The 2020 Sekrit Solstice Sci-Fi/Fantasy Story Swap!

CobraMisfit

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Hear ye, Hear ye!

The First of December is once more upon us, which means that we stand on the precipice of yet another season of writer-based joy and wonderment.

That’s right, gang, polish up your prompts, spool up your spellcheckers, and flex those fingers because it’s time once again for the Best Thing to Happen to Humanity Since the Invention of Tacos (TM)*....

THE EIGHTH** ANNUAL SEKRIT SOLSTICE SCI-FI/FANTASY STORY SWAP!


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This one never gets old.


So what exactly is the SS-SFF-SS you may ask?

The SS-SFF-SS (AKA: The Sisyphus) is an event where all participants submit a prompt with details for the kind of story they want to receive and what they’re willing to write. Once we close the window for prompts, participants are secretly paired up via the Story Elves and a lot of math, they create a story based on their assigned prompt, then provide it to the Story Elves who send it to the giftee a la Secret Santa.

The best part is that authors not only gets to write something fun or outside of their normal comfort zone, but everyone who participates walks away with a story written just for them. Hilarity normally ensues, especially when we try to match authors with stories in a blind Guessing Thread.

If you want an idea of the general madness involved, feel free to review last year's SS-SFF-SS Event and the SS-SFF-SS Guessing Thread (password: vista).

What the Sisyphus is not:

1) Stressful: No word-count minimum and no grammar police allowed.
2) Lonely: We’re a family here. We lean on each other if we’re struggling.
3) Judgmental: Genre, word count, and typos don’t matter here.

Basically, we prompt, we write, we trade stories, we guess, we share the joy of the event, and we foster camaraderie with our fellow writers.

If this sounds like your kind of literary playground, then here are the rules and such.


The Rules and Such:


RULE #1) (NEW FOR 2020): REQUIREMENT TO PARTICIPATE:

In order to join the Sisyphus this year, all participants must have a minimum of 50 posts on AW. This ensures everyone meets the requirement for posting in the Share Your Work (SYW) sub-forum where we'll play the Guessing Game.

TLDR:

Less than 50 posts?

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50 posts or more?

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RULE #2) HOW TO PLAY:


There are two primary ways of participating: RECEIVING/GIVING and GIVING ONLY. (See Rule #6 for The Beta Option.).

2a) RECEIVING/GIVING:

Signing up to RECEIVE a gift means signing up to GIVE a gift. No exceptions. Since the spirit of this event is giving, you ask for treasures, you have to give treasures. To do so, you’ll make a post with what you want to read as well as what you’re willing to write. I’ll then put the names of participants in The Sign-Up List of AWesome located at the bottom of this post.

And yes, you may absolutely write an additional story based on another prompt that catches your fancy if you want!

2b) GIVING ONLY:

You may absolutely sign up to GIVE a gift, but not RECEIVE one. If you’re the benevolent type that loves to give and give, I’ll forward you a copy of my Wish List. I’ll also hook you up with a giftee (or more than one if you so fancy). Please let me know if you want to give a story in general or for a specific prompt so I can match you appropriately.


RULE #3) PROMPT PARAMETERS:


When you sign up to RECEIVE/GIVE, please include a prompt that provides parameters for both your gift AND what you are willing to write for someone else. Your “receive” info can be anything: a word, a quote, an author name, an idea, a theme, etc. Just give your gifter a direction in which to run. Once you post your prompt, please also rep me via Rule #13.

That said, please KEEP YOUR PROMPT REASONABLE. Long, detailed diatribes run the risk of not getting matched because people don’t want to be boxed in. Feel free to ask for the moon, but also allow your gifter room to maneuver. If your prompt is deemed too stringent or “outlinesque”, the Story Elves may contact you to tweak it. If you ignore the Elves or refuse to bend, you run the risk of Getting Benched (See Rule #12).

