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Friday, March 19, 2010

Storyblogging Carnival LVII

The latest Storyblogging Carnival is up at Dodgeblogium. There are ten stories this time, which isn't bad, especially considering how late the announcement was (mostly my own fault).

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Storyblogging Carnival LV

It's a little bit late, but this week's Storyblogging Carnival is now online. Six stories this time, half of them from new authors. Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Storyblogging Carnival LIV

NOTE: This is a re-post of an old post, so I can't guarantee that the links are still valid.

This is Storyblogging Carnival LIV. Originally I did this as a series of posts, all in one day, but I've now consolidated it for convenience.

Cheese Pyrates: Curse of the Black Cheddar (part one)
by Mark Rayner of The Skwib
The first 500 words of a story in progress rated PG-13.

The opening salvo of a new chapter in the life of Jim Quinn, who's quest for revenge takes him to dark places.

[Mark always writes with humor and aplomb, and this is no exception. -DSC]

The Tortoise and the Cat
by Goemagog at [2]this space for sublet
A 700 word brief story rated PG.

Rather short, with mild violence and chelonian magic.

[Goemagog's always ready to provide a slightly weird and very short story (although recently they've tended toward very weird and slightly short). -DSC]

A Guilding of Lillis, Scene 6 (To the beginning)
by Dave Gudeman of Doc Rampage
The next 1,975 words of a story in progress rated PG.

Zantar and Rolf find the missing children. Will they be able to rescue the darling little tykes before goblin dinner-time?

[Doc tells an exciting tale with great humor. Of course, having heroes who aren't really heroic livens things up quite a bit. -DSC]

Part III, Chapter 30 of The Child (To the beginning)
by Sheya Joie of Tales by Sheya
The latest 2,661 words of a 157,625 word novel-in-progress rated PG-13.

In which Beatriz is rescued as last, so you'd think Walker would be happy about that...

[Sheya's The Child is the longest-running continuing story in the Carnival, dating back to SBC 4. She's done a great job of keeping the story going the whole time. -DSC]

Flame of the Heavens (Part Two) (Part One)
by Stephen W of Project Paradox
The next 2,851 words of a 5,897 word story in progress rated PG.

Alderin travels onward, with a zombie's mad ramblings as his only clue: "Seek the flame of the heavens in the heart of ice."

[This well-written fantasy epic is intriguing. -DSC]

If you'd like to take part in a future carnival, please contact me. I am also looking for hosts. Other carnivals can be found here.

The Storyblogging Carnival can be found at The Truth Laid Bear's ÜberCarnival.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Storyblogging Carnival LIII

NOTE: This is a re-post of an old post, so I can't guarantee that the links are still valid.

This is it, Storyblogging Carnival LIII, the second anniversary. Unfortunately, it occurs on the fifth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks. This coincidence is a grim reminder that while we write stories about fictional worlds, we still live in the real one, where the tragedies and heartache are real and the victory of good and the redemption of evil aren't always so clear. Nevertheless, I make no apology for writing fiction, even on this day. Fiction is more than escape. The stories we tell are about the world as we believe it really is. A writer sees purpose in the world, and his story is weighted with it. Writers, whether they believe it themselves or not, make it possible to believe that no tragedy is truly meaningless, that even the worst events shape a grander story. One that I, at least, believe has a hopeful ending. For our second anniversary, we have a number of writers returning after being away for a while. They've saved some wonderful tales for us. In addition to the carnival itself, I plan to do a couple of other posts this week, one being a Carnival of Storyblogging Carnivals, like I did last year, and one being reader-submitted favorites from the past year's Carnivals. I've seen a few nominations so far, but not many, so I'm still looking for more. Please send them to me so I can put the post together Tuesday night.

Thag Go Grunka Gathering
by Mark Rayner of The Skwib
A 391 word brief story rated PG-13.

Thag and the Thunka Grunkas join all of the other Grunka clans at their big gathering, where the religious debates continue, and one of the other clans invents a new drink.

A Poodle Tale
by Madeleine Begun Kane of Mad Kane's Humor Blog
A 560 word brief story rated PG.

"I read recently that elegant dog garb and pricey canine day-care are 'in' these days. Frankly, I was pleased to learn this. For until I acquired this seemingly frivolous bit of information, I was seriously concerned about my parents."

Ghost in the Machine
by Postmodern Sass of Postmodernes Sprachspielen
A 607 word brief story rated PG.

A story about how my dead mother is haunting me.

Names
by Tom Harrison of Monday Evening
A 634 word brief story rated PG.

A young man joins the army.

Clear Passage, Part 2 of Chapter 2 of Celestaine (To the beginning)
by Kai of Books by Kai
The next 1,479 words of a story in progress rated PG-13.

Aine Harper isn't anyone to mess with--and neither is the order she represents.

