I LOVE mythology and I want to read about your takes on the old stories. There are two options in this contest. You can....
A. Have a GOD or GODDESS central to your story. This God(dess) can be from ANY religion, either ancient or current. Please, no rants or anti-religion essays. Fantasy stories only.
B. Submit a story either BASED UPON or INSPIRED BY a myth. If this is the case, please mention what myth inspired your story in the Author's Notes. Otherwise, you're disqualified.
Now, for the rules....
1. Spelling and Grammar? I'm lenient, but do your best to check the story before submitting.
2. Profanity or Gore? Knock yourself the fuck out.
3. Sex or Erotica? Sure, but only if there's a plot outside of the sex. If it's just written for the sex, don't submit it.
4. Word Count? Less than 5000 words, please, unless I give you permission. I have the attention span of a retarded june bug.
5. Again, to reiterate, NO ANTI-GOD ESSAYS. I'm GLAD you've rediscovered yourself as an atheist because, you know, whatever toots your horn. But I don't want to read an essay about how stupid I am for going to church or how it doesn't make logical sense for God to exist. Those are boring and I'm more interested in mythology than THEOLOGY.
5a. I hesitate to say 'Don't disrespect any religion' because that's kinda limiting, given the terms of the contest. So thus, the new rule of thumb is this:
If you were to read your story aloud in the middle of a crowded park, would a stranger get so offended that he'd shoot you in the face? If you think this would happen, don't submit it. If your story would only, say, get you SLAPPED in the face by a stranger, go ahead.
And if this metaphorical group of strangers were to stand and applaud at the end of your story, throwing hundred dollar bills at your feet, then totally submit it as well. Or, you know, anything in between.
Heh. I hope I made that clear. ;-)
So please, enter enter enter and good luck to all participants!
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on April 5, 2007
- Rewards: Gold: 100, Silver: 50, Bronze: 25, Honorable mention: 3 people
- Final notes: Oh wow. There were so many excellent entries in this contest. I can understand why other contest judges create, like, 40 runner up prizes so that way everyone who participates can win something. Unfortunately, I only had six trophies I could hand out (including three runner-ups), so I was forced leave some extremely worthy entries trophy-less.
Whether you got a trophy or not, you guys did a GREAT job on all of your entries.
Since I'm one of those people who can never get enough reviews, I'm going to list the winners in order and explain why I chose them for the trophies.
1. Starlight - I am a fan of teen supernatural romance, so I really enjoyed reading this story. The reason why you won the gold is the absolute *quality* of your writing. I would not have been surprised to find this published in a collection of short YA stories. It's a wonderful piece and I hope you continue writing.
2. Ride of the Oskorei - If it weren't for the slow beginning, this would have won gold. Your description of Odin's wild hunt was one of the best pieces of descriptive writing I've read in a while now. For those few final amazing paragraphs, you get silver. Great job.
3. Patagna - To describe something so horrifying in such a matter-of-fact tone AND STILL keep the reader's interest takes great skill. I loved the sinister undertone of it all and the occasional touch of the erotic to keep it interesting. Round out the lead female's characterization a bit more and this will be perfect.
4,5,6 - These honorable mentions aren't in order of preference. I really liked all of these stories. Tales from the Shadows gets a shout-out for being the ONLY new story entered in the contest, so rock on. Legend of Scylla and Perfectly Round Apples were excellent takes on mythology, both in a modern and in an ancient setting.
All of these stories were EXCELLENT at framing the mystery, romance, horror, and mysticism of ancient mythology in a fictional setting. For those who didn't get trophies, I still LOVED reading your submissions and I hope you will submit a story in one of my future contests.
Thank you, everyone, for making this contest such a pleasure to judge.
Contest Winners
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And so came the night for which I had waited some time. I have long corresponded via mail, telephone and the internet with a Norwegian history professor, a widely-admired Dr. Jensen Olafsson, who takes extraordinary interestby Rune Morose 4500 words, 2 comments, on Jun 24 12:54 AM 2006. In Horror, Science fiction, Surrealist, Weird
Silver trophy winner
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In the beginning, there was nothing. Nothing means nothing! So, why not put something into that nothing?by Trinity Dragon 1300 words, 9 comments, on Aug 2 9:06 PM 2007. In First person, Other, Spiritual
Honorable mention
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It had been four years to the day since Odysseus had returned from making his sacrifices to the gods. Teiresias, the blind prophet whom Ody• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
Gold trophy winner
Bronze trophy winner
Entries [14]
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Dom is a boy. A boy.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Prolouge / The Moon / The Moon is a Demon witch, that controls the waves. The Dragonwave riders bow down before her and worship. The wave dby Elementalwolf 3000 words, 3 comments, on Oct 16 6:12 PM 2007. In Spiritual• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Comments
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Would a descendant of a god/goddess do as well? Just wondering, 'cause I want to enter this contest so bad!!!
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sure
Submit it if you want. I like different interpretations of myths. Give it a shot.
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The Movie with Billy and Mandy inspired me
In the intro (you know, where they list all the people that helped with the production and the title and things) There was this little snippet with Grim in a bathtub and these three women (basically three medusas (madusuhs?)) and when he looked at them (and screamed) he instantly turned to stone. Hence, the inspiration. I want to write a story about Medusa (or just with her as a character). What I want to know is: do you consider Medusa part of mythology? -
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sure
Medusa IS from mythology. She was a sea nymph who was in love with Posideon, god of the sea. When the two made love in the temple of Athena, Athena was infuriated at the sacrilege. So she cursed Medusa to have a head full of snakes.
Not that any of that has ANYTHING to do will Billy and Mandy (heh), but I just figured I'd mention it.
Submit away! -
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heh heh heh, yeah I know Billy and Mandy don't really have any relevance with mythology other than the usage of Medusa in the opening credits. I figured that Medusa would be considered to be part of mythology. The story I plan to write, however, doesn't actually follow the story of Medusa, she's just used as a character...me thinks. Well, I guess I'll just have to see how it turns out. Nifty contest, btw.
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question
I have a crazy plot... it's basically goddesses LIVING in people... is that ok? -
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sure
sounds great. Just make sure it's less than 5000 words. :-)
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i have a story i can submit as soon as i fix it up.
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hey its closed!
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aw
Sorry you missed the deadline/space amounts, but I do have two other contests going on at the same time, so feel free to enter them (ANTS and Short-Shorts are the names) if your story qualifies! :-)
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Thanks for the trophy and points!
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Thanks, Delfishie
Thanks so very much for the bronze trophy and the points. I really appreciate them. This story was not a prewrite. Though it had been started before your contest, I finished it and posted it for your contest because it seemed so right. I'm glad you like it. Thanks for hosting. I'm pleased that you enjoyed your contest. I look forward to the next.
Andy
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