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Spring 2007 Contest

 
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ScottyDM
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Joined: 12 Feb 2005
Posts: 1142
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 8:39 am    Post subject: Spring 2007 Contest Reply with quote

Finally...

Announcing Anthrofiction Network's
Short Story Contest for Spring of 2007


Going back to the simplicity of earlier quarters, this season's theme is Blue Sky.

I've also tweaked the rules for 2007. Paragraph 1: added that sentence about fan-fiction. Paragraph 3: simplified the paragraph and pointed to the definition page. Paragraph 6: added several sentences about entering previously published stories--note, this does not apply to previously entered stories, which are still banned. The scoring section: removed the stuff about a judging panel.

These rule changes are not in response to anything that happened, but to clarify the issues before they arise.


I should probably put something on the website about the prizes.

For 2006 the prize was a 5 x 7 inch (12.6 x 17.7 cm) walnut wall plaque with a hunk of Cripple Creek gold ore epoxied to the face and a little brass nameplate that said: "ANSSC ___ 2006" (the underscores are the season). On the back was a mini-essay as to what the plaque means and why a writer deserves a rock as a prize. 2006 was the "Hidden Gold" prize. I'm running about 2 weeks behind, I still owe our winner Kada his prize... Embarassed I'll get it to you this month, buddy. I swear!

Anyway, for 2007 I'm switching to a different kind of rock. The 2006 gold was in the form of the telluride sylvanite, which looks like "bleagh" and you needed to be a geology geek to really appreciate it (never mind that some of those rocks probably contain a gram of gold). For 2007 I'm thinking of something a bit flashier, but not normally associated with Colorado. I need to go directly to the mine to buy my rocks this year, so I need to save my spare change. Hopefully I'll have the rocks purchased, cut, face polished, brass name plates bought, and the plaques completed by June 11th. I'll announce the rock type and the name of the prize once I get my rocks. It'll be insanely great! Anyway, hopefully... Confused Yeah.

Oh, I've got a whole tree full of claro walnut, I like 5 x 7 and rocks, so expect more wall plaques featuring rocks.


Much done, too much more to do.

I've removed all stories from the site except for the stories for this past season (one removed early at the author's request). If you had a story in a past contest I'd love to link to it from the contest site, so let me know.

The site code is an unholy mess. I don't want to make fixing the version 1.0 website into a career when I'm already beating my brain out on the version 2.0 site design. However, I've got an idea how to fix some of the uglier glitches in the design and eliminate the ugly patches. Maybe I'll be able to get this done this week (by the end of the month).

I need to push and get the version 2.0 site complete. The most important feature is that all stories will be behind username and password protection, so none of the stories will be published (in the legal sense). I'm hoping this will encourage people who are starting to think of professional publication to enter their stories. It also means that to enter a story, or to read and score any story, you'll need a free membership on the site--that username and password business. I have several classes of users: writers, readers, temporary readers, moderators, and managers. The difference between writers and readers is how much e-mail I send out (which is nearly nothing now, but you know... I could start). Readers will get only half as many e-mails as writers (once I start sending out e-mails). The temporary reader account is for your brother-in-law who promised to take a look at your story, but doesn't want to be a member of the site. Temporary accounts automatically self-destruct 2 weeks after the end of judging, and account information is deleted from the database. It'll all be insanely great! Very Happy

E-mails. I must get e-mails out to everyone soon.


Thanks for your support.

Scotty

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Kantaro wrote:
Almost real enough to be considered non-fiction, if it weren't made up.


Last edited by ScottyDM on Sun Mar 25, 2007 6:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Virmir
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Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Posts: 107

PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very cool. Ideas have come to mind. Think I'm gonna take a stab at this. Smile
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ScottyDM
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Joined: 12 Feb 2005
Posts: 1142
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

38 days until the entry deadline and already TWO authors have entered stories! So I gave them each a mini-critique.

Scotty

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Tygon
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Joined: 03 Apr 2001
Posts: 2497
Location: Isernhagen, Lowersaxony, Germany

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't know if I can join this one at all... There is an army (literally) of miniatures that I have to paint until early May and my future job possibilities depend on that I get them done in time.
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ScottyDM
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Joined: 12 Feb 2005
Posts: 1142
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2007 7:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well that snuck up on me.... I was thinking the entry deadline was something like the 20th. Nope, it was Monday the 14th. So...

