The 2017-2018 Sekrit Solstice Sci-Fi Fantasy Story Swap
- Thread starter CobraMisfit
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That sucks. :-(
BE NOT SCARED TO REQUEST.
Requesting to read other people's stories Is An Unofficial Tradition, and It Is Done.
120+ stories... hmmm. I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel I need a 20 minute warning of when the excerpts are to be posted so I can ready myself with a flask of coffee and nibbles!
If the rule is same as last year, you only get 5 guesses per day. Last year it kept the pace sane and let the people who had to go to work or weren't close to EST participate as well.
Yes.
Hairy Bush Viper is the name of my new metal band.
Our albums are Toilet Lizard and Anal Snake.
Can-can Dancers Are the New Sparkle Goats is the name of my indie album. Our band is called Sparkle Goats.
My can-can dancers are actually sparkle goats on top, bush snakes on bottom.
Reverse Medusa.
is the
I'm not going to post that here.
Warning: NSFW. Very NSFW.
That, admittedly, is not the first song I thought of.
THIS is the first song I thought of. DEFINITELY NSFW.
There are two solstices a year ...
*bounces around impatiently*
Didn't Cobra say something about another similar Sisyphus-like event that used to take place later on in the year, in the Dead Times?
I...kind of want to host another such event here. I have more time this year, and might also, in future.
Especially if someone is willing to be a co-host co-conspirator co-mastermind.
Cobra, did such a thing ever exist?
And/or if not, would anyone else be interested in co-hosting such a thing with me, and/or participating in something similar?
Maybe May-ish - August? *has no idea when the solstice actually is*
I need something to get me through the dead months.
Thanks for the update!
These things!
Seriously, thanks Cobra, for taking the time and effort to run this EVERY YEAR!
Oooh! You mean I might actually be awake when the guessing thread goes up? That would be awesome! *prepares a vat of coffee and a dozen cakes for Cobra in anticipation of all his efforts to wrangle the guessing thread*
Debating whether I should note which stories I want to read... or just do like JA and ask for them ALLLLLL. Prompts were all incredible this year and it would be awesome to read the stories those prompts generated.
One question - if there are stories that don't make it into the guessing thread, will we be told so we can request the story from the author?
Summer Solstice is in June.
I would totally be up for that - both participating AND helping/co-hosting.
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Probably easiest just to ask everyone for any and all stories they wrote. That way, we don't miss any, and we get ALL THE GOOD READING.
So I...kinda had an idea for a writing event? Goes something like this--
-Participants post a writing prompt
-Participants secretly vote for their favorite writing prompt
-All participants write a story for the winning writing prompt (or maybe of the top three?)
-Excerpts are posted and everyone tries to guess who wrote what
-After guessing is done, all stories are posted somewhere where everyone can read all of them (google docs?)
Thoughts? I'm not sure if it would work or not, but it sounds fun to me.
-Participants post a writing prompt
-Participants secretly vote for their favorite writing prompt
-All participants write a story for the winning writing prompt (or maybe of the top three?)
-Excerpts are posted and everyone tries to guess who wrote what
-After guessing is done, all stories are posted somewhere where everyone can read all of them (google docs?)
Thoughts? I'm not sure if it would work or not, but it sounds fun to me.
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I dunno, I like just doing this once a year. Like, yeah, a second one sounds fun, might there's also the risk of burning out, assuming we take two to three months to write something for the second one. Two a year, that's spending up to 1/3rd to half the year on Solstice prompts. Add in the Beta Project and the Camps and NaNo, that doesn't leave much downtime and may even overlap with the second Camp. As much as I love this event, I'd vote for it staying once a year.
That sounds like awesome fun. Way back in the long ago, I hosted something like that on livejournal, only I provided the prompt and anyone who wanted to could jump in and write a story for the prompt. Your idea sounds MUCH better and more fun, and it's similar but different to sisyfus, so adds a bit of variety.
Good idea.
