# Short Story Contest for Fall 2009



## ScottyDM (Jul 14, 2009)

*Weee! It's finally here.*

The anthrofiction contest for fall 2009.

The theme is The Bittersweet Goodbye. A bit abstract, but there is conflict in the term "bittersweet" and interesting stories, enjoyable stories, have at least some conflict. So this theme should be easier that the last.

Have fun writing!

S-


----------



## Shouden (Jul 14, 2009)

having read the rules and theme thingy for this contest, the first thing that comes to mind is either college or a leaf falling from a tree. So, perhaps I will do two stories this time around.


----------



## Bladespark (Jul 14, 2009)

Heh.  I don't know.  I don't have anything already written that fits this, and too many other things on my plate just now to write a new story just for a contest.  Maybe next time.  Or maybe I'll be bored enough at some point over the summer.  But probably not.


----------



## Tiarhlu (Jul 14, 2009)

I'd like to give it a shot. Hopefully I can come up with an idea and get it written in time.


----------



## Dragon-lover (Jul 14, 2009)

Hmmm... I'm interested in this, I haven't written anything since highschool... and I've been looking for something to get my mind off Uni...


----------



## ScottyDM (Jul 15, 2009)

In the past year I've had to reject two stories. I e-mailed the authors, but they'd turned in their stories at the last minute and they never did bother to get back to me before the deadline.

The problem? The stories weren't anthrofiction. You know, talking animal stories... or talking leaves... or talking whatever. The autobiography of one of those authors said she loved furry stories. I guess she forgot to mention her characters weren't human _in_ her furry story--at least in the story she submitted to the contest.

Okay, I know all of you _know_ what anthrofiction/furry fiction is and will submit that sort of thing for the contest. But I hate rejecting stories.

S-


----------



## ScottyDM (Jul 15, 2009)

Shouden said:


> having read the rules and theme thingy for this contest, the first thing that comes to mind is either college or a leaf falling from a tree. So, perhaps I will do two stories this time around.


College is a fair subject. Someone could be leaving home to go to a college far away. Scary stuff if you've never been away from home before. Or it could be someone who has finally finished their degree--I understand for a PhD it is possible to drag the process out for a decade or more--and now they _must_ graduate. So that bit of scary is leaving behind being a perpetual student and actually having to enter the real world and (gasp) get a real job.

The problem with college is that it is not usually seen as an autumnal activity. Whether entering or graduating, it is usually seen as a beginning. So you'll have to find a special angle to make your college transition be seen as an ending.

Here's a thought. Leaving home for college is usually done in the fall.


I hadn't thought about it for a sample story, but I've got a novelette I've been wrestling with. It's about a young humanoid dog fox who is on the cusp of adulthood and all that entails. He's addicted to virtual reality and his A.I. girlfriend, but now that he's graduated high school he _must_ move out of the house (a dictate of vulpine society). Basically, he's being forced to become an adult. He wants to go to college--but he also wants to stay logged into V.R. 20 hours a day. He wants a real girl in the real world--but he also wants to snog his skunky A.I. girlfriend. He's going to need a job, a place to live, a scholarship, and be responsible for himself--but if he could just figure out how Peter Pan did it, why that'd be the life!

Don't know though. Maybe the death of childhood? Hmmm, I like that phrase. Perhaps I can use it in my novelette.

His 21-year-old sister has her own issues with growing up. I already used her section of the novelette as a sample story for Summer 2008. Of course now that I've figured out what my novelette is about, I'll be rewriting that section.


A leaf could be interesting. Should get a reasonable creativity score for that too. Not many have anthropomorphized a leaf.


Only thought of this theme a few weeks ago. At the time I'd thought of doing elephants. The passing of a bull who is about to set out on a journey by himself so he can join his favorite cow in the elephant graveyard--and the spiritual journey that awaits him at the end of his physical travels. He says goodbye to his family and friends as his old love calls to him, from the beyond, during the quiet times. It is his season. His time.

But like Bladespark...

_double take_

Sweetie! Hey, how ya doin'. Hadn't seen you in some time. Love your costumes and your painted figures. You used to be quite active over at PF.

...Ermm. Okay, like Bladespark I'm swamped with other projects.


