voice from Afar!
So far I see 5 contestants:
illiterate
Unwritten
JustinProse
IB
Jeff M
Cheers,
Pat
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited May 27, 2008).]
quote:
Skadder, who is shane?
He was a famous movie gunfighter. You haven't heard of him?
quote:
Skadder, who is shane?
I am. If You were wondering how to say my name. I got the Cowboy name with the Indian spelling; born in the sixties and all that.
I am toying with joining if my work sched allows.
No, I haven't Skadder...I'm only 19 :P Plus, I don't watch many gun slinger movies (westerners or something) if that is what he is from.
I'll keep my eye open though!
So...we have two opening lines now! And they are a lot more varied I see. Some wiggle room for me. I'm liking that.
Am I that old?
[This message has been edited by skadder (edited May 27, 2008).]
Contestants so far:
illiterate
Unwritten
JustinProse
IB
Jeff M
Cheyne (if work schedule allows)
WouldBe
kathyton
Cheers,
Pat
Contestants so far:
lliterate
Unwritten
JustinProse
IB
Jeff M
Cheyne (if work schedule allows)
WouldBe
kathyton
Annepin
quote:
Would an extra week or two help with scheduling, Cheyne?
lliterate
Unwritten
JustinProse
IB
Jeff M
Cheyne (if work schedule allows)
WouldBe
kathyton
Annepin
Grant John
shimiqua
Triggers relaxed, because as IB says, the idea is to get ourselves writing.
Choice of two triggers which are either first lines or reasonable facsimiles thereof:
"It was around two-thirty when I heard the ansible ring in the kitchen." (Or some other long-distance communications device--a crystal ball that rings, maybe?)
Or
"The old man trudged slowly up the road." (Or woman, or alien, or beaten track, or path, as long the character is old and trudging.)
Timescales extended by two weeks (not only Cheyne has challenges, methinks):
Closing date for entries: 18.00 GMT Friday July 4th (about four weeks from now)
Closing date for crits and votes: 18:00 GMT Friday July 18th
Just waiting for one more contestant (but let's get writing anyway, we can at least exchange crits if nothing else) ...
Cheers,
Pat
If you'd like to post progress reports here that would be great, so everyone can see that everyone else is actually writing and we won't get to July 4 without any stories.
Mind, that won't happen, I've received one already!
Just a reminder, please send your story to me, and I'll post the first 13s after the closing date so we can vote on them.
Wishing everyone happy, productive writing,
Pat
Let's see, 1000 words in a little over 4 weeks is... about 30 words a day. No problem
Plus, I just mailed out my May story (I have this little rule, to get something new out there every month), so the decks are cleared for ansible adventures.
K---
Even though I'm not entering a story I'm writing one anyhow, to workshop after the contest finishes. I have plot, main characters and milieu in back story, and a title I'm pleased with.
Cheers,
Pat
Will that persuade you to join us, snapper?
Cheers,
Pat
That makes us thirteen:
lliterate
Unwritten
JustinProse
IB
Jeff M
Cheyne
WouldBe
kathyton
Annepin
Grant John
shimiqua
snapper
TS
Cheers,
Pat
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited June 02, 2008).]
Do we get cloaks or daggers?
As to something on topic: I have finished my first draft and am still liking it enough to only change wording that doesn't make sense. Will see if I still love my baby when the close date is closer or if it has become a toddler that needs to be trained.
Grant
Tell you what, how's about I enter a story but don't vote. That way, I can reserve my crits for any stories that don't get crits.
Good to hear you're making progress, Grant. I've gone a step backwards, plot deflated due to poor character motivation and dodgy engineering--but the milieu is fine, so no big problem.
You can have cloaks and daggers of you like, JP--just take care not to get blood on the manuscripts because it makes the pages stick together.
Cheers,
Pat
Hm...
quote:
"The old man trudged slowly up the road."
Oh I can hear IB's critique already
"The old man what old man? trudged slowly is it possible to trudge quickly? up the road what kind of road? Driveway? Wagon trail? Interstate freeway? ."
