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(@gower21)
Posts: 757
Gold Member
Topic starter
 

We have NO paper clips!!

Running out of ink!!

Tina
http://www.smashedpicketfences.com

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 6:00 pm
(@gower21)
Posts: 757
Gold Member
Topic starter
 

Found ink in desk (thank you nerdy husband!!) Found paper clip on beloved child's art creation (Thank you beloved child!!)

Then in an effort to get best husband of the year moments before the year's end, my husband runs my entry down to the all night post service.

Still haven't heard if it worked or if the post will say "DEC 31st" And after three rejections it all feels silly to make a big deal over this entry, but I liked it and I believe in it for now. It's the best I could do at this moment in time.

Here's to a new year and a resolution to not procrastinate in the future.

ETA: Funny that BC (before children) I had all my papers done weeks in advance, turned them in early and often volunteered to give presentations first. What has happened to me?

Tina
http://www.smashedpicketfences.com

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 6:13 pm
Kary English
(@karyenglish)
Posts: 688
Gold Star Member Moderator
 

LOL! Whew!!

Let us know if he made it! You'll be right there with me as Last Minute Postal Sisters. Smile Hmm, that makes an acronym... LaMPS.

WOTF: 1 HM, 1 Semi, 2 Finalists, 1 Winner
Q2,V31 - Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
Hugo and Astounding finalist, made the preliminary Stoker ballot (juried)
Published by Galaxy's Edge, DSF, StarShipSofa and TorNightfire

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 6:15 pm
(@martin-l-shoemaker)
Posts: 2135
Platinum Plus Moderator
 

We have NO paper clips!!

Running out of ink!!

Another unintended object lesson: when you put the new ink cartridge in the printer, it's immediately time to buy more ink! (Sorta like what I've tried to teach my nephew: when you open the last package of toilet paper, go buy more NOW! He still hasn't learned that one...)

You can skip the paperclip, I think.

http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 6:15 pm
(@martin-l-shoemaker)
Posts: 2135
Platinum Plus Moderator
 

Found ink in desk (thank you nerdy husband!!) Found paper clip on beloved child's art creation (Thank you beloved child!!)

Then in an effort to get best husband of the year moments before the year's end, my husband runs my entry down to the all night post service.

Go, husband, go!

http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 6:17 pm
(@gower21)
Posts: 757
Gold Member
Topic starter
 

We have NO paper clips!!

Running out of ink!!

Another unintended object lesson: when you put the new ink cartridge in the printer, it's immediately time to buy more ink! (Sorta like what I've tried to teach my nephew: when you open the last package of toilet paper, go buy more NOW! He still hasn't learned that one...)

You can skip the paperclip, I think.

My husband does this exact same thing (Again--thanks nerdy husband!)

He just called me to confirm the package was postmarked for DEC 31 and with 40 minutes to spare!

Tina
http://www.smashedpicketfences.com

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 6:20 pm
(@martin-l-shoemaker)
Posts: 2135
Platinum Plus Moderator
 

He just called me to confirm the package was postmarked for DEC 31 and with 40 minutes to spare!

You do realize, I hope, that this puts a lot more pressure on you. Now you have to win so that you can tell this story in your acceptance speech!

Happy new year to you and nerdy husband and beloved child!

http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 6:24 pm
(@gower21)
Posts: 757
Gold Member
Topic starter
 

Happy New Year to you too Martin! (and everyone else) It's been a great year on the forum!! You guys make all the rejections worth it. I'll add that into my imaginary acceptance speech too.

Congrats and Good Luck to everyone who entered

ETA: My husband insists that I post evidence of his "husband of year" demonstration.

Tina
http://www.smashedpicketfences.com

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 6:32 pm
(@martin-l-shoemaker)
Posts: 2135
Platinum Plus Moderator
 

ETA: My husband insists that I post evidence of his "husband of year" attempts.

