In the Tales of the Blind Pig setting, the first confirmed case of SCABS was that of one Thomas Hassan. We are told that the date was 19 April; although the year has not been stated, we can infer from the setting's chronology that Hassan SCABbed over in 2002.
As it happens, 19 April 2002 falls squarely within the April/May cover date of our next issue, TSAT 21. And the way we see it, that's as good an excuse as any to jumpstart TSAT's tradition of offering rewards for really nifty stories. In other words, we're holding a contest!
| What we're looking for | This contest is for TBP origin stories, to use Bard's trenchant phrase. If you want to insert an entirely
new character into the setting, great! If you've got an existing
TBP character whose past is a bit unclear, this is a golden opportunity
for you to let the readers know how your character reacted when
SCABS hit him (or her). And if you're interested in some element
in the setting whose genesis hasn't been explored by any previous
authors, here's your chance to show the readers exactly how whatever-it-was
came to be! In sum, if you've got any kind of 'origin story' in the works, it's good for this contest. You will note that the above paragraph does not specify that submissions must be textual in nature. This is intentional. As long as your work fits the 'origin stories' criteria, we don't care if it's a story, a comic strip, or what! And yes, it's okay to submit more than one story. The more, the merrier! |
| Why you want to do it | The top three stories will go into TSAT 21, presuming a decent number of entries. We'll also have some additional prizes for the First and Second Place winners. |
| When we want it | Get it to us by 15 March 2002, which (by no coincidence whatsoever) just happens to be the deadline for submitting any and all material to TSAT 21. |
| Who can enter | Are you a TSAT staff member? Are you related to someone on the staff? If you can honestly answer "no!" to both of those questions, you can enter this contest. |
| Where to send your entry | Send it to Submissions as an e-mail attachment. The body of this e-mail should be the standard TSAT release form for writers or artists, as appropriate. We prefer written stories to be in .rtf or .txt formats; for graphical entries, we like .jpg or .gif files. |
| How to disqualify yourself | Anything you enter in the contest must be your own original work. Plagiarism is verboten -- stealing another person's work is the shortest known route to a 'TSAT Death Sentence'. As well, we want new material. If you've posted whatever-it-is anywhere else on the Net, or if it's been published in any print venue, fuggeddaboutit! |
Any story (or stories) you submit to the contest must be original. If you've posted it anywhere else on the Net, or if it's been published in any print venue, fuggeddaboutit!