The 2021 Sekrit Solstice Sci-Fi/Fantasy Story Swap!

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


[Thor "Yes" gif]
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 Sisyphus 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) THE 50 POST REQUIREMENT:

In order to join in the Sisyphus fun, all participants must have a minimum of 50 posts on AW. No exceptions. 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?


[NPH "Nope" gif]
NPH, FTW.


50 posts or more?



[Brent's "Corner Gas You're One of Us Now" gif]
Corner Gas, FTW.



RULE #2) HOW TO PLAY:

There are two primary ways of participating: RECEIVING/GIVING and GIVING ONLY. A third path, The Beta Option, exists for those who simply want to help fine-tune the stories. See Rule #6 for more details on beta-ing.

2a) RECEIVING AND GIVING:

Signing up to RECEIVE a gift means signing up to GIVE a gift. No exceptions. Since the spirit of this event is giving, if you ask for treasures, you must give treasures.

To sign up, you’ll make a post (aka: Prompt) with what you want to read as well as what you’re willing to write. See Rule #3 for details on the Prompt Parameters.

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 Christmas 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 GIVE AND RECEIVE, please include a prompt that provides parameters for both your gift AND what you're 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 “outlin-esque”, 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. Maybe you want to receive a space opera, but aren’t confident with writing sci-fi yourself. Perhaps horror isn't something you want to read. Add the perimeter of comfort for your incoming and outgoing stories so those writing and receiving know where to draw a line.

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


[NPH's Evil Laugh gif]
Nailed it.


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.

Once you have posted your prompt, I’ll 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!
There's no maximum to how many you send to others. Plus, it shakes up the Guessing Thread, which is always fun.

Note: Failure to sign up by the closing date (December 22nd, US, East Coast Time) means you'll miss out on this year's fun.


[Awesome Owl Asking if it's Late gif]
Sorry, Writing Owl. Maybe next year....



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 Story 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 14th. 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'd like to serve as a beta, please let me know via Rule #13. I'll post your name in this thread so folks can reach out as needed. 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) 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 #9) 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. (password: vista)


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.

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 send a rep**** on this post that contains:

A) A statement that says you have read and agree to all the rules AND that you swear to give your gift by the deadline.

B) Your current/preferred email, even if you've played in the past, so the Story Elves can ensure they have the most updated contact info.

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.


[The Orville "Applause" gif]
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 13th: Plots are generated, characters are drawn, and words are flung.

March 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 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 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 winner: Sage!


[Tina Getting Knighted gif]
Something like that.



As Supreme Guessinator, Sage has ruled the Land of Sisyphus justly, spreading excellent grammar and vibrant adverbs to all the peoples. 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 2021 SS-SFF-SS season is now officially open!


[B-Ball Kid YEEEEESSSSS gif]
My feelings exactly!



The Sign-Up List of AWesome:

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

1) kjbartolotta - B
2) Maggie Maxwell - B
3) Friendly Frog - B
4) Ari Meermans - B
5) Jaymz Connelly - B
6) Tamlyn - B
7) kinokonoronin - B
8) AnnieColleen - B
9) Norman Mjadwesch - B
10) shortstorymachinist - B
11) EFB - B
12) Sue77 - B
13) eyeblink - B
14) Gatteau - B
15) armgrab - B
16) Albedo - B
17) Brightdreamer - B
18) Dread Pirate Rabbits - B
19) SianaBlackwood - B
20) CathleenT - G
21) J. A. Rama - B
22) katfeete - B
23) Coddiwomple - B
24) CobraMisfit - B
25) zanzjan - B
26) Tazlima - B
27) Bufty - B
28) Sage - G

Betas:


1) You Can’t Hide Your Scrying Eyes


*TM. As in “Tacos, Mmmmmmm!”

**Good gravy, nine years! NINE!

*** I’ve been extra good this year. Just sayin’.

****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.
 
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Kjbartolotta

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*Scrambles out of abyss to be the first participant*

Request: Speculative fiction story involving a giant maze somehow. Or labyrinth, I'm not picky. Make it weird.

I write: Things that are also weird. Something cosmic horror-ish, preferably dark with at least some curse words and nothing that requires an IRL setting.
 

Maggie Maxwell

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Aah, here we go.

As always, in for giving and receiving.