Deepsouthend
by Andrew Ian Dodge of Dodgeblogium
A 1,799 word short story rated PG.

"The Sage sat at his desk chuckling as he wrote down his latest encounter with his lifelong enemy and its efforts to infiltrate humanity. A veteran of the fight against the Great Old Ones and their minions; it was rather rare that he found anything amusing related to his task. But this one just had a tinge of typically British humour about it."

A Guilding of Lillis, Scene 4 (To the beginning)
by Dave Gudeman of Doc Rampage
The next 1,803 words of a story in progress rated PG.

Rolf and Zantar find the goblin cave. They also find some goblins.

Part III, Chapter 29 of The Child (To the beginning)
by Sheya Joie of Tales by Sheya
The latest 3,337 words of a 154,964 word novel rated PG.

More fighting, and the return of the fried-headed demon!

[Sheya is back! It's been a while. -DSC]

If you'd like to take part in a future carnival, please contact me. I am also looking for hosts. Other carnivals can be found here.

The Storyblogging Carnival can be found at The Truth Laid Bear's ÜberCarnival.

Now accepting submissions for the next Storyblogging Carnival

The next Storyblogging Carnival will be the one hundred and eighth. It will be hosted here, at Back of the Envelope, and going up on Monday, April 5th. If you use your blog to share your fiction, then the Storyblogging Carnival is your opportunity. Here we host any and all forms of storytelling in blog format. If you're curious about what this looks like, have a look at some examples of previous storyblogging carnivals.

If you'd like to participate, please e-mail your story submissions to me at dscrank-at-alum-dot-mit-dot-edu (or post in my comments), including the following information:
  • Name of your blog
  • URL of your blog
  • Title of the story
  • URL for the blog entry where the story is posted
  • (OPTIONAL) Author's name
  • (OPTIONAL) A suggested rating for adult content (G, PG, PG-13, R)
  • A word count
  • A short blurb describing the story
The post may be of any age, from a week old to years old. The submission deadline is 11:59 PM Eastern time on Saturday, April 3rd. More detailed information follows (same as always):
  1. The story or excerpt submitted must be posted on-line as a blog entry, and while fiction is preferred, non-fiction storytelling is acceptable.
  2. The story can be any length, but the Carnival will list them in order of length, from shortest to longest, and include a word count for each one.
  3. You may either send a complete story, a story in progress, or a lengthy excerpt. You should indicate the word count for both the excerpt and the complete story in the submission, and you should say how the reader can find more of the story in the post itself.
  4. If the story spans multiple posts, each post should contain a link to the beginning of the story, and a link to the next post. You may submit the whole story, the first post, or, if you've previously submitted earlier posts to the Carnival, the next post which you have not submitted. Please indicate the length of the entire story, as well as the portion which you are submitting.
  5. The host has sole discretion to decide whether the story will be included or not, or whether to indicate that the story has pornographic or graphically violent content. The ratings for the story will be decided by the host. I expect I'll be pretty lenient on that sort of thing, but I have some limits, and others may draw the line elsewhere. Aside from noting potentially offensive content, while I may say nice things about stories I like, I won't be panning anyone's work. I expect other hosts to be similarly polite.
  6. The story may be the blogger's own or posted with permission, but if it is not his own work he should gain permission from the author before submitting to the Carnival.
If you'd like to be added to the e-mail list, please let me know. Finally, I appreciate folks promoting the carnival on their own blogs, and I'm always looking for bloggers willing to host future carnivals.

Monday, March 08, 2010

Storyblogging Cranival CVII

This is a week behind, since we were a bit short of entries last week. You may have also noticed that I've fallen behind re-posting the old carnivals. I apologize, but I've been pretty busy for work--I'll try to get caught up later. In any case, here's the most recent Storyblogging Carnival.

questions unending
by Robert Terrell at The Existential Poet
A 12word brief story rated G.

A haiku.

The five second rule
by Mark A. Rayner of The Skwib
A 100 word brief story rated G.

A zen story.

Everything Ends
by Goemagog at this space for sublet
A 290 word brief story rated PG.

Time ended. Just a few hours ago, I think.

Romancing the Stoic
by Madeleine Begun Kane of Mad Kane's Humor Blog
A 500 word brief story rated PG.

Humor column about what happens when a romantic fellow marries a romance-impaired gal.

Where the Quinoa Went
by Tom Harrison at Monday Evening
A 550 word brief story rated G.

A mouse lives quietly, until the weather changes.

Restraint
by Mark A. Rayner of The Skwib
A 1000 word short story rated PG-13.

A short story in which you are captured and trained by small killer whales.

This concludes the one hundred and seventh Storyblogging Carnival.

If you'd like to take part in a future carnival, please contact me. I am also looking for hosts. Other carnivals can be found here.

The Storyblogging Carnival can be found at The Truth Laid Bear's ÜberCarnival.