The 2015-2016 Sekrit Solstice Sci-Fi/Fantasy Story Swap

LOL yea... Nuts here too. Jan-March is crazytime here at dayjob. Plus several new things for freelancing during that time too.
I will get through this, write something new, and get it sent off on time.

*you hear that MUSE, you got to work on this in the background while I do other stuffs then hand it all in with a neatly tied bow on top.
Pretty please?

Shadowflame said:

*you hear that MUSE, you got to work on this in the background while I do other stuffs then hand it all in with a neatly tied bow on top.
Pretty please?

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There was a neatly tied bow clause in the rules? Oh dear...........

Oooh, we'll have our prompts so soon! Where has this month gone?

I've gone from giddy excitement to mild trepidation to "what the hell is a 'story' and why did I ever sign up for this?"

<deep breath> It'll be fine. At least I'll only be making an ass out of myself in front of one person...

paddismac said:

<deep breath> It'll be fine. At least I'll only be making an ass out of myself in front of one person...

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No you won't. Your story will be awesome, the person who gets your story will think it's awesome, Mr Cobra will tell you it's awesome (or epic) after he reads it before he sends it onward, we'll read part of it in the guessing thread and think it's awesome, and you'll have had an awesome time doing it. And when you get to March 2nd, you'll be thinking 'Darn, now I have to wait until the end of the year to feel that awesome again.' Because that's what happens. Every. Time.

-Riv- said:

There was a neatly tied bow clause in the rules? Oh dear...........

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Well that's me stuffed then. *Ties fingers in knots practising - Er, a little help*

aliwood said:

No you won't. Your story will be awesome, the person who gets your story will think it's awesome, Mr Cobra will tell you it's awesome (or epic) after he reads it before he sends it onward, we'll read part of it in the guessing thread and think it's awesome, and you'll have had an awesome time doing it. And when you get to March 2nd, you'll be thinking 'Darn, now I have to wait until the end of the year to feel that awesome again.' Because that's what happens. Every. Time.

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LOL! So basically what you're saying is that I have to make an ass out of myself in front of the whole forum? What fun! Oh well, go big or go home, right?

paddismac said:

LOL! So basically what you're saying is that I have to make an ass out of myself in front of the whole forum? What fun! Oh well, go big or go home, right?

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If it's any consolation, you've got company. In the five years I've been here, I've only put myself out there with one (1) short in the Western Writing Contest and one or two(?) story starts in SYW. I R not a writer and, with apologies to my giftee, I'ma gonna give it a shot.

Oooh.... just saw this. I would love to sign up!

Receive: I love fantasy (especially fairy tales and dark fantasy) featuring strong heroines. Magic is always awesome.

Give: I will try almost anything, but probably would not be too good at humor-based things. Don't like doing things with aliens, but will try other branches of SF.

So many things to do next week: See Star Wars, hang with family, eat really good food, and start writing an awesome story prompted by someone else. I think I'm more exited for this than I am about seeing my family for christmas which suspiciously falls on a full moon.
So much fun!

I've debated much about signing up this year or not. I just got my dream job (hooray!) and it's taking up an insane amount of my time (aww boo) but in the end, I figured this event was on my mind so much, that I just can't NOT participate.

Receive: Seems to be lotsa animals this year. I'll go with that. I would love a story with a fairly normal animal that has a supernatural anomaly. It never has to be explained - it just is.
Here, I'll give you some prompts to get you started:
"Dude, did that otter just disappear into thin air?"
"You know Ma, it's strange because this fox has visited me in the same dream for a week now."
"Ravens are smart as hell, but can they really learn English that well?"
Hopefully that gives you the gist of it. Feel free to use these or make up your own prompt. Heck, maybe you want to do a story from the point of view of the animal. Be creative and go for it.

