Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
** NOVEMBER 2016 MICROSTORY CONTEST - COMMENTS ONLY
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My November story is up, and it's not even November yet.-C.
Ps. Ahem. . . someone needs to move the November 2016 threads to the top of the list.
@C,From memory, when this has happened before 'someone said' that it's Jot that has to (is the only one able to) move the current month's threads to the top of the list ... so maybe email him? (It could be a while before he happens to check out the forum himself, if he's busy with other stuff.)
Yes, Jot is the only one who can pop conversation threads to the top of the list.
And I was just wondering, Justin, whether it might also be the case that Jot doesn't move the month's threads to the top until the month has begun? Do you know? (A couple of us jumped the gun a bit this month and had our November stories up before November itself arrived!)
That I do not know, but there's certainly no harm in getting your story out early.
Fine and charming story, Chris! Guess I'd expect a bit more a sense, at the end, of danger (amid those opened possibilities), but there's something fine in the subtlety and elegance of the ending, as it is. Nice job.
Good story Chris! Nicely done! We must beware of those run down, out of the way businesses. Nothing good ever comes from them!
Paula and Justin, thanks so much for your kind words. I was trying to do something a little more lighthearted this month. I'm happy you enjoyed it! :)
I just edited the title of my story for this month ... to hopefully better reflect its meaning. The title is now "A Musical Chairs Solution, Or: How To Keep Shifting The Pain Onto Another Scapegoat Until ALL Scapegoats Feel Exhausted"
I'm already looking forward to next month's theme ...in hope of being able to fit it to the story title I am now thinking of, viz., "A Day In The Future: When A Country Wakes Up And Realises It Has Just Floated Itself Off The Edge Of The World"
An alien impersonates a presidential candidate but the weird hair gives him away? Or the pants suit hides a plethora of alien weapons?
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in several Asian countries people were rubbing the sleep out of their eyes ... but then as they kept rubbing and rubbing they were surprised to realise that the acrid soot could not be wiped away. As people looked out of their windows, in grass huts made of bamboo and high rise city apartments alike, the mushroomed shaped smoke - though it was way, way in the distance - troubled their normal human minds.
"What happened?" was a commonly asked question. "Quick, turn on the TV!" was the common response ... and then the answer became clear: in a far away land, a frightened news reporter was sooth-saying ... something.
Through the static and haze, in what was still left standing of the TV studio, it could just be made out what was being reported. Apparently some idiot had handed the Alien two presidential resources: a twitter account and a nuclear code.
"Well, I didn't know he was going to mix them up, did I?" the human idiot could be heard saying, defensively.
Just before the static turned to a completely blacked out screen, the Alien, still disguised in a clown suit and sporting yellow hair, could be seen and heard saying as he sniffed in the refreshing (to him) fine ash, "that's the beauty of me! I thrive on that which suffocates lesser beings ... it's beautiful isn't it?"
"What is that thing floating away in the distance, Mummy?" the Asian child was asking.
"It used to be called 'America', little one."
"It's so pretty, Mummy! It looks like the shape of a red clown's nose under yellow hair as fuzzy as a lion's mane!" the child said, coughing.
Great story there, Heather. Comic genius.Except--oh wait, didn't that just (no it couldn't possibly, could it) . . . happen?
Thanks Paula :) ... and thanks, C too, for the opening line! I put it on my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/heather.macg... (and I acknowledged there that the first line wasn't mine, C. I changed that line to "Once upon a time an alien was trying to impersonates a presidential candidate ...but would the weird hair give him away?" )
Yeah, get the jokes in now, before they become illegal.
Yes the world has until December the 19th to laugh through the tears https://boingboing.net/2016/11/11/hit... ... then it's sobbing on bended knees ... all the way to Christmas and beyond, except for those who like a good slurp of fascism with their Christmas turkey and their best ever Christmas gift: a pristine new copy of Mein Kampf in the making. A silver lining somewhere? Yes, maybe for brave authors! They can reach out a hand and take the gift that keeps on giving: endless inspiration to tell the story of humanity, and the path it looks to be taking, into the future.
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." ~ Maya Angelou (American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. )
With the world (politically) taking a sharp right turn, again, it's an ideal moment for a writer-of-conscious (such as I see myself as being - a science fiction essayist, I call myself!) who wants to hone ... and enjoy ... their craft to look (creatively) to the classic left field satirists of the past. For some reason Mark Twain came to mind as a good place to start. Googling led me to see that he dabbled in satirical science fiction! http://www.openculture.com/2014/11/ma... I didn't know that!
