The Dog Days of Summer Challenge

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Challenge
Name: The Dog Days of Summer Challenge
Date(s): 26 August 2007
Moderator(s): my_cnnr, trueriver
Founder: my_cnnr, trueriver, poicale
Type: fic
Fandom: Mary Renault
Associated Community: maryrenaultfics
URL: "time to write" (MRF post)
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On 26 August 2007, one of the moderators of the maryrenaultfics LiveJournal community posted a timed challenge (one hour) to the community, suggesting that members write ficlets based on any of Renault's books to the prompt, "the dog days of summer".

This began the custom on the community of having an annual summer writing challenge.

Background

For the previous couple of years, a group of friends who were members of maryrenaultfics had been holding Sunday tea chats among themselves, in which they sometimes posted fic challenges. On this occasion, they decided to extend the challenge to the comm.

Challenge

we're pretty loose about most of the rules...
  • use any MR book
  • the prompt is to be used 'as is' (phrases not taken apart)
  • the prompt doesn't have to appear in the fic - just letting it be the inspiration is fine

but there's one we do enforce, and strictly...

  • it's a timed challenge...one hour from reading the prompt to posting your fic...no cheating, no writing for an hour and then going back for tweaking...60 minutes, and you click "submit"...as we're all in different time zones, with busy RLs, we don't ever try to write simultaneously - everyone is on their honor to watch the clock, ok?

we thought we'd ask that you post the fics here, as a reply...we'll leave it up for a few days with comments screened, and then open it, so everyone can read at once...Wednesday sound good?

unless no one plays *sniff*

ready?

have your kitchen timer on 60?

prompt: the dog days of summer

Stories

By the standards of a fairly small community, response was considerable and immediate. Stories were added as comments to the main post.