Also, please specify themes/topics that you are okay with/not-okay with, both for receiving and for giving. (i.e. maybe you want to receive a space opera, but aren’t confident with writing sci-fi yourself.)

Unless otherwise specified, the person writing for you will assume all bets are off.

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Example Prompt:


Originally Posted by Queen Novella Von InkyQuill, High Potentate of Wordsmithia and all the Territories and Colonies therein

Golly, CM, this sounds like the best thing to happen to humanity since the invention of tacos (TM)! Of COURSE I’ll participate. Sign me up to both give and receive.

Prompt: I'd like an Alt-History Steampunk YA Cookbook, please. Nothing grimdark or with explicit violence/smexy times. Bonus points for a manatee in a tutu!

I'm willing to write anything, except smexy manatees in tutus.

RULE #4) “EGADS, YES!”/”NO THANK YOU”:

If a prompt really excites you or there’s a prompt/person you don't want to write for, no matter the reason, please rep/e-mail me with your request. I’ll do my best to accommodate your wishes.


RULE #5) WRITING TIME:

Once the sign-up thread closes, the Story Elves and I will pair up everyone based on the Prompts and what people are willing to write. On Christmas morning (US, East Coast time), the Elves will send out assignments via e-mail. From the day you get that e-mail you'll have approximately 10 weeks to create your masterpiece.

As of today, our target delivery date is MARCH 15th. This ensures that authors don’t feel pressured to write during the holiday season AND gives them enough time to get their stories to betas as needed. Keep in mind that target dates are flexible and we can always shift them if folks need or want more time.

Most important: Communicate! If you hit a snag or have questions/concerns, please contact me via e-mail or here on AW and I’ll do my best to help you out. If you’re struggling and go radio-silent, especially as we reach the final weeks of the event, the Story Elves will go into full panic mode and may initiate Rule #12.


RULE #6) THE BETA OPTION:

This is the tangential way to participate since beta volunteers are always welcome. If you're not interested in giving or receiving, but would like to play as a beta, let me know via Rule #13. Authors may also seek out betas exterior to this thread/genre as they desire.


RULE #7) WORD COUNT:

There’s no limit to story length. We’ve seen everything from 100 word poems to over 30k novellas. A good story is a good story, so don't fret the word count.


RULE #8) SUBMITTING STORIES:

When you're ready to deliver your gift, send it to me via e-mail in Word, .rtf, or .pdf (if a different format, just let me know). Also, please make sure to include a 200-400 word section pasted directly into the e-mail that you feel best represents your tale of wonders. I’ll use this for the guessing thread. Again, for those unfamiliar, here is a link to last year's Guessing Thread.


RULE #9) DON’T FRET IF YOUR STORY ISN’T “COMPLETE”:

It can be rough, clunky, filled with typos, etc. Folks won’t care. What they WILL care about is the fact that you put in time and effort to make something. We’re among friends here, so do your best, but don’t lose sleep. If the deadline hits and you need/want more time, submit what you have and work things out with your giftee for the "completed" story down the road.


RULE #10) OWNERSHIP:

The author of the story owns that story outright.

This is especially true if the author decides to polish/expand the story for a professional market. The prompt they use is merely a motivating tool, but does not transfer ownership of the story to the giftee in any way.

Everyone who participates in this event agrees to this.


RULE #11) SAY “THANK YOU”:

In the past, a few people have expressed concern about whether or not their giftee liked their story. Once you receive your gift, PLEASE thank your gifter. A heartfelt “thank you” goes a long way to convincing someone that the hours spent building something special were not in vain. So please be courteous and vocally appreciative.


RULE #12) GETTING BENCHED:

The Sisyphus is a fun bonding experience with a great deal of latitude, however we also need to ensure it’s a safe and agreeable environment for all participants. Endangering this safe space, in any fashion, is not acceptable. That said, benching is a “last resort” and the Mods and I will attempt to work things out with an author long before it happens.