What I'd like to receive: Going back to an old prompt, I'd like a story with an animal companion (no harm shall come to said animal). As a twist, let's say that it SHOULD talk, but it doesn't.

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.
 

Friendly Frog

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Whee! It is here! Thank you, Santa Cobra!

I am reusing my prompt, unless I come up with something better before sing-up closes.

RECEIVING: Something has escaped the space zoo/menagerie/bothanical garden. Please no gore, grimdark, graphic or sexual violence. And with this year being this year I kindly request no downer ending.

GIVING: I can write SF&F from space opera to modern fantasy and/or humourous. 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.
 
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Ari Meermans

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I'm in to both Give and Receive.

Prompt: The man at the end of the string.

That's it; that's the prompt. What kind of string, you ask? It can be any kind of string. The story could be about a character at the end of a string of lovers, of liars; it could be a new take on "at the end of his rope"; it could be about the last captain in a queue of spacecraft taking off; it could be about a character in a Twilight Zone-style story with an alien puppet master. The "string" can be anything your mind conjures.

And your character doesn't have to be a man, either.

(The usual applies: No gratuitous sex or violence, please. If either serves the story, well okay then, that's fine. No rape, no gore, though.)


ETA: Ah, yes, what I write or don't, as the case may be. I don't write smexy times and, as I've mentioned before, iffen you're lookin' for hard science fiction, I'm the wrong writer for ya. Other than that, I guess I'm pretty much open to at least try.
 
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Jaymz Connelly

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Woo hoo!

I'm in for giving and receiving.

What I can write – my forte is fantasy, but I’ve been known to dabble in sci-fi and paranormal on occasion. I won’t do hard sci-fi, sax or violins and I’d prefer not to write vampires (particularly the sparkly emo kind), or shape-shifters (unless they’re dragons). I will not write bugs of any kind, so don’t even ask. My characters are usually not shy about swearing, but I am totally capable of writing a story with no cussing at all.


What I’d like – this year, I’d like a fantasy story. Something with unicorns, but not your usual depiction of them. I have a mug that says ‘I wish I was a unicorn so I could stab stupid people with my head’ – so use that as inspiration. :) Cussing is fine, or not. I would rather not have sax or violins and you can ditch the vampires and shape-shifters too (they belong in paranormal anyhow). No bugs, and I’d rather not have cats in the story, dogs are fine, though. I know I keep writing stories with cats, but in the words of the immortal Han Solo – it’s not my fault!
 
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Tamlyn

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Receive: (Gosh, it's early. It took me about five goes to spell that.) My sister and I have been planning an escape room for my other sister's birthday. On that note, I think I'd like a story about an escape room that turns out more real than expected. Fantasy or science fiction or anything in between.

Give: I say the same thing every year, but I like that it means I write so many different things. So any genre, except probably hard sf (unless you are happy with your hard sf being bad :p), violence, sex, neither of them, sweet, angry, all good. I shall write it. Not well, necessarily, but I will do my best.
 

kinokonoronin

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I will give and receive.

Give: If I have strengths, I'm not cognizant of what they are. I tend to write fantasy: high, low, dark, contemporary, second-world, what-have-you. I have also written soft sci-fi and a bit of weird fiction. I am willing to write just about anything, regardless of how bizarre or how foreign to me. And I do mean that -- just no promises of quality.

Receive: Unfathomably sprawling architecture. Any interpretation thereof will do. For instance, the word architecture can refer to unbuilt plans or computer architecture if you prefer.
 

AnnieColleen

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Yay, it's back! I'm in for give and receive.

Give: I can try most varieties of SFF (generally ending up with something oddball and in-between). Anything research-intensive will probably end up approximated, and I'm not the best person to attempt grimdark or sexy anything.


Receive: I'd like a story of ghosts in the prosaically modern world. Something like, the new subdivision is a literal ghost town, or the vending machine down the hall produces ghostly landscapes. (Or the elevator literally raises your spirits? Hmm, maybe not...or, I dunno, it could work!) I don't want to deny the ghosts their possibly tragical backstories -- do what the story needs -- but in general, I'd prefer no grimdark or explicit sexytimes.
 

Norman Mjadwesch

vacuous eyes, will bark at shadows
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I am in! Yes!!

