machine of death
Machine of Death: Short Story Anthology Competition
The machine had been invented a few years ago: a machine that could tell, from just a sample of your blood, how you were going to die. It didn’t give you the date and it didn’t give you specifics. It just spat out a sliver of paper upon which were printed, in careful block letters, the words “DROWNED” or “CANCER” or “OLD AGE” or “CHOKED ON A HANDFUL OF POPCORN”. It let people know how they were going to die. …
WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING FOR?
The premise of the anthology is covered in the book’s introduction, above. Your mission, as a writer, is to come up with the best possible story that fits in the world described in the introduction. The only major difference between THAT world and THIS world is that people in THAT world can undergo a cheap and easy blood test to find out how they are going to die. So the stories that we’re interested in are those that somehow explore that idea in an interesting or entertaining way.
I have but one thing to say - I lack time and opportunity to write it, but I would love to see a story where the machine says “EDITORIAL MANDATE” contest for a spot in the anthology.
Consider this a call to arms, undead helper monkeys of the G-W.org universe.
Go on. It’s a chance to (make fictional characters) die for…
This sounds really great! I don’t write well enough to concider creating an entry, but I have a friend who excells in short-story format that I’ll pass this on to. Thanks.
Comment by wallflower — January 29, 2007 @ 11:52 am
Huh. It’s been done, by Robert Heinlein. The short-story is called ‘Life-Line’, and it was published in 1939.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein_bibliography
There really isn’t anything new under the sun.
Comment by James Reynolds — January 30, 2007 @ 1:12 pm
I believe the project probably was tipping the hat to the Heinlein. I’m hoping to encourage a crew of writers to tip their cowls to the pre-destined fates of some of our favorite comic book characters.
Comment by Stephen Dann — January 30, 2007 @ 2:40 pm
James - I’ve not read it, but going by the description you’ve linked to it’s similar, but not the same. The Heinlein story apparently has the machine spit out how long someone will live; the machine in the premise merely spits out how they will die.
That said, the whole thing about world lines broke my insomniac brain, so I could well be missing something.
Comment by arielladrake — January 31, 2007 @ 12:47 am
I’ll give it a go. Don’t have a clue what will happen though…
Comment by demon_faith — January 31, 2007 @ 4:53 am
Oooooh, pity I don’t have time to draft an entry, I’d love to do one where someone is told he’ll drown…. and so he does, either in an unusual substance or one of those “Wow. He got shot, stabbed, and blown up - but it was the water that killed the beast” situations.
Comment by Photopoppy — February 1, 2007 @ 5:21 am