Inside of a Dog, It's Too Dark to Read

What is this?

To celebrate our graduation from beta testing, AnthologyBuilder invites authors of all skill levels to choose their favorite cover art from our database and write a story to match it. Contest Entries must be unpublished, between 1,000 and 50,000 words in length, and submitted on or before September 20, 2009.

Because our site hosts a wide variety of science fiction and fantasy artwork, we expect that most submissions will fall into those genres. Nevertheless, submissions in all genres are welcome.

Rules

1. Entries must be the original, unpublished work of the author and must be between 1,000 and 50,000 words in length. Stories set in derivative worlds (e.g. Star Trek, Middle Earth, or other fictional worlds not created by the author) are not admissible for this contest.
2. Entries must be submitted on or before September 20, 2009. An upload form for contest entries will be available by August 1.
3. No entry fee is required.
4. Stories will be judged in two categories: General Submissions (open to all authors) and Rising Stars (open to authors who are 18 years old or younger at the time of submission.) Rising Star authors may choose to submit in both categories.
5. Entries will be judged based on overall quality and on how well they match the artwork that inspired them. All decisions of our judging panel are final.
6. There will be ten finalists in each category. From them, one winner per category will be chosen.
7. Authors may submit only one manuscript, with the exception of authors 18 years old or younger, who may submit two stories: one for each category.
8. This contest is open to everyone except AnthologyBuilder staff members, contest judges, and their immediate families. Authors do not need prior publication credits to enter. International contestants are welcome, but please be aware that prize money will be issued in U.S. currency.
9. Our apologies, but we are unable to accept contest submissions in languages other than English.

Prizes

• Finalists will receive a $30 gift certificate for AnthologyBuilder and a detailed critique of their story by Nancy Fulda, assistant editor at Jim Baen's Universe.
• The winner in the General Submissions category will receive $200 and publication on AnthologyBuilder.*
• The winner in the Rising Star category will receive $100 and publication on AnthologyBuilder.*

* Winners will be asked to leave their story exclusively on AnthologyBuilder for a period of three months, after which the author may remove or publish it elsewhere according to our standard contract.

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I've already found suricattus and jaylake's work available in their library.

Thank you to howardtayler for pointing out this very nifty tool in Blógünder Schlock (right here, to be specific).

It was in Second Life, but a story's a story. Check it out at http://tanarian.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-got-to-tell-story.html

And PEN-BLWYDD HAPUS, YOOOOOOOLANDA! (not too early, not too late?)

Little scratch of light, as I was looking to see if Orion was visible yet, over in the centre of the eastern sky - it ran south > north, as short as it was. I've usually got too much light pollution and humidity for sightings like that.


Anyway, I have a couple of writing questions for my Flisties who indulge yourselves thusly (i.e., most of you, I think).

1. When you sit down to write, how long do you write? I mean, do you have a set wordcount goal for each session, or do you just go with the flow? And if you flow, what do you average?

2. How do you define a chapter for yourself? How long do they usually run for you? (I can't help but to be reminded of the pathetic excuses for chapters that litter Fanfiction.net, where they're barely a single printed page's-worth with a threat to withhold in the author's notes.)

[looks to upper right, to upper left, on inside of eyelids] ...yeah, I think that's all. Just curious.


ETA: Tchah, I did forget something: copperbadge on the closing of Harry Potter canon. VERY well said.

Geekish reading, at least. MEGAFAUNA — First Victims of the Human-Caused Extinction by Baz Edmeades, complete book on-line (HTML/PDF)

...and that kinda goes with this animated presentation, 'Journey of Mankind: The Peopling of the World'. There are links off that page, my AngloCeltic siblings, so you can find out what male-line genetic part of Britain you're descended from (read this summation in the New York Times article, 'A United Kingdom? Maybe'). The female-line tests from the same company aren't British-Isles-specific.

Lastly, a photo-tour of a New Egg shipping warehouse (ooo, nifty tech); and an 8-page story by Bruce Sterling, We See Things Differently. (Take a look at the RevolutionSF FAQ, too.)

