Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry May 30, 2014 - 6:25am

WE BEGIN AGAIN!

I sat down to write a blurb about this, because some part of my mind keeps telling me, "People need to be pumped up about this sort of thing, and you've got to do the pumping!"  Er...something like that.  But history doesn't support this thinking.  History, rather, suggests that you're already psyched.  That you're always psyched, that it's so ingrained in your wiring that, on a subconscious level, it's really all you think about.  Beneath those moments when you brush your teeth, when you sing hymns in worship, when you make love to your partner, there is the whispering undercurrent of your true nature.  Blood.  Violence.  

WAR.

I know you.  Beneath the placid smiles and jovial back-slapping, there is a writer barely restrained that snarls and slavers at the bit, straining toward freedom and conquest.  Be honest with yourself.  This is the real you, that screams, "I AM THE MIGHTY, AND ALL OTHERS SHALL FALL BEFORE ME!"

This is your chance, once again, to put your money where your mouth is and go toe-to-toe with the rest of the writing community in a tournament-style competition to crown a champion, who will receive the title of WAR King/Queen.  We're all here because we like to write and a lot of us would like to do it professionally.  This requires a professional output and consistency.  Discipline.  And a desire to make war.

When the entire popular world is telling you otherwise, I will tell you this:  Now is the time for you to shrug off the trappings of comfort and civility, gird up your loins, sharpen your weapons, oil the typewriter, and go to WAR.

This is your invitation.  Don't let yourself down.

 

The Vitals:

WAR: Paradise Lost is a tournament-style competition.  The tournament will consist of several writer “battles” in which two participants will receive a prompt and a time limit.  The stories they create will be voted on by their peers and the winner (the one with the most votes) will move on to the next round.  Contestants will be paired into a traditional bracket format and write until there is only one left standing.  This is a 64-contestant, 6 round single-elimination tournament. 

The winner of WAR: Paradise Lost will receive the prestigious title of WAR Queen/King and have their picture photoshopped beautifully by Avery.  It’s an honor.  In addition to this, as if you needed more incentive, there will also be tangible prizes!  More on that at the bottom.  Read the rules guys, for real.

How This Works:

GO HERE 

Open the thread WAR:  Paradise Lost. 

Read the Rules. 

Get your name on the Battle Roster.

Who participates?

All of you.  Any of you.  I want to see work from those of you who don't think you have a chance to win because this is how we get better.  The joy of War is going in with seasoned veterans and newbies all in the fray together.  It’s one reason we keep the stories and polls as anonymous as possible.  Everyone has an equal chance.  If you think you’re the best, this is your chance to put your money where your mouth is and prove it.  And win a prize.

WAR will BEGIN JULY 7th! 

Prizes, bitch!

We will be awarding a prize for first and second places as well as 2 best reviewer prizes that will be awarded based on number and quality of reviews.

More prizes are still to come, so stay tuned for updates and announcements! 

We already have LOTS of prizes – including shirts from Skurvy Ink and Out of Print Clothing, a free poster from Lithographs, books from The Feminist Press, Lazy Fascist, Dark House Press, Publishing Genius, and many more! 

There are even more awesome prizes coming – including more books, swag, and story reviews – stay tuned for the details on those!

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry May 30, 2014 - 6:25am

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry May 30, 2014 - 6:26am

Gordon Highland's picture
Gordon Highland from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore May 30, 2014 - 7:49am

I'm registered. So if you wanna come at the (… erm, 6th place …) king, you'd best not miss, chump.

voodoo_em's picture
voodoo_em from England is reading All the books by Ira Levin May 30, 2014 - 8:17am

Woooooooooo. So excited for this.

I always crash out pretty fast, but come fight me anyway :)

Grigori Black's picture
Grigori Black from US is reading Radium Girls by Amanda Gowin May 30, 2014 - 10:38am

Sounds like fun. I can't wait. 

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry May 30, 2014 - 10:39am

Did you sign up?

If everybody writes as fast as you, this contest could be over in a week and a half.

Dino Parenti's picture
Dino Parenti from Los Angeles is reading Everything He Gets His Hands On May 30, 2014 - 11:02am

Signed up and paid. Now who wants some?

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters May 30, 2014 - 11:07am

 I run this contest and I approve this message. 

Can't wait to see some stories.  I already have some great prompts lined up for everyone. 

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry May 30, 2014 - 11:14am

How many on the roster so far, AD?

Grigori Black's picture
Grigori Black from US is reading Radium Girls by Amanda Gowin May 30, 2014 - 11:15am

I've just signed up. I don't always write that fast, but when inspiration hits. I run with it.

