Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
***JULY 2021 SCIENCE FICTION MICROSTORY CONTEST (Comments Only)***
date
newest »
newest »
I sense this is a very good prompt for very short fiction despite the fact that it seems ambitious. The theme and elements can probably be established in a few long sentences, leaving a lot of room left over for the action. That second element's gonna require some cogitating.
Great prompt, Chris. And here in the ***extremely hot*** Pacific Northwest, exttrmely apropos. I suspect the retro-futuristic power source is likely to be fins, at this rate. Assuming any water's left.
Paula has gone "Waterworld" on us! :)We are melting here in Everett! :)
Mod
Hoping you folks get a break soon! I'm thinking about yuz.
Mine's up! A somewhat anti-4th of July story that additionally meets the requirements and posted on the 4th. Today many voices cry out to be heard, but one is a whisper in the wilderness, the most unjustly treated of all, the American native. California Gold Miners wiped them out by the thousands calling them "claim-jumpers" with complete impunity. Reservations were land that no one wanted until they did. If gold or oil was found then they lost that land as well. Treaties were not worth the paper they were written on. The Canadian/American pipeline is a recent example but there are many other recent examples as well that haven't had much publicity.
Jack and Kalifer, both incredible stories!! I was hooked immediately for both of them. Nice ones right out of the gate!!
A random thought on a Monday morning:If Doctor Seuss were a god and not just any god but a revengeful one.
I shall smite them on the mountains
I shall smite them in the valleys
I shall smite them in their beds
I shall smite them until they are dead.
I shall smite them in the bushes
I shall smite them in the trees
I shall smite them with lightning
I shall smite them with bees.
I shall smite them where they stand.
I shall smite them as they fall
I shall smite, smite, smite them
Until there’s none left at all.
Oh, Krumrey! I am in an awful mood today and that made me laugh.
Mod
There was a short video called "The better butter wars" (I think) that really got to the dangers of weapon proliferation and atomic bombs. I watched it with my daughter (6 at the time) and had a surprisingly deep conversation about it.
I just got an email for last call for Kindle Vella. I'm not geared up for doing an episodic series but is anyone in the group publishing there?
speaking of high temperatures, my Las Vegas flight ended in Denver. turns out, it can be too hot for some airplanes to fly. it was 125 degrees when southwest grounded all flights to Vegas.
Ok. Mines up. Written (mostly) in two airports. By the time I arrive at my intended destination, I will have taken three different flights from three airports over the span of 18 hours without leaving the security zone.I left St Louis at 12:49 and, hopefully, will make it to my first (8:00 AM) class at the Mandalay Bay convention center in Las Vegas.
And I am really looking forward to sleeping...tomorrow night.
Greg, they actually can't land because of too much heat turbulence coming off the tarmac in Vegas. Happened to me before, too.
125?! Seriously worried, as I've internet friend in Vegas.Greg, take care. The 116 here several days ago was bad enough.
Mod
Ok, mines up. Funny how you struggle with even your own topic, lol.
Mine's up and I know it needs work but I wanted to get in under the wire.
I just realized that my story was inspired by the theme song to "Community", which I have been streaming lately.
Mod
Hey, thanks, Jot!Fun to write, in fact--and the polishing. Again, thanks.
Really a nice group of stories this month. All very creative! I feel very lucky to be part of such a great group of writers!I've been slammed this month. I successfully auditioned for an audio book through ProAudioVoices, an indie studio out of Portland, to be part of a group of narrators. We are working on a series of books put out by the Parkinson's Foundation that cover all the different aspects of Parkinson's, such as caregiving, disease progression, treatments, etc. One person dropped out so they asked me to fill in on his parts. Bonus work! So I've been either narrating, editing sound, or sanding my deck (in preparation to stain) in all my free time. I'll let you guess which is my least favorite out of those three!
I hope you all are well!
Sounds great, Justin--and in-between you certainly did a cool story!So I'm puzzled--you narrate, then edit the sound, and then the studio gets the sound-edited audio book and does/proceeds how--? (Curious what the steps are/process is.) Sounds like an important book series, in any case.
J.F. wrote: "I just realized that my story was inspired by the theme song to "Community", which I have been streaming lately."Ah! I don't know this song, but from the title and the story, shall have to listen to it . . .
Paula wrote: "Sounds great, Justin--and in-between you certainly did a cool story!So I'm puzzled--you narrate, then edit the sound, and then the studio gets the sound-edited audio book and does/proceeds how--?..."
Thanks Paula! Much appreciated! Yes, it is basically what you stated.
We narrate our parts, then upload them to a Google drive. The tricky part is that each narrator has differing levels of expertise when it comes to editing sound. I listened to the other three narrators to hear the quality of their sound and it varied from person to person. A sound engineer then has the responsibility of taking our respective portions and combining them into the final product, making sure the sound levels are as close to the same as possible. We'll have some pickups to re-record I'm sure, so we'll do those, upload, and the engineer will drop them in. The client then gets to listen and request any final changes. This is my first project with this studio, and as part of a team of narrators versus a solo project. I am almost done with the audiobook version of my book Cerulean Rising, Part II: Evolutions. I was in the process of editing that sound when I got pulled into this project. Got more of my own editing done today so I hope to get it uploaded to ACX/Amazon soon! Loved your story this month!
Fascinating, Justin. And thank you re the story, too.
Theme:
The City of Tomorrow
Required elements:
A disaster or calamity
A retro-futuristic power source