Must be the end times ... got a story up for November :)
Thanks , Justin. It is the kind of thing that emerges from little to no sleep and double grief
No hurry or worries or necessity. I may be offline as my mother has taken ill. But thank you anyway for your interest
Mine's up after extracting myself from infinitely nested realities.
@ kalifer, you've put a comma instead of a 'dot' com in that link (it worked when I just changed the comma to a dot.) Is that OK with you if I share that link on facebook with some of my friends there who are actively trying to turn things around? (I'd edit the link so it's easily clickable through to your trumpy.pdf (Maybe you could edit it here though.)
You could, sadly, add a "77. a)" (Trump is the personification of the “Ugly American” wiping out foreign good will.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7on86...
viz., "77.a) BUT, when weak human resolve and strong human ambition plus the necessity of 'political diplomacy' are present, world leaders will/are accepting/welcoming/embracing/denying/out of solutions to resolve the problem that is 'TRUMP.'"
(Our own Prime Minister here in Australia already had Trump's personal phone number and was showing off on TV saying how he'd rung to congratulate "the President-Elect" within milliseconds of the 'outcome' being declared! He got that phone number through a rich and hence powerful American-once-upon-a-time-Australian who is a good buddy of Trump's: golfer Greg Norman. So who knows even where the complicity begins and ends throughout the whole world, to install such a leader in the acknowledged powerhouse that the USA is?!?)
AND you could add a point '79'
"79. Trump kills satirical writing"
... no seriously! I saw a comedian on TV last night saying that
satire depends on exaggerating someone's foibles, but comedic writers just can't exaggerate more than 'the reality of Trump' without getting into a whole new realm (maybe pathos?)
He said that he had written a comedy sketch about a formerly covert KKK member 'coming out' and openly expressing his affiliation with a new-found Trump inspired boldness and pride!
But then 2 days later this comedy sketch was rendered useless as a piece of funny exaggeration when, in real life, a whole parade full of KKK members did their own real coming out, and in a far more exaggerated way than any comedian could have dreamt up!
p.s. thanks for trumpy.pdf I've only just started working my way through it. (I watched this one first https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7on86... Thom Hartman's "Is Trump The Epitome of 'The Ugly American'?" ... 'a warning' from June 2016!)
Despite what that comedian I mentioned above said - maybe SOMEWHAT tongue in cheek - I think it still behoves writers to write about such things. Who knows in what genre exactly though?!
That same comedian also said that, in China, satire can land you in jail and so the only comedy left is sarcasm: "It's such an honour to have you as our leader ... [bowing low]"
@ Justin,I'm googling the phone number of my local Thai food restaurant right now!
Wow. Just back from Left Coast. Sorry to be out of touch!-C.
Congrats to everyone. A nice selection of stories this month. Had a hard time choosing because I liked them all and the many ways people handled such a broad theme :)
For those of you eating turkey this Nov. 24, have a Happy Thanksgiving!I have sincerely enjoyed reading all of your works since I first started contributing in April. It is a genuine pleasure to experience your creativity!
I've enjoyed this month's stories but am caught up in a very heavy (and overdue) editing job for a longterm client, so have to skip doing a story or voting on your--very fine, those I've had time to read yet--stories this month. Sorry.
Justin wrote: "For those of you eating turkey this Nov. 24, have a Happy Thanksgiving!I have sincerely enjoyed reading all of your works since I first started contributing in April. It is a genuine pleasure to ..."
Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Justin. I've been grateful for your fine stories and reviews.
Yes. I agree that we have a nice selection of stories.
Thanks for the comments. I fix the link. Please use whatever I post in any manner you like except the stories. I do plan an anthology of my short stories someday which will include some of my microstories.Tom wrote: "Justin wrote: "For those of you eating turkey this Nov. 24, have a Happy Thanksgiving!
I have sincerely enjoyed reading all of your works since I first started contributing in April. It is a genui..."
Heather wrote: "@ kalifer, you've put a comma instead of a 'dot' com in that link (it worked when I just changed the comma to a dot.)
Is that OK with you if I share that link on facebook with some of my friends ..."
Thanks kalifer. I've shared that link. There's some telling articles in that lot. Even within the first few lines of the first linked article we get to see Trump's shallowness. In an interview with Trump, the Atlantic Magazine tells of an attempt by the New Yorker in the 1990's to write a profile piece on him and so asked him what sort of people he liked to keep company with. And Trump answered that his ideal company was "a total piece of ass."