Anyway. Remember: Bittersweet goodbye. And it's for something seasonal, expected, and inevitable. Hmm, college may not be inevitable, usually. But for some families the tradition could be so strong that a young person wouldn't dare say no.

S-


----------



## panzergulo (Jul 15, 2009)

After giving a bit of thought I might actually participate in this contest. After reading the "theme" page an idea came to my mind... bittersweet, forced to move, anticipation... yeah... I got an idea... don't know how original it is or even how well would I succeed, but what the heck, gotta try, right? One question, though. As I have never participated in this contest, I am not familiar with the submitting procedure. I have to create an account to submit, right? Also, what format can I use, or is the story submitted into a text field? In other words, can I stick with my trustworthy old .txt or should I finally move to use format that has actually some formatting features? Or is all this just unnecessary, the file format has no use, because the stories are in a format of the site's own?


----------



## Bladespark (Jul 15, 2009)

*waves hi*

I am an internet gypsy, few indeed are the places I stay active for long.  Other than my own forum, kind of have to stick around there to run the place.  Nice to know I've been remembered.   (And I was just thinking that you seemed familiar for some reason.  Now I know why!)


----------



## ScottyDM (Jul 15, 2009)

panzergulo said:


> After giving a bit of thought I might actually participate in this contest. After reading the "theme" page an idea came to my mind... bittersweet, forced to move, anticipation... yeah... I got an idea... don't know how original it is or even how well would I succeed, but what the heck, gotta try, right?


Cool beans! And yea, a guy's gotta try.



panzergulo said:


> One question, though. As I have never participated in this contest, I am not familiar with the submitting procedure. I have to create an account to submit, right?


Yes. Yet another thing to join. But be of good cheer. I hate spam and this is a labor of love, so I don't have to pretend to get any monitary return. Translation: I don't spam and I will never rent or sell your e-mail address, or expose it in a way where spammers might get their dirty paws on it.



panzergulo said:


> Also, what format can I use, or is the story submitted into a text field? In other words, can I stick with my trustworthy old .txt or should I finally move to use format that has actually some formatting features? Or is all this just unnecessary, the file format has no use, because the stories are in a format of the site's own?


Ah yes. Saw your thread on "Computer Tips..."

I have a text box where you copy/paste in the body of your story to submit it. So the answer is plain text with square-bracket codes for formatting. I even wrote a huge freakin' long document on how my flavor of square-bracket codes work, with examples. See Proper Markup. I wrote that document as a formal design goal when I created the webification code. That's why it's about four times longer than anyone other than me cares about. Oh yea, my webification code loves curly quotes.

Note that my webification code is capable of the full round-trip. It accepts text with square-bracket codes, stores it as standards compliant HTML, then when you come back to change or edit your story it translates the stored HTML back into text with square-bracket codes.

In fact you can play with the system. Enter a "test" story and delete it later.

To add to the warm fuzzy feeling: My testing on Windows, using a handful of different modern web browsers, has led me to believe the word processor "talks" to the web browser in UTF-8. Which means when you copy/paste, if you can _see_ it in the text box it _will_ appear on the web page. For example, copy/paste of Greek characters works perfectly for me. I wasn't able to test this in Mac/Linux/BSD/Solaris/etc. but I've never had any complaints.

I present your story in HTML and PDF because some want to read on-line and some want to read from a piece of paper. Both feature easy type, relaxed line spacing, indented paragraphs, and generous margins. The PDF format is presented in a sort of semi-professional manuscript format. My goal is to remove the presentation from the mind of the reader and allow your story to be the only thing they think about.


Everyone:

A few weeks ago I created a new set of style sheets for the website to give it a fresh new look. One of the things I've done is to replace the old scene break dingbat with a stylish new one that is lighter in appearance and it features creatures!

Ummm, creatures.

I'm also thinking of switching the PDF font from 13 pt Palatino Linotype to 13.5 pt Goudy Old Style.

I should probably switch on the new style sheets. Page width will be squishy, within limits. 


Oh yea, "short title" has been nothin' but a headache. It seems every quarter at least one author doesn't seem to know the purpose of "short title" and so he or she will muck it up. I'm thinking of just leaving that off the web form and I'll put in an appropriate "short title" later.