Give: My time is limited this year, so whatever I write will probably be short. Please don't give me an epic plot. My strengths are fantasy, action, horror, angst, dark, dystopian, gory torture, violence, and delicious chocolate. Hehe, okay, dark stuff aside I really like to make interesting, developed characters with fun personality quirks. Low fantasy is where I feel most comfortable, but I can do magic systems, high fantasy creatures like elves and vamps and all that fun stuff. I also love writing about nature and man vs nature is a common theme for me. Man vs self is another common theme for me too. I frequently make my setting in other worlds.

No SF please. Humor isn't really my strength, but I might try it this year if you really wanted to pair me up with that.

Whheeeeee. So nervous, so excited. I had the first story idea in ions pop into my head today so that was hopefully that is my writer brain waking up. It's amazing how many people have signed up this year.

So. Awesome.

45 PEOPLE?!?!?!

This is gonna be so epic....

*bounces around at the thought of receiving another awesome plot bunny devised by someone else sometime soon...mooowahahahahahahahha -ehem-*

Was feeling really iffy about doing a good story by March 1st, but you guys hyped this soooo much in the Cantina thread and seeing that the SSSFFSS only happens once a year... count me in!

Give: I can write both sci-fi and fantasy, but specific sub-genres can be hard if it's something I don't actively read much of (i.e. steampunk). Genres I do read: high/epic/urban fantasy, swords and sorcery, Westerns. Prefer soft sci-fi, as actual science not a forte! Very inclined to write with comic slant. Genre spoofs are a specialty. Can (or at least am willing to) write most things except hard core smexy and great physical suffering for the sake of great physical suffering. I typically avoid mention of protagonist's race, sexual preference, etc. unless specifically required for story.
Edit: expect submission of standard short-story length.

Receive: I'd like a really classic tale of either sci-fi or fantasy. I'd prefer to follow the writer's interests on this one, rather than the other way around. Try and think back to the stories that made you want to write, and do your darnedest to recapture some of that magic. Would prefer the story to be a little self-aware of it being a homage to the stories that inspired it. Kudos for capturing prose style. Extra credit: answer, on some level, the question of why you love the genre that you love. Extra extra credit: be proud of your story and submit it somewhere! Best of luck!

This is going to be amazing! Gearing myself up. It's going to be like mini-Nano!

Oh gosh, we're SO CLOSE to 50 participants! This is going to be amazing this year.

How does it work if there ends up being an odd number of participants?

Getting sooo excited! The guessing is going to be wild this year!

CobraMisfit said:

One of two things: A) I'll sit out or jump in to even things out depending on the numbers. I've held off with my prompt to see how the numbers line up. B) Someone gets an extra story. If this is the case, I use a Random Number Generator and the lucky person gets to enjoy DOUBLE THE READS!

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Aw, I hope you don't have to sit out! All that work and you don't even get your own story to enjoy! I know you get to read them all (if you want to) but it's not the same.

Count me in!

Give: I'm not much use when it comes to erotica, romance, or mysteries. I'll be glad to try my hand at anything else, though.

Receive: Hmm. I'd like to read a story that involves poisoning. It can be physical or psychological poisoning, serious or silly, interpret the idea however you like, but there's gotta be poison in there somewhere. I'm particularly fond of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, Comedy, and Children's stories, but I'll read just about anything.

So many Sekrit Santas! Wooooooo!

CobraMisfit said:

One of two things: A) I'll sit out or jump in to even things out depending on the numbers. I've held off with my prompt to see how the numbers line up. B) Someone gets an extra story. If this is the case, I use a Random Number Generator and the lucky person gets to enjoy DOUBLE THE READS!

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Erm... I would've thought it would work like this (on a larger scale) for odd numbers: Person A gives to person B who gives to person C who gives to person A. So, like, everyone gives, everyone receives - it's just not a direct swap. It would make it a little more work to decide who gives to whom, but it would sidestep the odd-number issue neatly.

Yeah, to be honest, I had assumed that it wouldn't be a direct swap at all anyway.