The November issue of STUPEFYING STORIES is revealed, and then released! • Buy it at Amazon (MOBI) or Barnes & Noble (ePub) (Other stores coming soon!)
Bruce Bethke presents the first installment of our “Slushpile Survival Guide.” • Join the discussion...
Daniel Eness expresses admiration for flying monkeys and rubber-suited monsters. • Join the discussion...
Kersley Fitzgerald skips NaNoWriMo to make owls. • Join the discussion...
Realms of Fantasy closes its eyes, perchance to dream. • Join the discussion...
Jack Calverley wins The Third Annual (whaaaaaat??!) Halloween Story Challenge challenge, with the mother of all submissions. • Join the discussion...
All this and more, as M harvests his annual crop of pumpkin seeds, and the inmates discuss the view from their respective places in the asylum.
CTRL+ALT+DELDELDEL...∞
As of this morning, we have received the following entries for our current challenge:
- “The Blink of the Quantum Eye” by Jack Calverley
- “Untitled” by J.M. Perkins
(Note: This one was posted in DOCX format. Normally we prefer DOC, RTF or TXT, since DOCX occasionally causes problems for some challengers.)
An enthusiastic “Huzzah” to all who have entered! The judges are considering your submissions, and a winner will be declared by the evening of Sunday, 6 November 2011.
Ambrosia Manna Gruel
And now it is time for this week's Friday Challenge, courtesy of Jack Calverley:
This week's challenge: to write a story where some aspect of the production, preparation, consumption or anything else of food plays a pivotal role in the plot. The story may be mythic, historic, futuristic, fantasy or anything else so long as it is not set in present day reality.
I suggest at least 500 words but no upper limit other than bearing in mind that if it is headed for the 5000 word mark, unless truly compelling, fewer people may read it and offer feedback and a score.
Anyone can enter, except for Jack Calverley. You may enter as many times as you wish, but each entry must be independent of the others, and you may not build on anyone else's work.
Everyone is asked to vote, and to say a few words about what they liked, and why. Or to say a few words about what they disliked, as the case may be; by submitting an entry, you implicitly agree to accept criticism, because there will probably be some handed out, and no one is immune. When voting, please rank a work as either “0” (not so good), “1” (not as bad), “2” (could have been better) or “3” (pretty good stuff!). If you give either a “0” or “3” vote, feel free to argue in support of your reasoning.
Don't like the negativity? Feel free to think of the levels as “0” (Not bad for a first attempt), “1” (Right on!), “2” (Holy cow, I wanna buy this now...) or “3” (Sweet mother of God, how did you write something this awesome?!!). The point is to clearly differentiate, and rank according to your own preference.
For the purposes of this challenge, Jack Calverley will be serving as Ye Olde High Marker, Voluntarily Walking th' Plank.
As of now, we are playing by the loosely enforced and slightly modified rules of The Friday Challenge. All entries are due by 6 AM Eastern time on the morning of Friday, 11 November 2011. A winner will be declared by the evening of Sunday, 13 November 2011.
Oh, there is one more thing... but it is the most important! Have fun. Always have fun.
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