S-


----------



## panzergulo (Jul 15, 2009)

Another question: How strict the theme actually is? "The Bittersweet Goodbye." One of the points on the "theme" page says: "The journey is seasonal, forced, and anticipated." The idea I first got might involve something forced and also anticipated, but if it's seasonal, it's up to the views and knowledge of the reader. I think it's seasonal, but I guess many might think it isn't. At least I'm afraid many won't see how seasonal the occurrence is, unless it's explained to them. So, how much can I bend the theme? Or are those points just something to work around, they have no deeper value than help giving the first idea and "The Bittersweet Goodbye" is the only real theme?

Also, what is a short title?


----------



## M. LeRenard (Jul 15, 2009)

This is going to take a lot of thought in order to not come out as a horrid 'leaving the nest' clichÃ©, I think.  But I will enter this term, why not.


----------



## Tiarhlu (Jul 15, 2009)

I came up with an idea I really like last night. But before I write it only to get rejected, let me ask: 

Does the "bitter" part have to be something the character knows about? I like the idea of blissful ignorance, with the reader knowing what's coming, but the character doesn't. He only sees the good in his journey.


----------



## ScottyDM (Jul 18, 2009)

Think of it this way. This is the fall quarter. This is a fall theme. I could say you must set your story in the fall (autumn) of the year, but I wanted to give everyone a bit of flexibility to use the theme in an abstract way.

The title of the theme is _The Bittersweet Goodbye_. But titles don't always tell the whole story. I feel a perfect realization of the theme would be if something is ending and your focus character is going away because of it. Like summer ending, to be replaced by winter, and your focus character is going to flee winter. My thoughts were an ending, a goodbye, and that the focus character isn't sure of what lies ahead.

I don't want a surprise. Such as Tusken raiders are coming and we must leave our homes and flee. I want the characters to have seen this change coming and they are preparing for it. Now if Tusken raiders show up on a schedule then you may use them--but you'll need to spend part of your story making a case for their schedule and why your characters flee instead of preparing a little surprise for them.

In the case of a story where a little bird must fly to the tropics for the first time, how it fits "bittersweet goodbye" and fall, is obvious. But one idea I had was death due to old age. The focus character has reached the autumn of his life and it's time to say goodbye to all he has known. Perhaps he expects to meet those who have gone on before, so there could be some sweetness in the departure.

I feel the focus character should be ignorant of what's on the other side of goodbye because if she'd flown south every year for the past ten years, then it's no big deal.


Here's an example of the abstract use of the theme. Frank Sinatra's cover of the song _It Was a Very Good Year_ (full lyrics are in the notes). A retrospect of the singers life, but the theme is in the fourth verse.

Not exactly use of the theme, but I liked some of the ideas in Annie Lennox's song Little Bird. "I look up to the little bird that glides across the sky..." Where the bird could be symbolic of leaving. Or the character could see a bird flying away and think, "I wish that I could be that bird and fly away from here." And I particularly liked the line, "I wish I had the wings to fly away from here." (Does anyone else think Annie looks like a Batman villain in this video?)


You may think on an individual scale, or a planetary scale, or something in between. If you don't limit yourself to the animal kingdom then new possibilities present themselves. One thing I thought of was winter squash ripening as their vine is dying.


Maybe I should buckle down and write a sample story.

S-


----------



## Tiarhlu (Jul 18, 2009)

I think what I have should work. It'll take some creativity, but that's part of the fun!


----------



## AshleyAshes (Jul 19, 2009)

I'm in.  I'm gonna blow off some guy's tail in Iraq.


----------



## TakeWalker (Sep 5, 2009)

Argh, this is so far past the first page! ;_;

When's the deadline, Scotty-D?

I haven't been working on my story at aaaaaaaall. D:


----------



## Murphy Z (Sep 5, 2009)

You have until Monday night sometime


----------



## TakeWalker (Sep 5, 2009)

What, _this_ Monday?

D: Fuck it, it ain't happenin'.


----------



## Murphy Z (Sep 5, 2009)

If you go to the site, there's a "countdown timer."

What it says at this moment: You have: 1 day, 21 hours, 13 minutes, and 40 seconds left to enter the contest

that's a little over 45 hours - just come up with 25 or so words an hour, or about a word every other minute


----------



## panzergulo (Sep 8, 2009)

Ah, the deadline was just a few hours ago... I wonder how many took part to this fall's contest?


