What is The Challenge?
The Challenge will be a book of short stories all based on the same premise. We know how the book will begin and how it will end. Your stories will fill in the rest.
The Premise
All the people on Earth have either died from a virus or been attached to life support
until a cure can be found. The features of the life support system depend on when
it was built and who it was built for. For example a life support system might allow
people in the same "pod" or "subnet" to communicate telepathically with each other.
There are multiple life support centers throughout the world and one or more "pods"
in each life support center.
The first story (which John E. Miller is writing) will begin with the computer trying
to shut down life support and euthanize a person because the food is running low
(no one to refill it). The person will convince the computer to take him off life
support and set him free instead. That action will cause a glitch in the computer's
software and the person who was supposed to be euthanized at various other life
support centers will also awaken. Your character will not know what happened to
make them awaken. The person in John's story will find he or she is cured of the
virus, but very old. In your story, you can choose whether the person is cured or
not, whether the person is old or young, and all other details of the story.
We will compile the selected stories into a book and publish it through BookSurge.
Feel free to explore any ideas related to this conflict and to submit one or more
stories.
Deadline and other specifics
E-mail your questions and submissions to
challenge@dreamdragonpress.com.
Submisssions should be a Microsoft Word document.
Stories must be received no later than 4/30/2008.
Selected stories will be published in the book and authors will receive one free
copy. Authors of selected stories must sign and return a contract prior to the deadline
given when the story is accepted. Authors agree to allow us to publish their stories.
Authors will retain all rights to their stories.
Comments about the site, email:
webmaster@dreamdragonpress.com