And the winner is...

Wow. This was work. I've always said that I try to run THE FRIDAY CHALLENGE as if I was a magazine editor, judging entries and picking winners accordingly. I'd never before understood just how much of the process I was overlooking. We put in a good solid week of discussion on "The Land Before ZIP Codes", debating the relative merits and weaknesses of the entries, each arguing for our personal favorites and nitpicking the other entries to little bloody pieces.

It's not just a matter of picking the "best" story. As I've said many times before, just because something gets published, that does not necessarily mean it's a specimen of the "best" writing qua writing. It also reflects the editors' collective judgment on that particular day, in the context of the other stories competing for that publication slot, not ignoring commercial and audience-appeal considerations, factored against whatever else may be in inventory and how the story fits into the narrative flow and emotional dynamics of the proposed publication. (One cannot, say, run all bummers and downers of stories unless one is editing some sort of emo/goth rag with an all-black cover.) Also—

Oh, never mind. Suffice to say that I now have a far better understanding of why professional editors use form rejection slips instead of writing individual critiques, why they tend to load up on back inventory in hopes that they'll someday find just the right place to use a story, and why it sometimes takes a year or two for that right place to come along and a sold story to appear in print.

I will write up and post a thorough critique of the entries tomorrow. For tonight, I just want to announce the winner and get at least that much done. And the winner, of the "The Land Before ZIP Codes" Friday Challenge and the coveted featured placement in the premiere pseudoissue of STUPEFYING STORIES, is...

"Catachronism," by The Bandit

Details to follow.