----------



## ScottyDM (Sep 8, 2009)

Six stories.

I didn't read all of them _real_ carefully, but I didn't see any rejects. 

I really must get to bed. More in about 12 hours.

S-


----------



## ScottyDM (Sep 9, 2009)

*The Stories for the Fall Contest are Ready to be Judged*

Read and score a few, or do them all. Titles and opening lines below. Anything catch your fancy?

Details: You must log in to view the stories. An account is free and I _hate_ spam, so I _will not_ sell, rent, or give away your e-mail address. Please understand the Judging Criteria before scoring any story. Also read and understand the theme for this quarter, which is The Bittersweet Goodbye. It was a toughie. Comments? Authors love comments, so leave a message, and try not to be mean but helpful is good. Finally, when you click the â€œcast ballotâ€ button your score sheet is saved on the system, but not actually cast. You may come back any time before the close of the judging period and change your ballot. When the judging period closes all ballots are automatically cast.

Judging closes October 7th at the end of the day, GMT.



> *Prologue of Kingsfall, first novel of â€œThe Whitepaw Sagaâ€*
> 
> Kingsfall, of the Whitepaw Saga.
> 
> ...





> *Evacuation*
> 
> James Walker was standing on the outside steps of his wooden two-story house. His clothing didnâ€™t really stand out. He was wearing a shirt, pants and boots on his feet. An arm from his pair of spectacles peeked out from the shirtâ€™s chest pocket. What he wore was plain but comfortable; the way they had been instructed to dress.
> 
> A cold wind was blowing over the fields around the house, offering the first clues of the oncoming winter. It was late fall now, and the weather was cloudy with rain; mirroring the way James felt. ...





> *Evergreen*
> 
> â€œWell? What does it say?â€ an inquisitive vulpine muzzle peeking into view, leant strenuously over the kitchen table.
> 
> ...





> *A Shower of Pixels*
> 
> Will sat back from his computer and looked at the glowing wall clock in the darkness of his room. The window curtains prevented him from knowing what time it was and the calendar next to his desk sat unmarked. In the trash nearby were clipped coupons for food deals he could never receive because the expiration dates were useless when he didnâ€™t know what day it was.
> 
> He opened the small fridge next to his desk. Every drink had the words â€œCaffine-enhancedâ€ and â€œMulti-hour energyâ€ etched across their labels. ...





> *I Luves You (Goodbye)*
> 
> You donâ€™t realize how hard it is to do the most everyday things until your dominant arm is in a cast. First of all, you only have one functioning arm instead of two; second, your other arm really wants to compensate, but because it really never had a chance to do much, it has to awkwardly get by all by itself.
> 
> Since I wasnâ€™t hooked up yet, I had to use a phone booth, and the door didnâ€™t want to budge and the numbers were punched too many times. ...





> *Coming of Age*
> 
> Streams of rich, golden light glittered down from the heavens and through the window of a small house in one of the many villages of one of the worldâ€™s great empires. The rich morning light fell apone the face of a young fox, grumbling in his sleep as he rolled over on his bed mat to avoid it. This didnâ€™t last long as he cracked an eye open at the sound of a rooster crowed itâ€™s morning alarm.
> 
> He sat up and rubbed an eye sleepily as his brain started to fire up. ...


Thanks a million for your interest in Anthrofiction Networkâ€™s short story contest for fall 2009.

Scott â€œScottyDMâ€ Miller


----------



## Murphy Z (Oct 6, 2009)

A little more than a day left to judge.


----------



## ScottyDM (Oct 7, 2009)

Yep. It's getting close.

What's a "kilted platypus"? Is that one with the tartan fur pattern and a fondness for single malts? ;-D

S-


----------



## panzergulo (Oct 8, 2009)

I don't know about you, but at least my computer doesn't show the results of the contest. On this page:

http://www.anthrofiction.net/short_stories/index.php?contestID=2009_q3

there is a link (Short Story Contest, Fall 2009) to this page:

http://www.anthrofiction.net/past_contests/quarter.php?contestID=2009_q3

which is blank. It would be nice to see the results, though. I am not sure, but I have been living in the understanding that the results are given automatically after the judging time has ended... and, there is that link to a blank page, and in my opinion, links that do not lead to anywhere shouldn't exist. Have I understood something wrong here or is there a problem on the site?