Hey Judge!
On a serious note, does the weapons that belong to the two people bursting into the room need to be of leathal variety?
Not to mention slowly is an unecessary adverb that does nothing to enhance the verb "trudge"--only weakens it. Also, I wouldn't care much what kind of road it was (in the first sentence), but "up the road" is Pennsylvania-Dutch for "on" or "along" the road. (Which makes me automatically envision it as going up a hill.)
quote:
On a serious note, does the weapons that belong to the two people bursting into the room need to be of leathal variety?
No, we're not being overly literal or mechanical with the triggers.
My milieu is strengthening in my mind but the plot's stalled. I need to take myself out somewhere for a walk to get inspired ...
Cheers,
Pat
Closing date for crits and votes: 18:00 GMT Friday July 18th
Submission Guide
================
Please e-mail your story in .doc, .rtf or plain .txt format to me before the closing date above.
Please do not put early drafts of your story through the regular F&F threads for first 13s, for that would destroy the annonymity of voting.
(If you use Word 2007 please save in .rtf or an earlier .doc format because we don't all have the format converters for earlier versions of Word.)
In the e-mail subject line please put "Hatrack Contest--Story name--author's Hatrack name" in order to get past my spam filters.
In the body of your email please put your Hatrack name and your e-mail address.
On the first page of the manuscript (and nowhere else) put your name and the word count.
I will create a new thread where I will put the first 13s for voting purposes.
Cheers,
Pat
]
You Click on Tools > Word Count. This opens a little toolbar that you can drag onto the main toolbars so that it will always be shown. Then just press "Recount" every time you want to see the new updates.
I thought it was nifty. If I'm the only one who didn't know this, then I understand I must be chastized in public.
In word 2007 is counts it all the time for you in the lower left-hand corner--you just swivel your eyes.
I resolved my plot problems and have most of a working first draft. It's approaching 1000 words and going to run over, but it should be okay after a revision or two--except the characters are beginning to take over. One's not taking kindly having her part reduced. "Word count?" she shrieks. "I will not be limited by 1000 words. Cut someone else." Luckily, she's not the one waving the guns around ...
Cheers,
Pat
Pat
I've received three stories so far, and an indication of another on the way shortly.
Mine is at 1100 words and editing mercilessly.
Anyone else making progress?
Cheers,
Pat
Then, on July 4th I'll send 'em all out for votes and crits by July 18. I'll remind everyone of the details nearer the time.
I have a first draft. One of my readers liked it, the other said "It's fine--but what's going on?" Some revision is in order, methinks.
Happy writing,
Pat
quote:
One of my readers liked it, the other said "It's fine--but what's going on?" Some revision is in order, methinks.
I don't know, I just checked the book Flash Fiction out of the library, and not knowing exactly what's going on seems to be the effect that some of the authors are going for.
Good luck!
If that is the case, my story is awesome.
I'll send everything out in MS Word a plain .txt format so that everyone can read it, and I'll request crits in a similar format for the same reason. (Else, we have to have long discussions who can use which features of Word and in my experience that gets messy.) That means, don't spend too much time with formatting because it will likely get lost.
Thanks for asking.
Pat
Pat
"Yeah," I said, "Good, huh?"
"From whom do we have stories?"
I read from the list pinned to the fridge.
"Why two from WouldBe?" asked the Voice.
"He wrote one, almost blew its identity in some other thread and wrote another just in case. I told him it's supposed to be fun, so to offer them both if he had a mind to."
"What about the others?"
"Well, they have until 18.00 GMT Friday July 4th to send their stories--or if they did already, their ansibles are faulty and they need to resend 'em."
"GMT?"
"Greenwich Mean Time, five hours ahead of US Eastern Standard Time."
"So," said the Voice, "that's by 1.00 pm Eastern. Will you need help e-mailing the stories out?"
"Don't be daft," I said. "You can't help. You're just a figment of my imagination."
As I put the ansible down I said, "Aren't you?"
