04-09-2012, 05:38 PM
I've been working on a story to submit to Arc (http://arc.submishmash.com/submit), which a contest that pays really really well. The mag is associated with The New Scientist, and the contest is in collaboration with The Tomorrow Project, which is an instrument of Intel. Red flags go off at that. Writing contests sponsored by big business often pick winners that are hopelessly cliched and cloyingly optimistic.
Nonetheless, the contest pays well. So I was carefully polishing my story, Temporal Anomalies in the Vicinity of Now, well aware that the deadline was 23:59 yesterday. In other words, just before the stroke of midnight.
The theme of the contest, by the way, is, "The Future always wins." To which I say, WTF? That's a theme? Fine, my story has to do with a whacky time machine, so I suppose it might in some way fit the theme.
So after dinner last evening I decided I better double check the deadline time. After all, it might not be 23:59 Pacific Time. If it was Eastern Time, I needed to hop on my horse and finish it up by 9 pm. So I go to the site and read the following:
"Entries must be received by 23:59 GMT on 8 April 2012 and only one submission is allowed per entrant."
GMT? WTF? I can't keep the spin of the Earth straight in my head, so I don't know whether I'm screwed or whether I've got extra time. I check the web, and son of a bitch. The deadline passed three hours ago. What's with this Greenwich time anyway? Who do those Londoners think they are, getting to live in the future. It's not fair. How can I compete with them when they have the future on their side.
Bastards. The future always wins.
--cranefly
P.S. I decided to try creating an account and submitting the story regardless. There's always the possibility they'll make allowances for us stupid Americans. The account creation went through okay. I attached the story and submitted it, and got a confirmation email and thank you for my submission. So maybe I'm in. Or maybe they just haven't gotten around yet to jettisoning the laggards...
Nonetheless, the contest pays well. So I was carefully polishing my story, Temporal Anomalies in the Vicinity of Now, well aware that the deadline was 23:59 yesterday. In other words, just before the stroke of midnight.
The theme of the contest, by the way, is, "The Future always wins." To which I say, WTF? That's a theme? Fine, my story has to do with a whacky time machine, so I suppose it might in some way fit the theme.
So after dinner last evening I decided I better double check the deadline time. After all, it might not be 23:59 Pacific Time. If it was Eastern Time, I needed to hop on my horse and finish it up by 9 pm. So I go to the site and read the following:
"Entries must be received by 23:59 GMT on 8 April 2012 and only one submission is allowed per entrant."
GMT? WTF? I can't keep the spin of the Earth straight in my head, so I don't know whether I'm screwed or whether I've got extra time. I check the web, and son of a bitch. The deadline passed three hours ago. What's with this Greenwich time anyway? Who do those Londoners think they are, getting to live in the future. It's not fair. How can I compete with them when they have the future on their side.
Bastards. The future always wins.
--cranefly
P.S. I decided to try creating an account and submitting the story regardless. There's always the possibility they'll make allowances for us stupid Americans. The account creation went through okay. I attached the story and submitted it, and got a confirmation email and thank you for my submission. So maybe I'm in. Or maybe they just haven't gotten around yet to jettisoning the laggards...
I'm nobody's pony.