By agreeing to participate in this event, you also agree that actions like bailing without communicating, inflexibility, hostility, or out-right offensive/boorish behavior may result in removal from the event and/or being forced to sit out of next year’s Sisyphus.


RULE #13) I’M IN!:

To ensure you have read ALL THE RULES, including this one, please rep*** me (on this post) a statement that says you have read and agree to all the rules AND that you swear to give your gift by the deadline. Please also provide an email in the rep, even if you've played in the past, so the Story Elves can send you your gift when it’s time.

Once you submit your rep, I'll send you a confirmation e-mail within 24 hours.

FYI, please avoid PMing me. My inbox is stuffed with messages as far back as 2010, which I’m finally willing to admit I’ll never clean out.


Here ends The Rules and Such.

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Har har, Orville....


The Timeline of Excellence:



December 1st: Sign-ups open. Masses flock to this thread. A new dawn of storytelling breaks and hope reigns supreme.

December 22nd: Sign-ups close. Late-comers reap a harvest of sorrow.

December 25th: Assignments are lovingly wrapped and hand-delivered direct to your inbox. Hooray! Presents for everyone!

December 25th – March 9th: Plots are generated, characters are drawn, and words are flung.

March 15th April 14th: Stories are due to moi. Everyone celebrates the impending burst of Spring with the knowledge that their masterpiece is a mere hours away from arriving in their giftee’s inbox.

March 16th April 15th: Stories are delivered to giftees who are overwhelmed by teh awesomez. Guessing Thread open in SYW. Stories are read. Friendships are forged. Joy spreads through the valley and there is peace.

March April Somethingth: We crown this season's Supreme Guessinator who lords over all of us with her/his story-guessing might.

All hail last year's joint-winners: kjbartolotta and Maggie Maxwell!

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As Supreme Guessinators, kjbartolotta and Maggie MAxwell ruled the Land of Sisyphus justly, spreading goodwill to all the people. But will this season's winner be as magnanimous or will they rule with an iron fist?


Only time will tell.



Personal Note: This is hands-down my favorite writing event. There’s something magical about writing specifically for another person using their prompt. Not only does it allow you to move outside your comfort zone, but also helps you explore a genre you may have never considered before. The more people who participate, the more fun we have, so feel free to tell your friends, family, kids, cats, or even that strange neighbor who mows the yard in nothing but a sheen of sweat and a smile.

And now, without further ado....



The Official Proclamation:


Let it be known throughout all the writing lands that the 2020 SS-SFF-SS season is now officially open!


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The Sign-Up List of AWesome:


Name: | Both Give and Receive(B)/Give Only(G)

1) Maggie Maxwell - B
2) Jaymz Connelly - B
3) kjbartolotta - B
4) shortstorymachinist - B
5) eyeblink - B
6) Tamlyn - B
7) Richard White - B
8) SeaSerpent - B
9) Sue77 -B
10) Norman Mjadwesch -B
11) Albedo - B
12) EFB - B
13) SciSarahTops - B
14) ajaye - B
15) Friendly Frog - B
16) Coddiwomple - B
17) AnnieColleen - B
18) tianaluthein - B
19) tiddlywinks - B
20) Shadowflame - B
21) Biffington - GIVE ONLY
22) Gang aft agley - B
23) SianaBlackwood - B
24) Brightdreamer - B
25) Dread Pirate Rabbits - B
26) Sage - B
27) Ruby Road - GIVE ONLY
28) tjwriter - B
29) CobraMisfit - B

Betas:

1) Riv
2) themindstream
3) PastyAlien
4) Kitkitdizzi


*TM. As in “Tacos, Mmmmmmm!”

**Good gravy, eight years! EIGHT!

***For those who are unfamiliar with reps, that's short for Reputation Comment. You can submit one by clicking on the blue star at the bottom left of a post (be careful not to click the triangle-exclamation point as that reports the post to a Moderator). That brings up a text box where you can enter data and submit. Hear ye, Hear ye!
 
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Maggie Maxwell

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Here we goooo!