My prompt: Let’s go all out, hey? I’m requesting a story inspired by favourite Golden Books (yes we all read them when we were little). My fave three were Little Grey Donkey (1965), Tawny Scrawny Lion * (1973) and Danny Beaver’s Secret (1972). Any of those, or combos thereof, would be awesome, but not required. My only request is no pet deaths, and preferably graphic content only if the plot requires it. Extra points for innuendo!

* the inspiration for Madagascar?

To give: Normally I write historical fic, some contemporary lit fic, soft SF, occasional fantasy, and last year I didn’t completely ruin my only foray into horror. I’ve never written romance and it makes me giggle that I’m even contemplating attempting to so one day. Most of my stories contain some swearing but I can leave it out. I keep violent scenes to broad brush strokes, and I can’t guarantee that the MC won’t die (I mean, I could try to do a HEA, but that’s not normally a thing for me).
 
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shortstorymachinist

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What-- *blinks, stares at calendar* When did--where did November go? It's December already? Uhh, hold on I've got a prompt around here somewhere...uh, nope...nope...I think I wrote that one myself...nope...

Ah! Here we go!

Prompt: Pick an idiom or proverb, anything at all. Now strategically cut out a word or two and write a story somehow based on this new saying. For example, (you can use this if you want) "Good things come to those who wait," becomes somewhat more sinister as the warning, "Things come to those who wait." Ooh. What kinds of things? If I wait where, those creepy crossroads down the old road?

Feel free to pick any idiom though! "A bird in the hand is two in the bush." (A magical animal-multiplying shrubbery?) "It's always before the dawn." (Finding the moment where a time loop resets?) "You can't make an omelet without some eggs." (Uh...a quest for the obvious?)

Giving: I'll write anything sci-fi or fantasy, and I'm happy to include the horrific or romantic at your request.
 

CobraMisfit

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Okay, I don't know what's going on, but my ability to edit the initial post has gone haywire. That said, I've received reps from everyone save two. If you don't have a confirmation e-mail from me, you're one of those two.

I'll reach out to the mods to for some help with the initial post, but in the interim I'll update things by posting in the thread.

Sorry for the delay. Technology makes our lives easier, right?
 
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Friendly Frog

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Loving the prompts so far!

Okay, I don't know what's going on, but my ability to edit the initial post has gone haywire. That said, I've received reps from everyone save two. If you don't have a confirmation e-mail from me, you're one of those two.

I'll reach out to the mods to for some help with the initial post, but in the interim I'll update things by posting in the thread.

Sorry for the delay. Technology makes our lives easier, right?
Oooh darn, then it wasn't just me imagining that I had forgotten something!

And - I swear, you couldn't make this up - right now there isn't any rep-button at all on any of the posts of this thread. It's just a blank field below everybody's post. Not even logging out and logging in makes it appear, but I have the button on others threads?! So, yeah, rep will be sent on the old thread. :roll:

I'm kind of wondering whether preventing the first post of a thread to be editted is some new safety feature since the last AW update. We - well, mostly Kevin- had no end of grief when trying to stear the Summer Sisyphus.

EDIT: Oops, didn't see you there, Kevin.
 
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E.F.B.

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Yay, Sisyphus time!

Give:I'm best at fantasy and fairy tale retellings, but have also written a little soft sci-fi, so I'd be fine doing any of those. Like last year, I'd prefer not to write romance. It's such a default in many stories these days, I just think it's a fun challenge to find other points of tension. :) I'm willing to write action-y violence, but not graphic/gory violence, and I don't write sexy times or grimdark/horror. I prefer writing happy/hopeful stories/endings over sad, but I don't think I'd be good at straight up comedy. I'm also not fond of writing "paranormal" (like vampires, zombies, etc) smexy, emo, or otherwise.


Receive: Amazon has a super sweet Christmas ad this year that features a community gathering together to give a young, black, ballerina the chance to perform the show that got cancelled by covid. I loved it, and my brain being my brain, I also thought, "There aren't enough speculative stories featuring dance." So, that's my prompt. I would like a speculative story featuring dance. Bonus points if the main character is a ballerina, but if that doesn't work for you, feel free to feature a different kind of dance. It would be cool if the dance was a main plot point, but again, if that's just not working, it's totally okay if it's a side plot or even a passing mention. I'm easy to please. :) It can be high fantasy, low fantasy, urban fantasy, scifi of the hard or soft variety, a retelling, comedy. Whatever sparks that inspiration! Happy ending, please, even if it's just Happy For Now.

