Sleuth Home - Message Boards - The Gumshoe Lounge

Jun-7-2006 16:32

OK, we've had a Biography Contest. We've had a Beauty Pageant. Why not write our own mystery fiction?

Listen up everyone! Starting today, all detectives here in Sleuth are now entitled to participate in the First Annual Sleuth Mystery Fiction Contest! The rules are simple: create a good mystery story, submit it before the deadline, and wait. Three/four judges (including myself) will judge the entries, and the winner will be announced on either June 19th or 20th (the date still needs to be confirmed).

SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR ALL INTERESTED...
>>The story itself needs some specific components. First, it needs to be a mystery story. Second, it MUST include your detective as the sleuth. Suspects - you can have as many as you want, and their names should "reflect" the city your story takes place. You MUST choose one of the four Sleuth cities (New York, London, Shanghai, Delhi) as a setting. The minimum number of words should be at least 750. Maximum is up to you, but nothing too long. The murderer's identity should definatly be revealed in the end. Clues should be innovative and must point to the killer. Victim must die in an "old-fashioned" way (i.e stabbing, poisoning, strangling etc.). Victim should be included in the story in some way. The title must be appealing an appropriate for your piece of fiction. You CANNOT plagiarize a plot from a book, nor can you plagiarize a title. Not even one of the Featured Mysteries. Any questions concerning the outline of your fiction can be directed to me with PM.

>>Submission deadline is June 18th. No submissions can be accepted after that date.

>>PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ENTRIES TO THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL ADDRESS: mystery_submissions@hotmail.com Include your detective name, entry, and number of words used. If we have accepted your entry into the contest, we will send your confirmation by e-mail, or PM. If not, we will send you an e-mail or PM telling you this and explaining why it wasn't accepted.

More...

Jun-21-2006 15:46

Thank you. *grin*

I've sent it. I can't get back that 'flow' from the original. But, it is rewritten and now sent. :) it's just been one of those weeks, I think. I've twice lost parts of this story and had to rewrite them. *shakes head* C'est la guerre!

Jun-21-2006 18:16

I received it, scanned it, and have approved it. I'm assuming you are the final entry, so these are the contestants and their entries (also posted on the contest's website)...

AZN Cinderella - "The Murdered Starlet"
Elicere - "Untouchable"
Rhiemma Moon/Della Devine - "The Sound of Murder"

Judging will commense quite soon. Just as soon as I send out Rhiemma's entry.

Also, I'm sending Ben & Sunny all three so that they could have a look. I'm releasing all three, with the winner being announced to the public either tomorrow or Friday.

Best of luck you three!

Jun-23-2006 14:26

Alright, the time has come to announce the winner of the First Annual Sleuth Mystery Fiction Contest.

Three wonderfully scripted entries were received by the submission deadline. I enjoyed reading all three, I must say. Now, in a few moments, all three entries will be made available to the public on our website...

http://www.freewebs.com/sleuthmysteryfictioncontest

The judges and I have looked over the entires, and we all chose our favorites. With my vote, added to the other judges, I rounded up the votes and finalized the winner. Drumrolls please as I announce the first winner of the First Annual Sleuth Mystery Fiction Contest...

And the winner is......

Elicere with "Untouchable."

Congratulations Elicere!!! Just a quick note: Elicere is quite new here, and her story is set in Delhi, India. However, she never saw Sleuth's version of Delhi when she wrote the story! It didn't matter, because she made up for it with style and creativity.

Rhiemma Moon's "The Sound of Murder" came a tight second, while AZN Cinderella's "The Murdered Starlet" placed third.

Elicere Townsend will receive a special prize from Ben. Rhiemma Moon and AZN Cinderella will receive special certificates in their inbox's quite soon.

Thanks for participating, and congratulations all of you!!

Jun-23-2006 14:50

Wow -- thank you!

I look forward to getting to Sleuth-Delhi soon.

Elicere

Jun-23-2006 15:41

Congratulations!


I guess nobody liked mine...

Jun-23-2006 16:18

YAY congratulations Elicere!!!!!!

Better luck next time Rhiemma and AZN, after having been a judge and organizer of the first bio contest.....the call as to who is the winner comes quite close and is hard to make.

Jun-23-2006 16:29

Congrats, Elicere! I can't wait to read both of the other entries. I'm sure it was a very close contest between all 3 of us. :)

Jun-23-2006 16:31

I'm looking forward to reading the other stories too!

Jun-24-2006 18:38

Congratulations Elicere. I'll be contacting you about your prize soon.

And congratulations to the other two authors as well. I love everyone's willingness to share their talents with the community. I know it's not always the easiest thing to do. I haven't finished reading all the entries yet, but I will soon. We'll post all three of the entries for public viewing soon.

And also, a big thanks to Lucian Ty for organizing the whole deal.

Jun-26-2006 08:03

Congratulations!! And wow, what a pretty and shiny new typerwriter you got there, Elicere - looks prefect for plotting another mystery story :)

Oh, and brilliant stories all round!! - throughly enjoyed them :)