Sound's picture
Sound from Azusa, CA is reading Greener Pastures by Michael Wehunt May 30, 2014 - 11:22am

I'm looking forward to this.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters May 30, 2014 - 11:56am

We have 18 already!  And sign-ups are not even a week old.  I expect it to fill up pretty quickly. 

voodoo_em's picture
voodoo_em from England is reading All the books by Ira Levin May 30, 2014 - 1:11pm

justwords's picture
justwords from suburb of Birmingham, AL is reading The Tomb, F. Paul Wilson; A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby May 30, 2014 - 1:33pm

@voodoo_em--- LOVE your war cat!!!!

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics May 30, 2014 - 6:12pm

I would totally do this if Utah hadn't put a video up on autoplay while my grandmother was trying to nap.

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry May 31, 2014 - 12:31pm

You should do it anyway.  You knew that video would be there.

 

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics May 31, 2014 - 1:20pm

Yes, but I loathe autoplay more than just about anything in the universe.

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry May 31, 2014 - 6:00pm

You can't spend your whole life afraid, Photon.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters May 31, 2014 - 6:57pm

Well just so you know, the spots are filling up QUICK!  So make sure and get in there guys

Natso's picture
Natso from Mongolia is reading Moby Dick May 31, 2014 - 9:00pm

Signed up. @Utah, here's my pump up song. Something tells me it'll complement well with your autoplay song. :)

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry June 1, 2014 - 5:32am

Natso:  Excellent!

P.S.:  I'm afraid you'll have to wait until this thread rolls to the next page for your autoplay song.

Gordon Highland's picture
Gordon Highland from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore June 1, 2014 - 8:00am

I wanna embed like three videos, each with different isolated tracks of the same song, and see if they'll autoplay in synch with one another.

Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal June 1, 2014 - 9:19am

Is there a way to disable auto play?

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters June 1, 2014 - 7:09pm

In addition to some pretty serious swag for all the winners, we also have some great reviews up for grabs.  Our first place winner will get a review from Chuck Wendig.  Second place will get their story reviewed by Delilah S Dawson.  There are reviews for grabs for our best reviewers as well - so stay tuned for those!

ReneeAPickup's picture
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig June 1, 2014 - 11:28pm

I've been awaiting another opportunity for bloodshed...

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry June 2, 2014 - 5:23am

Well, the autoplay was good for nostalgia's sake, but it has gotten a bit old.

Natso's picture
Natso from Mongolia is reading Moby Dick June 2, 2014 - 5:32am

@AD, Should reviewing be like the Little Writer Battle? (At least one good, one bad thing about each story?)

@Gordon, I guarantee you that any three songs you put will be harmonious with Franzl Lang! :)

@Utah, Time is on my side as more people write and we reach the next page. Then, it's Yodeling-time!

@Thuggish, I tried to stop them when I visited the last WAR thread, no use. Might as well go with the flow and trolololo. :)

 

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters June 2, 2014 - 9:17am

Pretty sure there is no auto play on Lit Demon. 

you can make the reviews as  detailed as you want.  i think it's good sportsmanship to give a little feedback at least. 

justwords's picture
justwords from suburb of Birmingham, AL is reading The Tomb, F. Paul Wilson; A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby June 2, 2014 - 1:17pm

I like Natso's suggestion about the good plus the bad.

Bill Tucker's picture
Bill Tucker from Austin, Texas is reading Grimm's Fairy Tales (1st Edition) June 2, 2014 - 2:13pm

In.  So in.  I was going to write something a bit more clever, but I'll save it for the contest. 
 

WAR!!

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics June 2, 2014 - 4:37pm

Out of curosity, how is a review a prize? Do you mean the review from the known author goes into some literary journal or something like that?

justwords's picture
justwords from suburb of Birmingham, AL is reading The Tomb, F. Paul Wilson; A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby June 2, 2014 - 9:03pm

SP, I totally blew right past that in her post. How would you rate/reward a review? Reviewing books, films, plays, etc., is work and people get paid; I know people who hate what you say about a book, film, etc., send a lot of mail (the nicer ones only rebut your points and conclusions with other points and their conclusions in an objective manner-- always what I prefer, not always what happens), but to get a prize for excellence in your review of a work .... I guess she's trying to make it more attractive to submit a review, but I thought folks did that here for the fun of it? or the learning curve? or revenge, maybe, I don't know. humm.

voodoo_em's picture
voodoo_em from England is reading All the books by Ira Levin June 3, 2014 - 2:09am

SP ~ I believe it is reviewed as in "critiqued" :) 

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters June 3, 2014 - 6:16am

Yes, it is a critique of your work by an established author.  So it's like...getting a pitching lesson from a pro baseball player.  Or something.  They'll tell you what works in your story, what doesn't, ways to fix it...that sort of thing. 

If it's not your thing, there are also books. BOOKS! 

That's part of the prize. 