What I DON'T want to read is similar to what I don't write. I don't like paranormal, grimdark, or horror, graphic/gory violence, foul language, or sexytimes. If the story is screaming for romance, I don't mind the sweet variety, but don't feel obligated to feature romance, either. :) ETA: Just thought of this... I lost my grandmother in August of this year (old age), so please kindly avoid themes of death or actual death of old people. To quote Legolas, "For me, the grief is still too near."


Looking forward to this!!!!!!!

ETAA: Oh look, I fixed the bolding that wouldn't go away.
 
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CobraMisfit

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Okay, everyone so far is good to go and confirmation e-mails to everyone have been sent. If you don't have one from me (and it's not hiding in your Spamalicious folder), please let me know.

I'm still working the issue with editing errors of the initial post. In the interim, I'll use the running tally in the thread. It's sloppy (something I can't stand), but functional for now. If a similar issue persists with The Guessing Thread, I'll have to figure that out. But it's 3-4 months away, so, like Batman, we have time to prepare.

For now, tell your friends, neighbors, acquaintances, random folks on the street, dogs, cats, dragons, etc, that we're up and running!
 

Sue77

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I am in! Yes!!

My prompt: Let’s go all out, hey? I’m requesting a story inspired by favourite Golden Books (yes we all read them when we were little). My fave three were Little Grey Donkey (1965), Tawny Scrawny Lion * (1973) and Danny Beaver’s Secret (1972). Any of those, or combos thereof, would be awesome, but not required. My only request is no pet deaths, and preferably graphic content only if the plot requires it. Extra points for innuendo!

* the inspiration for Madagascar?

Have to admit, I've not read any of those! My favourite as a child was The Valley of Dreams, a book I refer to in my story Taking Flight. It's A Golden Pleasure Book published in 1967.

Count me in to both give and receive. :snoopy:

Prompt: I'd like a horror story which features seeing in the new year. Sci-fi and/or fantasy elements are super fine, romance is fine and I have no problem with sex, violence etc., You have free rein to freak me out!

To Give: I'm not good at comedy, but apart from that I'll have a go at anything. I'm not too bad at horror... :e2teeth:
 
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eyeblink

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I'm in, for what will be the ninth year in a row for me for the Northern Hemisphere winter Sisyphus.

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 more likely 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. LGBT characters are not unheard-of in my stories. I don't have any taboos as regards language or content.

To receive: A story involving premonitory, intermonitory or postmonitory dreams. (Are "intermonitory" and "postmonitory" words? They are now.) Given that prompt, any flavour of SF, fantasy or horror is fine, and as with giving, I have no taboos as to language or content.
 
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Gatteau

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Yay, I am both terrified and excited to try my hand in this adventure with all of you!

I will both give and receive.

What I want to read: Hm... how about a story in which one, some, or all of the characters lead their lives based on song lyrics. As in, for any action they do, there must be a song that describes said action, like a constant soundtrack for life. This could perhaps be how a wizard uses their power, or a regular Joe caught in some sort of enchantment, or the very specific law of some society, I don't know. Have fun with it.

What I write: Let's call it contemporary fantasy. I like to start with nice "normal" people and make weird things happen to them. I tend to imbue my characters with a healthy dose of humor, because if you can't laugh at the absurdity of life, are you really living it? I'm not interested in diving too far into gore and horror, and I'm apparently still too immature to write sexy times without a lot of blushing, so those are mostly out, but I'll try pretty much anything.

Whee, here we go!
 

Sue77

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Welcome Gatteau, it's always lovely to have a newcomer to the world of Winter Solstice madness.

We're all very friendly and will be gentle with you... honest...

Love the name. :Cake: Yum...
 

CobraMisfit

I want to be Comic Sans.
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Welcome Gatteau, it's always lovely to have a newcomer to the world of Winter Solstice madness.

We're all very friendly and will be gentle with you... honest...

Love the name. :Cake: Yum...

Yes, welcome aboard to Kinoko and Gatteau! So glad that new folks are participating this year. If you all have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me or the veteran Sisyphusers.
 

CobraMisfit

I want to be Comic Sans.
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Hey hey! Looks like I can edit the initial post again, so The List of AWesome is updated/current.

14 participants so far!
 
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