Quoting awelkin:

scieppan is pretty much responsible for the putting together of the document, as well as this web banner. In it you will find art work by animekatie and minoukatze, poetry by kit-the-brave, and stories by jiminyc, ashtur, in-the-blue, h311ybean, bucketgirl, ladyvorkosigan, and yours truly.

All of the money cleared goes directly to chrysantza as she fights her brave battle with breast cancer. Also, any of the creators above could probably be convinced to autograph the anthology should you run into them....

And just a wee reminder:

I'm likely to be AFK until Friday (Thursday at the very least), so I have to ask you a favour.

---=>°<=---
But first, to wrap up Women's History Month in a bunchy clump, here's the last six profiles:

March 27: Ada Blackjack

March 28: Anna Garlin Spencer

March 29: Emma Brunskill

If you Google for Emma Brunskill's latest work, you'll see she's been involved in ambulatory robot studies. Very technical page, though.

March 30: Laurie Anderson

On September 16, 2005, Laurie’s exhibition The Waters Reglitterized opened at the Sean Kelly Gallery in New York City. According to the press release by Sean Kelly, The Waters Reglitterized is a diary of dreams and their literal recreation as works of art. This work, created in the process of re-experiencing or re-working her dreams while awake, uses the language of dreams to investigate the dream itself. The resulting pieces include drawings, prints and high definition video. The installation ran until October 22, 2005. In 2006, she contributed a song to Plague Songs, a collection of songs related to the 10 Biblical plagues.

Laurie Anderson narrated Ric Burns's Andy Warhol: The Documentary Film, which was first televised in September 2006 as part of the PBS American Masters series. Anderson also performed in Came So Far For Beauty, the Leonard Cohen tribute event held in The Point Theatre, Dublin, Ireland on October 4 and 5, 2006.

Recently, through her web site, Laurie announced a re-release of her first album, Big Science, on Nonesuch Records, a DVD box set containing her short films and the concert movie Home of the Brave, a book of drawings titled Night Life, and a new album to be released in 2008, Homeland.^Wikipedia

	March 31: Elizabeth Holloway Marston
Virginia 'Ginny' Heinlein

Here's the 'favour' part. I'm not going to have much access, if at all, because Myfanwy is ever-so-delightfully dragging me away from my various burdens (and puppies) for a day or two to visit lovely Gaithersburg, north of Washington, D.C. We'll drive back and visit the Poodle Breeder Previously Blogged About, too.

However, this means I won't be able to do my webcomics voting — especially since the turnover is on Sunday, when I'll be back, but Myfi with or without boychild, might still be visiting here.

Can you please take a few minutes (5, 10 if your pages load slowly), and indulge your buried urge to just click like crazy? (c.f. 'Oooo, ticky-box!') Especially on April 1 (no joke)? Top Web Comics and WebbedComics turn over at midnight Pacific (GMT-7, currently); BuzzComix is every 24 hours, from whenever you vote.

Copied from the Bleach-y end of the spectrum - tenebris and raynos got this from jaina ( > ekaterinn > daegaer (who rawx the meme!)) recently:

If you make up titles for stories I didn't write,
I will respond with details of those non-written stories.
My caveat:  Suggest a fandom for each of your titles. I know too many, and might come up with something irrelevant to your sphere of knowledge. ^_^ You can take cues from my icons, if you want.

I might not be getting either of my major project back underway, but I should be able to toss out a few paragraphs off a standing start.

March 12: Toni Morrison

Recent Toni Morrison news:

"The Foreigner's Home Exhibit", Toni Morrison Guest Curator
Louvre Museum
November 6-29 [2006]
Paris France
Highlights:
Opening Lecture: "The Foreigner's Home" November 6, 8PM Louvre Auditorium
Morrison will read from her forthcoming novel, Mercy, November 17, 8.30PM
Toni Morrison Society Scholars' Roundtable--November 18th--Hotel Citadines

From The Age (Australia):

A feast in store
Jane Sullivan
December 30, 2006

For many readers, the highlight of the year will be Toni Morrison's novel Mercy (Random House, October), which looks at racism in three periods of American history: in the year 2000; colonial beginnings in 1660; and a "middle period" of legalised racism.