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Dec-12-2009 22:43

Holiday Story Writing Contest

Happy Holidays all!!

We're running a bit late, but as promised, here's one of the two contests sponsored by the people of Wish On a Star. Good luck, and enjoy!! ;-D

The Rules

They're fairly simple. You need to write a holiday story, using the requirements listed below. The *deadline for ALL entries is December 31, 2009 at 11:59PM (ie--server turnover).* Spelling, punctuation, and grammar, as always, do count (and will be looked at by the judges). No, it doesn't have to be set in the Noir-era necessarily (though that will probably earn you bonus points with the judges). And no, it doesn't have to be mystery- or Noir-themed for a plot (though again, if you do manage to work some element of that into your creation, all the better ;-). There is a *4000-CHARACTER limit* on all entries (ie--2 posts). And you're only allowed one entry per person/double. Other than that, sky's the limits. See? Piece of cake!! ;-D

Oh yeah...Remember those 'requirements' I mentioned before? There's two small components that you MUST include in your story. (Well, we couldn't make things THAT easy for ya, now could we?? ;-)

Requirement A:

You MUST include ONE (or more) of the following holidays in your story, and build your story round that/those day(s):

Hanukkah
St. Nicholas' Day (and NO, this isn't Christmas, it's Dec. 6)
Bodhi Day (Buddhist holy day in India, Dec. 8)
St. Stephen's Day (Dec. 26)
Boxing Day (also Dec. 26)
Kwanzaa
Chinese New Year
Muharram (Islamic New Year)
Al-Hijra (Islamic New Year's Day
Ashura (Islamic holy day, on the 10th day of Muharram)
New Year's Day (Western world â€" Jan. 1)
St. Basil's Day (Jan. 2)
Epiphany (usually about Jan. 6)
Lohri (Hindu holy day -- the Bonfire festival)
Pongal (Hindu holy day of thanksgiving)
Australia Day (Jan. 26--Just for Squirrel ;-D )
Losar (Tibetan [Buddhist] New Year)

Yeah, I know. What the....?? It gets better. ;-D

Dec-12-2009 22:45

Requirement B:

You MUST include ALL OF THE FOLLOWING items in your story (though how you do it, and in which order, is entirely up to you):

* A snowman with a tomato nose
* A string of twinkling lights
* A cat wearing antlers
* An inflatable palm tree
* A year-old fruitcake
* A blue-haired granny
* A pair of clown shoes
* A drunk(en) reindeer
* Some firecrackers
* A medley of Broadway tunes
* A flock of honking geese
* A pile of unpeeled turnips
* Some purple potato pancakes
* A slice of rye toast
* A spinning top
* A rusty candelabra
* A troupe of dancers
* A rubber chicken

So. There you have it. We're looking forward to seeing lots and lots of creative, top-notch stories. Judges and prizes will be announced after the deadline has passed (yes, there will be prizes, but we can't spoil the surprise, now can we? ;-). So good luck, and happy scribbling!! ;-D

And to everyone....

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from everyone at Wish!!

Dec-13-2009 01:15

wow, it sounds very very interesting. i'm in. i'll see what my tiny little brain can come up with. hm, rubber chicken... this is not going to be decent... (just jokes, i'll try to keep it PG13 for holidays' sake, oh, and because it's rule here...)

Dec-13-2009 12:48

*Chuckle*

We'd appreciate that, Zeo. We look forward to reading your concoction. ;-D

Breit

Dec-13-2009 16:47

Rubber chicken. I think you just described my drunken New Years monologue to a T.

Dec-13-2009 16:51

by the way, do we post it here or send it to ya'll?

Dec-13-2009 17:47

is there a reason amongst all those holidays listed, "Christmas" isn't?

Dec-13-2009 17:47

*why "Christmas" isn't?

Dec-13-2009 21:14

Actually yes, there is a reason why Christmas isn't among the holidays listed. :-)

When the Wish zoo was putting this little smorgasbord of delights together for all of you, we had a look at some of the contests we'd sponsored in past years. And we came to a startling conclusion. The vastly overwhelming majority (like 99.9%) of all the entries we've ever received have been about Christmas. And while they've all been festive, they're getting a bit....

repetitive.

Not in their actual content, but in theme. And while those of us who celebrate Christmas probably enjoy this, this tends to leave everyone else out of the fun, so to speak. Each year, we've named it a 'Holiday' contest to deliberately try and include everyone.

So. This year, we thought we'd throw a monkey in the wrench, so to speak, and take that option out of the running. That way, everyone's included, and many have an 'extra' twist to deal with for their creations. (This is Sleuth, after all. Gotta have an extra twist or two round here. ;-)

So. There you have it. (You may notice the other contest, the Holiday Corrupt-A-Wish, has no such restrictions. Feel free to Christmas away on that one. Or again, any other holiday, as in here. ;-)

Hope to see dozens of great stories!! (Especially yours, Squirrel. ;-)

Thank you,

Breit

P.S. -- Thanks to the hubby for letting me borrow his bod. He's off tree-shopping for the cat at the moment. ;-D

Dec-13-2009 21:16

And yes, Molly, I think it'd be best if entries could be posted here, so everyone could have a chance to read all of them. Be more fun that way, wouldn't it? ;-)

Dec-13-2009 22:08

Whew, thank Missy that he didn't rope me into that little expedition.

I think it should also be said that having a Christmas entry won't automatically disqualify you; we will probably just give more brownie points to the ones that use other holidays. So Christmas away here too, but be warned if the goose that stole Chinese New Year walks away with the Christmas goose. Ah nuts, i wasn't going to let that slip about the prizes...