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Friday, September 3, 2010

The Friday Challenge - 9/3/10

This Week in THE FRIDAY CHALLENGE

Bruce Bethke popped in with Notes'n'Stuff in place of the normal Splattering Guts For Fun and Profit, calling for guest column writers for both Splattering and Ultimate Geek Fu. Join the discussion...

Mentioning guest writers, Avery L. Maxwell brings us an Ultimate Geek Fu which takes us back to the golden days of animation and Looney Tunes place in the world of science fiction. Join the discussion...

Kersley Fitzgerald writes about her first exposure to science fiction and explains why The Cat in the Hat didn't appeal to her. Join the discussion...

Henry Vogel discusses comic books and psychologists and the unfortunate results when the two are combined. Join the discussion...

Splattering Guts for Fun & Profit asks the age-old question, what is more scary, the known, the unknown, or a house that automatically cleans up the remains of an irradiated dog and has burn silhouettes of the family on the outside wall? Join the discussion…

Bruce Bethke gives us an update on Stupefying Stories (order it now from K&B Books through Amazon.com) and all the electronic versions we can look forward to seeing. Join the discussion...

Miko takes the win in the 8/20/10 Friday Challenge with "The Sound of Tweener Texting." The inmates discuss the view from their respective locations in the asylum. All this and more, this week in THE FRIDAY CHALLENGE.

And now for the current challenge.

"What I Did Last Summer"

Here are the entries for the 8/27/10 lesser Friday Challenge, in which we challenged you to write a true, semi-true, or even totally fictional story about what you did last summer. Entries are presented in approximately the order in which they were received:

The Bandit, “Summer of My Dreams”

Miko, "Daysh's Homework"

Arvid Macenion, "The Holm of Abhorrence" (drop.io)

Arvid Macenion, "The Maze of the Sapphire Sun" (drop.io)


Carmine Vrill, "Ephemera" (drop.io)

If we've missed any entries, or if anyone has snowdogged in an entry after the deadline, please let us know so we can fix this list. As always, even if you haven't posted an entry this week—even if you never enter in any week—you are invited to read, comment on, and vote for your favorites. Don't be shy about leaving feedback on the writer's sites, either. Writers thrive on knowing that somewhere out there, someone is actually reading the words that they have written. The winner will be announced Sunday evening.

And now for this week's new greater challenge.

"Read Me a Story"

Any parent has heard that demand from their child. Many an uncle, aunt, or older sibling has, as well. Bookstores and libraries are filled to overflowing with books for children; picture books, early reading books, chapter books, and young adult books. Write a children's book that sells well and your work could very well last forever. Then there are children's magazines, almost all of which publish fiction. These range from non-paying, online markets to highly prestigious, well paying titles such as Cricket.

And let's be frank, many parents make up stories for their children. A surprising number of authors eventually wrote down the stories they created for their children and found publishers for their work. That includes such books as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Watership Down, just pick a couple of titles from memory.

If you've made up stories for your children, regardless of how old they are now, you're already one step ahead. Now all you have to do is write the story! If you don't have children yet, think of this as practice for when you do, or when you have nieces and nephews. If none of those rationales appeal to you, consider this a challenge to write a great science fiction story for children, one that will help build the next generation of science fiction fans. (Note: you are not required to write a science fiction story, I just dangled that as a last resort.)

This is a greater challenge, meaning the deadline is three weeks off.

As always, we're playing by the loosely enforced and rarely updated Official Rules of THE FRIDAY CHALLENGE, and playing for whatever is behind Door #3. The deadline for this one is midnight Central time, Thursday, September 23.
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