As always, I'm in to give and receive (and probably give too much)

What I would like to receive:

Give me a story involving this - https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/end-of-the-world-cinema?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=atlas-page

What I am willing to give: I can write SF/F with humorous tones, or touches of horror. I cannot write smexytimes or gore. I am willing to write shiny emo teen vampires and smexy manatees in tutus if it comes to it. Just don't expect it to be serious.
 

Jaymz Connelly

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I’m in to give and receive because this is the most fun event ever!

I can write sci/fi (not hard), fantasy, some moderate horror. I won’t write vampires… Wait, I did that last year. You know what? To heck with it, I’ll write whatever gets thrown at me with the exception being anything over PG-13 romantical scenes. Been there, done that, didn’t want the t-shirt.



This year, I’d like a science fiction story that includes the following words: peanut, Christmas, wombat, chartreuse, and glitter.


I’d prefer no hard science (it makes my brain hurt) but other than that, go where the muse takes you. Elves in space? Cool. Epic space battles? Cool. First contact with aliens? Cool. Something completely different? Also cool.

As a general rule, I don’t like vampires, or zombies, and not too fussed on shapeshifters either although they’re okay in the right conditions. I know, those are all fantasy/horror stuff, but hey, they could end up in a sci/fi story if your mind works anything like mine does. It goes without saying, no sax or extreme violins. (does it go without saying? It should.) Foul language? Go for your life. I think I showed with that story I wrote for Alby in sisyfus 2018 that I can swear with the best of them.

Most importantly—no bugs, please—unless they’re the eavesdropping electronic kind. I will have the skin crawlies for days if you put those creatures that have more than 4 legs in my story. Australia is enough of a horror story for bugs—I don’t need to read about them.

Massive thanks to Cobra for organizing this shindig every year. Dude, you deserve a medal, in the shape of an enormous size of your favourite tipple… full of said tipple.

Bring on Promptmas!:hooray:


ETA I gotta say, Maggie, you're like a special kind of sisyfus vulture, just waiting to pounce the moment the thread arrives. LOL Have you ever NOT been first?
 
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Maggie Maxwell

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ETA I gotta say, Maggie, you're like a special kind of sisyfus vulture, just waiting to pounce the moment the thread arrives. LOL Have you ever NOT been first?

I was not last year because I was in a meeting when it went live, I believe.

I may have spent all day today refreshing the forum.
 

Jaymz Connelly

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I was not last year because I was in a meeting when it went live, I believe.

I may have spent all day today refreshing the forum.

Like I said, a special kind of sisyfus vulture - and we love you for it! :e2flowers
 

Kjbartolotta

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Oh hai, I was wandering by and this Sisyphus thing sounds like its the Best Thing to Happen to Humanity Since Tacos.

I am down to give and receive.

My prompt: Unicorns. That's the prompt, make it as grimdark and depraved or heartwarming and adorable as you want.

I write: This year I have a mad craving to write some space opera.
 
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shortstorymachinist

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Sisyphus, Sisyphus, the most wonderful event I could wish for us! Put a wedge ‘neath your boulders and rest your weary shoulders, our annual takeover of the What’s New feed has begun!

Give: I’ll happily write anything sci-fi or fantasy with flavors of horror, romance, or mystery if you so desire. Violence and steamy saxophone solos will be kept to a plot-relevant proportion.

Receiving prompt: There is an old tradition that one must speak to the honeybees and tell them of family events: weddings and deaths, the comings and goings of traveling family members, and anything else anything of significance. I want an MC who follows this tradition, and one day while speaking with the bees, something strange happens.
 

-Riv-

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I'll be available to beta. Happy sisyphusing, y'all!

All the best,
Riv
 

zanzjan

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Thread stickied for y'all. Gonna unsticky the old one.
 

eyeblink

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Here beginneth Sisyphus the Eighth for me.

