FLASH CHALLENGE: March '12

[kailhofer]

The Out of Time Challenge:



Some of you may already know that I drive a long way to work--an hour each way. During that time, I listen to an eclectic blend of music on my iPod through my old Chevy Blazer's speakers. The main playlist has over 1200 songs on it, ranging from 70's music to current pop, from folk to heavy metal. It's enough music to keep the drive from becoming a bore.

The time lets me think about possibilities. One of those I frequently find myself wondering about is if a person like Mozart were to be brought forward in time and put in the car with me... when he finished freaking out at his arrival, the speed at which I was going down the highway, and that everything around him was different from what he was used to... what would he think of the music I was playing? Assuming I could figure out how to speak with him, what would he think of Katy Perry's "Firework"? What about Metallica's "No Leaf Clover"? That has an orchestra in it. Would he like the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby"? Would AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" make him a secret fan? And what about John Williams' movie soundtracks for Star Wars and Harry Potter in one of my other playlists--would he despise them or love them?

That notion of a person out of time is at the heart of this month's challenge. Transport an individual out of his timeline and deposit him in our own, current time. See how he or she would live. Make them cope... or not cope... as the case may be. Do a discussion with them or just follow their efforts. Their future is up to you.

C'mon, give it a try!


REQUIREMENTS: (1) Your tale must take a human from the past on Earth and transport them to our current-day Earth. The character may be a famous real person or not, but must have died in or before the 1700s; (2) No alternate realities, aliens, or time travelers other than your character; (3) You must have at least two characters that "talk" to each other in some fashion. (4) 1,000 words or less, not counting title, byline, or "The End"; (5) The setting and story must be fictional and not previously published, even in these challenges; (6) One entry per author; (7) Give your story a title and a byline; and (8) Keep it clean. Rated 'PG-13'. (Basically, think, "Could I see this on CSI?" That allows a lot, really.)

CHARACTERS & SETTING: No copyrighted characters or settings, or references thereto. Famous, non-copyrighted fictional characters like Santa Claus, or religious figures such as the Devil, named angels such as Gabriel, or gods like Thor, etc. as supporting characters at best and at my discretion. SPECIAL FOR THIS CHALLENGE: famous real people allowed, as long as they died in or before the 1700s! The Wicked Witch and Dracula may be in the public domain, but don't expect me to allow them. All non-copyrighted settings are ok. Famous, unique sites like Stonehenge may be used over and again. No fan fiction or sequels, so don't bother putting your story in the Land of Oz or that great place you thought up two challenges ago.

DISQUALIFICATIONS/REFUSALS: If, in my judgment, any requirement or rule is missed, I won't post the story for voting, but authors are free to resubmit with changes until the deadline. Should a story be initially accepted and posted in the challenge, but then later judged by me to be in violation, the story may be disqualified and removed from contention at any time before contest end. Authors who feel a story may be in violation should send me a PM and state their case.

HOW TO ENTER: Stories must be sent by PRIVATE MESSAGE, and NOT posted into a thread. Just click the 'PM' button at the bottom of this post and paste your story in the message. You are responsible for doing your own formatting, and leave an extra line between paragraphs, just like when you see them in the 'zine. I will allow different colors, but not changed fonts or sizes, artwork, or any other embedded or external links.

DO NOT send a regular email to me.

Stories will be posted "blind"--without the author's name on them. All the story titles are literally tossed into a pith helmet and chosen at in random order. When the poll closes after the voting week, I'll post a list of the stories and who wrote them. All entries will then be reposted in the Flash Archive with the author's byline.

Entries from new authors are strongly encouraged. C'mon. Give it a try!

NOTE: ONLY REGISTERED MEMBERS who have posted at least one message may submit a story. Without that one post, the system will not let you send a PM.

DEADLINE: Stories should be in by 9 p.m. Central Standard Time (GMT-6), Sunday, March 25, 2012. The stories will then be posted for voting at 10 p.m. Voting will close on Sunday, Apr. 1 at approximately 9 p.m., GMT-6. If you wait until the last second to submit for my review, don't be surprised or upset if your story is rejected and left out of the contest--you were warned.

VOTING: Stories are rated on a scale of 0-10 in whole numbers in 6 different categories by filling in scores in a form that is posted by me immediately following the post containing the stories for this challenge. Voters copy and paste the form into a PM and send it to me for tallying. One vote per user (that is, per ip address), and authors may not vote for their own story.

Every effort will be made to keep the voting fair. In the past, some voters have abstained from voting for some of the stories while voting for the others. Since total points scored decides the winner, this put the stories that weren't voted on at a disadvantage. Should this happen again, the skipped stories will be given marks equaling whatever the story's average is at the time of contest close. IF YOU WISH TO SCORE A ZERO FOR A STORY, YOU MUST ENTER A ZERO IN THAT POSITION ON THE VOTING FORM. A challenge entrant who does not vote for the other stories will receive a 10% deduction in their own score at the time of contest close, and the other stories will be given marks equaling whatever their story's average is at the time of contest close.

If more than two stories are tied at the end of voting, there will be a succession of one-day runoff votes until a single winner is chosen or the number of winners is reduced to two.

WHAT YOU WIN: Writers get improved short fiction skills, increasing their chances in the marketplace, without the lengthy investment in time a longer story would take. That, as well as bragging rights and pride--there is stiff competition each month amongst some great stories.

LEGAL STUFF: I'll try to do my best lawyer impersonation: By entering this challenge you are technically granting Aphelion: The Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy perpetual electronic rights only to post and archive your challenge entry. Aphelion would rather not lay any claim on them at all, but by posting them on a public site, they'd legally count as being published no matter what.

Ok. A real lawyer would have been less interesting. I tried.

[Lester Curtis]

Look up

MOZART IN MIRROR SHADES. It's a Great short story dealing with this subject.

Ah, humanity at its absolute worst. What else could be expected, though? You can do anything you damn well please, with no consequences (other than getting filthy rich) when you get home.

Me want time-portal, NOW!


Read it for free here:
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/19893228/MO ... -Bruce-Ste

[Lester Curtis]

Lester wrote:

Ah, humanity at its absolute worst. What else could be expected, though? You can do anything you damn well please, with no consequences (other than getting filthy rich) when you get home.

Me want time-portal, NOW!


Screw that, I want the mineral rights!

C'mon, Rick, you're gonna miss out on all the FUN! Hell, you could de-construct huge swaths of civilization, get enormous entertainment from doing it, and STILL have the mineral rights! Take a camera crew along, and you'd get millions at the box office from the movie when you get home, too!

[Lester Curtis]

Not sure if I'll get one in for this month . . . nice challenge, but all I've got so far is a half-baked idea and next to no enthusiasm.

[kailhofer]

One rejected and one accepted so far.

[kailhofer]

2 accepted so far. 1 week left, so time to fire up your creativity!