Anthrofiction Networks Short Story Contest, Spring 2008

[ScottyDM]

Anthrofiction Network is back, and the contest theme this quarter is Green. Think green growth, a new beginning, sprouts in the springtime, photosynthesis….

The rules--but in short: 1000 to 3500 words, at least one important character must be anthropomorphic, and keep it family friendly. As always, transformation is welcomed.

This contest is a labor of love and there is never any fee to enter. E-mail addresses and other personal information is held in the strictest confidence.

Scotty

[ScottyDM]

The system is ready to rock-n-roll! (pretty much)

First, sign up for an account. Now you can enjoy the new stories:

In the Greenwood

He smelled of male-musk and clover.

Faeldra’s nostrils quivered, and the doe stretched her neck out, straining to catch every nuance of the scent. The stag was far away yet, but he would find her. The time was near for both of them.

When The Moon Fell

It was as silent as the jungle ever got. A cool breeze whispered through the leaves and vines, blowing the heavy scent of life, a mix of decay and new growth, into the flared nostrils of the motionless figure crouched in the top branches. Long claws curled around the sturdy branch, clinging to yet not scratching the tender bark. Loose tendrils of hair fluttered in the breeze, the only sign of life.

Exit Sign

Clear in her mind, the feel of the wind brushing back her fur, the rays of the sun tickling the flesh underneath with warmth, the smell of the freshly wet grass, the soil, the dew on the leaves, the sounds of the crickets and birds chirping, the rustle of bushes as a squirrel digs underneath to bury its acorn, the hum of a bee collecting pollen from flowers it only seemed to be visiting randomly. All of this drew her through the white halls of the hospital to the door with the little green sign that read ‘EXIT’.

Saving the Magic

“I can’t believe we’re here!” Jerrin tugged on Sabrina’s arm.

“Calm down. And stop acting like a preschooler on your first field trip.” Sabrina rolled her eyes.

It wasn’t her fault she was excited. She made a face at her best friend. Jerrin didn’t know what to look at first. A smile played on her lips as she tried to take everything in.

One-Winged Phoenix

There once was a phoenix that fell in love with a bird of paradise.

In the Valley of the Fallen Sun, there lived the phoenix. He was the only one of his kind. Proud, strong, and defiant, he patrolled the skies with stalwart vigilance.

The Toast

Everything shined like freshly-cut diamonds in the post-rain wet of Chicago’s south side. 53rd and Woodlawn glistened in a silence punctuated only by the drip of water into storm drains and the occasional backfire of a jalopy rattling down the cobbles. It was a Friday night, and the streets, unlike those on Michigan Avenue (that magnificent mile of social carnality) were all but deserted.

Six entries. Nice!

I'll get the ballot pages fully functioning in a few days. Oh yea... the deadline for scoring these is June 7th.

Scotty

[ScottyDM]

The voting system is fully functional.

I have to admit, no transformation stories this quarter. However, the quality of the stories seem to get better with each quarter, and I know that at least one of these authors has been professionally published.

Next quarter the theme will be based on technique, so TF will be optional again. But I'm thinking that for fall the theme will be based on a very old story format which almost always has transformation at it's core.

Scotty

[ScottyDM]

The judging period is officially closed.

However, I noticed a technical problem with the site code. Although the counter said there was so much time remaining, the rest of the page code cut off your ability to enter a ballot. I did roll back the deadline to 2:00 am GMT on the 12th to give an extra hour, but if anyone missed that let me know.

There also seems to have been a problem with signups, but part of that could be attributed to user action because new accounts must be activated though e-mail. However I did have one person mention a problem a few days ago.

I'm starting to process the ballots now and it will be awhile before results are ready. Meanwhile I've restricted site access because the story pages are a mess of old and new code and they spew nasty looking PHP errors post-judgment if there are no results available.

So, if you tried to vote but could not due to technical errors, send me an e-mail at: _____@anthrofiction.net (temp address). Give me the e-mail address you used when you signed up and your IP address if you know it. I will reopen the ballots for you. If you don't know your IP address then give me the name of your ISP and I'll figure something out.

Scotty

[ScottyDM]

I'm gonna close the ballots now, but I have a question.

Scoring is from 1 to 5, and in the past I've calculated the scores to 0.01 or 1 part in 100. Often there is quite a spread in the scores, but this quarter there the field is closer than it has ever been with the total spread between the highest and lowest scores of only 0.28. Overall the scores are lower than they've been in 2007 (more like 2006 scores) and no one has broken 4.00 this quarter.

I feel the scores should be close. This group of stories is a better quality overall than in previous quarters--although previous quarters have seen some standout entries. I'm not sure why the overall scores are lower. Perhaps some folks are grading on the curve. So in the absence of poor stories they're giving everyone an middle score and pulling all the numbers down.

That part doesn't matter. What matters is that if I calculate the scores to 1 part in 100, we have two winners--two stories scored 3.91.

So the question is, do we say, "Yaaay, we have TWO winners!" or do I calculate the scores down to 1 part in 1000? If I do, then one of those stories scored a 3.906 and the other scored 3.907.

That's pretty close. Oh yea, they also both got the same number of ballots too... twelve.

If we go with two winners I will never reveal who barely nudged past the other--we will simply have two winners. Maybe I'll flip a coin or something to see who I list first in the winners' sentence, but they will be named in the same sentence.


So whatdaya think, do you want two winners or only one? I have several message boards I post these messages to and I'll be considering everyone's opinion. Also, in future quarters if I start getting lots of entries I'll be forced to go to 1 part in 1000, but there were only six entries this time. Maybe I could set a cutoff or something. If we stick with two winners this time, then I'll stick with 1 part in 100 for scoring until the first quarter I get 20 entries. If we go to 1 part in 1000 now, then I'll do 1 part in 1000 from here on out.

Please post your opinions in this discussion thread.

Scotty

[ScottyDM]

The comments I got were unanimous: if we started with a set of rules we should finish with the same set of rules. And one commenter said that ties are always nice for Father's Day.


Results

The winners are Saving the Magic by Michelle Hicks and In the Greenwood by Renee Carter Hall (“Poetigress”), with a scores of 3.91 and each with 12 ballots.

Exit Sign by M. Le Renard earned a score of 3.80 from 11 ballots.

When The Moon Fell by Red Vixen earned a score of 3.74 from 13 ballots.

The Toast by Whyte Yoté earned a score of 3.68 from 11 ballots.

One-Winged Phoenix by Vaperfox earned a score of 3.63 from 9 ballots.

Congratulations to all the authors.

Scotty