So, as JA did, I hereby declare, if you wrote a story/stories, I want to read it/them! You can send it/them to liriel1810 at that gmail thang.
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I'm kinda in the same head space as Maggie: I'm moving forward on non sissyfus stuff from April on and my plate is going to be full.
Yeah. I'm hoping to be back in a better place by December but there's no way I can participate in another thing this summer. Way too much on my plate both wordwise and in RL.
When I made the comment about needing notice for coffee and nibbles, I was referring to reading the story excerpts, not to settling in and attempting a long stretch of guessing.
By my reckoning, the 120+ excerpts of up to 400 words means I'll be reading around 6000 words. I think that needs sustenance!
I also think I need to use this more often - lol:
By my reckoning, the 120+ excerpts of up to 400 words means I'll be reading around 6000 words. I think that needs sustenance!
I also think I need to use this more often - lol:
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Just remember, if you get any before guessing opens, you're not allowed to guess them
Just remember, if you get any before guessing opens, you're not allowed to guess them
I figured no one would be willing to send their story before it was guessed. *g* But I absolutely wouldn't guess any that I have seen. That'd be cheating and not playing nice.
How bout I send you my story ... IF you guess it. Mwah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I suppose so. But you'll still have to follow a trail of clues, each more fiendishly difficult than the last! The first clue is
S. U. M. M. E. R. T. I. M. E
Y
Z
Y
G
Y
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I am tempted to wrap a copy of my story in a password-protected zip file and send it to early requesters. The password would be the story title, so they could only open it after it's guessed.
You're trying to break my brain, aren't you?
That would be very cool.
However - I am very happy to wait for stories to be guessed before I receive them.
That sounds really interesting. I know that for the two gifts I received, they were very different from each other. It would be interesting to see how different people interpreted and implemented the prompt(s).
Alby my favorite feathered and cultured friend. When did you get so delightfully sadistic?
Ooooh. That’s a good one. Can definitely a nice challenge for someone to figure out.
I can only
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^This.
But also: not everyone is always comfortable sharing -- just sending a story off to their giftee breaks some people's comfort zones -- so if someone says no, don't take it personally.
The events that I'm aware of, which may or may not be what Cobra was referring to, are:
* the Countdown to the New Year prompt-a-day challenge, which runs the entire month of December and is an outgrowth of:
* the weekly Flash Fiction Challenge, which is more of a time-based challenge than a length-based challenge despite the name.
Uh, both of which I run, the FFC along with JMC2009, at the moment.
Not sure what other events there might be around the board.
I like it. I vote top three prompts, and participants can choose whatever works best for them.
Summer Solstice is in June.
Wonderful! I'd totally be up for running this with a co-host! June solstice is good. April/May for signing up maybe, and June/July/as much time as is needed in August to finish writing and guessing. I do want it to be over by end of August latest, as in September NaNo stuff picks up.
I like the idea of just posting everything once all subs are in. I envision this event as being a little more low key than Sisyphus, which is already so low that the floor shakes with the bass.
We need a name.
Yay!
I'm assuming if that's the case, then once the person is fully guessed, they might choose to reveal that they have extra stories available.
I'm looooong inured to keeping far too many secret Sisyphus spoilers over the years. I never guess stories whose authors I already know.
This is sufficiently evil. Do it.
*borrows idea*
That said, I likely won't send out anything until after I'm guessed.
Or I might just share a Google Docs link that anyone who wants to can read and comment on. I know that's much easier for me than managing emails.
Seconded.
Thirded.
Okay, so it looks like we have a few people interested in such a thing, so I say we do it! Those of you who prefer not to have a second such event breaking up your flow, that is fine. I like having structure and deadlines so that I actually Get Things Done, so this would actually help me.
----
TLDR, given that there is some interest, and Jaymz and I really like Kitkit's idea, if y'all are up for it, let's do it and see how it goes! We can always refine as we go, just like with Sisyphus.
Jaymz, gonna PM you or something.