To give: I will try most things, SF, fantasy or horror and places in between and outside. I do tend to be dark/slipstreamy and my stuff is more likely to be set in this world (not necessarily in the present day) than in another one. That said, I have written an other-world fantasy for a past Sisyphus, but don't expect too much in the way of trad fantasy or very hard SF. I can't really do out-and-out comedy but can do humour in otherwise serious pieces. QuILTBAG characters are not unheard-of in my stories. I don't have any taboos as regards language or content.

To receive: As the last few years and the coming year are significant anniversaries, please could I have a story set in either World War I or World War II. Whether your story is set on a battlefield or on the home front is up to you, but the fact that the War is on (whether in the story's present or past) should play a part in the story. Any variety of SF, fantasy or horror and, as with "giving" above, I have no taboos on language or content.

P.S. Looking at Kjbartalotta's prompt above...I did a unicorn story last year, though as the beast was only revealed near the end, I don't know if my giftee was expecting it!
P.P.S. My last two Sisyphus stories are part of a series (two more planned) with the same lead character. If I do a third one this time, I will have to pick my guessing-thread extract very carefully or someone will spot it's mine instantly! That said, I'm usually guessed quickly anyway...
 
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Tamlyn

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My prompt: Ghosts. I would like ghosts. If there can be at least one nice/beneficial ghost, I would appreciate it, but otherwise it can be all happy ghosts, lots of scary ghosts, whatever. Whether those ghosts are an every day part of life, or something unexpected, or... just let there be ghosts. I'm fine with romance, gore, smexytimes, swearing, lack of swearing.

To Give: I will try just about anything. I feel I should narrow this down a bit more though, so, uh, if you're after a hard science fiction story set in a specifically US place with terror involved, I'm probably not the writer for you.

Otherwise I can do SF, fantasy - this world or other world, light or dark. I can write probably write horror, but I'm not sure I'm capable of actually scaring you.
 

Richard White

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Oh, what the heck. In for a penny, in for a pound, as they used to say.

I'm in for give and receive.

I'm most comfortable doing SF/F or action/adventure. I could do a historical piece, but I'm not a romance/erotica author so I "really" shouldn't be trusted to do anything that even vaguely resembles one of those pieces.

My prompt . . . hmmm, which one? Which one?

For some reason, I'm seeing magical beasts, but not your run-of-the-mill dragon/pegasus/unicorn. Nope, break out those beastiaries and try to find something unusual. It can be a standard fantasy story, or put them in an unlikely setting . . . perhaps a herd of space centaurs? Or a Sylph in Shakespearian England (boy, did I take a wrong turn at Albuquerque)?

I generally don't mind violence level or language as long as it makes sense for the story, but I'm more a fade-to-black reader than explicit when it comes to intimate encounters.
 

CobraMisfit

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And we're off to the races!

Everyone is logged into the Story Elves' Sisphyus Spreadsheet, but we're short a few e-mails. If you haven't received a confirmation message from me, please rep me so the elves can complete your "registration".
 

SeaSerpent

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Fantastic! This is one of my favourite events!!

Put me down to both give and receive!

I mainly write SF but I'm happy to be pushed out of my comfort zone!

For my prompt - I would like to receive a story about The Moon. No, not the one you can see which Armstrong and chums walked on - The Other Moon!!!
 

Sue77

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I'm in!

I'm happy to give any prompt a go, but am pants at humour. What I write tends to be dark and I'm happy to blend Sci Fi with Horror, Horror with Fantasy or any combination of the 3 genres.

I'd love a story which contains cats and a mystery.
 

Norman Mjadwesch

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I. Am. In. Give and receive! I’ll try very hard to not go down the novella route (but no promises).

I’m pretty happy to receive any content, enough that I’m not going to put anything on my ban list except no pet deaths, please. I’m not a fan of vampires and ghosts, though if they happen then I’ll go along with it.

