FLASH CHALLENGE: June '08

[kailhofer]

The "Fantasy Subgenre" Challenge:


Fantasy has changed a lot. When I was young, if you asked me to name a fantasy novel, I might have chosen The Chronicles of Narnia or The Hobbit. Those were about the only options I remember in my grade school library. At the time, I thought that was all there was out there for fantasy.

Well, certainly not anymore. Fantasy is big business, so much so there are now a host of subgenres: alternate history, Bangsian fantasy, comic fantasy, contemporary fantasy, urban fantasy, Elfpunk, dark fantasy, fairytale fantasy, heroic fantasy, high fantasy, historical fantasy, Celtic fantasy, steampunk, Wuxia, historical high fantasy, Medieval fantasy, juvenile fantasy, low fantasy, fantasy of manners, mythic fiction, mythpunk, romantic fantasy, science fantasy, sword and planet, dying Earth fiction, superhero fantasy, and sword and sorcery.

Personally, I had to look most of them up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_subgenres

As writers, we need to be able to mold our skills to what is selling if we're ever going to make any money at this. Therefore, I challenge you to write a story in one of the fantasy subgenres mentioned above. C'mon, it will be fun!


PS- As of last month, these challenges are now in their second year. Way to go, Aphelionites!

REQUIREMENTS: (1) Your story must be from one of the fantasy subgenres mentioned above; (2) Include an upturned stone and a pest; (3); 1,000 words or less; (4) This is a Rated 'PG-13' challenge; and (5) Give your story a title and include a byline for when I post the list of authors. Do not bother sending me a bio. I won't use it.

If, in my judgment, any requirement is missed, I won't post the story for voting. Sorry, but rules are for everyone.

HOW TO ENTER: Stories should be submitted to me by PRIVATE MESSAGE, and NOT posted into the thread. If you've never sent a PM, all you have to do is log into this forum and click the 'PM' button at the bottom of this post. That will take you to a special message board, a kind of Aphelion-only email, where you paste your story into the body of the message and then send it to me. You are responsible for doing your own formatting, and for the sake of uniformity, leave an extra line between paragraphs, just like when you see them in the 'zine. I'm allowing different colors for now, but I'm not going to allow changed fonts or sizes, artwork, or any other embedded or external links. I want all the stories to display the same on everyone's computer. DO NOT send a regular email to me--I don't want to risk a spam filter blocking someone's hard work.

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. So if you wish to join the challenge, post a hello or introduction, or just put your two cents worth in on any of the discussions going on anywhere in the Forum. We'll be glad to meet you.

DEADLINE: Stories should be in by 10 p.m. Central Standard Time, Thursday, June 26, 2008. The stories will then be posted for voting. Voting will close at 10 p.m. C.S.T. on July 2nd.

VOTING: Stories will be posted "blind"--without the author's name on them, but the vote totals will not be hidden. This is to make things as fair as they can be, without favorites to be played, and allows for anyone to enter, from newbies to editors. Names won't be on the poll for voting, and all the story titles are literally tossed into a hat and chosen at in random order. When I close the poll after the voting week, I'll post a list of the stories and who wrote them.

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.

If you feel a second story deserves a vote, you may legally vote again as a guest, but you'd need to do it from a separate network, say from a library or your workplace. Votes are tracked by IP address only, so a guest vote from your same network will change your previous vote to the newer one. Voting for yourself a second time is just tacky, so don't do it.

WHAT YOU WIN: Pride and the knowledge that your story was voted by your peers the best against strong competition--there are some outstanding stories each time. Writers get improved short fiction skills, increasing their chances in the marketplace, without the lengthy investment in time a longer story would take.

If the challenge can stay in good graces, winners will once again be published in the annual "Best Of" issue. Many thanks to the Editors for that.

GUEST ACCESS: Guest votes will be allowed again, so feel free to tell friends and neighbors about the contest and encourage them to read all the stories, not just yours.

An example of what may be done follows. It's hard to pigeonhole it into only one of the subgenres, but I'll go with either Mythic fiction, Elfpunk, or Mythpunk. Close enough.


Example story, not eligible for entry:


[right]Only 263 words![/right]



[center]My Love, My Life

By:
N.J. Kailhofer[/center]



I worship. I wait.

Dark tresses cascade down her forehead as she laughs. She smiles, her brown eyes playful. Her face, filled with happiness, draws us to her.

I adore. I wait.

The evening air is cool refreshment after the burning heat of the day, and her sigh is filled with contentment. Her eyes sparkle like jewels, twinkling with delight, and she reaches for the other. Their hands intertwine. At their feet, an upturned stone stumbles from the path to the lake, startling a turtle into the water.

I sing. I wait.

Her eyes look to the trees, searching for our faerie song. The unseen host dances before them, casting every hope for survival upon her. She sighs and rests her head upon the shoulder of the other.

I wait. I ache.

The nape of her neck beckons to us, and her perfume tantalizes. We draw near. The boldest of us gently strokes her smooth skin. She is our chosen one.

I touch. I love.

Even as our passion begins to swell inside her, will she understand our devotion? Will she know how she completed us, fulfilled our destiny? We give to her all that we can.

I fear. I flee.

The motion of the blow casts me aside, but three of my sisters are crushed. Our song fills with mourning as we watch their broken bodies tumble to the stones below. They will never know joy.

"Darn mosquitoes!" she shouts, swatting again. Still, she is as full of me as I of her.

Our children will live. They will love.


[center]The End[/center]

[kailhofer]

One day left to join the seven excellent story selections in this month's challenge!

The entries this time are a very well rounded crop. In fact, I'm not sure any two of them came from the same subgenre.

Any last minute stragglers out there, I need it by 10:00 PM my time (Central Standard Time) tomorrow, Thursday, June 26.

It's going to be a very interesting vote!

Nate