Here's the list on the fridge. A 'y' beside your handle means I got your story.
lliterate
Unwritten y
JustinProse
IB y
Jeff M
Cheyne
WouldBe yy
kathyton
Annepin y
Grant John y
shimiqua y
snapper y
TS
Cheers,
Pat
I'm taking care not to read any of the stories received until mine is finished, so there's no chance of accidentally lifting someone else's ideas. There are some great titles though, and I think we can all look forward to some good reads.
Cheers,
Pat
Don't forget, entries close at 18.00 GMT on July 4th.
Over the weekend (Saturday I hope but Sunday if there are glitches) I will send the entries to all participants who sent in a story. (I will assume that no story, or e-mailed reason for delay begging for extra time and promising Macallans, means no participation.) That e-mail will include voting and critting instructions--no surprises, just a repeat of the salient points above. Also, I'll post the first 13s in a new thread for voting purposes. Remember, we're voting on best first 13, and best story. You must crit at least three stories for your vote to count and your story to be voted on.
Cheers,
Pat
lliterate
Unwritten y
JustinProse
IB y
Jeff M withdrew--too busy
Cheyne y
WouldBe yy
kathyton y
Annepin y
Grant John y
shimiqua y
snapper y
TS y
If you don't see your entry acknowledged in the list please contact me either by e-mail or this thread.
From the titles alone it's clear everyone has worked hard. We can all look forward to some good reads and valuable crits.
I plan to get the first 13s posted and the stories despatched by tomorrow, Sunday lunch time, before the British Grand Prix starts. The e-mail will include instructions for voting and critting.
Cheers,
Pat
Cheers,
Pat
Cheers,
Pat
"Must move that thing to the study," I thought. "Why would you put it in the kitchen?"
"Ping," said the Voice from Afar.
"Huh?"
"Anne said to ping her. Sounded like fun so I did it for you."
"But ... Oh, never mind. We've gotten three sets of crits and votes to date. Isn't that cool?"
"Yeah. When are they due by?"
"July 18th. Another nine days. But you aren't voting. Why are you asking?"
"Just in case anyone else needs pinging. I'm using an ansible. That's gotta be faster than you with your e-mail."
"Oh. Thanks--and when they're invented, send one to IB for me?"
"Sure thing. See ya."
As I put the ansible down I looked at the list on the fridge. There were marks by the names of the people who had sent votes and crits thus far, and wondered whether to ping them about the July 18 closing date ...
Unwritten
IB y
Cheyne
WouldBe y
kathyton
Annepin y
Grant John
shimiqua
snapper
Cheers,
Pat
I'm going to miss these little episodes when the contest is over, TaleSpinner.
I'm thinking of offering another contest after this one's over ...
Cheers,
Pat
How about an army of evil shopping mall Santas vs. Women Vampire Spartans on Shopping Mall asteroid? (That would be a battle!)
*evil laughter*
The best of all three...
I could put all the crits together into a zipped collection of files (with instructions on downloading and using a free copy of Winzip for anyone zip-challenged) and send them all to everyone--it would certainly save me the work of sorting the crits and sending them to authors.
I'm finding it quite instructive to see different people's reactions to the stories, so if nobody objects strongly in the next few days, I'll send all the crits to all authors--good idea, snapper.
Some people have included a short summary of their reaction to every story as their crit.
Here's the note on the fridge of those who've voted and critted so far:
Unwritten y
IB y
Cheyne
WouldBe y
kathyton
Annepin y
Grant John
shimiqua y
snapper y
One first 13 is way ahead of the others, but several stories are vying for best story, so these last votes matter.
Cheers,
Pat
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited July 12, 2008).]
quote:
I'm fine with having my crits made public, both those I receive and those I've written.
I'm good with that, too. Of course emailed to everyone is not the same public as these fora, which will keep our stories viable for submission.
