The Official Authors' Hangout Halloween 2023 Contest Support Thread

[pink_silk_glove]

Well, I think I have all the big Halloweeny authors on the site shaking at the keyboards with my strong showing so far!

NOT!!!!!!

Heh, you said weenie.

 

[Bazzle]

Well, I think I have all the big Halloweeny authors on the site shaking at the keyboards with my strong showing so far!

NOT!!!!!!

I'm in the same spooky boat!

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Have any of you been raised in multilingual families? Growing up, there was nothing strange in my family with mixing English, German, Yiddish, and an occasional French word in the same sentences. At school, I sometimes mixed in Yiddish among the English, or worse, German and Yiddish. My goy friends would tell me to stop showing off. So, I actively learned not to mix up the words. But really, Yiddish and English mix well for me. I've all but forgotten German. My knowledge of French was helpful when Hubby and I went to France. But my question is about writing.

Would it work to have a character that mingles the languages in a story?

 

[Jorunn]

Have any of you been raised in multilingual families? Growing up, there was nothing strange in my family with mixing English, German, Yiddish, and an occasional French word in the same sentences. At school, I sometimes mixed in Yiddish among the English, or worse, German and Yiddish. My goy friends would tell me to stop showing off. So, I actively learned not to mix up the words. But really, Yiddish and English mix well for me. I've all but forgotten German. My knowledge of French was helpful when Hubby and I went to France. But my question is about writing.

Would it work to have a character that mingles the languages in a story?

In my recent story, Searching For Amarillo, the female character is a forest spirit called a Huldra in Norway, and mixes in Norwegian and English. Not in the same sentence, though. I think that would be confusing. I also use several Norwegian idioms (which can be quite odd to Americans), and either explain them afterwards in English, or try to fit them into the flow of the story such that the actions provide enough of a hint as to what was said. I am working on a Part 2 that will do the same thing. I think it can be effective, if not overused.

 

[StillStunned]

I grew up bilingually, and spent my uni years and the early part of my career in a bilingual environment. My wife was raised trilingually. For us it's completely natural. Some words just work better in one language or another, some phrases have a better feel, some words or phrases don't have an exact equivalent. Sometimes you just can't find the right word in one language.

We sprinkle our English (our dominant language) with words, sentences, phrases in three other languages. My wife, when she's speaking to her family, switches between three languages mid-sentence. With outsiders, we switch from one language to another depending who we're talking to.

But to other people it can be confusing and off-putting.

 

[Jorunn]

One of the challenges is that when using a foreign language you must assume the reader doesn't know what it means. So you then have to translate to English. But sometimes even that doesn't help, and you have to explain it a third time. For example:

"Ugler i mosen" translates to "Owls in the moss" which then has to be explained as "something strange or suspicious is happening.

In Part 2 of my story, the Huldra encounters an ancient tree, and I am thinking of doing the whole conversation in Old Norse. But that will again require me to summarize the conversation in English. It is an important moment in the story, so I think it is worth a few lines.

My other planned uses are to sing a song in English, but sing the last line again in Norwegian (hence you just heard the words in English). And, also to have the Huldra speak to other Norwegians in several sexually teasing ways where the male character from Texas doesn't know what she said, but the other people around them do. (lots of ways this can go).

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Thanks for the input, @StillStunned and @Jorunn.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

Mine is not wvere I hoped it be. One of the chapters of my other story seemed to get two votes to remove the red h.

 

[MillieDynamite]

So, my third story, which started out as not a Halloween story, is now in the cue for the contest. Just a Friendly Trick & Treat will go live whenever ADMIN (Laurel) decides to make it so. I'm all a twitter for a TransDominatrix Halloween.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

So, my third story, which started out as not a Halloween story, is now in the cue for the contest. Just a Friendly Trick & Treat will go live whenever ADMIN (Laurel) decides to make it so. I'm all a twitter for a TransDominatrix Halloween.

Well, that's no fair, extra stories are stuck in the mire of my mind.

 

[StillStunned]

Seeing as my previous entry didn't even make the list of entries, I've written a new story. An exhibitionism story, where the ghost actually goes "Whoooo!" First draft is done, and hopefully I can polish it up for submission in a few days.

 

[Devinter]

Seeing as my previous entry didn't even make the list of entries, I've written a new story. An exhibitionism story, where the ghost actually goes "Whoooo!" First draft is done, and hopefully I can polish it up for submission in a few days.

I hope it will be "disturbing as fuck"!