The contest entry period is closed and the judging period has begun!

We have four delightful stories for your reading and judging pleasure. And three are by authors new to Anthrofiction Network.

Thanks everyone, and happy reading.

Scotty

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Tygon
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Location: Isernhagen, Lowersaxony, Germany

PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm sorry that I could not join the contest this time. As weird as it sounds, by painting lots of wargaming miniatures I improved my chances to get a job, so that of course had priority. I intend to join the judging though as well as the next contest.
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Teric
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PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 7:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cool, we've got some pretty creative entries this go-around! When will the judging be open?
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ScottyDM
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Joined: 12 Feb 2005
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 8:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The judging is open right now!

Let me do what I did on Critique Circle, a writers' community. One of the discussion threads there was "Critique my first line" so I put the first "lines" of each story in, with a link back to that story (hoping to snag some readers). I didn't think of doing this last season until one day before the close of the judging, but I did get comments on those first lines and while they didn't affect anyone's score, I put the comments in as feedback for the writers.

The first few sentences of a story is important. Many readers will decide to keep going or drop the story after only a few seconds, so such judging is realistic. Like last season the comments on CC's forum will not affect anyone's score--but I will share them with the authors.

The format of that discussion thread is a bit off. Most readers will give an author 10 lines or so before they give up. But this is what I posted:


Blue Skies
Quote:
“I think you’re in trouble little brother.”

“What makes you say that?”

“She wants to see you, and She wants to see you right now. She’s not in a good mood.”



Red Streak of Twilight
Quote:
He waved his tail back and forth in an irritable manner, looking up at the sky again. Every time he looked up at the beautiful, vast, blue wonderland, he could feel tears well up in his eyes. It wasn’t fair!



The Black and the Blue
Quote:
“Your mother’s dead.”

The middle-aged man dropped the cell phone on the table, its clatter echoed loudly through the food court of the botanical gardens.



Downward
Quote:
Turstin pressed his nose against the porthole glass, allowing the dull hum of the ship to lull his worries away. During the night he would gaze upward at the stars and wonder what those points of light could possibly be.



Scotty

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ScottyDM
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Joined: 12 Feb 2005
Posts: 1142
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 9:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Madonna sang:
"Time goes by, so slowly;
"Time goes by, so slowly..."

NOT!

Once again the deadline approaches. In less than 24 hours judging will close for this season's short story contest. Have you read and judged all the stories yet?

The deadline is Sunday at 8:00pm on the east coast of the US and 5:00pm on the west coast, and Sunday at 12:00pm in England. The server controls cutoff of when you can submit your ballots. It's a bit more diligent than I am.

Remember, the winner will get a really great rock from me (someday). Ummm, okay, so I haven't gotten the rocks for 2007 yet... but I will. It's gonna be really great!

Scotty

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Tygon
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 6:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmmm... seems like I missed the judging too... sorry.
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ScottyDM
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Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We Have Results!


Downward by Virmir won with a very respectable score of 4.21 on a scale of 1.00 to 5.00. This story earned a 4.50 in both use of the theme and enjoyability and a 4.00 in creativity.

Red Streak of Twilight by Goombasa earned a score of 3.90. This story earned scores of 4.00 or higher in use of the theme, creativity, and enjoyability.

The Black and the Blue by Vaperfox earned a score of 3.80. This story earned a whopping 4.60 in use of the theme and a 4.00 in creativity.

Blue Skies by Mark Knowles earned a score of 3.35. This story earned scores of 3.60 in both use of the theme and creativity.

Congratulations to the contestants. All the stories used the theme well and showed imagination. And overall, the scores are drifting upward from previous quarters.

Scotty

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Virmir
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Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Posts: 107

PostPosted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, I'm really flattered! Didn't think I'd come in first. A huge thanks for reading to everyone!

And thanks for putting the contest together, Scotty. Most of the stuff I write is random and spur of the moment, but I actually had to sit down and think this time.

EDIT: Also, a HUGE thanks to those that left comments. I'm new at writing, and think I have a long way to go in terms of improvement. Comments like this help tremendously. Thank you very much!

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