Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
***OCTOBER 2021 SCIENCE FICTION MICROSTORY CONTEST (Comments Only)***
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On to other things...My story is up, but it's a reuse, as I am strapped for time trying to get a job. Have an interview with Bloomberg today. Fingers crossed!
How did it go with the interview Jot? Regardless of the outcome, which of course I hope is good, every interview is a chance to practice.
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Jot wrote: "It's been a fury. Have a second round with Google coming, one with Facebook on Monday and another second round with XSB on Tuesday. So stressful... :)"Stay calm and focus on your strengths. 'Best of luck.
Wishing you the best with all of them, Jot!
P.S. I'm lost on what is the October theme. I had a story semi-ready based on what Thaddeus had called--I thought, but perhaps misunderstood--his main theme for the month, "Seeds and Mystery - how you choose to interpret these two elements is up to you." But now the optional parameters--breaking rules, 2 others--seem to be named, instead, the themes. Granted, changing theme/subject in mid-contest-month is, in a sense, "rules-breaking," but, sorry to say, I, and perhaps some others, haven't time this month to come up with another story here. Fortunately, many good stories already in, and many of them break a rule or use mad science or a rival, though!
I took a Google interview. I was 15 minutes late for the one-hour online interview. They told me to write a simple sort program in C. I did that right away. Then they asked me to write something in C++ but I didn't understand the question. His terminology was different from what I was familiar with. It turned out to be a buffer or queue you could read and write from. He called it a channel or something. I ran out of time but wouldn't have gotten it anyway. I think it was ancient IBM terminology. Really weird interview. Other than an ego blow, I'm glad it went no further. I know two programmers at Google and they are not happy campers. They say there is a very snooty scientific elite there that thinks they know everything.
Oh! There is a book for cracking the coding interview. Oddly enough, it is called "Cracking the Coding Interview". by Gayle McDowell
Mines up. Not as strong as I wanted, but dealing with IT issues all week. Turns out an MS patch broke Excel in subtle and random ways. Sill working on a solution.
Oh, and I remember my last interview, 20 years ago. It lasted almost 8 hours as I was handed off the various senior executives, each handing me off to the next one. Long day, but worth it. I'm had been there 20 years as of March.
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Just a heads up: I posted my story while my friend Davida was logged into Goodreads. So this months story has her name on it but it's still my story.
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The rules are simple:
1) The story needs to be your own work and should be posted on the goodreads (GR) 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.
4) You have until midnight EST on the 22nd day of the month to post your story to the GR 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 send me a single private vote (via GR or to author.jotrussell@gmail.com) for a story other than their own. This vote will be made public once voting is closed. Voting, and reading each story before 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 you 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 GR and the LI Sci-Fi group.
8) For each month, there will be three discussion threads:
a) Stories - For the stories and the contest results only.
b) Comments - For discussions about the stories and contest. Constructive criticism is okay, but please avoid any spoilers about the stories or degrading comments directed towards any individuals. If you want to suggest a change to the contest, feel free to start a discussion about the idea before making a formal motion. If another member seconds a motion, a vote can be held. I will abstain from voting, but will require a strong two-thirds majority to override my veto.
c) Critiques - Each member can provide at most one critique per story, with a single rebuttal by the author to thank the critic and/or comment to offer the readers the mind set of the story to account for issues raised by the critique. Critiques should be of a professional and constructive manner. 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, I will post the new contest threads.
Jot Russell
Contest Creator/Director
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OCTOBER THEME: Seeds and Mystery - how you choose to interpret these two elements is up to you. It is October, so if you decide horror is your thing, you now have everything you need...
But in case you need a bit more challenge, here are a few elements you can add to spice things up.
OCTOBER ELEMENTS can include:
• Rule-breaking: Rules are for weaklings, break every rule you can up to and including social taboos like imprisoning the innocent, channeling spirits or even necromancy, but remember to be tasteful if you can't be tasty...
• Mad Science - the madder the better, remember our holiday inspiration, Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein. Try and make him blush.
• A rival - no story of mad science is complete without a rival. Do you have to hate him or them? Maybe. But do you really mean it?
Remember, you don't have to use them all, unless you are into torture...
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This should be a wide enough array of parameters for a host of stories.
I know we usually specify "science fiction" but I would like to again open the gates to "speculative fiction." Meaning stories can range across the spectrum of the fantastical from humble magical realism to star-spanning space opera.
I am honored to bring this month's contest to you, again.
Good luck!