Point of order: if he's husband of the year, he gets less than an hour to enjoy the title. I think he deserves Husband of Next Year.

http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 6:45 pm
(@gower21)
Posts: 757
Gold Member
Topic starter
 

ETA: My husband insists that I post evidence of his "husband of year" attempts.

Point of order: if he's husband of the year, he gets less than an hour to enjoy the title. I think he deserves Husband of Next Year.

Oh he's already jockeying for that title (I suppose he too felt he was on some sort of deadline). The gratitude I feel is definitely going to carry over into the next year. I may never again be able to use the excuse "I carried your children" during guilt trips.

Tina
http://www.smashedpicketfences.com

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 6:49 pm
(@morshana)
Posts: 816
Gold Member
 

So glad you made it, Tina! =)

Jeanette Gonzalez

HM x4, SHM x2, F x1

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 7:19 pm
(@delli)
Posts: 21
Active Member
 

Yay Tina! wotf010

That was a hilarious read. wotf001

 
Posted : December 31, 2011 7:55 pm
 MJNL
(@mjnl)
Posts: 505
Silver Star Member
 

Wow, what and adrenaline pumping submission! That's persistence for you, Tina--getting it in despite continuously hitting a wall. Lesser writers would have given up. wotf009

~Marina

WotF Winner Q1 2012 (Vol. 29)

WotF Finalist Q2 2010 (Vol. 27)
WotF Finalist Q4 2011 (Vol. 28)
http://lostetter.wordpress.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/MarinaLostetter

 
Posted : January 1, 2012 4:41 am
(@rebecca-birch)
Posts: 625
Silver Star Member
 

Holy smokes!

I popped in to say congratulations and good luck to all who entered and I find I missed serious drama of the highest order. YAY Tina and Tina's husband for getting that submission in! As I told my son the other day, stories are about problems. You, right there, lived your very own short story.

I wotf009 you both!

And good luck and congratulations to all and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Rebecca Birch
Finalist - 2, SF - 1, SHM - 1, HM - 18, R - 6
Words of Birch
Short Story Collection--Life Out of Harmony and Other Tales of Wonder

 
Posted : January 1, 2012 5:07 am
(@gower21)
Posts: 757
Gold Member
Topic starter
 

I had made a resolution last year to turn in a story every quarter to WOTF and I didn't want to break it just because of a deadline closing prematurely.

The only sad thing was that I also had an entry for IOTF this quarter and that side was closed too. I didn't have time to change all the formatting for that one to send it in paper, so I'll send it in for Q2. The good thing about that is I couldn't decide between the third illustration to include, so now I'll have time to decide or draw a better third entry.

Tina
http://www.smashedpicketfences.com

 
Posted : January 1, 2012 5:08 am
(@alistairkimble)
Posts: 131
Bronze Star Member
 

Congrats Tina! That was an awesome effort from you and your husband!

Alistair Kimble

v28 Q4: Finalist
HM x7

http://thedashingchap.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/AlistairKimble

 
Posted : January 1, 2012 6:22 am
(@martin-l-shoemaker)
Posts: 2135
Platinum Plus Moderator
 

Don't forget to email Joni and tell her she can ignore your email from last night.

After (nudge, nudge) you finish your reading...

http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North

 
Posted : January 1, 2012 6:40 am
(@gower21)
Posts: 757
Gold Member
Topic starter
 

I definitely sent an email last night, thanking her for her hard work on the contest, explaining my eventual entry and apologizing for any extra work I might have caused. I still feel silly sending the email. Oh how we get desperate watching the ticking clock.

And I just finished The Mother Anthony! I logged back on to send you a PM--and to tell everyone else: It is a MUST read. I really enjoyed it. And consider it research into the contest when you buy it as to the level and quality a of a Finalist story.

Also Thank you to everyone for your kind words about my procrastination and being so supportive! I kept hearing my grandmother voice in my head "That's what you get for waiting so long to submit!" -- I was fully expecting to not meet the deadline as a punishment.