Heather wrote: "Thanks kalifer. I've shared that link. There's some telling articles in that lot. Even within the first few lines of the first linked article we get to see Trump's shallowness. In an interview with..."Hi Heather,
The election is over. IMHO it's time to let it go and move on, like with Brexit. Even though Trump has weird hair, I'm sure they've examined him and determined he's not an alien.
-C.
@C,Hi C
Oh but he's such a rich vein to tap ... for a writer's pen to fill up on! It's not even about elections or brexits or personal likes or dislikes. (though those may exist to a greater or lesser degree in different people's list of priorities of what to hold and what to let go of. That's almost co-incidental!)
Trump is a lesson in inspiration for "characters" and "plots" and "story possibilities across different gentres, from comedy to tragedy to historical fiction."
To see writing about him as 'political' is to not let go ... of the immediate. Writing, to me, is about the timeless truths, the universal: eg to write about the universal probability of how weird humanity must look to aliens ... say, by employing the technique of exaggeration, even to the point of writing up a character that seems just too exaggerated for words!
I didn't ask Trump to be a study in what can or can't be, should or shouldn't be, might or might not, with a bit of imagination, one day, be. He just is such a study.
From a writerly perspective, Kalifer's list is just that: a writer's resource.
cheers,
Point E: I obviously don't keep up with 'the world of drinks' as much as you do. Never heard of that drink :)
I have heard the expression, "top C" used as an amateur psyche reference to how grating/frightening/something odd it can be when someone doesn't, in the first instance, take a softly softly approach to expressing something they're not happy about - as if you had just settled in, expecting a nice evening at an operatic performance ... and the soprano's opening note is top C.
At one place I used to work there was a fellow worker (who happened to be a stereotypical Italian = melodramatic. And the boss happened to be an amateur thespian in her spare time ... so she could also turn on the melodrama.) One day the Italian girl started "oh mama mia"-ing and getting very upset and vocal without any prior build up to indicate what the complaint she had was about and the boss said "Oh that girl! She goes straight to top C!" I thought it was hilarious ... entertaining. :)
The theme* for the month follows this note from the competition's Creator/Director, Jot Russell:
To help polish our skills and present a flavour of our art to other members in the group, I am continuing this friendly contest for those who would like to participate. There is no money involved, but there is also no telling what a little recognition and respect might generate. The rules are simple:
1) The story needs to be your own work and should be posted on the Good Reads Discussion board, which is a public group. You maintain responsibility and ownership of your work to do with as you please. You may withdraw your story at any time.
2) The stories must be 750 words or less.
3) The stories have to be science fiction, follow a specific theme and potentially include reference to items as requested by the prior month's contest winner. The theme for this month is posted below.
4) You have until midnight EST on the 22nd day of the month to post your story to the Good Reads Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion. One story per author per month.
5) After, anyone from the LI Sci-Fi group or the GR Science Fiction Microstory Discussion group has until midnight EST of the 25th day of the month to cast a single private vote to Jot Russell () for a story other than their own. This vote will be made public once voting is closed. Voting is required. If you do not vote, your story will be disqualified from the contest. You don't need a qualifying story to cast a vote, but must offer the reason for your vote if you don’t have an entry.
6) To win, a story needs at least half of the votes, or be the only one left after excluding those with the fewest votes. Runoffs will be run each day until a winner is declared. Stories with vote totals that add up to at least half, discarding those with the fewest votes, will be carried forward to the next runoff election. Prior votes will be carried forward to support runoff stories. If you voted for a story that did not make it into the runoff, you need to vote again before midnight EST of that day. Only people who voted in the initial round may vote in the runoffs.
7) Please have all posts abide by the rules of Good Reads and the LI Sci-Fi group.
8) Professional comments and constructive criticisms are appreciated by any member in either group and should be posted to the separate thread that will be posted at the end of the month and all voting is complete to avoid any influence on the voting. Feel free to describe elements that you do and don't like, as these help us gain a better perspective of our potential readers. Remarks deemed inflammatory or derogatory will be flagged and/ or removed by the moderator.
9) The winner has THREE days after the start of the new month to make a copy of these rules and post a new contest thread using the theme/items of their choosing. Otherwise, the originator of the contest, Jot Russell, will post a new contest thread.
______________________________
*Theme Requirements for the October 2016 contest:
"Goddamned time machine!"
That's all. In any manner you choose. (You don't have to use the quote, just the idea.)
Have fun!