Edited to add:
Is the thirteen which is ahead in the numbers a major contender for the best story? As long as we're discussing different perspectives, I wonder how many found the 13 line hook not to be delivered upon.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited July 12, 2008).]
quote:
Is the thirteen which is ahead in the numbers a major contender for the best story? As long as we're discussing different perspectives, I wonder how many found the 13 line hook not to be delivered upon.
For me, the answer was no. One of the top three in the thirteen made the top three in the favorite story, and just barely.
Two of those top 13 I really, really liked the hook. I thought they were splendid. Too bad it couldn't carry that excitement along for the rest of the script.
My favorite story (it was a run away for me) probably would have been ranked 7th or 8th out of ten in my favorite 13. Which goes to prove for me that a prose and plot is far more important to me as a reader. But if I were an editor that had to go through a few hundred stories a month to pick six for my magazine, I might feel differently.
All will be revealed when we get those final votes, at the end of this week ... stay tuned, same ansible channel ...
Pat
quote:
aren't these things supposed to tell you what is going to happen?
Uh...no. At least, not in anything I have ever read. As far as I know, they're supposed to be a way of communicating in deep-space or on FTL travel.
quote:
[Quoted from the Wikipedia link]
The word ansible was coined by Ursula K. Le Guin in her 1966 novel, Rocannon's World. Le Guin states that she derived the name from "answerable," as the device would allow its users to receive answers to their messages in a reasonable amount of time, even over interstellar distances. Her award-winning 1974 novel The Dispossessed tells of the invention of the ansible within her [i]Hainish Cycle[i].[Later]
Le Guin's ansible was said to communicate "instantaneously"
[Still later]
Le Guin explains that in order for communication to work with any pair of ansibles at least one "must be on a large-mass body, the other can be anywhere in the cosmos."
[A little later]
"doesn't involve radio waves, or any form of energy. The principle it works on, the constant of simultaneity, is analogous in some ways to gravity... One point has to be fixed, on a planet of certain mass, but the other end is portable." Le Guin's ansibles are not mated pairs as it is possible for an ansible's coordinates to be set to any known location of a receiving ansible.
I think the quoted are the only components used by all of the authors re-vamping the ansible. I could be wrong, but this seems to be the universal consistency.
That's a confusing explanation so I called the Voice from Afar in quest of a simpler one. "Can an ansible tell the future?" I asked.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because it's a communications device. The ansible does not speak to you. I do."
"Oh, yeah, right--"
"And, per your previous post, it doesn't have 'channels'. You just set the coordinates of the ansible you want to talk to."
"Wups. Silly me. Umm ... I don't suppose you know what the result of our competition will be?"
"No," said the Voice from Afar. "Patience, distant one. Friday, July 18th is just a few days hence now, and those three votes will surely be in by then."
Stay tuned, same ansible coordinates ...
Pat
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited July 14, 2008).]
quote:
There is no known way to build an ansible. The theory of special relativity predicts that any such device would allow communication from the future to the past, which raises problems of causality.
If Peter asks Ender the results of a race on earth that happens next week, the information cannot instantaneously be sent to Ender until it happens, so, although Ender is in effect in the future, to him, he's not. While it's true the race would have been long over on earth by the time he used the ansible, to Ender it's the same time. Ender isn't calling into the past, Peter is answering into the future.
[Edited to Add:]
Ironically, this is post 101--thereby making it "Ansibles and Guns Blazing 101". He, he, he.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited July 14, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited July 14, 2008).]
"You rang?"
"Yeah. Almost everyone has voted and sent in their crits of their top three stories; some have sent crits of eight or more. One person has promised their vote is imminent."
"Good. And you're telling me because?"
"Because I haven't heard anything from Cheyne, and I don't think he's posted anything at Hatrack these last few days. Could you find him and ping him about tomorrow's closing date for votes and crits? His vote would make a big difference to the results. Please?"
"I'll see what I can do. And tell WouldBe we agree that unrestrained magic in fantasy is indeed equivalent to bad science in SF."
"We? You're speaking for me now?"
"It was a Royal 'we'," said the Voice from Afar, and hung up.