Tina
http://www.smashedpicketfences.com

 
Posted : January 1, 2012 6:51 am
(@writetolive)
Posts: 224
Bronze Star Member
 

This is why I e-sub days before the closing. Less worry, more time to write other stories.

But, yes, your husband does deserve an award. I can imagine my fiancee doing the same thing.

Michael Beers
Blog: Write To Live
Latest Out: Detroit Ex Nihilo at AESciFi
Now Available: Zion in For All Eternity: Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins (Dark Opus Press)

 
Posted : January 1, 2012 6:34 pm
 kyle
(@kyle)
Posts: 330
Silver Member
 

There really should be an academy award for best spouse.

I knew I'd found the right one many years ago, when I was cleaning the house for a party we were having that evening. We had ordered a new DVD player for the bedroom, and it had arrived early and was sitting in a box in the dining room because we hadn't yet built the shelf for it in the bedroom.

I disintegrated into a giant puddle of neuroses because the house wasn't clean for the party, because we hadn't put everything away, and I couldn't put everything away, because the place for the new DVD player didn't exist yet.

My husband ran to the hardware store and picked up some lumber and anchor bolts and slapped up a shelf in an hour. It looked awful, and there was sawdust all over the carpet in the bedroom, but at that moment my brain accepted the house as "clean" because the new DVD player was sitting where it belongs instead of on my dining room floor.

Intellectually, I knew I was being irrational. I told him I was being irrational. And, yet, he put my peace of mind before everything else.

 
Posted : January 2, 2012 2:38 am
(@gower21)
Posts: 757
Gold Member
Topic starter
 

Intellectually, I knew I was being irrational. I told him I was being irrational. And, yet, he put my peace of mind before everything else.

The value of a true soulmate. They understand all the little neurosis and don't judge. My husband wants to call the award HOTY award (Husband Of The Year - pronounced 'hottie').

So you can tell your husband he is a HOTY!

Tina
http://www.smashedpicketfences.com

 
Posted : January 2, 2012 5:51 am
 MJNL
(@mjnl)
Posts: 505
Silver Star Member
 

Aw, all these great spouses around--it's so sweet!

~Marina

WotF Winner Q1 2012 (Vol. 29)

WotF Finalist Q2 2010 (Vol. 27)
WotF Finalist Q4 2011 (Vol. 28)
http://lostetter.wordpress.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/MarinaLostetter

 
Posted : January 2, 2012 6:13 am
(@writetolive)
Posts: 224
Bronze Star Member
 

Intellectually, I knew I was being irrational. I told him I was being irrational. And, yet, he put my peace of mind before everything else.

The value of a true soulmate. They understand all the little neurosis and don't judge. My husband wants to call the award HOTY award (Husband Of The Year - pronounced 'hottie').

So you can tell your husband he is a HOTY!

XD, I will need to remember to show this to my fiancee so she can use it after 2013.

Michael Beers
Blog: Write To Live
Latest Out: Detroit Ex Nihilo at AESciFi
Now Available: Zion in For All Eternity: Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins (Dark Opus Press)

 
Posted : January 2, 2012 2:42 pm
Dustin Adams
(@tj_knight)
Posts: 1352
Platinum Plus Moderator
 

So I'm perusing V.27 and I notice in the regs that I was supposed to number each page along with having the title on each page. Well I forgot the title. Anyone know if this negates my entry? If it is highly frowned upon by KDW? Or if it is a formatting thing and not that big a deal?

I had a total blood chill moment when I read that. 🙁

Career:

1x Win
2x NW-F
2x S-F
9x S-HM
11x HM
7x R

 
Posted : January 3, 2012 2:31 pm
(@martin-l-shoemaker)
Posts: 2135
Platinum Plus Moderator
 

So I'm perusing V.27 and I notice in the regs that I was supposed to number each page along with having the title on each page. Well I forgot the title. Anyone know if this negates my entry? If it is highly frowned upon by KDW? Or if it is a formatting thing and not that big a deal?

I had a total blood chill moment when I read that. 🙁

OW! Ow, ow, OW!

