FLASH CHALLENGE: September '12

[kailhofer]

The Thinker's Fantasy Challenge:



Your character is the "go-to" problem solver for the King. The King wants inventions, great deeds, and perhaps even magic spells, and he wants them now. Right now.

The thinker, on the other hand, would really like just for once to do something simple like garden, skip down to the pub for a pint, or maybe go fishing. However, your character's duty and hard-earned fame keep people around all the time and keep problems coming right and left. In a sense, he or she is at the center of that Kingdom's war machine and/or construction engine. His or her views are constantly sought, day or night, so skipping out will be noticed and not taken well... Did I mention the King isn't patient... or tolerant, for that matter?

The task this month is to find a way to give the thinker that chance to do something easy and maybe fun for a change in a character-driven fantasy tale.

Are you up to the challenge?



REQUIREMENTS: (1) Your fantasy entry must tell the story of a well-known "thinker/problem-solver to the King" finding a way to go do something simple for change. Sword & sorcery solutions that kill everyone or anything like that will not be allowed. Your character has to "think" their way out of this; (2) You must have at least two characters that "talk" to each other in some fashion. (3) 1,000 words or less, not counting title, byline, or "The End"; (4) The characters, setting, and story must be fictional and not previously published, even in these challenges; (5) One entry per author; (6) Give your story a title and a byline; and (7) 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. The Wicked Witch and Dracula may be in the public domain, but don't expect me to allow them. No person that was ever a "real life" human being may be used as a character, but can be referred to, as in "President Kennedy had declared it would be so." Except as noted above under non-copyrighted fictional persons, character names may not be copied from fiction or real life, even if changed, i.e. Char-less Darween. 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, September 23, 2012. The stories will then be posted for voting at approximately 10 p.m. Voting will close on Sunday, Sept. 30 at approximately 9 p.m., GMT-6.

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.

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]

Is it bad that this comic (Very, Very, Very Not Safe For Work) - Oglaf ~ Cornwalling - immediately springs to mind?



I already did the "Man turns into a woman" thing, anyway.

That's just RUDE! Worse yet, it's rude in several ways at once (at least)!
That man should not be a king. He's no better than our average Congressman.

[Lester Curtis]

Is it bad that this comic (Very, Very, Very Not Safe For Work) - Oglaf ~ Cornwalling - immediately springs to mind?



I already did the "Man turns into a woman" thing, anyway.

That's just RUDE! Worse yet, it's rude in several ways at once (at least)!
That man should not be a king. He's no better than our average Congressman.

And I'm getting nothing . . .

[kailhofer]

Two entries accepted so far. Is there another brave adventurer willing to take on this grand quest?

[Lester Curtis]

I've got an initial idea, but it's not going anywhere . . .

[kailhofer]

well I'm half way through the first draft. If it keeps going the way it is now there will be a LOT of cutting to get it down to 1000 words. This is my first real effort in a long time and probably actually the furthest I've gotten. I'm hoping I can get the draft finished today and then clean it all up tomorrow. After tomorrow my week my be too busy to reach the dead line. I think I may be trying way too hard for flash fiction!

Well, good luck on it. Hope you can finish.

One of the really crazy things with flash is that it is both easier AND harder than long fiction at the same time. Likewise, frustrating and rewarding simultaneously. Only those who who've succeeded in completing a good story within the limitations will really understand what I'm saying, but the only way to get there is to keep trying.

Oh, and somewhere in there it becomes really fun and addicting, too...

[kailhofer]

5 stories accepted so far, including "newbie" P.A.'s. Things are shaping up nicely.