 

[theWriterInTheNude]

For those whose stories aren't on the list, a polite email to @Laurel would be in order.

Mine's up now. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[StillStunned]

I hope it will be "disturbing as fuck"!

Dammit! Now you've made me want to rewrite as tentacle porn!

Mine's up now. Thank you for the suggestion.

Mine's still not up. (But that's just middle age, I suppose.)

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

Mine's now right at 15K words and it's down to the last three holes plus final edits. I hope to have it complete and ready to submit on Monday. I think it will go in Romance with a "Mild Erotic Horror" tag or possibly Erotic Horror with "Mild Erotic Horror" and "Romance" tags. What's funny is that it started out planned as a short farce for Humor and Satire but wasn't nearly humorous or satirical enough.

 

[Devinter]

Mine's now right at 15K words and it's down to the last three holes plus final edits. I hope to have it complete and ready to submit on Monday. I think it will go in Romance with a "Mild Erotic Horror" tag or possibly Erotic Horror with "Mild Erotic Horror" and "Romance" tags. What's funny is that it started out planned as a short farce for Humor and Satire but wasn't nearly humorous or satirical enough.

There's more than three holes!? Seems I've been missing out. Hope you'll be able to submit it on Monday though!

 

[MillieDynamite]

Okay, Just a Friendly Trick & Treat goes live tomorrow. Now my editor sends me an email asking if I intended to call my TransMC Quinn since she's so close in personality and proclivities as Shirley from Just A Friendly Roug Encounter. DAMN. I have several other stories in the series near completion, and they weren't at all like Shirley. I picked Quinn because she's dressed as Harley Quinn for the party. But since the stories are going to be back-to-back in the series, I should have had her name as Shirley, I guess.

Too late now.

Since this going here first, I guess for sale elsewhere, I might change it. But probably not.

 

[lovecraft68]

Dropped mine in just now. I wasn't going to because I usually like to enter within the first couple of days to take full advantage of the extra time in the spotlight, but I am curious to see what people think of this one, its a bit of a unique premise.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Dropped mine in just now. I wasn't going to because I usually like to enter within the first couple of days to take full advantage of the extra time in the spotlight, but I am curious to see what people think of this one, its a bit of a unique premise.

I expect to submit mine tomorrow.

I have am of the opposite view on contest strategy. It seems to me that the later you submit, the larger the percentage of voters on your story who are your regular followers, thus biasing the voter pool in your favor. The greater exposure if you win offsets the diminished number of early views.

Or maybe that just some bullshit I made up to excuse my own procrastination.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Well, my story, Just a Friendly Trick & Treat has been up from sometime this day. Its going well from my point of view 4 3172 views a 4.24 rating with 25 votes so far. The score isn't where I want it to be, it's the first Just a Friendly Series story to not have 4.5+ rating from the get-go. It may get there, it may not. But still I'm happy with it so far. It's also my transgender story for the Halloween's contest.

 

[mpeters]

I’m still trying to figure out how many votes, if any, my story “One Hell of a Halloween” has earned. I’ve got a 4.64 rating on it with 11.4k views (which I know doesn’t really mean anything since it doesn’t translate to readers). The rating is right around my other stories, maybe on the higher side.

Is it based on ratings alone? I thought there would’ve been some place at the end of the story to cast a vote or something. This is the first contest I’ve entered (and only my sixth story) so pardon my ignorance!

 

[MillieDynamite]

It tells you the votes right beside the rating in your control panel. 5 3.3k ★ 4.24 / 25

 

[mpeters]

Oh! Okay… then if I’m reading it right, I have 150 votes. Thanks for the info!

 

[Voboy]

Is it based on ratings alone?

Yep!

But those ratings are very, very hard to "predict," though there is always an element here in the AH who'll try mightily. The truth is that Laurel and Manu run a series of sweeps throughout the contest, intensifying at the end, meaning the "winners" are in continual doubt until the very last moment. Then the contest ends (also at an unannounced time), meaning the "winners" are determined at some point nobody really knows. Afterward, the "winners" tend to get bombed comprehensively, meaning that if you check the "standings" even a few minutes after Laurel's announcement about who won? The scores will, once again, have drastically changed.

But somehow, it all works. Best not to worry about the scores. Enjoy!

 

[Unsung Muse]

coming in [a little late!] to the halloween party

just submitted

if/when approved: it's called "Gone To Seed"

thrilled and utterly overwhelmed by the number of entries ... about to start reading