----------



## Atrak (Oct 8, 2009)

It's the same for me. *shrug* Must be the site. Broken link, or just a typo in the link url maybe.


----------



## Shouden (Oct 8, 2009)

shouldn't the fall contest be over? I mean, it's the 8th, right.

I wonder what the Winter contest will be about. I might actually participate in the next one, now that my work load has gone down.

Edit: a quick check of the site informs me that Scotty is working on updating the site....most likely with the final scores.


----------



## ScottyDM (Oct 8, 2009)

My apologies. The site got caught between a rock and a hard place.

The server does not automatically tally up the scores and generate results. I do that manually. And I try to complete the task within 24 hours of the close of the scoring period.

I missed this time.

Had some honey-do things last night and thought I could complete ballot processing before bedtime, but could not. And I have a thing tonight, but as I'm mostly done (at least the scores are processed now), I'll be able to finish tonight when I get back. Results in six hours or so.

Again, my apologies for making you all wait.

S-

PS: If you're seeing links to a results page right after the close of the judging period then there's a bug in my site code. I should look into that... later.


----------



## panzergulo (Oct 9, 2009)

Seems that Scotty fixed the problem... the results are now visible on his site. Thanks, man. But should there also be some sort of graphs to denote the points each reader gave the stories? I couldn't find them. ...you know, never mind... The graphs are that sort of post-prosessing that isn't really _that_ important anyway. You probably draw them when and if you have time.

It was great to take part to the contest, it was an experience on its own. If I have time, I'll take part to the next season's contest as well. Keep it up, Scotty!


----------



## ScottyDM (Oct 10, 2009)

_Now_ there are graphs. I also had the final scores in the equation wrong, but the final scores up near the top of the page were right.  

S-


----------



## Fere (Oct 11, 2009)

Have just seen the theme for Winter 2009... sounds really cool. 

"Winter Magic" is nice and broad, open to plenty of possibilities. Conjures up images of log fires, toasty duvets and snowbound spells 

I hate the cold, but I love Wintertime... if that makes sense.

Will have a crack at it, no doubt


----------



## ScottyDM (Oct 11, 2009)

I'm so far behind it isn't funny.  :-( 

(Official Announcement)

*The Results of the Fall 2009 Anthrofiction Short Story Contest*

*Evergreen* by Fere won with a score of 4.28. Congratulations to Fere!

*Evacuation* by panzergulo earned a score of 4.04

*A Shower of Pixels* by Vaperfox earned a score of 3.87

*I Luves You (Goodbye)* by Murphy Z earned a score of 3.58

*Prologue of Kingsfall, first novel of â€œThe Whitepaw Sagaâ€* by Texywolf earned a score of 2.90

*Coming of Age* by Raikuro earned a score of 2.66

(Must be logged in to view stories or comments to the authors.)

Thanks to all the authors for their great stories. And thanks to those who took the time to read and score the stories.


I hope to see you again this winter.

Scotty

PS: "English fox in the east"? Ummm, okay, that actually makes sense.


----------



## Shouden (Oct 11, 2009)

yeah, from experience, I know that parts of novels usually don't score well, because they are simply that...parts of a novel.


----------



## M. LeRenard (Oct 12, 2009)

Congrats, guys.  Wow... I neither entered nor voted this time.  I'm getting super lazy about this contest.


----------



## Murphy Z (Oct 13, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> Congrats, guys. Wow... I neither entered nor voted this time. I'm getting super lazy about this contest.


 
I thought you wrote one of the stories. Is that close enough?


----------



## M. LeRenard (Oct 13, 2009)

Do I want to know which one?


----------



## Murphy Z (Oct 13, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> Do I want to know which one?


 
Why, the really good one, of course.


----------



## ScottyDM (Oct 13, 2009)

There were several.


----------



## Murphy Z (Oct 15, 2009)

My comment was solely intended to curry favor with the new mod and may necessarily represent the other stories. 

It was the sci-fi computer story.


----------



## Altamont (Oct 26, 2009)

Well, even though I'm a couple of weeks late for the entry, this little prompt has given me the perfect way to Prelude my upcoming fiction series! Sweet serendipity!


----------