To give? Depending, but there’ll probably be humour, and swearing is likely but I can leave it out by request. I’m really bad at writing horror and haven’t ever written anything along smexy themes, although that’s hardly going to be a specific request, is it? I’d rather not do space opera right now and I don’t even know why. There is a high probability that characters will die. Some of them will deserve it.

I’d like to keep my prompt basic to allow my gifter to have as much scope as they’d like:

The forest is alive.

Also. To those who participated in the mid-year Sisyphus, my sincerest apologies. I haven’t yet had a chance to read most of the stories I’ve got in my in-tray, and I really do intend to request everyone’s work. Unfortunately life took out its Big Hammer during the last couple of months and I’ve been missing from the boards, which kinda sucks. There have been horrific fires in my area and I’ve spent the last few weeks prepping to save my house / evacuate if unable, and then I got an ear infection (probably hexed by Tiny Eye Volcano Frog) and I also got a tick on my head that’s caused me a few problems. But. Now I’m good to go.
 
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Albedo

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I'm in. I'll write SF, fantasy, horror, with an uplifting or a humorous or a grimdark (or a fluffydark) bent or anywhere in between (or all of the above). Just don't ask for erotica, because the world may not recover from that.

I'd like my gifter to pick one (or more!) of my unchosen prompts from the past few years:


* Tell me about some art-based magic.
* What's in the most dangerous room in the world?
* Werewolves (or werellamas, or werewhatever) are moving into the suburbs. Tell me about their suburban lives.
* The portal has been opened! Except somebody got the polarity wrong, and now our world is leaking into Hell.
* Magical body horror. JK Rowling meets Cronenberg. Go overboard.
* A Black Mirror-esque, cautionary fable about social media and technology, but in a high fantasy setting.
* It's a battle beyond the stars. A DANCE battle.

Swearing, sex, and ultraviolence are OK.
 

Kjbartolotta

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Also. To those who participated in the mid-year Sisyphus, my sincerest apologies. I haven’t yet had a chance to read most of the stories I’ve got in my in-tray, and I really do intend to request everyone’s work. Unfortunately life took out its Big Hammer during the last couple of months and I’ve been missing from the boards, which kinda sucks. There have been horrific fires in my area and I’ve spent the last few weeks prepping to save my house / evacuate if unable, and then I got an ear infection (probably hexed by Tiny Eye Volcano Frog) and I also got a tick on my head that’s caused me a few problems. But. Now I’m good to go.

Eek! Hope everything's ok, Norman, and I was wondering why the limericks thread was almost respectable these days.
 

E.F.B.

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GIVE and RECEIVE, please.


Give: I've written fantasy, both in other worlds and this one, fairy tale retellings, and (soft) sci-fi, so I'd be fine doing any of those. Like last year, I'd prefer not to write something romantical this year. I'm willing to write action-y violence, but not graphic, gory, or sexual violence, and I don't write smexy times, grimdark, or foul language. I prefer writing happy/hopeful stories/endings over sad, but I don't think I'd be good at straight up comedy. I also don't write anything that falls under "paranormal" (like vampires, zombies, etc) smexy, emo, or otherwise.


Receive: I've always felt like the constellations have a lot of potential as story fodder. I would like my gifter to pick a constellation and write a story related to it. If you wanted to make up your own constellation, that's cool too. The story doesn't have to be set on earth or even in this universe if you don't want it to be.


I feel like that prompt might be a little vague, so just to throw some things out there in case your brain needs something to latch onto: Maybe it could be a legend about how some epic thing was commemorated with a constellation being put in the sky. Maybe it could be a story about a character for whom a certain constellation has a special meaning. Maybe there's a construction crew of aliens who put together new constellations for Reasons, or maybe some space travelers are flying towards a certain constellation for some reason. Like I said, I'm just throwing stuff out there, none of these are required. Write what gets the story juices flowing for you. As long as there's some mention of a constellation, I'll be happy. 🙂


Any genre is fine EXCEPT grimdark, horror, or paranormal none of which I like. While violence and action-y things are acceptable, this sensitive individual does not like reading graphic, gory, or sexual violence, and I would prefer no swearing. I also do not read smexy times, and would prefer there to be a lack of romance in this story (there's just so much of it out there, I find it refreshing to read about other types of relationships like family, friends, or even frienemies now and then, LOL). Happy ending please, even if it's just Happy For Now.