I don't know. I would hope that they're forgiving here, since we know they've accepted less than SMF before. But man, it's in the rules! They don't mention many formatting specifics, but that's one of them!

I would think it's more important for paper subs, so they can get the pages back in order if someone drops them. Did you submit paper or electrons?

Oh, man... OW!

http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North

 
Posted : January 3, 2012 2:49 pm
Dustin Adams
(@tj_knight)
Posts: 1352
Platinum Plus Moderator
 

Paper.
I haven't subbed in a long time. 🙁

I'll email Joni tomorrow. Still, if I get DQ'd I'd rather it be before it gets read. Maybe that explains some early rejects?

Career:

1x Win
2x NW-F
2x S-F
9x S-HM
11x HM
7x R

 
Posted : January 3, 2012 2:53 pm
(@izanobu)
Posts: 341
Silver Member
 

Man you guys obsess over crazy stuff wotf008

Dustin- you won't get disqualified for not putting in the title. Seriously. KD has said on her forum before that while she appreciates standard manuscript format, she doesn't judge on the formatting as long as it is readable (she knows she's judging a contest that is for new writers). Don't worry about it. That would be my advice...

Now... if you left your name on it... then you are doomed. But leaving a title off subsequent pages? Not a big deal.

 
Posted : January 3, 2012 3:41 pm
(@s_c_baker)
Posts: 979
Gold Star Member
 

Still seems to be in the rules & regs on the most recent website iteration:

Entries submitted electronically must be double-spaced and must include the title and page number on each page, but not the author's name. Electronic submissions will separately include the author's legal name, pen name if applicable, address, telephone number, email address and approximate word count.

I've been putting a "running head" on my last few entries, because the title's too long. They're electronic, though.

Hope things turn out well! If not, there's always next quarter. wotf007

Man you guys obsess over crazy stuff wotf008

Dustin- you won't get disqualified for not putting in the title. Seriously. KD has said on her forum before that while she appreciates standard manuscript format, she doesn't judge on the formatting as long as it is readable (she knows she's judging a contest that is for new writers). Don't worry about it. That would be my advice...

Now... if you left your name on it... then you are doomed. But leaving a title off subsequent pages? Not a big deal.

This seems most reasonable, for certain.

Although ... Did you remember to sacrifice the third chicken on the left? I mean, some things you can get by with. But...

Stewart C Baker - 1st place, Q2 V32
My contest history: Semi-finalist, R, HM, R, R, HM, HM, R, R, R, R, HM, R, R, R, R, Winner
My published fiction, poetry, &c.

 
Posted : January 3, 2012 3:45 pm
 MJNL
(@mjnl)
Posts: 505
Silver Star Member
 

Do you have a record of how you formatted your finalist and your HMs? If you get DQed you can't earn anything other than a straight reject--so if you can find evidence that you've made the same mistake before, you might be ok.

But, while I didn't use SMF on my first finalist and it still go that far, I did follow all of the stated rules to the letter. So I don't know if that's much help.

~Marina

WotF Winner Q1 2012 (Vol. 29)

WotF Finalist Q2 2010 (Vol. 27)
WotF Finalist Q4 2011 (Vol. 28)
http://lostetter.wordpress.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/MarinaLostetter

 
Posted : January 4, 2012 2:55 am
(@gower21)
Posts: 757
Gold Member
Topic starter
 

So I'm perusing V.27 and I notice in the regs that I was supposed to number each page along with having the title on each page. Well I forgot the title. Anyone know if this negates my entry? If it is highly frowned upon by KDW? Or if it is a formatting thing and not that big a deal?

I had a total blood chill moment when I read that. 🙁

Yikes I hope that doesn't disqualify you...she has been so lenient in the past, maybe this being the first year of that rule she will let it slide. I'd say email Joni or ask KD on her SFF website to know for sure, the rest of us can only guess.

Tina
http://www.smashedpicketfences.com

 
Posted : January 4, 2012 4:25 am
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