Cheers,
Pat
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited July 17, 2008).]
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited July 17, 2008).]
"What!?"
"It's about time you picked up."
"How did you get this number?"
"From Talespinner."
"This is supposed to be a private line. He's passing out my number now?"
"Well, no. He ate one of Merlion's german chocolate cakes and needed to run to the bathroom. I got your number off his ansible while he was scar-ing up the porcelin."
"It's one-fifth past twenty-seven in the morning here. What do you want?"
"Twenty-seven?"
"Time works differently on this plane. Now get with it."
"When will we see the results?"
"Results of what? Daytonna 500? Your blood test? Your daughters SAT? The hatrack plumbing inspection?"
"Well, that last one would be interesting. Nah, the ansible contest."
"Oh for crying out loud. You got KDW ready to erase half your post and you waste all your time asking me that?"
*click*
Here, from the list on the fridge, are the stories, their numbers and their authors:
1 Unwritten "The Cabin"
2 would be "Ansible Time Zone"
3 Annepin "Spin Cycle"
4 IB "Rebirth"
5 kathyton "Special Delivery"
6 snapper "The Centenarian"
7 TaleSpinner "Vauum Sucks"
8 Shimiqua "And This is Life Eternal"
9 would be "The Red Ansible"
10 Grant John "Thirty-five Dollars"
11 Cheyne "Listen"
For the first 13s, in third place was ... drum roll ...
Excuse me, the ansible's ringing in the kitchen.
"Who won?" asked the Voice from Afar.
"I'm just telling everyone. You're interrupting."
"So get on with it then."
"But ... oh, never mind ..."
In third place for the first 13s was ... drum roll ...
Thirty-five dollars, by Grant John
And in second place was ... bigger drum roll ...
And This is Life Eternal, by Shimiqua
But in first place for first 13s, with over twice as many points as its nearest rivals was ... huge drum roll ...
quote:
Best first 13: Spin Cycle, by Annepin
"Do you think she'll glom if I ping her again?" asked the Voice from Afar.
"Shudup," I said. "You're messing up the ceremony. And what was all that nonsense you were telling snapper about time working differently on your plane?"
The Voice from Afar chuckled. "That wasn't me he was talking to. It was my alter-ego--the Voice from Another Far. But why are you nattering about history? Who won the contest?"
Okay. Four stories were grouped close together at the top, just ahead of the pack.
In fourth place was ... drum roll ...
The Centenarian, by snapper
In third place was ... drum roll and trumpet fanfare ...
Spin Cycle, by Annepin
In second place was ... drum roll, trumpet fanfare, ansibles ringing ...
Listen, by Cheyne
And in First Place ... Was ... drum roll, trumpet fanfare, ansibles ringing and guns blazing ...
quote:
Best story: The Cabin, by Unwritten
And of course, with a little work, all the stories will be winners :-)
Congrats to Annepin and Unwritten, and to everyone for some great work.
Thanks y'all for a super contest, for some valuable crits, and for making my life easy by observing the rules.
If you owe more crits (some people did their eight, some just the top three) please send them direct to their authors.
Everyone got at least three crits. I have e-mailed the whole package of crits to everyone in the contest. It's a small, 78Kb zip file, and if you can't deal with it, e-mail me. (On most computers you should be detach the file from the e-mail, right click it and unpack it into a bunch of text and Word files. Therein you'll find the crits. Some of the votes were sent separately, so if you want to see the full voting spreadsheet, e-mail me.)
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"You promised IB an anisble. You broke your promise," said the Voice from Afar.
"I promised him an ansible when they're invented," I said.
"And you're speaking to me on?"
I looked at the ansible, sleek, smooth and sexy in my hand.
"Give it to him," said the Voice from Afar and hung up.
Before I could protest the double-entendre, the ansible began to fade, back into my imagination.
Sorry, IB.
[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited July 19, 2008).]
Thanks to TaleSpinner for running all this. It's probably the most entertaining contest I've entered in a while!