*does an excited dance of excitedness*:banana:


As a general rule, I don’t like vampires, or zombies, and not too fussed on shapeshifters either although they’re okay in the right conditions. I know, those are all fantasy/horror stuff, but hey, they could end up in a sci/fi story if your mind works anything like mine does.
I mean... there *is* a book in existence called "Amish Vampires in Space" with a sequel, "Amish Zombies in Space", so clearly someone else's mind went there, too. :)
 

SciSarahTops

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I'd like to give and receive please.

Don't mind violence but nothing gory or with suicide for me please. I have a wrist phobia/aversion and I feel anxious even writing the words wrist phobia here.
Genuinely not 100% certain what smexytimes is!
Swearing is fine.

My prompts are:
-Someone is trapped in a magic shell
-There's an extraterrestrial rain falling on Earth, where is it from and what does it do?
-Finding joy during the apocalypse
-The answer was in the code all along

My short stories are shorter than most.
I write sci fi but open to most prompts. I'll give anyting a crack, so long as you don't expect gore.
 

themindstream

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Happy Sissyfus Solstice, y'all. Alas, I have decided that this year i have too much going on and too many backlogged projects to write for the swap.

I will, however, volunteer to beta read! And regularly sit in the Cantina by the fire with a pot of tea smirking at the madness.
 

ajaye

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Dithering be gone and I'm in. *throws all the chocolates at the story gods*

I'd like to give and receive, please.

Give - can't do hard sci-fi, extreme horror/gore, or smexy times. Will give anything else a whirl.

Receive - as above, and don't kill the dog (or any other critters--humans? that's fine and dandy).

Prompt - pick one, some or all:

- The hitman plays Lego. Very serious Lego.

- Why is there a strange key in my pocket... and a padlock?

- The pixie kindergarten is closing down.

- Grandpa ate all the fairy floss and now he can fly.
 

Friendly Frog

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Signing up! Gifting and receiving, please. :) Ooh, some very nice prompts already. Me, I'm going for something different this year.

RECEIVING: Something has escaped the space zoo/menagerie/bothanical garden. No gore, horror, grimdark, graphic or sexual violence, please.

GIVING: I generally write light SF&F, including modern fantasy and/or humourous, but I am game to experiment with other genres (but with the caveat that I might cheerfully end up doing them badly). Please don't ask me for any gore, grimdark, graphic or sexual violence.


There have been horrific fires in my area and I’ve spent the last few weeks prepping to save my house / evacuate if unable, and then I got an ear infection (probably hexed by Tiny Eye Volcano Frog) and I also got a tick on my head that’s caused me a few problems. But. Now I’m good to go.
Aw, poor you. My sympathy! Glad to hear you're safe(r) now.
 

Norman Mjadwesch

vacuous eyes, will bark at shadows
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I’m seeing some really cool prompts here so far! There are probably about ten story ideas going around in my brain already and we don’t even have the full quota of Sisyphusers on board yet.

Bring it!

Eek! Hope everything's ok, Norman, and I was wondering why the limericks thread was almost respectable these days.

You’d know as well as I do that ticks on dogs is a thing.

And yes, I have noticed that the limericks thread has fallen to unacceptable standards and I’ll be sure to report that to Admin if someone doesn’t do something about it as a matter of urgency.

Aw, poor you. My sympathy! Glad to hear you're safe(r) now.

Hello there, seemingly harmless frog.

Thank you for your sympathy, and I hope your eyes are better, too. This time around had better be a trouble free time for our poor writing friends or else I’ll be having something to say about it to the Karma Gods, and maybe pen a letter to the CDC.