Amph Writing Contest FIVE. The Authors Strike Back. (Week 3 writing)

We have 6 entrants

And we have 5 judges.

A big thank you to the judges who are.

NYCityGurl
Healer_Leona
Anakingirl05
VaderLVR64
JadeSolo

All judges have been asked to return their verdicts for next Saturday midnight so that I can get the winning chapter up and the next guide/prompt for next Sunday.

If a judge has not recieved an email from me (Subject = Writing contest entries) then please PM me ASAP.

 

I just want to say good job and good luck to everyone who's participated.

 

I'll second the good luck. And we have quite the illustrious panel of judges.

(Edit: No sucking up was intended. I do think this will be a good panel. I'm assuming this is blind judging anyway! )

 

Only I know who the authors are.


You are categorised

"Entrant 1-6" and thats all the judges will see.

 

I had an idea for when the book is finished. How about we publish it using somewhere like lulu or another print on demand publisher? Personally I think it'd be cool to have something published that I contributed to (assuming one of my chapters wins).

 

I'd rather never be published at all than be published by a vanity press, thank you very much.

In other words, no. If you guys want to, I'd like any chapters of mine that won removed from the book and replaced.

 

How come? I'm just curious, but why wouldn't you want it to be published?

Besides, PoD isn't vanity press afaik. As I understand vanity press requires you to pay for it to be printed, PoD does not.

 

POD does require payment, much like a vanity press. You 'demand' how many copies you want, you pay, and they print. Much like a vanity or subsidy press. There is a lot of fraud associated with these businesses (like PublishAmerica) so I wouldn't recommend doing it regardless.

My views of vanity/subsidy/POD presses are my personal opinion, and if I'm overruled I'm not saying it can't be published. I just requesting my chapters yanked and replaced by someone else's writing. I simply don't want to be associated with these practices, that's all.

 

Well, yes, obviously you'd have to pay for each book if you want to buy a copy, but that's the only payment you make. There's no other payment to be made. If other people buy it then they pay for it, not you.

You might want to look at this page and this page, it explains it all a lot better than I could.

 

I think I concur with the cheese on this one. Call me a raving optimist, but to me it'd feel like cheating to get published just like that.

Basically, I'd want to be published because someone in the business thinks I can write, not just because I paid them. Besides, I'm broke

 

I don't think it's a very good idea to public a piece where several authorsd have contributed via boards like this.

Ouch, Nem!!! Are you friends with Zebra/Tyi, or do you just like the blindingly bright colors?

 

Ah, yeah, now that I can understand. I'm writing a book in parallel with the competition which I'll put on lulu, if it sells then I can take it to a publisher and say 'look, I have sales, people like my book, can you publish me?', and if it doesn't sell then I've not paid anything so I won't lose anything.

 

When do we get the results?

 

The judges were supposed to get scores in yesterday, so hopefully today.

 

I'm collating the scores this afternoon and will be posting the winning chapter later today along with the prompt for the next chapter.

 

Cool. I look forward to it.

 

Sorry about the delay in scores. Hallmark day has talen it's toll on the FatBurt household.


General Feedback snippets for entrants

Entrants listed in no particular order.


Rebel Cheese

Slow start with a new spin on an old idea. Wanted more by the end

Wandering Shadow

Wonderful descriptions and great dialogue,

Jedi Nemesis

Great idea for opening chapter, left the reader wanting more

Moosemousse

Easy to relate to main character and a nice mysterious vibe to open with

Padawan Kayla

Unique idea, descriptions to to make a point and give the chapter and emotional punch.

The Face

A great and yet tragic begining, realistic characters and the chapter left me wanting more.





The winning chapter was Entrant 6, well done to you. Please keep your identity secret.





This is Chapter 1

For several moments an empty eternity seemed nigh. Existence had become dark (not completely black, for something akin to vision was possible) Erika Von Gyris felt herself floating, being pulled, down a narrow corridor that seemed to stretch forever. The hall was straight and empty, quiet yet seeming to speak an abysmal promise. Erika knew nothing. Only the present seemed possible, and she knew nothing of her identity. Her name was just beyond her grasp, and gender and rank and even humanity were meaningless words.

Gravity kept pulling her soul, as if some hellish force had opened its mouth to devour her. The woman wanted to scream but had no voice.

Please, don't let this corridor end. Please, let it go on forever....

Erika's thoughts trembled throughout her, bodiless though she was. She felt like a pond enduring a rain storm.

Then there was a flash of light. Erika heard a scream before blackness fully took over. She could no longer see the corridor, but the pulling sensation had become more powerful and electrified.

No! No! No! Erika wailed. The words, though loud to her, were not audible.

?We're losing her!? a woman's voice blasted from somewhere far off. ?Drake, hurry!?

A moment later, from farther away, a man spoke. ?We have lost her, Jauna.? Somehow Erika knew that whoever this man was, his name wasn't Drake.

?No... No....? The woman, Jauna, was sobbing, and a few seconds later she added, ?We should try hitting her again.? What little hope Jauna had suddenly exploded into rage. ?No! Damn it, Fren! Don't shake your head! We can't lose the Captain! Drake, try hitting her with a Cardio injection! Now, before we lose her!?

?We have lost her,? Fren repeated, but now the voices were fading.

The argument felt like it was miles away, though Erika could still hear it. Jauna had slapped Fren, causing more hysterics. Yet the blackness was becoming ever stronger, its harshness fogging out the importance of the arguing voices.

The darkness was suffocating. Erika fought as hard as she could to break free. Yet it was impossible, and a strange but completely realistic thought pierced her mind. I'm the person?the Captain?those people were talking about.... Yes, that's right, and I'm dead.
?What the hell are you doing!? Was that Fren? Erika couldn't concentrate on the voice as it echoed toward her.

?The only thing we can do.? The response came from another man (not Jauna) and Erika did recognize the new voice. She felt at peace being able to remember it, for the speaker was Kedron Drake. Drake was not only the Unit's chief healer/physician, he was also Erika's lover. It was bliss to remember, but that bliss was short-lived.

The voices of her colleagues vanished, with no comforting echo. The darkness was now at its most impenetrable, but it was far from empty. A cold hiss wound its way around Erika, as icy fingers seemed to reach through the void to stroke her. The torment dominated her, and the number of hands and caressing fingers multiplied maddeningly. If only she could scream or cry or beg for mercy.

Erika knew that she'd not been like this in life. But th

 

Congratulations, Entrant 6!!

Looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with next

 

Okay, since I'm on spring break I should be able to whip Chapter 2 up quickly.

 

sorry, but the next time a contest starts can someone pm me. I am extremely busy with school and work that I dont get much time to check up on this, and Id like to participate, so if someone could let me know I would appreciate it. Thanks

 

I won't be able to do this one, I have work due in on thursday and I need to spend as much time as possible on it.

 

And unfortunately enough, I must also drop out. I still do not have my Internet at home, and thus would not be able to send in a decent entry.

 

^ Sanct, you can always drop back in when you get your Net back. Competing in every chapter isn't compulsory. And we need the company

I should be able to write for this one, with luck. I've got the germ of an idea.

Of course, it may be a virus.

 

The next one probably won't start until this summer, but it's not too late to join in this one.

Yes, please don't drop out completely We'd love to have you stay in, even if you can't write for every week.

 

I'm leaving for NYC Wednesday night, so I had to rush this one, but I managed to write mine last night. I'll be doing a little edit work, then sending it in.