______________________________________

In order to win a prize as one of our top reviewers, you basically need to read as many of the stories as possible and offer up some options on improvement or what's great about it.  maybe a paragraph or so.  Ask Jonathan Riley - he's always a top reviewer. 

I'm not positive which thing you guys are asking about so I included both.

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics June 3, 2014 - 9:40am

I was asking about the first part, and you cleared that up, thanks!

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters June 3, 2014 - 9:58am

No problem!  Hooray!

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry June 3, 2014 - 11:14am

I feel that something good happened here today.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters June 3, 2014 - 12:11pm

Also, speaking of reviewers...

It's time to announce the other guest reviewers!  

If you win our reviewer prizes you can receive - in addition to a t-shirt from Out of Print Clothing and some cool books - a review from RICHARD THOMAS.  Richard Thomas is the author of five books—Disintegration, Transubstantiate, Herniated Roots, Staring Into the Abyss and Four Corners. His over 100 stories in print include Cemetery Dance, PANK, Chiral Mad 2, and Shivers VI. He is also the editor of three anthologies out in 2014: The New Black (Dark House Press), The Lineup: 25 Provocative Women Writers (Black Lawrence Press) and Burnt Tongues (Medallion Press) with Chuck Palahniuk. In his spare time he is Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press. For more information visit www.whatdoesnotkillme.com.

OR

A review from CRAIG WALLWORK!   Craig Wallwork lives in West Yorkshire, England.  He is the author of the short story collection Quintessence of Dust (KUBOA), and the novels To Die Upon a Kiss (Snubnose Press) and The Sound of Loneliness (Perfect Edge Books).  His fiction has appeared in various anthologies, journals and magazines.  He is the fiction editor at Menacing Hedge Magazine.  Follow his progress via his website:  www.craigwallwork.blogspot.com

I'll be posting the FULL prize lists in just a couple days!  Don't forget to tell your friends and loved ones - and enemies.  I'm really excited about what we're offering!   

Gordon Highland's picture
Gordon Highland from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore June 3, 2014 - 12:33pm

My enemies are mostly illiterate. They write like it, anyway.

I would pay some hefty shillings to see Richard and Wallwork face off in the cage, slathered in buffalo sauce and Sarson's malt vinegar. I'm also getting a strong vibe of deja vu, like I've posted that sentiment before, though it was probably on another forum. Winner takes over the loser's Facebook account for a month.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters June 3, 2014 - 1:11pm

I would pay some hefty shillings to see Richard and Wallwork face off in the cage

I KNOW!  I need to figure out how to do an all-star pay per view event...

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry June 3, 2014 - 1:51pm

I would pay some hefty shillings to see Richard and Wallwork face off in the cage, slathered in buffalo sauce and Sarson's malt vinegar. I'm also getting a strong vibe of deja vu, like I've posted that sentiment before, though it was probably on another forum.

I think I saw it in that niche magazine you send letters to every once in a while.  Spank the Bear.  Is that it? 

I think it is.

Gordon Highland's picture
Gordon Highland from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore June 3, 2014 - 3:12pm

But man, have you seen some of the spreads in Niche Magazine? So hot. And so, so specific.

I think I went too far with the slathering ask.

TomMartinArt's picture
TomMartinArt from Amherst, MA June 10, 2014 - 6:26pm

YAYYYY, MORE WAR!!

I creep back every now and then, hoping. Luckily I caught this one in time. I hope I get on that list because I'm ready to fight.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters June 11, 2014 - 10:01am

YAY!!! So glad you made it! 

we still have about 30 spots open (less than half!), so if anyone is interested - jump on it. 

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics June 11, 2014 - 10:16am

If I sign up for this and it doesn't fill up, do I get my money back?

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry June 11, 2014 - 11:49am

Looks like somebody's getting hooked on battle-style writing competitions.

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics June 11, 2014 - 2:00pm

I do like the forced accountability, and it does keep my mind limber for my other project, but I don't wanna plunk down ten bucks for nothing.

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry June 11, 2014 - 3:05pm

I wouldn't worry about that.  It's already not nothing.  I'm not a decision-maker on this one, but WAR already has more than half its contestants (which means, worse come to worst, that it can go 5 rounds instead of 6 and have faith, if you make all 5 rounds you are a sincere badass).  So it definitely won't be for nothing.

Strange Photon's picture
Strange Photon from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyrics June 11, 2014 - 3:37pm

Ah, ok, so even if there aren't full brackets, the conest would still go on, right? That's my concern. That I'd pay money and see the whole thing cancelled. Sounds like it may be worth a shot, even if there are fewer than the full roster.

I'll do it if Utah does.

Grigori Black's picture
Grigori Black from US is reading Radium Girls by Amanda Gowin June 11, 2014 - 9:09pm

I need to remember to buy in today.